J Carpenter

 From Carpenter’s written text, I was really glad to see something I had struggled with in the past translations being addressed in one of these readings. It was the use of ような.Carpenter searches for words like “seemingly” after finishing a translation, and then considers whether they is truly necessary in each context. Throughout the text, Carpenter continues to bring up the idea that something that sounds fine in Japanese may sound off in English, and ような is one of these phrases. While translating the class assignments, I was always really unsure of the use of ような and whether I should keep it. I’m glad to find this way of thinking about these difficult phrases, something I will definitely keep in mind in future translations. 

For just a quick note about the interview, I found the mention of measurements in English funny. We never do think about it, but mentioning measurements in English is pretty rare and much too precise when actually spoken. Something like this is probably never fully thought about without comparing it to other cultures (just as translation forces one to do). 

Avi