The JET program is for university graduates who want to live and work in Japan. You don’t even have to be using Japanese! But gaining experience in that area is very important.Īnother option for those who are taking a degree in Japanese, International Relations, etc., (something not scientific or computer based), is to enroll in the JET program.
The next trick is to get a job in your field of specialization. Or even go through LinkedIn to look up people in your field of interest and see or ask others how they got to where they are.) (*If you’re about to go to college or postgraduate and want to use Japanese with work, I suggest looking at Gaijin Pot and Career Cross to get an idea of skills are in demand. This is evident just looking at the job postings on websites like Gaijin Pot and Career Cross.* What do you enjoy? Did you know there are people who translate marketing? Websites? Video games? Novels? – Pick a subject that interests you and you’d enjoy working on and learning about in both languages.īilingual engineers and computing experts (programmers, but also websites and UX/UI) are two incredibly sought after fields. But if they’re not your cup of tea there wouldn’t be much point forcing yourself to learn them. Medical, law, engineering are all big fields. One option is to study a specialized career. But t he key is planning in the long run to make sure it does work out.įrom my own experience and talking with other translators, it’s clear that it’s very important for someone who’s studying Japanese to work and/or study in another field, as well as to work in Japan. I think becoming a translator is a fantastically rewarding career… when it works out. So You’re Saying I Shouldn’t Become a Translator? *This is a little similar to a conversation that came up in Japanese Bilingual Group recently which went along the lines of “Japanese language is personally rewarding, but is pretty much useless for a career unless you specialize in something else.” People who jump right into translation without a secondary field of expertise and without knowing the business process seem to really struggle*. Translators working in-house don’t have this issue so much but they still need extra skills like project management, logistics, good communication (experience working in an office).
SHOULD I MAJOR IN BUSINESS TO BECOME JAPANAESE TRANSLATOR HOW TO
How to manage finances, write invoices, file taxes. ( Which I found out the hard way after my MA in Translation.) How to interact with clients/agencies and how they work. It’s about using and interacting with a topic in your target and source language on a daily basis.Īnd it’s not just the language aspect, but the business side of translation that’s important. This isn’t just a matter of studying to JLPT N1 level either (I know an excellent translators who only has N3). You at least need to know a particular topic in minute detail… in both languages. It’s about understanding them both to a near native level. Translation isn’t just about knowing 2 languages. Why You Shouldn’t Become a Translator (…At First) It seems to me that people who go directly into translation (especially freelance), without experience or training in another field, or without experience working in Japan, tend to struggle to succeed as translators. This may seem a little backwards but hear me out. While writing it I came to the realization that the best way to become a Japanese translator… was to not become one. I run a website all about study Japanese and recently wrote How to Become a Japanese Translator for one of my readers.
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