{"id":639,"date":"2024-07-14T21:27:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T01:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/?p=639"},"modified":"2024-07-14T21:27:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T01:27:47","slug":"interview-with-educators-series-vol-4-ms-hana-kawashima-ransom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/2024\/07\/14\/interview-with-educators-series-vol-4-ms-hana-kawashima-ransom\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cInterview with Educators\u201d series Vol. 4: Ms. Hana Kawashima Ransom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello readers! The JLD Editorial Committee is pleased to bring you the fourth installment of our “Interview with Educators” series with Hana Kawashima Ransom. Hana Kawashima Ransom is an ATA-certified English-Japanese translator based in Texas. She has more than 30 years of experience in the translation industry and leverages her expertise as part of her Yasashii Honyaku Juku <\/em>(aka Lone Star Translation Academy). In addition to freelancing and training, she offers personal consulting on the translation\/interpreting industry and maintains an active presence on YouTube. Click here for more information<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Japanese Language Division (JLD): What kind of classes do you teach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hana Kawashima Ransom (HKR):<\/strong> My classes help prepare translators and, more recently, interpreters to become independent freelancers; they learn how to get work. These aren\u2019t just passive lectures where you just listen and then you\u2019re done. My focus is on getting students up and running and able to find their own jobs as translators\/interpreters.<\/p>\n

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JLD: So, you guide them through the process, from reaching out to clients to getting the job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> I work on changing my students\u2019 mindset more than just always helping them land an assignment. Change their mindset, what to do, how to secure a job. I start by getting students to understand how to freelance.<\/p>\n

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JLD: Are there any kind of textbooks you use for this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> My classes aren\u2019t in competition with the kind of classes at a regular school. There\u2019s no problem if a student of mine wants to take traditional classes like that. Students might want to learn how to translate or about specific industries. What I found surprising was that despite being able to get an expensive translation education at school, these individuals couldn\u2019t get jobs. There are many interpreters\/translators and Japan has many translation\/interpreting schools, but the graduates of these programs can\u2019t find work. So, as my students find a field to specialize in or that matches their skills, I\u2019m showing them the ropes of how to freelance in this industry. There are any number of places you can study how to translate or interpret, but I thought there was a lack of training on the business end of things so that\u2019s what I focus on.<\/p>\n

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HKR:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been in this field for a long time, 29 years. Your average translation school teaches you translation skills, but if you don\u2019t know the industry (e.g., how to actually get jobs, how to work consistently as a translator\/interpreter, and how to negotiate), you can\u2019t make a living no matter how talented you are.<\/p>\n

It just seems so bizarre to me that this aspect doesn\u2019t get covered as much.<\/p>\n

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JLD: Changing gears, can you tell me about your students? Do you have more Japanese or more English speakers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> Japanese speakers are my biggest group followed by true bilingual people\u2014returnees who spent their childhoods in America but live in Japan now. I have also had one American student.<\/p>\n

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JLD: What inspired you to begin teaching this kind of class?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> There are several reasons. My husband and I have always been in the translation industry. I would be writing emails in English and feel like I wasn\u2019t able to write well, which made it hard to negotiate [with clients], so I would always get my husband to help. Being an interpreter\/translator is more than just being skilled with language; you need business acumen and communication skills as well as having a business mindset. I had felt like that for quite a while.<\/p>\n

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HKR:<\/strong> Of course, I think being ATA-certified is one factor in being able to work continuously as a translator. But soft skills, such as how to conduct business and how to conduct yourself in the workplace, are things I think I\u2019ve managed successfully. For example, if a problem arose, I learned from my husband how to write emails about it that made it seem like there actually wasn\u2019t a problem and let me negotiate with the client. For a long time, people kept telling me I ought to teach people how to do these things. That includes how to build a network, especially since I believe interpreters and translators tend to be people who like to work alone and may find it difficult to connect with other professionals. So, I had long thought about trying to teach people what information they need and what to do with it when they get it.<\/p>\n

