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Getsuya

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  1. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from akaritan in Help Me Name My 'Straight Male VN Fan Reviewing Otome Games' Blog!   
    Hi it's me!
    I'm back!
    I got married and stopped playing VNs (since they wouldn't go over too well with the wife) so I kinda ditched the community, but now I'm back!
    See I've got a foolproof plan: while my wife may complain about me playing games where I romance cutesy anime girls she certainly can't raise an eyebrow at me playing games where I romance hot anime guys. So I've dusted off my good ol' PSP and am getting myself a nice backlog of otome games (I'm going off of a few Japanese lists of otome games with good plot for suggestions). And once I play through them I'm going to review them on a blog here! The whole concept is looking at these games from a straight male perspective, which may provide interesting insight as I'm obviously not the target demographic.
    What I need is a good name for the blog. I was going to use 'Brotome', but that has sadly already been taken by a guy doing a similar gimmick on his Youtube channel. So now I'm fresh out of ideas for a good, catchy name for my blog. I've thought of a few dumb ones:
    Reversing the Harem
    Sausage Matsuri
    But I'd love to hear some good ideas on what a good 'guy reviewing otome games' blog name would be!
  2. Like
    Getsuya reacted to Cyrillej1 in Trade Games/Books for my VN Collection! (US only sorry)   
    I decided to just make a list of games I'd be willing to part with for your trade.  There seems to be a couple on there that matches your wishlist.  So, you can pick the amount of titles you think would be a fair trade, and we can come to an agreement we're both happy with in pm later if you decide to trade with me. 
     
     
     
  3. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Cyrillej1 in Trade Games/Books for my VN Collection! (US only sorry)   
    It'd probably be better if I just put up a wishlist. Between the games I own currently, the games I've played in the past and don't wish to own again, and the games I'm just not very interested in there is a pretty specific set left so I'll just make a list.
    Here's a list of pretty much every game I'd be looking for the US version of:
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wTtXXTb3rxVYRtYWZ_EjlNsFPSryahKcDihrvDvV7X0/edit?usp=sharing
    If there are awesome games that aren't on that list just assume I either A) own them already in English or Japanese or B) have already played them/do not wish to own them at this point.
  4. Like
    Getsuya reacted to Cyrillej1 in Trade Games/Books for my VN Collection! (US only sorry)   
    Congratulations on getting married!
    What kind of games do you already have (US)?  I do have old PS1/2, DS, and 3DS games I'm not really playing anymore that I might want to trade.  But it'd be kinda pointless if you already played most of what I have in my collection already.
  5. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from kingdomcome in Trade Games/Books for my VN Collection! (US only sorry)   
    So I'm getting married in 2 months.
    While my wife enjoys video games and doesn't mind me playing them one bit, I just don't feel like the VNs I own are something I'm going to want to play once we're living together. Nor do I think I'll ever have the time to sit down and read through any of them.
    Honestly I was considering just throwing them away. That might sound horrific, but I don't have the boxes or manuals for any of them so I just have a bunch of naked (official) DVDs in a case, so I can't really sell them. I mean I could, but I feel like I wouldn't get a very nice price for the set and selling them one by one would be a huge pain and not worth it in the end.
     
    Then a thought came to me: how about instead of selling them I pass them on to someone else who will enjoy them?
    And so I would like to offer a chance to one lucky Fuwan to receive my collection of Japanese all-ages VNs (sorry no adult stuff in my collection). The contents are as follows (note as I said all of these are just the discs, no box or manual for any)
    PS2 Higurashi Matsuri (w/ 2 disc soundtrack) (this is the Higurashi PS2 game that was released before Part 8 was out, so it has a different ending than the rest of the series. If you want the real ending you have to buy Higurashi Append separately.)
