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Category Archives: Translation
By any other name
Something I wrote for the Japan Association of Translators’ annual anthology, 2023 edition: I hear a lot of people saying ChatGPT and other large language models are going to drive us all out of business. (Disclaimer: I have already retired, … Continue reading
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Godiva vs Hershey
I did the first part of my growing up in Pittsburgh, where both pickles and ketchup are Heinz. And much of the chocolate was Hershey’s. However, my dad also liked chocolate and there were always a couple of bars of … Continue reading
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“No” is not a negotiation ploy
Most freelancers feel a little short of work when they first go freelance. True, there are some who go freelance because they have so much work from so many different clients that they have outgrown the confines of single-employer employment. … Continue reading
My 2016 in Facebook
Posts are in chronological order, but with the newest at the top. Dates posted are in parens after the note. The fast-breeder Monju reactor facility is finally going to be shut down — after many trouble-plagued years. That’s the … Continue reading
Japan as Tonto
Still trying to sort out PM Abe’s 一国のみで自国を守れない。On the surface, it seems to be saying that Japan alone cannot defend Japan. But that’s ostensibly why we have the J-US Security Treaty. So this is not an argument for sending troops … Continue reading
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2014 on FB
Some of my political posts went to Facebook, so this is a for-the-record compilation of 2014’s. Note that this is simply my initial posts for threads I initiated and includes neither the back and forth that ensured nor things I … Continue reading
Posted in J-culture notes, Japanese Politics, Translation Leave a comment
Pricing pressures
Marketing Communications Executives International has a vibrant Tokyo Chapter that, among its many other activities, publishes an annual anthology of marketing thoughts. This is an essay I contributed to the anthology published in December 2014. 相場崩れ 自分が耕している畑から話に入るが、翻訳業界は今が多層化中である。昔は冗談に過ぎなかった機械翻訳が進んで、実際使われるようになった。兎に角早い、兎に角安いという魅力を買われ「主な言葉さえ解れば良い」スクリーニングツールとして使われる。加えて、日本語、英語どちらも母国語でない人間が激安で和英・英和翻訳をやっている場合もあり、ローコストプロヴァイダーによって「相場」の常識が大きく揺らいでいる。 This could be … Continue reading
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Traceability
This essay is reprinted from the 2014 JAT anthology. Traceability 私は種々の会合に出席し様々な方の講演や話を聞く。それは仕事探してはなく、 むしろアイテア探して。知識と新視点や点と点の新しいつなぎ方を求めて講 演やその後の質疑応答を聴く。このような会で他人の見解や意見交換を楽しむのか目的である。そして話しなからその新知識か何らかの形で私の生活に役立ては尚良い。 先日はそういう場でtraceability の専門家と話す機会かあった。スーハーに行けは「ア メリカ産」と「群馬産」の牛肉を選ぶ事か出来、野菜には時により農場名や生産者の 顔写真か表示される事もある。それかtraceabilityである。しかし、traceability は食 料品たけの事たろうか。「Made in某国」も一つの判断基準になる事もある。善し悪 しはともかく、責任者かはっきりしているから消費者か選択出来る。一般論で言えは、 個人名付きのものは高品質で高額であっても消費者に好まれる。 さて、翻訳業界はいかがか。大手の代理店から購入すれは生産者か判るか。あるい はいわゆる全国フラントの食料品メーカー同様、代理店名たけてもフラント力があるので生産過程のフラックホックス化は構わないだろうか。traceabilityはあるか。なくても良いか。機械化出来ない翻訳は大量生産商品とは異なり代理店訳でも翻訳者名 や品質保証責任者名か表記された方か顧客の安心感・信頼感につながるのではない か。 Men energyhealingforeveryone.com purchase cialis suffering from poor fertility or blood circulation problem and erection … Continue reading
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Fidelity
This is an essay originally published in the 2013 JAT anthology. Fidelity As a business/political translator, I am told to reflect the source text’s content and style to evoke the same reactions. This is often taken to mean I should … Continue reading
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Transformation
I have written a number of things outside this blog, and it is worth posting them here “for the record.” This essay on translation is from the 2012 JAT anthology. なりすまし業 インターネットの不法アクセスやオレオレ詐欺等で不評を買っている「なりすまし」だが、翻訳者も「なりすまし業」ではないか。原文を書いた方がどういう立場で何を誰にどう伝えたいかを完全に理解した上、違う言語でその方になりすまして伝えるのが翻訳である。時によって元の方が隠したい事も理解し懸命に隠す事もあれば、舌足らずを補う事もある。本人より本人らしく発信したメッセージを伝達する。 Many viagra france pharmacy men today take Saw … Continue reading
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