Episode Details

On this episode of the Japan Station podcast, we're talking about translation, learning Japanese and more with translator/podcaster Jenn O'Donnell.

About Anna Lughezzani

Jenn O'Donnell is a Japanese to English translator and podcaster. She lives in Osaka where she works as a Localization Director for a video game company. She also produces the podcasts The Translation Chat and Otafu Susume.

Topics Discussed

• About how it was that Jenn began learning Japanese
• Working on farms in Fukuoka
• Learning Japanese as someone with dyslexia
• On the struggle to get work as a Japanese-English translator
• On becoming a freelance Japanese to English translator
• About some of the pitfalls often seen in media translation
• False friends in Japanese/English
• Denotation vs connotation
• Examples of some Japanese to English translations Jenn enjoys
• About the Miracles at the Namie General Store translation
• About the English translation of The Miracles at the Namiya General Store
• About the English translation of the All You Need Is Kill novel
• About translating a novel vs manga/anime/light novels
• About The Translation Chat podcast
• About the Recommendation from My Otaku Spouse (Otafu Susume) podcast
• About The Faraway Paladin (Saihate no Paradin)
• And much more!

Support on Patreon & Ko-fi

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You can also do a one time donation via Ko-fi.

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Links, Videos, Etc.

To keep up to date with Jenn and her projects, make sure to follow her on Twitter.

• @JENTranslations

Check out the list below for links to the websites, podcats, and articles mentioned in this episode.

• Japanese Talk Online
  • Where Jenn writes about learning Japanese
• J-EN Translations
  • Where Jenn writes about translation
• An article about Jenn's experiences participating in WOOF/working in farms in Japan
• An article about the English translation of the All You Need Is Kill novel
• The Translation Chat Podcast
• Recommendation from My Otaku Spouse (Otafu Susume)

Check out the episode of Japan Station featuring Dr. Wesley Robertson.

• A Wonderful Mess: About the Japanese Writing System w. Dr. Wes Robertson | Japan Station 80

Don't forget to listen to the