    (Note also that Japanese PS1/2 games will only work with Japanese region PS2/1s and that Key PC games need to be patched to work with non-Japanese PCs)
    PS2 Haru no Ashioto (https://vndb.org/v179)
    PS1 Hiza no Ue no Partner (a raising sim sort of like Princess Maker except you're raising 3 adorable cat girls. I never got around to trying it out it just looked cute)
    PS1 Kagayaku Kisetsu he (https://vndb.org/v51)
    PS2 Galaxy Angel (https://vndb.org/v860)
    PS2 Kanon (https://vndb.org/v33)
    PS2 Te no Hira wo Taiyou ni (https://vndb.org/v1113)
    PS2 Memories Off Duet (https://vndb.org/r26470)
    PC Rewrite (requires Japanese PC or patch) (w/soundtrack)
    PS2 Clannad (https://vndb.org/v4)
    PS2 Mai-Hime (https://vndb.org/v65)
    PS2 Brighter Than Dawning Blue (https://vndb.org/v232)
    PS2 Iris (https://vndb.org/v2312)
    PC Symphonic Rain (w/ special ost)
    PS1 Sister Princess (https://vndb.org/v4681)
    PC Little Busters (https://vndb.org/v5)
    PC Angel Beats (requires Japanese PC or patch) (w/ 2 osts) (https://vndb.org/v13774)
    Now while I don't want to sell these I also don't want to just give them away. Instead I want to give you something you can enjoy and I'd like to receive something I can enjoy in exchange!
    The two things I'd love to receive in return are games or books.
    What kinds of games? Either US or Japanese PS1/2 or DS games or US 3DS games. I like RPGs and horror games especially, though I'm willing to consider all kinds of offers.
    As for books I'd like complete series of novels either Japanese or English. I hate having to buy pieces of a series so it's all or nothing. I like sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mystery... honestly any good novel series could catch my eye.
    Though I'm offering 16 games, some of which were quite expensive when I bought them and which you will be getting without needing to pay shipping like you would if you were to try to get them from Japan, I am not asking for a completely equal exchange. These are naked disks and there's a fair chance you may not like all of them (though I did pick all the games (minus the cat-raising one) from lists of highly rated VNs) so I'm not going to be too greedy. But please make fair offers.
    I would feel bad making you bid against each other which I think would just cause bad feelings so what I'm going to do is give it a week. At the end of a week I will choose the person who has made the most interesting and fair offer (or an offer I found to be exceedingly interesting or exceedingly fair) and communicate with that person to set up the shipment.
    During the week I'll pop in to let people know if some of the things I'm being offered are things I already own, just to keep things fair.
     
    (DVDs or Blu-Rays of classic black and white horror films would also be appreciated)
  6. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from kingdomcome in Welcome Back?   
    Hi I'm back too. As of now.
    Things that happened in my life since I left:
    1. Moved back to America and then across America from WA to IN
    2. Got a job that works all the hours. All the hours. However there is no take home stress and it's doing something I love so I don't care and the money is good so I'm very content.
    3. Got engaged and will soon be married. Girlfriend not only does not know much about anime but I think she just legitimately does not like non-child-oriented animated things (IE she loves Disney but hates Archer) and has only watched a few anime things to humor me. That said she is understanding of my interests and we share a lot of interests outside anime so it's fine.
    4. Quit video games for good and then un-quit them.
    5. Decided that I needed folks to talk about anime and Japanese games and VNs with after all and came back to Fuwanovel because this place is great.
     
  7. Like
    Getsuya reacted to Fred the Barber in What Video Games Are You Playing Right Now?   
    I've only played Soul Blazer, which is indeed pretty amazing, and part of Illusion of Gaia, which was fascinating but not what I was looking for at the time. I haven't done much nostalgia gaming in a while because I have too much non-nostalgia gaming to do, but there is some constant nagging feeling that I'm missing part of my life as a result. I recently happened across Screw Attack live streaming EarthBound, which was quite a trip down memory lane. And I do mean a trip - I watched them first go through Moonside, and then the monkey cave where you have to trade presents to all the monkeys. What a beautifully bizarre game.
  8. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Fred the Barber in What Video Games Are You Playing Right Now?   
    I was feeling nostalgic so I sat down and played through Actraiser, which is an amazing game. I enjoyed the nostalgia trip so much I might just go through the whole Heaven and Earth series (Actraiser, Soul Blazer, Illusions of Gaia and Terranigma). They're all such amazing games.
