Jan 30

Yomitime JetWit article translation (by Joel Dechant)

Article/Journalism, Interview/Profile, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on Yomitime JetWit article translation (by Joel Dechant)

*******

Back on January 15, JetWit posted a link to its first media hit, an article that ran in Yomitime, a free Japanese-language weekly publication.  Below is a translation of the article into English generously provided by professional translator/interpreter Joel Dechant (CIR Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04) at the request of JetWit. (FYI, Joel actually translated it very quickly.  I just forgot to post it until today.)

*******************

Two Men Work Behind the Scenes for the JET Program, Publish Newsletter on Japan

By Kinoue Imai Weinstein

Translation by Joel Dechant (CIR Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04)

The original article ran in Japanese in Yomitime, a free Japanese weekly newspaper 1/9/09

The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program is a Japanese government-sponsored program under which fresh university graduates from English-speaking countries are invited to teach English in Japan’s junior and senior high schools. Started in 1987 with 848 participants, the program’s American alumni association alone now boasts 5508 members, approximately 1000 of whom are in New York. One alumni, Steven Horowitz (age 38) began publishing a quarterly newsletter, JETaaNY, in 2002. The 24-page[1] newsletter covers recent JET alumni developments and news about Japan. Horowitz recently handed off his editor-in-chief duties to Justin Tedaldi (age 29) who plans to expand and enrich the newsletter.

The reason for starting the alumni association and holding the occasional gathering after returning to the States, says Horowitz, was “because our experience working in Japan when we were younger is an important part of our identity, and of course because we wanted to be friends with people who we had something in common with.”

Horowitz added that since the JET experience in Japan was such a significant time in his life, it was only natural for him to want to make friends with those he shared common ground with. Perhaps those 1000-or-so alumni in New York feel the same way when they come out to events.

Most JET participants arrive on 1-year contracts, but since some extend their stays to 2 or 3 years, it seems to imply that they are satisfied. The actual objectives of the program are for Japanese students to learn native English, for the participants to encourage mutual understanding between their countries and Japan, and to promote Japan’s further internationalization.

Horowitz graduated from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania in 1992 with a major in history. He learned about the JET Program from the university career center in his senior year and applied.

“I didn’t actually study about Japan. I just had a vague idea that I’d like to experience a foreign country,” he said. Horowitz was sent to Kariya City in Aichi Prefecture. When he wasn’t teaching English, he was studying Japanese. The first year was so enjoyable that he extended his contract for one more year.

In his second year of JET, he was accepted to the Duke University Law School and returned to the US to become a lawyer. He is currently a bankruptcy lawyer and remains actively involved in[2] the JETAA New York Chapter. A busy schedule indeed.

“JET Alumni Association members are active in many fields: there are lawyers, university professors, journalists and more. They contribute to Japan-US human resources needs.” says Horowitz. He has recently launched a new website called JETWIT.com (WIT stands for Writers Interpreters Translators).

Justin Tedaldi double majored in English and Japanese Studies[3] at SUNY Buffalo[4] and minored in Japanese. In his senior year, he studied abroad on a Ministry of Education AIEJ scholarship at Konan University in Hyogo Prefecture where he honed his Japanese skills. When he graduated, he joined the JET Program as a Coordinator of International Relations (CIR) rather than an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), and he was involved in translation, interpreting and newsletter editing for the City of Kobe.

Kinue Imai Weinstein

[2] The Japanese article used a term that translated as “maintains” the JETAA New York Chapter.  In actuality, Steven is not the head of JETAA NY and so it was changed to “remains actively involved in”.

[3] The Japanese article listed Justin with a major in English, but he actually double majored in English and Japanese.

[4] The Japanese article listed Justin’s alma mater as New York University, though it’s actually SUNY Buffalo.