Hello readers. This is Editorial Committee member Audra Lincoln. Today marks the first entry in the JLD’s “Interview with Educators” series. Our first guest is Ms. Miyo Tat, who is ATA certified in Japanese-to-English translation. Please enjoy.
JLD: Please describe your linguistic background and how you got started in T/I.
MT: I’ve long been interested in translation, but I got my start as a Japanese language teacher. Later on, I worked full time as an editor (of Japanese texts), but when I was pregnant with my third child, I realized I wanted a job where I could work from home. I thought translation might be a good fit and actually, I got ATA certified before I started translating professionally.
JLD: How did you learn English?
MT: I first started studying English when I was in fifth grade in Japan. I was also pretty good at English in high school and went on to study it at International Christian University. During my junior year, I studied abroad in America for a year, too. In graduate school, I studied linguistics. I love language, it’s my calling. It’s what drove me to pursue things like studying English, teaching Japanese, being an editor, and teaching translation.
JLD: How did you get started in translation?
MT: I forget if it was Japanese to English or English to Japanese, but the first time I tried translation, just for practice, was of an electronics manual. My first professional translation job was of a museum brochure. At first, I only took small jobs I could complete over the weekend because I was working full time as an editor, and those came to me through the ATA directory. I quit my editing job when I was pregnant with my third child, and I focused on translating full time when he was around six months old. Even though I had the ATA certification at the time, I felt like my skills were untested. There’s a website called Amelia (https://www.amelia.ne.jp/) that serves as a sort of translators’ networking site. It’s a paid service, but if you sign up, you’ll be able to search for jobs or translators and gain access to useful information. There’s also a lot of information and even a service called “Trial.” “Trial” is like a test. Each month, Amelia posts passages to translate and your translation will be graded. It’s a great way to build skill and confidence as a freelancer before taking on customers.
JLD: What inspired you to educate other translators?
MT: I have been translating for about twenty years. When I reflected on my career at the ten-year mark, I thought I’d been pretty successful. I’d been working for ten years, I had gained skills and learned tricks for producing a good translation, I had regular jobs because my clients were happy. I thought it was time to share all that I had learned.
JLD: How did you get started teaching at Bellevue?
MT: I am one of the graders for the ATA certification exam. Back in 2016, I reached out to Bellevue College hoping we could work together to promote more translators to participate in the ATA certification exam workshop. Later, the program director at Bellevue reached out to me about teaching there.
JLD: Tell me about what kind of training you provide.
MT: I am an instructor at Bellevue College (https://www.tomboloinstitute.com/courses/translation-interpreting/core-translation-interpreting-certificate-program/). The program offers a core certificate and an advanced certificate. The core program is not language specific and covers the basics including terminology, technology, and best practices. The advanced certificate is language specific. This class covers a wide variety of domains, explains differences in English and Japanese and textual analysis, teaches students how to conduct research in Japanese and English, proofreading skills, and more.
JLD: What are the benefits and drawbacks to T/I training?
MT: I wouldn’t say getting training is absolutely required, but I think there are a lot of benefits to having some level of education. For example, training will teach you how to translate efficiently. Knowledge of how the translation process works will also help you start off on the right foot. I think translators learn the most when they learn on the job, actually applying their skills.
There are some drawbacks with training, however. For example, some people may think that training will teach them absolutely everything about how to be a translator. This makes some people passive translators. In truth, a translator must continue to learn as s/he completes real projects for clients. Another downside, particularly for Japanese students of translation, is feeling like there is always more studying that must be done. Some students end up putting off translation work for the sake of translation study. I think you’d do better to just start working.
JLD: What are the challenges of your training program?
MT: Students who also have busy jobs find the coursework challenging to complete. My program teaches students to translate from their B language into their A language, but if your B language isn’t strong enough, translation can be a challenge. It doesn’t matter how well you can write in your A language if you can’t understand the meaning and nuance of the B language source text.
JLD: Any final thoughts on translator training?
MT: At the end of the day, you have to put what you have learned and what you know to use. In other words, you have to actually do translation. Speak to other translators or interpreters. They will have a lot of good information and are a great resource to tap into.
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