  9. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from SaintOfVoid in What are you playing?   
    Still playing Iris and... I'm pretty sure this game has the most adorable character art of any VN I've played up to now, and I might have a hard time finding cuter art after this. I mean Symphonic Rain had some cute character designs, and I've played a few others with cute characters but... not like this. I said it reminds me a lot of Kage Donbo's style but even hers seems a little too simple compared to this. The characters have a lot of personality to them so they're not as simple as Kage Donbo, but the faces and just the cute way they look is similar. It helps that they all have really cute personalities too, and their outfits and expressions really help as well. I don't think I'd notice their cuteness quite as much if they weren't so animated. I wish Kid had gotten more popular so they could have remade this game with whatever that stuff they did for To Heart 2 is where the characters look fully animated.
     
    http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm28775
    There's the OP for more of an idea how cute these girls are. Also one of them is Rie Kugumiya (and her route is really weird).
  10. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from kingdomcome in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    Depends on the language, on the country you're searching for the job in, and on the industry you're looking for the job in. For Japanese there is always going to be an open market for translators and interpreters in America because people who can actually do native-level Japanese and English are not as common as you are implying. You also have to take into account things like region (coastal cities with large Asian populations will obviously have more competition than mid-west cities where not many Asians live but where car and industry companies are all set up). 
    Honestly it's just like any other college skillset; you have to look and work at it to make sure you can get into a career, but there's definitely careers there if you put in the work to find them.
  11. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from kingdomcome in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    The Road to Interpreter
    Since there seems to be a bit of interest in this, I will detail the exact steps I took to arrive where I am.
    1. I began studying Japanese in high school through correspondence. During this time I really only learned hiragana, katakana and some very simple sentences but anyway I got started early.
    2. I then studied it at my local community college. This was still pretty simple stuff and I was mostly just biding my time until I turned 19 when...
    3. I went to Brazil and lived there for 2 years preaching the gospel for my church. During this time I learned Portuguese and also learned to break out of my loner shell and talk to people and open up. I also learned to love other cultures and accept cultural differences, which I think was very important.
    4. I got back and went to a real college instead of a community college. I picked a college based on its strong study abroad program because I intended from the very start to study abroad in Japan.
    5. After doing a little bit of study at that college I studied abroad. I cannot stress the importance of studying abroad in Japan for learning the language. It is such a nuanced language that is tied so deeply with Japanese culture that you really can't learn the one without the other. I realize not everyone has the finances for this, but there are tons of financing options for students, so you should take advantage of anything you can to make it over, even going in debt. I went pretty far in debt to do my study abroad, but it was worth it. If you don't take advantage of this while at college it could become very difficult for you to make it over to Japan later as you get caught up in working, then having a family etc.
    6. While studying abroad I took the JLPT levels 3 and 2 and passed both. This is important. The JLPT unlocks many options later on, since it is the only real way to get certification of how good at Japanese you are. Many companies will want to know what level you are at, and being at at least level 2 is an important starting point for you in the Japanese industry.
    6. After graduating (actually while graduating) I signed up for the JET Programme: http://jetprogramme.org/en/ Most people know this as an English teaching program, but there is also the option of being a 'CIR' or Coordinator of International Relations. This is a position for people who know Japanese already. You will be put to work in a community center (City Hall, international center etc) helping to run events and promote international friendships. The pay is good (especially for a person fresh out of college) and all they require is a degree in anything. If you have the JLPT and can interview well you have a good shot at becoming a CIR. This is invaluable. Being a CIR gives you 2-5 years of experience living and working in a Japanese office. Office Japanese is a lot different from what you'll learn in textbooks or what you'll see in books/manga/anime/VNS. And it's very important because:
    7. The JLPT N1. It's entirely based around office and work words. It is meant to test whether a person would be capable of communicating in a work environment in Japan. Actually having worked in an office gave me a huge leg up in passing this.
