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Thomas' Acupuncture Clinic

"Translation Page"

CONFESSION
Welcome to my site.

I AM a freelance translator, but
I am NOT the best.
Not the best translator on the web.
Not the best educated person around.
Not the most experienced in my field.
Not the best equipped specialist.

But
I make our living (with FOUR children) in Japan
(the most expensive country in world)
on translation for already 20 years.

I take pride in my work (German "Meister" spirit)
I have NEVER been late with ANY of my assignments.

Let's see Latest entry 

More details on my activities as translator are listed below. You can also jump directly to a chapter of interest to you:

Contents

1. Personal history

2. Educational background

3. Occupational background

4. Fields of expertise

5. Language solutions (problems)

6. Fees / Charges

7. General information and links

8. A quick word

1. PERSONAL HISTORY

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2. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

1974	Graduation from high school. Major subjects: chemistry, music.
1978	Graduation from the Academy of Science and Technology, Kiel; Dipl.-Ing. (B.E.)
1979	Coming to Japan.
1984	Graduation from a Japanese school for oriental, medicine, obtaining Japanese licenses for acupuncture, oriental medicine

　

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3. OCCUPATIONAL BACKGROUND

1979-83	Teaching German and English; some translation work (chemistry).
1984-89	Employment at the NISSAN KOHSEIKAI TAMAGAWA HOSPITAL, TOKYO (research, oriental medicine); started translation during this period
1989-	Translation Experience:  20 years Occasional interpretation
	Freelance, J/E, J/G, E-G.(G/J)  Special fields: medicine, chemistry, engineering, translation into native language (German: medical texts, dissertations, manuals (engineering, equipment), public relations materials, brochures, etc..., confidential biochemical research materials.

Among other companies I have been working for:

• The Japan Information Center of Science and Technology (JICST, government supported organ).
• Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
• About 100 translation agencies in Japan.
• Translation of manuals form all major Japanese companies like Victor TV, Sony, Fuji Film, Nikon etc...

Comment:
I am one of the very few (native) Germans in Japan, who can translate directly from Japanese into German, in particular in the medical field and have NEVER been late with ANY of my assignments. My work, when checked by German engineers working at German branches of Japanese companies (Nikon, Fuji etc...) in Germany usually earns a very good reputation.

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4. FIELDS OF EXPERTISE　

• Medicine (see my acupuncture page).
• Pharmacology.
• Engineering.
• Technical materials.
• Manuals.
• (General materials).

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5. LANGUAGE SOLUTIONS (PROBLEMS)

• I have been working as a freelance translator in Japan for more than 15 years. During that time I noticed many inappropriate concepts among Japanese clients.
• One of the worst and least welcome is the notion that clients must always change the work of language professionals and thus create "Japanese" style language solutions.
• In the beginning, I went along with the relevant requests, but over the years took more and more the liberty of adding a varying but considerable amount of "rewriting" to my work to achieve more intelligible results.
• Most translation agencies (I am registered at about 120 agencies in Japan) pass my German translations on to the customer without any editing at all - yet, naturally charge their margins.
• This would warrant direct contact (which I do not pursue myself, but would be delighted to respond to) to save possible client costs.
• I would love especially to work on whole books, in particular books o oriental medicine.
• For requests, inquiries on particular jobs, quotations etc., send me an E-mail.

　Thank you.

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6. FEES / CHARGES

They vary with the complexity of the material, but the following list shows the basic price ranges (in Japan).
Usually I do not do layout work.

(Naturally / unfortunately the rates given in foreign currencies vary with the exchange rate ....)

• Prices per page Japanese / German translation:
  between 3500 and 5000 Yen (for approx. 160 words target language: approx. 0.20 / 0.30 USD/word).
• Prices per page Japanese / English:
  between 3000 and 3500 Yen (for approx. 180 words target language: approx. 0.16 / 0.20 USD/word).
• Prices per page English / German:
  between 3000 and 4000 Yen for approx. 160 words target language: approx. 0.16 / 0.22 USD/word).

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7. GENERAL INFORMATION 

Sites of Interest

At the end oft this page, I would like to add links to another translation site, where you may find useful information. 

• www.gotranslators.com (just became a full member there, have my article on display)
• http://babelport.com
• http://www.swet.jp/ Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators; dealing with Japanese to English translation
• http--aquarius.net
• Japan Association of Translators
• http://www.translatortips.com
• ProZ.com
• http://www.TranslationDirectory.com - Portal for freelancers: work from home, jobs for linguists, database of translation agencies, translation resources, localization, editing, typesetting, DTP and other freelance opportunities.
• http://www.openoffice.org/ An alternative to the very expensive Microsoft Office. Newest version is still beta, but appears promising.
• http://www.kwintessential.co.uk     Quality language translations in all major world languages.

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