Books for Trade/Sale/Giveaway

If you haven’t noticed the blurb in the upper right, I am trying to reduce the number of books in my room.

A mostly correct list of the books available is here.

If you’re interested in any, contact me via the Talk2Me form, but be SURE to include your replyto email address in the BODY of the form as well as in the email field. As noted on the page, for some reason this form  likes to drop the information in the email field, so I often receive nice comments with no way to reply to the sender.

So if you’ve ever tried to contact me and never heard back, that’s why.  (This means you Hamish! Please try again!)

I’m not trying to make money on  this, so I’ll sell cheap, and even give some away. In the case that I want to trade, I’m willing to give away 2 or 3 books for 1 of yours. I’m really just trying to reduce the amount of space taken up by my stash.

I can meet up in Umeda, Honmachi, or Namba, and other places in Osaka to deliver the goods.

Anyway, hope to hear from you!

- Harvey

Interpretation is Hard - Fate is sealed

Well,  things didn’t turn out as I hoped!

Actually, it’s funny.

In Japanese there is an expression that is extremely apporpiate now.

「大どんでん返し」(dai donden-gaeshi)

どんでん返し is when something totally unexpected happens, something so crazy that it is the OPPOSITE of what you would normally expect.

Anyway. This is crazy.

My wife was selected for the PeaceBoat translation position, but I wasn’t!

It’s crazy, because she was totally expecting not to pass. I however, thought I had a chance. I always knew that it would be harder for me to get through, because on the boat Japanese to English interpretation (my strong point) is needed less than English to Japanese… But with the double exam, and the follow-up call with the director… I really thought things were going well.

Oh well.

I didn’t get any clear reason as to why I wasn’t selected. Which, I’m not really surprised about. Japanese usually don’t specifically point out areas for improvement in people. Then again, if it were America I’m sure they would have simply only contacted those who were selected, and just used the lack of contact as a way to tell those who were not selected, “better luck next time”.

In fact, the letter I received was filled with  complements and how they had to make such a tough decision and yada yada yada.

So anyway. Blah. If our schedule works out, my wife will going going around the world on Peace Boat! And I guess I’ll have 3 months to do my thing, whatever my thing at that time happens to be.

Uncertainty! Gotta love it.

I’ll try this again when I get another 3 months of free time in my life…

I’m not too bummed though, so no one worry about me!

We now return to our regularly scheduled JapanNewbie blogging.

- Harvey

Interpretation is Hard - The Aftermath

Well, my 2nd interpretation test for the Peace Boat translation position is complete!

I did much better on the Japanese to English interpretation portion this time. Much, much better. I would have passed myself. The English to Japanese was difficult, but I also handled it much better than last time I believe. The Japanese to English topic was global warming and the resultant rising sea levels potential effect on Japan, and the English to Japanese topic was about the effect of global warming on the agriculture industry in Mali.

A lot of the farming vocabulary had me grasping at straws. Some words that saved my life were… 肥料 (hiryou) for fertilizer, and 井戸 (ido) for well, like, water well. Words I never use in my daily life, but I picked up in school. Yay for academics huh?

Anyway, after the test I got an email from the staff and said they would like me to speak with the director of the program on the phone tomorrow. Maybe it’s a final check to see if I’m sane and sincere!

Anyway, no matter what happens, I’m really glad I handled the Japanese to English interpretation so well. A little practice goes a long way.

I’m not even 100% sure my schedule will allow me to do the PeaceBoat when the time comes… but if it does, I’m on it!

That is… Assuming they want me.

Thanks for all the encouragement JapanNewbie readers!

- Harvey

Interpretation is Hard - Revenge

Well,

I was contacted by PeaceBoat again and they’re going to have me do a “re-test” for the interpretation part of the interview over the phone.

I guess this either means that they thought I should have done better and want to give me a second chance to prove myself… Or they have already selected a few people for the interpretation/translation team and are trying to decide the remaining few members from the scrubs.

Anyway, I’ll do my best!

Now that I’ve been through the ordeal once, I think I can do much better this second time around. I have even been “practicing” while watching Japanese TV on the treadmill at the gym. Mumbling to myself in English as I try to keep up and interpret what they are saying. It’s still tough, but I’m sure I’ll do better than last time.

