On Third Thought: The Value of Careful Editing of Japanese-into-English Translation

The purpose of professional writing is to convey some information from an author to readers; the process is successful only when the reader's understanding is that intended by the author. Even without a change in language, the professional writing process is translation of ideas from one mind to another; with a change in language and culture, the challenge increases exponentially. Editing translations prepared with consideration of the way readers parse writing can help increase the probability of successful communication.

Participants will analyze sample English prose to discover for themselves important structural expectations of readers of English. The speaker will discuss how awareness of these expectations can be used to improve translations and ways that this awareness and editing in general can be integrated into a translation workflow.