Letters to a Young Translator, Part III: 翻訳者に大切な事

Posted by Seung Park on June 04th 2006 to Production Process, Letters to a Young Translator

Dear X,

Greetings in haste. I was surprised to see how quickly you responded to my last letter, and I was gratified to see that you were putting many, many thoughts on paper. This is wonderful — you are beginning to develop, no doubt, a sense of your place as a translator, and by some of the often-pointed questions you ask I see that you are beginning to come to your own conclusions about the validity of what you are doing and saying — and also what I am doing and saying. Since you have asked these questions of me, though, let us spend some time talking about the issues they raise. (more…)

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Letters to a Young Translator, Part II: Tacticians and Strategists

Posted by Seung Park on May 30th 2006 to Production Process, Letters to a Young Translator

Dear X,

It has been some time since our last correspondence, and I hope this letter finds you well. You say that you have spent a good deal of time reading through the piece that you hope to translate, and for this I applaud you. All the time you spend in this lonely task, straining to see and hear all that which is most unseeable and unhearable about a piece, will prove its own reward. For there is no art save that which is found in solitude, no goodness in translation save that which you find in yourself. I know you will smile at this, and say to yourself, knowingly, condescendingly, that there is a target audience, and that translations are made for the purpose of being read.

In a sense, you are right. (more…)

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Letters to a Young Translator, Part I: The Initial Read

Posted by Seung Park on May 23rd 2006 to Production Process, Letters to a Young Translator

Dear X,

In your last missive to me, you spoke of getting together with a few of your friends and starting a group to translate a visual novel or two. I was glad to hear it; I have found translation to be an enjoyable, challenging, and fulfilling hobby, and I am always excited to see new blood coming in to fill the ranks. I thought, then, that I should give you some encouragement, some tips and tricks of the trade that you might find yourself wanting in the near future. These are lessons that I have had to learn — mainly the hard way — and I hope that you do not end up making some of the mistakes that I have made in the past.

But we get ahead of ourselves. Let us begin at the beginning. (more…)

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