南向き翻訳事務所 岩渕デボラ ブログ

1. Do you remember the first book you ever read on your own?

2. Do you remember how you felt? If not, maybe you remember how you felt seeing a child read for the first time?

3. Do you remember a book that you read again and again as a child?

4. Why that book? Have you read it again as an adult? If so, was it like you remembered?

5. Why do you read?

These are the questions proposed by Katia on her blog “Scribbly Katia.” She suggests people answer them on their blogs and to get a discussion going.

1. I don’t! Like Suzanne Kamata, I only remember Dick, Jane and Spot.

2. As far as I remember, I always loved reading. Weekly trips to the library were sacred, and we even actually BOUGHT books if we got Christmas money. My dad wouldn’t let us get up until 7 a.m.(!) and I was usually awake much earlier doing what I called “sneak reading.” I remember reading Heidi and the Five Little Peppers series, mostly during the early morning hours. Being poor, I guess I enjoyed stories about people who were even worse off–they saved their darning threads for re-use (sob!) My mom gave me a vintage edition of The Wizard of Oz, which unfortunately disintegrated in cardboard box “storage.”

3&4. Books I “read” over and over would include all the books read on Captain Kangaroo, which my siblings and I watched religiously for many long years. I also remember borrowing and reading everything I could get my hands on by Beverly Cleary. She had such a perfect notion of how children think, and her books kept me in stitches. Her character Ramona was always in trouble, but it all made sense to me. Ramona wanted to know how Mike Mulligan went to the bathroom that day he managed to dig the entire foundation for a building with his famous steam shovel in Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (a Captain Kangaroo favorite). Finally! Someone to ask those questions I’d always wanted answers to.

Many years later, I found all of the Beevus and Ramona, and Henry Huggins and Ribsy books translated into Japanese, so I enjoyed them all over again with my daughters. Did Ramona make sense to them, too? Suffice it to say that we once took a trip, and after we were in the car and on our way, the two girls joyfully peeled off their clothes to reveal their pajamas–a chapter right out of the book! (Ramona hated the bother of changing her clothes in the morning, and once went to school with her school clothes over her pjs.) And weren’t they pleased with themselves!

5. Why do you breathe?

Having moaned and groaned about WaMu (see below) I would now like to say a word about an up-and-coming translation. The book will be a combination of the two above titles, English title yet to be decided. They were both written by Tadahiko Ito, who is also my latest hero. Ito worked for Sumitomo Bank for many years before being assigned president of Kansai Bank , a small local bank on the brink of closure due to the many loans it made during the “bubble” economy years to people making a living off of buying up real estate and then selling it again for a quick profit. (Sound familiar?)

Within seven years, Ito had turned the bank completely around, and it is now one of the top regional banks in Japan. As you may guess, the books tell the story of his amazing work getting the bank back up on its feet. Following the collapse of so many banks in Japan and in the US due to unstable real estate markets, you may not be surprised to hear that he completely revamped his lending process. Instead of putting the emphasis on collateral (what the bank gets if a borrower defaults on its loan), he began to take a good look at the businesses he was financing. In a nutshell, Ito saved a bank based on altruistic business practices. The idea was to save the bank, take care of the employees, take care of the customers and benefit society as a whole.

Amazing but true. Look forward to a book that lets you know how Ito succeeded and his advice on how anyone can succeed. This book isn’t The Secret and it is certainly no get-rich-quick scheme–be prepared to have your notions of “success” turned upside down!

近所の紀伊国屋に行ったら、『英語「なるほど」ライティング』はもう１冊の本と並んでありました。どう思いますか？

携帯の写真で分かりにくいでしょうが、異様に本のタイトルも色もデザインも似ています。（著者はもってのほか、出版社もちがう。） ここで態度を決めないといけない。「ぱくり！」と怒るか「Imitation is the highest form of flattery」と思って、開き直るか。どうしましょう？皆さんがどちらにしても、左の方を買ってね。よろしくお願いします！

Vertical publishing has announced Translucent Tree by Nobuko Takagi and translated by yours truly. Read an entire chapter for free!

