Executive summary: Freelance Japanese-to-English translation for agencies shows numerous signs that it is at its end as a realistic way to make a living. In addition to specific cases of colleagues of mine having to leave translation, web searches on JA-EN translation related strings yield almost nothing but hits on countless low-paid MT post-editing jobs, and pages discussing translation or reflecting interaction between translators are extremely rare. Add to that the paucity of daily translator interaction in venues provided by translation organizations, and we can see clearly where things are.
In order to get a grasp on what’s happening in JA-EN freelance translation, I have for months had Google search alerts on about 10 search strings related to JA-EN translation. These strings were in both Japanese and English.
These search alerts presumably would catch not only job offers (which I personally am not interested in) but also webpages discussing translation. So, what’s going on?
It turns out that what’s going on is almost nothing of any interest or value to translators.
The overwhelming majority of hits are job offers, not for translation, but rather for post-editing posted on reverse-auction job platforms, often uploaded by anonymous entities with no location disclosed.
From the ads that disclose their location, it appears that most of these come from translation-brokering agencies in China, India, and even less substantial places in the third world.
There were almost no hits on webpages or blogs that discuss translation or reflected discussions between translators about translation.
Interaction between JA-EN translators is at a very low level in any venue I can see, and must be going on in secret meetings under bridges somewhere, because it certainly isn’t being reflected in a findable digital record.
That’s it, folks. The conclusion to draw is clear. It’s ending.
I’ve deleted the google search alerts, as they produce email alerts from Google that just lead to meaningless things that reflect the bleak state of what was once an attractive professional activity for many people. RIP.
