As translators and interpreters, we are by definition curious, lifelong learners. And just like any other profession, we need to update and expand our skillset on a regular basis. Especially now, with new technologies and content coming out all the time, it can be hard to keep up with what’s out there. The Editorial Committee is posting a Resource Roundup series to share different types of educational and work tools that JLD members have found useful. We welcome submissions from everyone so that we can better learn and benefit from each other. We’re waiting to hear from you!
Without further ado, here are a couple books I’ve been working through this year.
「チームを動かすIT英語実践マニュアル 」 
Author: ラファエル・ヴィアナ
Published by 株式会社アルク in 2022 Reprinted in 2023
Why I find this resource effective
IT interpreting is a newer field for me, and I’m interested in field-specific practice materials. Searching around Amazon Japan’s website under interpreting for something specifically related to IT or software development did not yield many results. Amazon’s algorithm also showed me books on learning English, where I stumbled upon this book. It’s written for project managers who interact with their software developers in English, focusing on typical types of internal meetings and situations, which aligns with my work. I purchased the physical book and paid the international shipping charge for delivery to the US, although a Kindle version is also available.
The book’s focus is real-world practice, with sentence- and conversation-length practical exercises that reinforce the section’s target phrases and structures. The intended use is studying English phrases and structures, but since I’m more interested in improving my non-native Japanese skills, I tend to practice interpreting the English conversations into Japanese and use the Japanese as an answer key.
One caveat of the book is that the target conversations are not always perfect. There are some unnatural phrases and other things I could nitpick, potentially due to the author being a native Portuguese speaker and oversights by the editors. On the whole, however, the books excels at providing real-world practice in current, industry-specific lingo and situations that I have not yet found anywhere else.
Continuing on my IT theme, I also picked up…
「AWSの基本・仕組み・重要用語が全部わかる教科書」
Author: 川畑光平、菊池貴彰 and 真中俊輝, published by SBクリエイティブ株式会社
Why I find this resource effective
This thick tome is more than 500 pages and covers the basics of cloud computing and various types of AWS services, which number in the hundreds. My intent in buying this book was to have a comprehensive technology resource in Japanese to build up my basic understanding of cloud computing while helping me talk about AWS services and technology in Japanese. I’m reading out loud to myself and taking notes as I work my way through the book. I hope that with regular, consistent practice, this will allow me to gain knowledge and improve my production as well as comprehension.
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