Media Research, Inc. is an innovative company dealing mainly with translation. Since 1993, we have been teaching translation mainly to Japanese students. Students who scored well in our courses now work for us as translators, rewriters, editors, and proofreaders. That is how it usually works in Japan--the vast majority of translators working from Japanese to English are Japanese.

In other parts of the world, translators translate only into their native languages. They can read and understand the source text and express it effectively in the target language. While it is obviously easier to read a foreign language than it is to write it at a native level, native-English translators in Japan are often thought not to possess sufficient understanding of the Japanese original to be able to produce an accurate translation. Truly bilingual Japanese to English translators are extremely rare.

As I said, this is an innovative company, and we have been reviewing the way things have been done up to now. The main aim of this class is to develop native English-speaking translators to join our team of translators, rewriters, and editors. Of course, if you don’t want to join us in a professional capacity, you are still very welcome to join the class!

You will be given an assignment of around 1,000 Japanese characters every week, which you will be expected to translate and bring to the class together with your questions. In the class, you will be able to discuss any difficulties you may have encountered in the Japanese source text, how you translated it, the problems you had, and how you found the information you needed. An online computer with a projector is used in the class to help you improve your computer and search skills. Your translations will be marked up with comments, suggestions, and feedback on accuracy and style and returned to you the following week.

Students completing the course are invited to register with us as rewriters and/or translators.