The test is scheduled for Wednesday. Wish me luck!

- Harvey

Interpretation is Hard

I recently participated in an interview for a potential summer position on the PeaceBoat that included interpretation and translation tests.

I have done a lot of Japanese to English document translation over the past few years, so that part of the test wasn’t such a big deal. The English to Japanese translation of course was much more difficult than Japanese to English, but PeaceBoat wouldn’t expect someone to translate into their non-native language on the job, so no stress.

However, the interpretation test, English to Japanese and even Japanese to English completely blew my mind - smacked me around if you will. Made me cry “uncle”. 誰か助けて～！
I have a new a profound respect for interpreters and simultaneous translators. What a humbling experience.

It was my first time ever attempting to interpret so of course it was difficult, but I didn’t quite expect that it would be that difficult! It was so hard to remember the entire sentence in Japanese and then say it in English including all the proper nouns and numbers and whatnot. Of course I had scratch paper, but I found that when I would scribble down a year or proper noun or something that came up in the Japanese sentence as it was spoken I would miss the rest of the sentence while writing! Not to mention that since Japanese grammar almost flows backwards when compared to English you almost have to continue shuffling things around in your mind as you remember what was said and spit it back into English. It was like mind acrobatics - and I think I sprained something.

Halfway through the interview the staff told me that a major difference in interpreting and translating documents is that I don’t really need to match the language so precisely. He advised me to just grasp 80% of the idea, and relay it back to him in English as I would do if I was telling it to him in my own words. This really helped me out. I was making the mistake of literally attempting to convert the words I heard into text on paper in my mind, translating it in my head, and then “reading” my virtually noted translation back to them. It doesn’t work that way.

I found this great discussion about interpreting on the Honyaku Google Group, a forum for Japanese<->English translators.

Some people in the forum mention that doing translation is a great way to prepare yourself for interpreting, and also that most interpreters were previously translators.

Naruhodo.

They also mention that a lot of them like translation more, because they don’t have to go anywhere specific to do it. Just bring the laptop to a coffee shop, or sit at home.

Something about the stress and presence of people does attract me to interpretation though… Maybe someday I’ll take a class or something… Someday…

I’m still recovering from the shock of feeling like a Japanese-newbie again, but I’m motivated. It was a fun and challenging exercise, and interpreting is so cool when done correctly!

There is a program at the University of Queensland in Australia called, MAJIT (Master of Arts degree in Japanese Interpreting and Translation) that specializes in E-J & J-E interpretation if anyone is interested in becoming a translating/interpreting Jedi.

Lessons learned from this experience? Being able to speak Japanese, having JLPT1, working in document translation, and eating sushi, are all attributes that have nothing to do with being a good interpreter!

Never give up.

- Harvey

I have a wasabi plant 5 NO MORE

Well on JapanNewbie, you ask, and you receive.

My poor wasabi plant.

Finished.

Rotten too. He’s stinky. He’s outta here. Really. It rotted at the core.

In fact. The picture looks greener than it actually is.

If you’re gonna buy me a present. Don’t buy me a plant.

Unless it’s a virtual plant.

I’m sorry Mr. Wasabi! Next time I eat a wasabi filled sushi… I’ll reminisce.

- Harvey

I have a wasabi plant 4 CRISIS

Wasabi crisis alert!!!

This is what the water looks like after one day.

To attempt to revive Mr. Wasabi we pulled it off the peg that holds it in this water dish and washed out the hole. Apparently it was getting sort of… rotten… in there. That can’t be good.

I’ll have to take Kitty’s advice and start talking to it more often…

Come on Wasabi. Hang in there! Hang in there!!!

- Harvey

I have a wasabi plant 3

Hey I still have a wasabi plant!

After just 1 day of sitting in it’s water, the water gets this greasy looking film on top of it. It almost looks like someone has spilled vegetable oil into the water or something.

I’ll try to get a picture of that gunk for next time. Do any other plants do this? I guess this is why the water needs to be changed daily!

I notice I’m getting some whithering little sprouts on the side, but the main three stalks are going strong.

Go wasabi. GO.

Should I trim this or something? What’s what deal?

- Harvey

I have a wasabi plant 2

Bigger. Badder. Spicier.

Seriously, compare it to the wasabi of a previous week!

To be continued…

- Harvey