    8. After 2 years I decided to come back to America. I discovered that in Japan, with my lack of any other area of study, I would only be able to take minimum-wage jobs in big cities like Tokyo where I would barely be able to make ends meet. Unfortunately, minimum-wage translation jobs in Japan don't really care if the people they hire are native English speakers or not. They'll hire just about anyone with English experience, so you're competing with tons of people in Japan. Without a special skillset to offer beyond just English-Japanese it's very hard to find a good job in Japan without spending a lot of time making very little money and gaining experience or getting very, very lucky.
    9. Before coming back I posted my resume up on Monster, a site for uploading resumes and searching for jobs. Very soon I received a contact from a headhunting company that specifically finds workers for automotive jobs. They told me that automotive companies based in Japan are in dire need of translators/interpreters in the US. If I was willing to move wherever they needed me, they could definitely get me a job even though I had no background or training in automotive terminology.
    10. And so here I am.
    Living and studying abroad, I feel, was the thing that really gave me a boost in finding this job. Living abroad by yourself shows independence and drive that companies really love. It gave me the confidence I needed to do well at interviews and adapt to crazy situations (like moving across the US with no car or house and getting all of that figured out in a week before immediately starting work).
    I think the market is very solid for automotive translation, and it's a very good thing to aim for right now since they are always going to need translators and interpreters at these companies (and the turnover rate is a little high, just due to folks getting experience and moving on to higher-paying positions at other companies).
  12. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Arcadeotic in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    The Road to Interpreter
    Since there seems to be a bit of interest in this, I will detail the exact steps I took to arrive where I am.
    1. I began studying Japanese in high school through correspondence. During this time I really only learned hiragana, katakana and some very simple sentences but anyway I got started early.
    2. I then studied it at my local community college. This was still pretty simple stuff and I was mostly just biding my time until I turned 19 when...
    3. I went to Brazil and lived there for 2 years preaching the gospel for my church. During this time I learned Portuguese and also learned to break out of my loner shell and talk to people and open up. I also learned to love other cultures and accept cultural differences, which I think was very important.
    4. I got back and went to a real college instead of a community college. I picked a college based on its strong study abroad program because I intended from the very start to study abroad in Japan.
    5. After doing a little bit of study at that college I studied abroad. I cannot stress the importance of studying abroad in Japan for learning the language. It is such a nuanced language that is tied so deeply with Japanese culture that you really can't learn the one without the other. I realize not everyone has the finances for this, but there are tons of financing options for students, so you should take advantage of anything you can to make it over, even going in debt. I went pretty far in debt to do my study abroad, but it was worth it. If you don't take advantage of this while at college it could become very difficult for you to make it over to Japan later as you get caught up in working, then having a family etc.
    6. While studying abroad I took the JLPT levels 3 and 2 and passed both. This is important. The JLPT unlocks many options later on, since it is the only real way to get certification of how good at Japanese you are. Many companies will want to know what level you are at, and being at at least level 2 is an important starting point for you in the Japanese industry.
    6. After graduating (actually while graduating) I signed up for the JET Programme: http://jetprogramme.org/en/ Most people know this as an English teaching program, but there is also the option of being a 'CIR' or Coordinator of International Relations. This is a position for people who know Japanese already. You will be put to work in a community center (City Hall, international center etc) helping to run events and promote international friendships. The pay is good (especially for a person fresh out of college) and all they require is a degree in anything. If you have the JLPT and can interview well you have a good shot at becoming a CIR. This is invaluable. Being a CIR gives you 2-5 years of experience living and working in a Japanese office. Office Japanese is a lot different from what you'll learn in textbooks or what you'll see in books/manga/anime/VNS. And it's very important because:
    7. The JLPT N1. It's entirely based around office and work words. It is meant to test whether a person would be capable of communicating in a work environment in Japan. Actually having worked in an office gave me a huge leg up in passing this.
    8. After 2 years I decided to come back to America. I discovered that in Japan, with my lack of any other area of study, I would only be able to take minimum-wage jobs in big cities like Tokyo where I would barely be able to make ends meet. Unfortunately, minimum-wage translation jobs in Japan don't really care if the people they hire are native English speakers or not. They'll hire just about anyone with English experience, so you're competing with tons of people in Japan. Without a special skillset to offer beyond just English-Japanese it's very hard to find a good job in Japan without spending a lot of time making very little money and gaining experience or getting very, very lucky.