サンフレアーキャンペーンで「英語なるほどライティング」がプレゼント中

I am a great fan of the Kenkyusha Online Dictionary, and I keep it open while I work. Not only is it less cumbersome than an enormous analog dictionary, but the accommodating people at Kenkyusha are always adding new words to it. All that and I can subscribe to it for years and still not pay as much as I would for the heavy-duty doorstop versions. Today as I was doing a small amount of uninteresting work, I was distracted by a little “newsbar” on the KOD top page that was running samples of some of their latest entries.

不思議ちゃん

I couldn’t resist. I looked it up.

ふしぎちゃん【不思議ちゃん】 (fushigichan)
	〔何を考えているのかわからない, 一風変わった少女〕 an eccentric [a strange, a spacey] girl; Little Miss Spacey.

And there was more.

こうしょへいきしょう【高所平気症】 (kshoheikish)
	《have》 no fear of heights.

The last one was great because it included so many words all lumped together. You can look them up at one time and not have to bother memorizing the bits and pieces!

Reuters writer Elaine Lies has done a lengthy article about Miyuki Miyabe in general and Devil’s Whisper specifically.

“Miyabe shows ‘gritty realism.’”

The article goes onto say what we fans of Miyabe in the English world are always thinking:

“The gritty realism may be a selling point even as it contrasts to books by Murakami, Japan’s best-known living author overseas.

Murakami’s books show an idealized Tokyo, one people long for. But his world is not all that real, which may be unsatisfying for some,” said literary critic Masayoshi Shirakawa.”

The article features a large photo of the author accompanied by a large pile of her books. A quick look at my own shelf confirms that she is holding Devil’s Whisper in her hands, and Crossfire stands out nicely in the pile of Japanese language titles. There is no mention of the translator, but since they quoted a line out of the book, I’ll take that as a compliment.

今年の５月より近所の小学校に総合学習の一部として英語を５〜６年生に教え始めました。世間的に小学生には英語が必要ない、かえって、日本語ができなくなるのでは、と色々聞きます。半年ぐらいがたって、私が言えるのは母国語の学習には障害はないと思います。

しかし、週一に授業ではたくさんの英語も覚えられません。それなら、何の利点があるでしょうか。まず、５月に戻りましょう。総合学習だから、担任プラス私で授業をします。担任先生は英語の専門家でもなければ、英語に対して恐怖を感じた先生もいました。英語の習っている子供たちをたよりにして、夏休みまでは毎回どきどきはらはらしました。先生も生徒も不安だったと思います。でも色々手探りしながら、先生方も私や英語に慣れて、生徒も慣れました。一番の収穫はそこにあると思います。

中学生になると子供たちはとても意識が敏感になって、思い切って行動ができなくなります。周りの目が気になって、英語の言葉を口にするだけではずかしくなります。私は中一からフランス語を覚え始めた。ちゃんとした発音を死んでもやりたくなかったことをはっきりと覚えています。しかし、小学生は違います。外国語に興味があります。シャイな子でも周りがやりだすと自分もやるようになります。

面白いことに男子は英語が大好きです。中高校生になるとスピーチコンテスト等は女子ばっかりでしょう。でも１０才の男子は英語が好きです。勘が働いて、よく理解ができます。もう一歩に進むとほかの分野で普通にやっている子供は英語をとても得意にします。

さて、今日の５年生です。食べ物の学習と発表が終わったので、絵本の読み聞かせに決めました。選んだ本は自分の娘に読んだ本３冊です。Eric Carle作「The Very Hungry Caterpillar」Numerof and Bond 作「 If You Give a Mouse a Cookie」そしてDr. Suessの「GreenEggs and Ham」です。まずはCarolyn Grahamの歌、”Chicken Noodle Soup”を歌ってから絵本に入りました。クラスによって歌は初めでしたが、英語の歌に慣れてきたので、１０分ぐらいでマスター。絵本はもちろん絵が楽しいけれど、やっぱり考え方は違うので、理解しにくい発想はあったと思います。

