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Freelance translator and/or interpreter, Verified site user
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Before translation For four years between school and university, I worked at various jobs, including a year in a brewery and more than a year as a residential child care officer.
After leaving university, age 26, I trained as an EFL teacher and went on to teach for a year in Barcelona and another year in London. Then I came to Japan.
After a year in Kansai, I began teaching myself Japanese from text books. For three years, I lived on teaching.
Copywriting The balance of my income tilted towards copywriting as I became better able to receive briefings in Japanese. I started with slogans and moved on to pamphlets, catalogs, and magazine articles.
Post-graduate studies After six years in Japan, I returned to England to indulge in what I now call academic tourism, initially at the University of Oxford, and then attached to Osaka University. This adventure started to get boring: my anthropological fieldwork at the Osaka Junior of Commerce had reached a point where I knew what I needed to know. And I was sure it wasn’t worth telling to other people.
Translation With a child on the way, the future seemed to require more money. I sought translation work. It was fascinating. For more than 18 years, our son’s age, the family has been supported mainly by translation. Clients send me a lot of marketing, tourist information, narration scripts... work that allows me to use my creative talent, writing skill, and experienced judgement. When translating marketing materials I pay particular attention to benefit, positive expression, and embedded commands. For more than ten years, I have also dealt with materials concerned with liquid crystal display and photovoltaic panel manufacturing equipment.
Other work Besides translation, people send me rewriting jobs -- including whole books -- and request copywriting. Video producers use my voice for trade-show DVDs. At Christmas, resplendent in my Santa suit, I get paid to hang around in malls. This gives me the opportunity to observe and interact with consumers in their native habitat.
Spare time Beyond English and its manipulation, other active interests include photography, theatrical improv, and snorkelling.
Keywords: English, Japanese to English, marketing, publicity, PR, websites, catalogs, finished copy, copywriting, rewriting. See more.English, Japanese to English, marketing, publicity, PR, websites, catalogs, finished copy, copywriting, rewriting, sales copy, tourist information, travel, value added copy, value-adding translation, temples, shrines, castles, transport copy, marketing copy, website copy, experienced copyeditor, expert rewriting, liquid crystal manufacturing equipment, photovoltaic panel manufacturing equipment, LCD panels, TFT-LCD, consumer product copy translation, advertorial translation, advertorial writing, advertorial copy, slogans, effective. See less.
Expertise