Grammar for Translators

In professional business settings, "analysis of the source-language text" is one of the critical skills in Japanese-English translation processes. Lack of this skill could eventually lead to inaccuracies in translation or leave out important information that could seriously impact decision-making. This workshop is designed to address these problems through a variety of translation techniques in grammatical points related to: effective utilization of relative pronouns; proper punctuation of the translated English text; and recognition of the difference in tense structure between Japanese and English grammar, etc. We will work collaboratively in groups of 2 or 3 to translate a variety of materials such as novels, legal documents, IT manuals and lyric. Through this group activity, participants will gain confidence in their understanding of English grammar and how to better interpret original text. This workshop will deal with English to Japanese translation and is useful both for beginning and intermediate-level translators.

No required textbook/ Handouts

Nagisa Todoroki

Dr. Nagisa Todoroki obtained her BA from Sophia University, Tokyo and Master and Doctor of Education (M.Ed., Ed.D) degrees in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)/Applied Linguistics from Temple University. She has been working as a professional simultaneous interpreter (SI) and technical translator for over 20 years, and she is also the President of En Clair Inc., a professional conference interpreting and translation agency. She initially started working as an NHK interpreter, NTV satellite simultaneous interpreter, TBS translator, etc. She has also worked for over 300 major private corporations, major international conferences, and various governments. She has also involved in marketing and PR agency assignments for over 20 years and has been taking over 1,000 simultaneous interpreting assignments for media presentations and press conferences to date.