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JLD: So, you were entertaining the idea of teaching people about the industry for a while. What prompted you to take action?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> I launched a blog four or five years ago, and one day a reader reached out to me through that blog asking me if I would be willing to take them on as a student. I had already been telling myself I was waiting for the opportunity to start teaching, so this was perfect. This individual had been studying under Junko Bradley, a Japanese>English interpreting expert in California. Then that person relocated to Texas, where there weren\u2019t any options for continuing such training, and asked me if I might be interested in teaching. That was the impetus for holding a translation workshop in Texas and that experience was the forerunner to the training I currently offer.<\/p>\n

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HKR:<\/strong> I posted about the workshop on my blog and there were quite a few comments about it from people, especially those in Japan. That made me realize that there was maybe a path forward for this kind of course. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone was stuck at home, so I launched a YouTube channel while continuing to work in translation. A young Japanese woman helped me kick off that project. This woman also had a blog about working as a freelancer while living in a foreign country, I think it was Germany. She actually lost her job during the pandemic and approached me about helping me with the YouTube channel and growing it. She also suggested organizing a juku<\/em> and outlined what that would be like. It was the pandemic; everyone was out of work and stuck at home so there was nothing to lose.<\/p>\n

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JLD: When did you first start teaching this course?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> It was 2021 in February that I held the course for the first time. I had prior teaching experience as a Japanese lecturer and as an instructor at an English conversation school. That experience combined with the kind of loneliness that comes from working at home alone drove me to offer the course, which was rather well received by my students. I thought to myself, \u201cI\u2019ll give this two years and see how it goes.\u201d Two years came and the course was still doing well, so I thought I\u2019d go for three. Now, I\u2019m in my fourth year of teaching this course.<\/p>\n

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JLD: What kind of feedback have you received from your students?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> I think they\u2019ve been pretty happy with the course. I\u2019ve tried to create a learning environment where everyone is treated as an equal rather than having a hierarchy. No one is better or worse than anyone else. I don\u2019t like how stiff the senpai\/kohai<\/em> relationships in Japan are, where you have to mind your words when speaking to a senpai<\/em> and follow what they say because the senpai<\/em> said it. Your performance as a translator is dictated by how skilled you are, not a hierarchical system. So, I wanted to make sure my classroom was a place where everyone felt like they could talk to anyone. And the students say it\u2019s a comfortable, safe place.<\/p>\n

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JLD: Can you tell me more about the classes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> I enjoy having a variety of people in my classes. Different people bring different experiences and that makes it interesting. If I assumed the traditional teacher role where I\u2019m the only one imparting information, teaching would end up being very dull for me. But getting the students to share ideas and challenges means there\u2019s always something new to discover. That makes it interesting for me as a teacher, too.<\/p>\n

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HKR:<\/strong> I encourage my students to share what they\u2019re struggling with. The first hour of class is dedicated to coursework. The second hour of class is what I call Membaa Sakusen Kaigi<\/em>. That\u2019s where a student shares a translation problem they\u2019re grappling with. For example, someone who works full time wants to figure out how to transition to being freelance but they don\u2019t know how to get started. Another is how to balance raising a family while working as a translator. I\u2019m happy to offer one-on-one consulting, but this part of class is akin to group consulting. I will advise the student on how to address their issue and the other students will listen. Some students will share that they\u2019re facing the same situation and others will share ideas for how they accomplished a similar goal.<\/p>\n

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JLD: So, classes are split between teaching translation skills and teaching about the translation industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

HKR:<\/strong> That\u2019s right. I just don\u2019t often see the business side of things being addressed in the courses being offered. This course is one way to build community and find support. Making these kinds of connections for myself is what helped me stay in the business this long. Turning it into a system and sharing it with other interpreters and translators seemed like a good idea. I really want folks to know that they\u2019re not alone and that there are support systems out there that can help them achieve their goals and, most importantly, to enjoy what they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello readers! The JLD Editorial Committee is pleased to bring you the fourth installment of our “Interview with Educators” series with Hana Kawashima Ransom. Hana Kawashima Ransom is an ATA-certified English-Japanese translator based in Texas. She has more than 30 years of experience in the translation industry and leverages her expertise as part of her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,28,33,9,29,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":641,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions\/641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/JLD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}