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Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:19 am
by Furen
This post is to do two things:
1. How are you? What are you up to these days? It's been a while, and I've love to hear from y'all, old and new.

2. I shared it recently on another post, but I wanted to say again, we have a Discord and a decent few regulars there. We don't claim it's the official server, but we have people from the forum and would absolutely love to see you and reunite (link at the end of the post)

We also have a bunch here who would love to get the forum up and running again. I love forums and think they're severely lacking in the modern day. I liken the Discord to the more active chat at this point, but the forum is still dear in my heart.

The link to join is here, and I hope we get to see some familiar faces again :)
https://discord.gg/RjgGrbS

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 6:17 pm
by Peanut
Furen wrote:We also have a bunch here who would love to get the forum up and running again. I love forums and think they're severely lacking in the modern day. I liken the Discord to the more active chat at this point, but the forum is still dear in my heart.

Agreed. I think a number of people share this sentiment. As long as people continue to post the forums will be around.

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:56 am
by Kaori
(0_0)/

1. Hanging in there. Mostly what I do these days is Japanese->English translation, with a bit of teaching on the side.

2. Well, I've joined various Discord servers, including CAA's, but I dunno, I guess real-time chatting in a chat room or server or whatever doesn't really appeal to me.

So, I'm like you both, I really like forum-style interactions.

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:58 am
by shooraijin
I don't discuss my job much these days but it's busy right now. I like forums because I can consume them as I have time to. But I'm glad to see the other CAA and CAA-alike groups in other settings.

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 11:13 am
by Furen
shooraijin wrote:I don't discuss my job much these days but it's busy right now. I like forums because I can consume them as I have time to. But I'm glad to see the other CAA and CAA-alike groups in other settings.

I appreciate that. Having time to pull back and think more on a response is far more cordial than the instant response feel of higher intensity servers. I'd love to figure out how to act more like a person reading a forum than responsively in a real-time chatroom (though I do be missing Chatty)

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Sat May 01, 2021 12:49 am
by ClaecElric4God
Awww, poor chatbot must be so lonely without us.

I'm still in old Japan land, struggling through the dumb decision to go for a master's in education. Hopefully someday I'll be glad I didn't quit.

Good to see people still kicking. And jealous of you, Kaori. I do mostly English teaching, with a bit of translation on the side haha. Let me know how to get more of those great translation jobs. Speaking of which, I might as well take this opportunity to advertise. I got to translate subtitles for a play recently and it's on Youtube! If anybody's interested give it a look. It's a really good story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfR_tv8ARFM

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Sat May 01, 2021 9:14 am
by shooraijin
It's good you did the subtitles; I can barely hear them (my poor Japanese comprehension is bad enough without that).

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Wed May 05, 2021 5:48 pm
by Kaori
ClaecElric4God wrote:I'm still in old Japan land, struggling through the dumb decision to go for a master's in education. Hopefully someday I'll be glad I didn't quit.

Good to see people still kicking. And jealous of you, Kaori. I do mostly English teaching, with a bit of translation on the side haha. Let me know how to get more of those great translation jobs.

I guess it is ironic to say "don't be jealous" when I am jealous of you (for still being in Japan), LOL. Even after doing interpretation/translation for close to 5 years now, being able to move back to Japan is so far out of sight it feels impossible. I've also thought about doing exactly what you're doing and getting a Master's in Education (that, or at least a license, is what I'd need to get back into teaching), so your decision is very sensible. Hang in there!

And I also seriously cannot recommend getting into translation as a career. At least, not freelance translation. Machine translation for Japanese to English is still pretty terrible at this point thanks to the fact that Japanese leaves out so many words (subjects, objects, etc.), but it is improving all the time. Even as it is right now, it's hard to find companies that will pay decent rates (i.e. a living wage), and there's bound to be continued pressure in the future to lower unit rates for translation as MT improves and becomes more widely used--it will also increase competition among translators, as customers with tight budgets will likely increasingly opt for MT or post-editing instead of translation.

But there are some other potential things you might be able to do in the translation field other than pure translation, like:
・In-house interpretation/translation positions, if you feel your spoken Japanese is good enough to tackle interpreting
・Machine learning (to help machine translation take away translators' jobs, LOL--a very smart way of keeping ahead of the automation curve)
・Working as a project manager with a translation agency (wrangling freelance translators to complete end clients' projects)
Just some food for thought. But I will PM you with some translation shop talk anyways.

Speaking of which, I might as well take this opportunity to advertise. I got to translate subtitles for a play recently and it's on Youtube! If anybody's interested give it a look. It's a really good story.

That's pretty awesome!

Shooraijin wrote:It's good you did the subtitles; I can barely hear them (my poor Japanese comprehension is bad enough without that).

It's pretty hard for me to make out some parts of what they're saying, too!--the acoustics are pretty echoey and not terribly clear.

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2021 3:21 am
by ClaecElric4God
Kaori wrote:
Shooraijin wrote:It's good you did the subtitles; I can barely hear them (my poor Japanese comprehension is bad enough without that).

It's pretty hard for me to make out some parts of what they're saying, too!--the acoustics are pretty echoey and not terribly clear.


Yeah I'm just realizing this as you guys mention it. I think the only reason I could make it all out is because I had the script to work with. Thanks for watching, though! I'm definitely not a pro (and I butchered the plays on words), but it boosts the self-esteem to see my work on the world wide web.

And thanks for the tips, Kaori! I guess I shouldn't be jealous. I feel so honored to be here when a lot of people can't, but I have to admit living alone in a foreign country during a pandemic is a very weird experience.

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2021 6:42 pm
by Kaori
ClaecElric4God wrote:
Kaori wrote:And thanks for the tips, Kaori! I guess I shouldn't be jealous. I feel so honored to be here when a lot of people can't, but I have to admit living alone in a foreign country during a pandemic is a very weird experience.

Likewise, I should probably be grateful I have an opportunity to use Japanese in my daily work, something probably lots of people wish they could do. I just found it humorous that we were both envious of each other--turn it around, and it's a good opportunity to stop and look at the things we have to be grateful for. :)

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2021 9:04 pm
by shooraijin
I have to admit ... a pandemic is a very weird experience.


T, FTFY. ;)

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2021 9:38 pm
by ClaecElric4God
Touche :lol:

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 5:58 pm
by raider~joseph
Wow. The site is still up. Anyone remember me per chance?

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:07 am
by ClaecElric4God
Yes! The question is, do you remember me?

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 9:47 pm
by Wolfsong
well, I've moved into an apartment for the first time while I prepare myself for a fresh college semester.

I remember this site very fondly....who all remembers the little trouble that was me XD

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:19 am
by Sammy Boy
1. What am I up to these days ...

- Working
- Doing housework
- Helping with my kid's homework

Seems to be a lot of work related things going on.

When I can find the time, try to build something with my LEGO, or buy some action figures.

2. Thanks for the discord link, might check it out.

Re: Missing us? Where are you?

PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:16 pm
by Furen
Wolfsong wrote:well, I've moved into an apartment for the first time while I prepare myself for a fresh college semester.

I remember this site very fondly....who all remembers the little trouble that was me XD

Oh man... I'm moving back into dorm. I've been at the school for five years, and last year I couldn't due to the school's logistics. I'm actually not excited to go back, which upsets me. I love the school, and like a decent few classmates, but it's been a while, and I'm so tired of so many things people see me as there.

I hope that things go well on your end!