9.01.2008

It's hard to translate Japanese when I have other work too

I used to do mostly language stuff, so I'd divide my work by doing translating on certain days, interspersed with other work on the non-translating days. But lately I've been busy with radio (which is one of the reasons why it's hard to take language classes), and it's really hard to translate after reporting to work before dawn. Even though today is Labor Day, I had to be at work at 4, then had non-work obligations after that, took a nap, then started tackling Japanese. But the mind power that's required to translate Japanese is far more than what's needed for French or Spanish or Portuguese, so I'm still not done, and I have to go to bed soon. And my mind is definitely active from so much Japanese processing, but it feels maxed-out, and I think I'll have to swim or go for a walk before sleeping, otherwise I'll have kanji and complex syntax dreams.

Thus concludes my Labor Day Japanese Translating Report.

4 comments:

tipsi said...

Hi, do you like what you are doing?

Margaret Larkin said...

Working in radio is stimulating and fun--no two days are ever the same. I also like translating, but it's sometimes hard after an early radio day.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I just found your website by "often times". I'm a Japanese living in Brazil. I speak English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese. (I studied other languages as well, but I don't speak them.) I used to be a translator myself for magazines, businesses and TV. I know what it's like to work on an urgent translation job when you're exhausted. I used to go crazy!

Margaret Larkin said...

Wow--why do you speak so many languages? What are you doing in Brazil? I went to Liberdade when I was in Brazil--still traces of Japanese stuff going on there.

I'm sure translating Japanese isn't a big deal for you, but all that kanji and crazy syntax really makes my mind become like a broken jigsaw puzzle.