Here’s the situation, straight up: I moved to Tokyo. I went back to Canada for a short visit. I came back and have been finding my bearings.
Has anything changed with Freelance Translators from Scratch? Not in any negative way, no. But being in Tokyo is giving Caroline and I a much-needed, fresh perspective on how to best invest our time and energy in the process of becoming mobile translators.
In brief, because Japan is not the ideal place for a German-English translator, and because I am not entirely confident that online portals like ProZ and Translator’s Cafe can provide a fella in my situation with enough work at this point (time may prove me wrong), it seems prudent that we have a longer-term strategy for bringing our freelance translation dreams to fruition.
Caroline is working in a pharmaceutical environment and is developing a solid, specialized vocabulary in Japanese (not to mention she’s building a glossary for future use), to add to previous experience in France in the same field. This will be very handy in the future. She’s working in Japanese and English now and already has the French proficiency.
Me, well, I am going to spend the next couple of years becoming proficient in Japanese in order to have at least three languages with which to work (I will slowly pick up on my French again over time, as well). Also, I am looking for work in Tokyo as a proofreader/editor, something I may try to do freelance as well, as I believe online portals have some gigs posted for proofreading of translations.
If I am lucky, I will get an in-house position here with a company that specializes in re-writing and proofreading of translated texts, in addition to being a translation agency. That might get my foot in the door for future in-house translation work. Now wouldn’t that be nice?!
Having said all of this as a way of justifying my blogging silence for the past month-and-a-half or so, I am back and plan to be bringing some interesting things your way.
I may post a link to a new Tokyo life-related blog I intend to start, if you are interested in that sort of thing on the side.
Also, I read a great special report in The Economist recently about the new ‘nomadic’ lifestyle that is becoming a tangible reality for a great many in the 21st century, and I would like to address some of the issues discussed. I found a link to the web version if you’d like to go check it out. Be sure to check out the whole report, which includes about 7 short pieces, as well as audio interviews.
Here at Freelance Translators from Scratch, it is our expressed goal to become such nomads.
