These are casual virtual meet-ups to talk about translation, mainly between Japanese and English. We share experiences, questions, reading, strategies, tools, travails, and trivia, with different conversations every time. The hour-long sessions, moderated by Daniel Morales, start at 8:00 p.m. JST on the first Tuesday of the month. Participation is up and down. The December 3 session was a cozy 6, giving us a chance to discuss our daily routines and work rhythms and learn about our various niches in the industry. For brief reports of previous meetings, see here. 

Here is what is coming up:

February 4: Let’s talk style! Translators have to be editors, too. In February, we’ll be discussing style guides—the guides we or our clients create for specific projects as well as the “authorities”—Chicago, MLA, the Japan Style Sheet, and more. How do such rules impact the way you translate? How do you keep track of the style guides you need for different clients? This is also a call for editors and veterans. 

March 4: What are some of the visual elements of the Japanese language that are most difficult to translate into English? Japanese will often use words from English and other languages, for example, to create a specific effect. How do you recreate this in your translations? What about other elements, such as mathematical symbols, icons, and emoji (first created in Japan)? Does this make more of a difference with a literary text like poetry than with other genres of writing? 

Please note that advance registration is required for each session. Click on the link below, then select the desired date from the pull-down menu. If you are interested but not sure you can make it, feel free to sign up and attend if you can. Participants are also free to arrive or depart while the session is in progress. We encourage you to register now.

Translator Tuesdays registration form