しかしどのクラスでも３０分ぐらい、静かに聞いて、わからない単語はわかる子が教えてくれて（先生よりできる子供もいます！refrigeratorがわかった男子に驚きました。あと、最初の本をだした時に、いつもは大人しい男子が大きな声で”The Very Hungry Caterpillar!”と言って、クラスメートの感心をあびました！彼の嬉しいそうな笑顔を写真に撮りたかったです。）

言いたいことはこれです。どの子も全部の本を解ったわけではないです。しかし、おちついて聞きました。「わ！嫌だ！！英語できない！どうしよう？」そのようなことは１つもなく、当たり前のように英語を聞きました。そして、落ち着いたので、実際に理解できました。やっぱりこれが小学校の英語の良さなのかなと思いました。英語を身近なものにして、中学生になったらもすでに好きだ！と思ったらいいですね。

To paraphrase Dr. Suess, “My blog, my blog, my blog, my blog!”After a month of faithful entries, I have had a long vacation.  It’s all the fault of the new gym in our neighborhood!  Holiday Sports! Hours I usually spend in front of my computer are now being frittered away in the pool waving dumb bells and on the “Easy Line,” doing circuit training.  

According to Ms. Ogawa, the fact that I believe regular exercise is having a ruinous effect on my lifestyle is a sign that the lifestyle was in serious need of regular exercise, so I guess I’ll continue to give into the urge to go. 

For those unacquainted with Bunko-cho (warmer than Lake Woebegone, but about as exciting), Holiday Sports is located on the property formerly occupied by the Torisen supermarket.  Torisen was so much a part of the neighborhood, that people will probably be giving directions twenty years from now, “You know, the place where Torisen used to be.”  The new gym has a lovely bath and even an outdoor bath.  I go and I love it, but every time I’m out there, I can’t make myself stop thinking about the fact that I am sitting naked in the (former) Torisen parking lot.   

Manna Frances spends hours a day there. Translators doubling as models have many more excuses to exercise than mere translators. She was loyal to the pool until she wandered up to the gym and found it fairly flowing with young male employees. 

My colleague, Pamela Uchida and I went for a spin around the facilities with her husband.  She loved it, but noting the number of young female employees, vowed never to let him go there alone. I don’t think I’d worry if I were her, but just to stay on the safe side, maybe the pool is the best place for him, too. Go to the pool and stay out of trouble. It’s getting late.  Time to hit the massage chairs once more.

１０日の土曜日に遠田和子と一緒にサン・フレア（翻訳専門学校と翻訳会社）の英語冠詞についてのセミナーをやりました。私の第一印象はサン・フレアのスタッフと翻訳者の性格というか人間性というか、とにかくみんなさん、良い方ばかりです。スタッフは翻訳者を大事にして、また翻訳者がとてもまじめな方たちです。
セミナーの風景をご覧になって下さい。

クリックして、大きくすると和子が一所懸命講義をしていることがわかります。私はというと、そのスクリーンの左側でのんきに座って、パワーポイントのスライドを動かしました。（Nは “next,” Pは “previous”)

その間、ただただ、いつもの控えめな３０年前からの友人の自分の知らなかった一面を眺めて感心しました。素敵な先生ですよ。英語の世界観を描いて、それに基づいた説明が一番印象に残りました。

講義にきていただいた方は色々質問しました。私たちは質問が大好き。一番面白かった質問は「ものは数えられるものか数えられないものか、ネイティブは考えますか。それとも自然に分かってしまうのでしょうか。」答えは簡単。「自然にわかってしまいます。」毎日その区別に苦しむ人に対してもうしわけない答えです。しかし、生まれてはじめて、自分がものは数えられるものか数えられないものか、自然に区別できることを心から感謝しました。

終わっても質問して下さった方が何人かいて、本当に仕事に対しての熱意を感じました。翻訳というのは孤独な職業なので、同じ仕事をしている方との交流も嬉しかったです。また機会があればいいなと思います。

サン・フレアの皆さん、ありがとうございます！