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Rankings Are You a Good Prospect for the Dojo? Translation is a fascinating, fun, and fulfilling job.* But it is not for everyone. So let me ask you a few questions so you can get a better idea if whether you'd like to be a translator or not. • Do you like mind puzzles? You don't have to answer yes to all of the questions, but each one represents a task you will need to do on the job. Translation itself is a mind puzzle. Most of translation is done alone in front of a computer. Not only do quotes from the classics show up in translations, but an appreciation of Shakespeare and other great writers demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of how stories are told. If you read a lot of non-genric fiction, you gain something of an appreciation of modern storytelling techniques. Most translation work is freelance, so you'll need to live on uncertain income. Acting trains you to take on a character, which is invaluable for striking the right tone when writing dialog for manga characters. You're going to come across things in your translation that you are going to have to research both in Japanese and English to get the translation right. Generally, if you like history, you have the right attitude to get your translation accurate. Now a few more questions. Do you want to translate because: • I want to become rich. If these are your reasons, I suggest you find different reasons or leave the dojo. None of these are healthy reasons to get into translation, and will only lead to frustration. • I want to become rich. People breaking into manga translation can't even make enough money to live on. The rates are simply too low. Even if you are paid the highest rates in the industry, the best it will get you is a middle-class living. You can't get rich translating manga. Sorry. • I want to become famous. It's possible to be a translator and be rich and famous, but translation won't get you there. All translators with any type of fame have gotten it from writing their own books or through spending a lot of time on self promotion. The translation itself will garner you no fame. Remember, the purpose of translation is to make the original author famous, not youself. • I want to draw manga myself. Translating manga is time consuming and will tire you out. Once you start, you will find that you have very little time left for your own projects. You'd find that it's better to do physical labor while you work on making your manga because physical labor doesn't drain your proverbial creative juices. Translating does. • I want to force the companies to translate it right. As a translator, you won't have the power to force a company to do anything. And a professional attitude won't allow you to try either. Freelance translators are performing a service for the publishing companies, and if you cause too much trouble for your clients, they will replace you with someone who is easier to work with. • The other translators aren't faithful enough. This will be answered in the Journeyman section of this site, but in short, by somewhere around your third year of Journeyman translation, you will find that, with only a few exceptions, those other translators were actually pretty faithful. It was your prejudices that made them seem unfaithful. So, are you still with me? Do you still want to enter the dojo? It won't be easy -- especially at the beginning. We're talking years (maybe four or so) of being a novice, probably a year or two of apprentice status, and afterwards there's still more to learn as a journeyman. You may never even make it to master status. (I wonder if I'm there, and I've been doing this just about as long and successfully as anybody out there.) If you're with me, then mop that floor! Wax on, wax off! And in the meantime, get that manga read! |
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*This alliteration was done by a professional. Please don't try it at home. |
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