I began answering help-wanted ads posted on Honyaku and taking the translation tests offered by these potential clients. A few jobs came in. Once completed, they became part of the resume sent out to other potential clients. Fellow Honyakkers referred me for jobs they thought I might be good at. Now most of my work is in translation, and most of the editing is somehow connected with Japanese subject matter, such as a project in which I checked the completed graphs and charts in a translation of a QC book. (I found a number of switched labels and similar errors.)
        As a result of getting repeat business from the same clients, I'm learning a couple of unfamiliar fields. When offered an unfamiliar field, I take a test and let the agency decide whether I'm qualified or not. I've gotten good feedback on my ability to untangle nasty, convoluted sentences and to dig up correct terminology even in unfamiliar fields.
        My formal linguistic background is as follows: Cornell FALCON program (6 hours per day for 12 months of language instruction); Ph.D. in linguistics at Yale, with a concentration in the history of the language; a year of dissertation research at Ochanomizu Joshi Daigaku, and a few summers in the Old Country. The rest has been all self-study as I strive to compensate for my relatively short time of continuous residence in Japan. Those textbooks designed for foreign students on Monbusho fellowships are extremely helpful in increasing one's linguistic sophistication in a number of directions, as are novels, magazines, and rented videos. All in all, I'm happy as a translator. Now if only all agencies and direct clients could follow the sterling example of the one client who pays immediately upon receipt of the completed work...

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