    9. Before coming back I posted my resume up on Monster, a site for uploading resumes and searching for jobs. Very soon I received a contact from a headhunting company that specifically finds workers for automotive jobs. They told me that automotive companies based in Japan are in dire need of translators/interpreters in the US. If I was willing to move wherever they needed me, they could definitely get me a job even though I had no background or training in automotive terminology.
    10. And so here I am.
    Living and studying abroad, I feel, was the thing that really gave me a boost in finding this job. Living abroad by yourself shows independence and drive that companies really love. It gave me the confidence I needed to do well at interviews and adapt to crazy situations (like moving across the US with no car or house and getting all of that figured out in a week before immediately starting work).
    I think the market is very solid for automotive translation, and it's a very good thing to aim for right now since they are always going to need translators and interpreters at these companies (and the turnover rate is a little high, just due to folks getting experience and moving on to higher-paying positions at other companies).
  13. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Leaf in What are you playing?   
    Well I'm going through my collection of PS2 games I bought way back when I first studied abroad in Japan. At the time I just grabbed a bunch of high-rated PS2 VNs to save for when I could actually read them, so now I'm actually reading them. The one I'm currently playing is:
    https://vndb.org/v2312
    A very un-known game that even so was pretty well received. Kid is a very decent VN company that mostly only produced all-ages stuff for consoles with a few rare PC ports (they're most famous series is probably the Infinity games, followed by Memories Off, but they did a ton of stuff during the Saturn/PS/PS2/DC eras).
    Anyway there are many things that make it worth playing. The art is very adorable, and reminds me of Kage Donbo's style. It also deals with a full cast of characters much younger than normal VNs (everyone is in middle school except 2 older girls) so the characters (including the main) are all still very childish and are dealing with issues that face a younger generation than most VNs set in academies for older youth. The music is also very good. And the characters are so expressive! This was still the era where even having lip-flaps was a luxury in VNs, so Kid definitely delivers with lots of pose and expression changes as well as lip-movements.
    Also the main character has a name and definite personality, unlike many VN protags. Unfortunately his personality is that he thinks and worries too much. The game even pokes fun at how long his internal monologues are. Personally though I find it nice when I'm reading a VN -about- a guy and his story with these girls rather than the VNs where you're supposed to kind of assume the role of the main character and pretend that it's you in there.
    I played through one route of this quite a few years ago and I remember it being very surprising in the directions it chose to go, so I'm excited to see what else the game has to offer. The description given by vndb is definitely selling it short. There is a lot of plot and twists in this game beyond just a boy trying to pick a girlfriend.
     
    Anyway I'll post up a full review when I'm done, and keep moving through my collection. Some of the other PS2 games I have on hand are Haru no Ashioto (one of Minori (of ef fame)'s early works), the Mai-Hime VN, and some other random games. I'm also thinking of buying a bunch more and making a collection of PS1/2 era VNs, since I really like the styles from this era and the fact that it's all all-ages. Plus most of it was made directly for console so it's not like they're cutting stuff out.
    Anyway I'll keep y'all updated.
    (Here's a better look at the characters/art style:Picture! )
  14. Like
    Getsuya reacted to Nosebleed in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    Wow this is such an encouraging read, you have no idea.
    My parents aren't very keen on the idea of me majoring in translation and even I often doubt myself on whether or not being a translator/interpreter will help be with job stability, but it's what I have a passion for and knowing there are ways for it to work is most reassuring.
    A question: did you always know this is where you wanted to be or you had a lot of doubts beforehand?
    A bit of context: i'm in my 1st year of college (2nd semester) and next year i'll begin specifying my educational path. I want to go down the translation path and major in that field, but I still have lots of doubts on whether or not that's the right thing to do. I still don't know what kind of jobs/companies to look for and I don't know exactly what field would offer me the most security. I just know i really have a passion for it and that's the main driving force for me right now, but the unknown is pretty scary.
