International relations and poli sci can be perfectly serviceable fields to specialize in if you want to end up doing translation along those lines. In my case, I studied almost nothing of the sort, and I still ended up at Japan Echo. It’s been quite an education on the job (which is something else to keep in mind as a learning path, in addition to grad schools and trade schools and the like). Every once in a while a company like mine needs to hire someone to work in-house; the English-language dailies in Tokyo use translators who need to know those things; a while back I posted about a job at the US embassy that would have been great for an international politics wonk; on and on. I grant that the work is a relatively small stream compared to the mighty river of “This invention comprises a widget . . .” and “Net profits were up 3.6% on the strength of . . .” texts, though.

Re the “trade schools” in Tokyo: I’m teaching at Simul Academy now (where Fred used to teach). We don’t often have classes for native English speakers, since it’s tough to line up teachers and interested students all at once to make the things fly economically, but it’s something I’d like to get going again at some point. You could take one of the classes for native Japanese speakers, but the problems they face are fundamentally different from the ones that NES translators have to overcome, so much of the instruction wouldn’t come in so handy, unfortunately.

I think that there are merits to studying translation, but I agree that the program needs to be restructured to fit the needs of the industry and not the interests of a few people. There are nearly two semesters devoted to literary translation (the “translation theory” course centers on literature) and one semester called “practice translation” that focuses on articles and essays, while scientific, technical, and medical translation are lumped into one semester and business and legal translation are lumped into another semester.

Also lacking from our particular program were field-specific Japanese language courses. In fact, we had no classes in our B language at all. Other language pairs, such as Spanish-English and French-English, have mandatory classes that must be taken in the B language (which are not necessarily relevant or helpful for translation). Since the Japanese group did not have mandatory classes in the B language, we were left to search the course catalogues for something “useful” to take, but another dilemma arose from all this: Forget about taking 101-type courses in other fields, because we were graduate students and taking those undergraduate-level courses would be insufficient to receive an MA, but also forget about taking any graduate-level courses in other fields if you have no background in those fields at all (usually a prerequisite and/or permission from the professor is required to take the courses).

Going to a trade school in Japan or simply studying a different field and making an effort to learn that field in the B-language may very well be the best option for most people. It really depends on what your aspirations are.

Had to post more b/c I couldn’t let this end on #13. I also have scads of admiration for Mr. Uleman. He is, no doubt, an expert at what he does. Not a tincture of an argument there will you get from me. If I could ever have 33% of his professionalism, skill, and savvy, I’d consider myself lucky. Still, my belief is that he is the exception that proves the rule. Y’see, not to be to cynical, but I believe life is about playing the odds. That’s why you invest, say, 10k in the stock market rather than on lottery tickets. (Yes, even in today’s economy.) If you’re prepared to take that leap of faith with me, I think you can see that a person is more likely to get a job translating, I dunno, medical patents than political articles or whatever. We only need a few people at the Japan Times and Yomiuri, and they don’t retire that often. (I’d imagine.)

Nope. Some things just have to be done properly. Those things are needed constantly. Demand. Supply. Positive feedback loop.

I do believe that it is easier to translate a great deal of technical “tab A into slot B” documents on mental autopilot. No question about it. IMHO, it takes thought on a level an order of magnitude higher to produce a perfect piece in, say, Japan Echo than in Black and Decker Toaster Manual 88B. Still, the world only needs comparatively few people who can do the political stuff, while it needs legions who can crank out accurate, if eye-glazingly boring, ISO documents.

I don’t know…I certainly don’t want to be a talentless hack with a reputation for not caring and being generally slipshod, but I’m reminded of the guy who made Terrytoons. Remember them? Crap like Deputy Dawg. Anyway, the guy in question was supposedly asked about Walt Disney and how he thought they would stand up to each other in competition or some such. His reply? “Walt is the Tiffany’s of this business. I’m the Woolworth’s.” Now, Tiffany’s is still around (Although you can find a Woolworth’s in Australia or GB.), but who has ever been there? Except maybe Fred Uleman

Seriously, I would just rather take a shot at being one in 10 or 100 as opposed to 1 in 10 million.

I don’t want to rag on anybody’s choices. Hey, if someone is happy and earning an honest buck, power to him (or her).

But, to come full circle, the knock on translation degrees is that the people who give them out, in my experience, are cloistered members of the literati who would never stoop to sully their hands at a common trade school…which is exactly what I believe a translation school should be. I am a biiiig advocate of outcome based education. Pass ATA certification. Get certified in TRADOS. Something! Those are the sorts of things people should be trained to do if they are paying their money and making an effort. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY but another academically-trained linguist cares if you know about the cannibal theory of translation from Brazil. (I only wish I were making that theory up.) Studying that piffle is academic smut of the worst kind; pure narcissism and classroom masturbation. You write a good blurb for my book, I return the favor. Wooly-headed, fuzzy bunny, kumbaya malarkey. All that leads to is more worthless “educated” fools with doctorates from the close-cover-before-striking school of human paperweights, ready to eat up more taxpayer dollars and spit out more victims with a false sense of security and next to no marketable job skills. Don’t get me wrong-the graduates do usually get jobs in the field…at low wages, at least to start.

A degree in translation could be a terrific thing-if it were actually indicative of something. In certain cases, it seems to me, it is not.

My advice? Skip it. Go to a “vocational” translation school in Japan, preferably as far away from theory, writing, and analysis of Edgar Allen Poe (another thing I’m not making up) as possible. Run away if you can. Learn what skills employers want. Bust your hump to attain those. Get some certification if you can, but please, please emphasize performance.

*Side note: Babel does seem to have been infected with a bit of the academic flu as of late.

As you can no doubt tell, I am more than a bit bitter. If you think, however, that I don’t place the responsibility for my own life and career squarely on my own shoulders, you’ve got me all wrong. I simply think that my school, well-intentioned as the majority of the faculty doubtlessly were/are, have squandered a terrific opportunity. Translating each text type once (in grad school!) doesn’t make you a master of anything.

In summation: Translation school is like teenage suicide in “Heathers”-Don’t do it.

Unless, of course, you can find a vocationally-oriented boot camp. DeVry, I dunno…

I don’t know about that. One of my translation heroes, Fred Uleman, does political/economic translation and seems to have made a good career of it. You might not get that kind of work from “crank and bank” agencies, but there is demand out there for people who can talk the talk in those fields.

The trick, I think, is to find a field you really like and specialize in it. Doesn’t really matter which, within reason (like don’t expect to make huge wads of cash translating Nara-period Buddhist poetry).

@Ryan Ginstrom: But see, those are all what I would consider worthless too. When’s the last time you needed, requested the services of, and paid somebody who majored in any one of those? Case closed. Law school, maybe, but…

I think there are lots of specialized degrees you could go for after an undergraduate degree in international studies. Political science, international relations, economics (though maybe not if you have trouble with math), and sociology, to name a few. Specialization isn’t limited to engineering or even the “techie” side of the techie/fuzzy divide (or 理科系/文科系 in Japanese parlance)