Yeah, and as other people have said, looking things up is a big part of what it means to be a translator. Experience with the language can help you know the intent of the original text without looking anything up, but often it’s just about getting a quicker step in the right direction.
Software for translation professionals is designed to speed that up as much as possible. You don’t have to do the same research multiple times.
Knowing 2000 kanji inside and out is great for the JLPT, but a translator is going to be looking lots of stuff up anyway, so it’s not as much of an advantage away from the artificial environment of a test.
I’m also a certified translator (English to French), have worked in the field for about 8 years (specifically in advertising/communication) and have both a bachelor and master’s in translation studies.
Like it’s been said before, being fluent in a pair of languages and translating itself are different things. Outside linguistic abilities, you need to be able to communicate well with customers, know what you’re looking for, know how to use translation memories or other tool-assisted translation programs, etc. It’s a mostly tedious but strangely rewarding job. While studying translation studies is highly recommended, I have seen a few translators do well with different backgrounds (almost always linguistics or literature-related). Certain fields of translation may require additional training (medical and legal come to mind first).
And as szelma said, nothing matters more than your own language, the one towards which you wish to translate. If you barely read in your own language, you should wonder why you think you want to spend a lifetime translating into it. I taught translation at University and was always amazed at how many students were like “I know two languages, I’m a translator!”, yet couldn’t even remember the last time their read a book in their native language.
Don’t think about it just in terms of kanji. Learning the language proficiently (N2 minimum, N1 goal, if not higher) should be your priority, as that includes relevant kanji.
After that, having other language and writing qualifications help, as do field-specific certifications or field-specific knowledge. Do you write? Are you versed in medical terminology? Do you have credentials or experience to certify that expertise? It’s not a hard science, but before you can start marketing yourself or specializing to any degree, you need that basic proficiency.
So go for it. But don’t think of it in terms of “I know X kanji.” Think about it in terms of learning Japanese.
And as others have pointed out, if you aren’t from a linguistic or writing background in English, start bolstering those skills as well.
Right, like colloquialism and being able translate source language into target language in a way that’s understandable and sounds proper. Look guys, I’m not an idiot, I know it’s going to take work to achieve my goal. I just wanted to know if knowing the standard 2000 Kanji would be sufficient or if I should aim higher.
I’m natively bilingual in both italian and english (just from using both a lot growing up) and despite that I’d still say I’m not a good translator because I can only really interpret things from my point of view and not necessarily how an audience or reader would need to perceive it.
So I guess the point I’m making is even “proficiency” itself doesn’t make you a good translator.
The problem is that there is no threshold for how many kanji will make you a good translator. Kanji is important, sure. But like others said, other factors are far more important. Generally, kanji can be looked up in a dictionary, but grammar and nuances can’t. Your question was, “Is it safe to say that if I learn the 2000 common kanji, I can do my job as translator…,” which is impossible to answer, because being a translator requires a lot more. No one can say “Yeah, once you learn 2000/4000/63372 kanji, you can do your job properly.” I don’t think anyone thinks you’re an idiot. Good luck with your goal, and I hope you succeed!
Sorry. Didn’t mean to (and am assuming no one else did) patronize you on the basics of learning. It’s just that … a lot of times people with expectations that far off from reality do post here (like, “When I know ____ kanji, how good will I be at Japanese?”). You kind of learn to expect the worst and just roll with it in responses.
I think part of it is the ambiguity of the question. “Or do I need to learn more.” I think some people (including me) interpreted this as “do I need to learn more than kanji,” since kanji is such a small part of what it takes to be a translator, but I guess you meant “do I need to learn more than 2000 kanji.” The answer to both is yes, but I suppose the former question is more mockery-worthy than the latter.
If you want a good intro into the kind of issues involved in translation check out:
It is intended to be a textbook for a graduate level intro to translation studies. This book will give you a reasonable appreciation of the level of understanding of your source and target language nessessary to start thinking about the issues involved in competent translation. Suffice it to say, knowledge of kanji and vocab is not even on the radar when it comes to the level of sophistication you need to do “serious” (ie literature) translation.
This is a cool book. Includes exercises for those who like a challange.
For some reasons I was on the track of “being a Japanese translator in Japan”, but in the end you will always need either some certification or a background that other translators don’t have, like technical or legal language, or it will be hard. (So basically leaning the jouyou kanji is more like a preparation to actually getting started.)
My issue is that you are too fixated on technical things like number of kanji, that doesn’t really matter. In the extreme (quite impossible) case you could be illiterate and look up every single kanji, but with a near-native understanding of Japanese and English you could produce great translations.
But even as a more “usual” translator you will look up many things that if you don’t read at the speed of at least a high school senior in either language you will translate so slowly that it won’t be practical.
Sixty years ago (not a typo) a doctorate in e.g. Philosophy required passing (just) proficiency exams in two languages. German was always there because of the importance of Kant (and…and…and). A common rueful warning of the difficulties of comprehensively understanding and analyzing The Critique of Pure Reason was that a large number of pages had been transposed from one section to another and it took decades to discover that and relocate them. I can’t vouch for that. Maybe it was just a cautionary tale. What I can vouch for is that Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations and “ordinary language analysis” preoccupied the field of English/American philosophy for decades and unless your German and your English were at truly eye-catching levels you weren’t going to advance beyond the barefoot ranks. You can’t pay too much attention to Rodrigowaick’s remarks or be daunted enough by them. As Wittgenstein remarked at one point, even the world of ordinary language can require such fastidious care that being a good farmer could be a better goal. Read some dual language editions of, for example, Hemingway’s The Killers or of Gone With the Wind. You may have prodigious abilities and be wonderfully gifted. Celebrate that–then read Rodrigowaick again.
I don’t want to sound rude, but if you want to make a living as a translator, and your first question is how many kanji you need to know, you are a bit lost. There is only one answer to your question. Start studying japanese, see if you like it, and see if your progress is fast enough to keep up with your dream. That’s about it. I wish you success in your goal, but discussing translator jobs so soon makes no sense.
I think one aspect of these “how can I become a translator” posts that frequently goes unmentioned is the role that connections play in translation work. So many translation jobs get handed to people that have some pre-existing connection to the company/organization/client because that’s easier for the company/organization/client than searching out some unknown talent. I hear this a lot from translators I know in Tokyo, most of whom do this work as a side hustle to a main job. While this is purely anecdotal, the half dozen or so people I know doing translation gigs all just fell into it, as they were offered the work through prior connections to, to name a few, research labs, publishers, newspapers, and international sports organizations.
There’re also huge disparities between what different types of clients can pay. I have a friend who does some translation work for a department at Todai for peanuts, while my wife takes two commissions a year for one of the winter Olympic committees and makes absolute bank for a modest amount of work.
EDIT: Point being, I’m not trying to discourage anyone who wants to be translator, only adding that you’ve got to get out there and network, too.
I think some commenters are being a little harsh on the OP for the question. Basically, study all you can - kanji, vocab, grammar. It will take hard work but you can definitely become proficient enough to be a translator if that’s what you want to do.
I am a Japanese translator in the automotive industry. I have N2 certification and one of my degrees in college was Japanese. I do not have formal training for translating or interpreting. I did not know 2000 kanji when I got my job. For me, and a lot of other translators out there, it’s about learning on the job and constant outside studying on your own.
Don’t get discouraged. You don’t need to be 100% fluent in every aspect of the language to find a job using it.
