[JIF2019] Is It Only Possible to Make a Living as an Interpreter through English? A Consideration from the Precarious Current Situation with Indonesian
Takayuki Dobe
Indonesian language interpreter and translator. Born in Koganei City, Tokyo, in 1970. Graduated from the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University. Encountered Indonesian due to a relationship formed while studying at university. After studying Indonesian in Indonesia, had experience of working as resident staff of an organization. Later returned to Japan to open an independent business as a full-time freelance interpreter and translator, which is continuing to this day, working on a wide range of cases as an Indonesian specialist.
Is It Only Possible to Make a Living as an Interpreter through English? A Consideration from the Precarious Current Situation with Indonesian
In this session, I will introduce the realities of the current situation in the Indonesian interpreting market and use this as a clue to try to make an approach to the common theme for many languages of “how to make a living from interpreting.”
Among the topics to be discussed are: Thinking on the setting of fees, the flat and mutually beneficial relationship between the client and intermediary agent, the power that results in “open and loose connections” that exceed differences in generations and specialist languages, the necessity for information transmission and educational activities, and so on. While adding new perspectives and topics to the framework of my serial column “Welcome to the World of Indonesian Interpretation”, I hope to be able to offer content that contains more practical proposals for interpreters in minor languages.
What can be done and how to change the flow toward being able to make a living from interpreting (across a broad range of languages, not simply for the small minority of people centering on English at the top of the pyramid)? Whether you have read the column mentioned above or not, and whether you are a specialist in the Indonesian language or another language, I would be very happy if you would join me in an attempt to find a positive and realistic answer to this question.