What the..?

So at least a few times a week I'll be digging around the internet looking for interesting articles or blog entries from various Japanese related sites. I might post some more serious translations; things like some of the literature I'm working on. But I think I've done enough literature over the past couple of years that I'm just getting a bit burnt out.

One of the greatest frustrations I had at university was the lack of recognition of anything outside of academia. Being in this continuous bubble of only reading and translating literature and academic reports became quite mind numbing after a while. Did it help me? Absolutely. And for anyone studying a language knows, immersion is important. But I think that means much more than just becoming an exchange student. Being able to immerse yourself in current issues about life in Japan, current trends, popular media--the very essence of Japanese life as it is in the present--is equally as important.

I can count on one hand the amount of assignments we had pertaining to a news broadcast, or a newspaper article. But they always were limited in their scope; often just dealing with issues related to school in Japan. Although we were treated to Ponyo and Robocon (thankfully!). But this was all from one professor, mind you. The only other time exploring different avenues was allowed was through an independent study, and unfortunately not very many students do this as an undergrad, or even know they can.

So what's the problem?

Well, for all the early 20th century literature I can now translate effectively (Akutagawa, your the man!), and for articles　pertaining to 学習集指導要領改定　(I won't even translate that into English, because it still won't make any sense) I really have no firm grasp on how to effectively translate a normal newspaper article, at least in a manner that is acceptable to me. Reading blogs and manga,or watch modern movies or TV shows which use your everyday colloquialisms or different dialects outside from your normal Tokyo-ben can be challenging. Basically, I'm out of touch with true Japanese reality. I am a walking textbook. My God, I can translate Akutagawa but not "Cowboy Beebop"? There is something wrong with that.

Now I'm probably overreacting just a tad. And I'm not suggesting that I'm unable to understand these sorts of media. It's just that my comfort level is much lower than what I'd like it to be.

Of course, now that I have all the free time in the world, I'm like a kid at a candy store who's been deprived of sweets for the last 4 years. I'm devouring everything I can.

I think that there needs to be balance when learning a language. Offering students not just literature but some random newspaper about baseball, or watching some current popular TV show can give that balance, and help students get a better grasp of the language they are studying. Especially if a student wants to get into something like media translation(like myself). And while these activities can always be done during a students leisure time, having some sort of classroom representation can make all the difference.

So with that being said, I'd like to make some good use of this site. I'm hoping I can put up a bunch of translations and get some feedback from everybody on the general ebb and flow of the piece.

This won't be the only site you'll be able to see some of my translations. I've already signed up to do some Japanese news reporting for a UK based video game website, and another website based here in the States. Of course, all for the fun of it. I'll post those links in a future post once those projects get rolling.

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