  15. Like
    Getsuya reacted to LoganW in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    Started learning Japanese a few days ago, it helps knowing there might be a job in it if keep doing it! 
    Thanks for the info!
  16. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Templarseeker in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  17. Like
    Getsuya reacted to Ioruko in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    Hello, fellow interpreter, I work at a car company too and I can relate to most of what you have said. 
    It is absolutely true, that the main stress on the job is when people argue and try to force their opinion during meetings. The rest of the day is at most busy, but as I work on a project contract basis, I don't sit at the office, but rather support Japanese team on site (I work for press shop die maintenance mostly). And it is very interesting and there is a lot of spare time that you can use for Japanese studies or even book reading (mobile phones use is not allowed at genba, but nobody pays attention when and how I use it, since I am just an interpreter). 
    I've been working like this for approx. 2 years, but it is not easy to find a job when you just graduated. It took me 5 months to get my first contract, and it was for a logistics company. 
  18. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Ioruko in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  19. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Zalor in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  20. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Bolverk in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  21. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Buddha Senpai in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  22. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from kingdomcome in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  23. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from madvanced in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  24. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Mr Poltroon in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
  25. Like
    Getsuya got a reaction from Tenkuru in Working as an Interpreter is Awesome (And Here's Why)   
    I work as a professional translator/interpreter for a car company.
    It's awesome.
    Here is my list of reasons why this is the greatest job:
    1. No take home stress. At my previous job I could never enjoy days off because I was always worrying about things that had to be done or projects I had to complete at work. As a translator/interpreter there is none of that. I could be in the most stressful meeting ever with people shouting back and forth and huge implications for the company but as soon as I walk out of that meeting it all slides off my back because it's not my problem. I'm just there to translate. I enjoy the hell out of my days off now.
    2. You are the boss's best bud. Most companies in the US with a Japanese parent company (which are most of the companies that really need a translator badly) have mainly Japanese managing staff. All these Japanese managers can usually speak English just fine but they like to relax during meetings and use a translator instead. This means you're always there by the boss's side. From day one you're their personal buddy and you've got his ear. That's some job security.
    3. Speaking of job security: everyone in the business knows that machine translation doesn't work. Plus they know that audio machine translation is a distant dream of the future. And it's not like every single Japanese worker is going to know how to speak Engineering-level English and it's certainly not like any of your American engineers are going to learn any Japanese. These companies will be needing translators 50 years in the future.
    4. Tied with job security is the fact that you are worth your weight in gold. Getting a solid Japanese translator out to the American mid-west is like waiting for lightning to strike. We are a rarity and a hot commodity. Though it takes a little luck to get picked up when you have no experience in the field you want to interpret in, once you have 2 or so years under your belt suddenly you can go anywhere, do anything! Companies in the area will trip over themselves trying to outbid each other for an experienced engineering interpreter. The world is your oyster.
    5. Studying kanji at work? Absolutely! It's training for the job isn't it? I use a site called WaniKani and everyone's totally cool with me using 30-40 minutes a day crunching my reviews on there. What they don't know is I'm mostly perfecting my kanji so I can finally sit down and read Dies Irae but hey it helps with the job too so who cares!
    6. Probably best of all is no fanboys complaining about your translations. Most of the engineers will be happy just to have a general gist of what these papers say in English. It's not like manga/anime/game translation where every translation choice you make will be dissected and whined about. Since you are the only lifeline between the English and the Japanese both sides will treat you like a saint. Even the simplest translation I do never fails to gain me a heartfelt thanks, which is probably one of the best perks of the job. People really, truly appreciate what you do and are verbally grateful for it.
     
    Now of course I realize that the company I work for might be an exception. The people here are really nice. But I think translators may find similar situations at other positions of this kind. I think a lot of anime/game/VN fans that learn Japanese get tunnel-vision thinking that game/anime/manga translation is where they want to end up, but I heartily recommend you look into automotive translation if you can. It's a great industry and I'm enjoying the heck out of it every day. I'll be happy to answer any questions about my job and how I got here in this thread.
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