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[ntropy]

I came to Japan not knowing a word of Japanese and not much of a desire to learn. Due to some very competitive office mates intent on learning Japanese and the inaka office I was in, three years later I was translating promotional material for my local town's city hall. No extra money involved (part of the job), but it was a great chance to get some translation chops. And seeing the finished products, I started to get requests from nearby towns to do work for them (and that was paid). My Superintendant of Education also decided to put me on a translation project of a book of local fairy tales. First, I translated the book into English. Then, a committee of teachers and myself met and edited it into the vocabulary and grammar forms taught in local Junior High schools. It is now a board-approved reader for the reading curriculum in that area. Lots of work but enjoyable, great for my language development and looks good on my resume.

PS-- I left Japan 10 years ago and have very limited need of it now in my current employment. But I like to think I COULD have started doing more translation if I'd wanted to.