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For Surviving Translators

Articles

Distinguishing Between True Translation Companies and Translation Broker-Agencies (March 7, 2021; updated April 25, 2024): All translation sellers are not created (or operated) equally.
The Holy Trinity Skill Set for Translation (March 14, 2019; updated April 23, 2024): Engagement with your translation provider is the key to verifying whether the people doing your translations have these skills. But substantial engagement with a bulk translation seller is virtually impossible.
Some Sobering Facts about the Translation "Industry" (July 16, 2022; updated April 23, 2024): Common sense among translators and true translation companies, but probably surprising to people outside the translation tent.
One Japanese-to-English Translator's Path into the World of Translation (April 29, 2022; updated April 14, 2024: Just one of the myriad ways people enter the field of translation.
What You Don't Know about your Translation Supply Chain Can Hurt You (June 19, 2020): Many aspects of what happens to your documents after you order translations of them remain purposefully hidden from your sight but can affect accuracy, accountability, and security.
Third-language translators: Humans or machines, they demonstrate how you get what you pay for in Japanese-to-English translation. (January 28, 2019): Japanese-to-English translators with neither Japanese nor English as a native language can look forward in the near future to replacement by machine translation systems suffering from the same handicap.
Translating Japanese Names: A Bit More Troublesome than Green or Greene (January 4, 2019): One troublesome characteristic of the Japanese language is the uncertainty of how Japanese personal names are pronounced. Many names can be pronounced in numerous ways, the pronunciation options sometimes being totally different.
Basic Facts about the Japanese Language, its Position in the Language Landscape, and Things Translation Consumers Should Learn (January 2, 2019): A few basics for people in need of Japanese-to-English translation.
The Use of Seals in Japan (March 10, 2007; updated October 24, 2023): Used in place of signatures, seals are dying a hard death in Japan.

Publications

Morita Ed, ATA Japanese Translation Handbook (1997, last edit April 6, 2021): Chapter 5: Japanese-to-English Translation of Patent Documents for Filing in the US. Both the original version and an edited version are available, the latter reflected some changes made in availability of information.

Presentations

These are presentations I have made at IJET (International Japanese/English Translation) Conferences held by Japan Association of Translators, which have alternated between Japan and overseas venues.

Because they cannot be found on the JAT website, having been lost or deleted, I have preserved these presentations on this website. Along with a now deleted or long-lost scanned copy of the Proceedings from the first IJET Conference, held in Hakone in 1990, also not available on the JAT website, the following presenations are available in a separate section.

IJET-30 (Cairns, AU June 29-30, 2019, organized by Japan Association of Translators): Lise, Getting from Tier Two to Tier One in Japanese-to-English Translation
IJET-19 (Okinawa, Japan April 12-13, 2008, organized by Japan Association of Translators): Lise, Japanese Patent Translation
IJET-16 (Chicago, US June 4-5, 1997, organized by Japan Association of Translators): Lise, Japanese/English Deposition Interpreting (Presented on Lise's behalf by Manako Ihaya)
IJET-9 (Yokohama, Japan May 23-24, 1998, organized by Japan Association of Translators): Lise (panel discussion comments) Taking More Money for Your Translations
IJET-8 (Sheffield, UK June 19-21, 1997, organized by Japan Association of Translators): Lise, Symbols, Abbreviations and Layout Issues in J-E Translation
IJET-7 (Yokohama, Japan May 18-19, 1996, organized by Japan Association of Translators): Lise, Japanese-English Translation of Patent Documents for Filing in the US
IJET-5 (Urayasu, Japan May 24-29, 1994, organized by Japan Association of Translators): Lise, An Investigation of Terminology and Syntax in Japanese and US Patents and the Implications for the Patent Translator