This site uses cookies.
Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site,
while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used.
For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
This person has a SecurePRO™ card. Because this person is not a ProZ.com Plus subscriber, to view his or her SecurePRO™ card you must be a ProZ.com Business member or Plus subscriber.
Affiliations
This person is not affiliated with any business or Blue Board record at ProZ.com.
Japanese to English: 「危機」訴える四国電力、焦点は値上げ幅 ヒントは原発事故後の審査 General field: Bus/Financial Detailed field: Media / Multimedia
Source text - Japanese 1日に高松市で開かれた四国電力の値上げに関する公聴会では、四電が「危機的な状況を脱し、今後も電力の安定供給を継続していくため」として、値上げを訴えた。政府は原則として電気料金の値上げ自体は認める方向で、値上げ幅が焦点となる。燃料価格が高止まりするなか、電気代は高水準が続きそうだ。
Translation - English Shikoku Electric Power Company in Crisis:
Shikoku Electric Power raises focus on energy “crisis” with rising prices, citing results of nuclear power accident
investigation.
Paid Article
Shiki Iwasawa. 01/02/2023 19:35PM
Changes in fuel prices and liquefied natural gas (LNG) import prices.
Shikoku Electric Power (Yonden) spoke at a public hearing in Takamatsu on the 1st of
February, announcing their plans in raising energy prices. A spokesperson says: “We are appealing
for an energy price-markup to address a critical state of affair, to enable us to continue providing a
stable supply of electric power”. In principle, the government has acknowledged the appeal, but the
extent of the increase is still in contention/a focal point of discussion. As fuel prices continue to
remain high, residential electricity bills may also be affected.
Despite this public hearing, Yonden has yet to comment their opinion on the electricity price
mark-up. Yonden, whose subsidiaries are among one of the main providers of household electricity,
have already raised their own ‘free rates’, which can be decided at their own discretion. However,
the 7 companies' application for the price markup is for a "regulated rate" that requires government
approval. Although fuel prices sharply rising with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, these ‘free rates’ have
remained unchanged.
In spite of this price markup, electricity prices continue to fluctuate. This is due to a structure
in place called the “fuel cost adjustment system”, which automatically adjust costs each month,
based on changes in the import prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal, and oil, the fuels used for
thermal power generation. This is based on the predicted fuel prices 3-5 months in advance, which is
reflected in later residential electricity bills.
However, there is an ‘upper limit’ on the additional charges applicable. The upper limit is 1.5
times the base price of fuel, and any excess charges will be paid by the power company. However, all
10 electricity companies have reached the upper limit on their fees, which cannot be passed to the
customer.
Japanese to English: 吾輩は猫である (I am a Cat) General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - Japanese 吾輩(わがはい)は猫(ねこ)である。名前(なまえ)はまだ無(な)い。
Translation - English
I am a cat. I do not yet have a name.
I am unable to recall the place I was born. Wherever it was, the only memory I have of it is being there - being on my own, crying out with a sad ‘meow, meow’, in a dim, damp, depressing corner of existence.
This was the place, however, where I first sighted the creature known as a ‘human’. I learned afterwards that it had been a ‘man of learning’, otherwise known as a ‘scholar’ – the most fiendish and cruel of all species of human.
I have heard reports of such scholars sometimes catching us felines, boiling us in a pot and then devouring us whole. However, at the same time, I did not feel as much of an inkling of such danger; the scholar did not seem particularly terrifying, at least to my understanding. It had just picked me up and taken me into its palm, lifting me so high that I felt as though I was floating through the heavens above. Once I had calmed myself a little, I caught a glimpse of the scholar’s face, and it was indeed the first time I had seen this thing called a ‘human’.
I feel as much now as I did back then, that they are exceedingly bizarre creatures. I have noticed that humans are usually decorated with strange tufts of upright fur on their globular heads, but as per my recollection, this one was bald, its head smooth and shining like a copper kettle.
I have encountered many a cat in my day, but I have never seen something as grotesquely deformed as this, with the centre of its face protruding far too much outward. On occasion, smoke blew out from inside its mouth, its putrid odour invading my body, choking and weakening me. I realised later that this is the ‘tobacco’ that humans smoke.
I had a leisurely excursion, resting in this scholar’s palm, but after a while it somehow started to travel at an overly reckless speed. My head started spinning, and I was soon unable to tell if it was the scholar who was moving or if it was I who was moving. I started to feel very unwell. I thought that I had met my untimely end; until I heard a deafening crash, seeing flames burst forth before my very eyes.
This is the extent of the memories I have until this point. Regardless of how much I tried to ponder over the devastating mental memoirs of my kittenhood, unfortunately nothing further of substance surfaces.
To continue my prior recount, the scholar responsible for transporting and accompanying me was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Neither were any of my litter mates. Even my mother had hidden herself away from me, the moment I found myself needing her the most. It was clear to me that I was also in a completely different location than before. Disorientated, I struggled to keep my eyes open.
Whatever the case, I found myself in quite a peculiar circumstance. I crawled about slowly, looking around; this would be a sure predicament. Suddenly, I was thrown from the top of my perch on a bale of rice straw into a sharp and spiny patch of bamboo grass, where I was prickled with what felt like a thousand thorns. When I finally found the strength to escape this prickly confinement, I was faced with a large pond.
I went to take a moment for myself to sit in front of this pond, wondering what I should do now. I wouldn’t say that I had good enough judgement to decide, as I was but a mere infant. After a little while, I decided upon the most optimal strategy that I could envision; if I cried loud enough, the scholar might come to collect me.
“Meow, meow….” I gave my best performance, but no-one came to my aid.
Before too long, the wind rippled and danced over the pond, and the sun began to descend from its perch in the sky. I was desperately hungry. I wished to cry out to voice my displeasure, but at this point I found myself incapable of even making a sound.
My fate was inevitable – in the face of life or death, I was forced into a rash decision, where it was imperative that I locate a food source. I took my time, circling around the left of the small pond. It was psychologically distressing to experience these excruciating pangs of hunger. Enduring this was no easy feat; I had to force myself to crawl about, and finally, somehow, found myself in a place that had the unmistakably rank and offensive odour of these ‘human beings’.
Upon locating a hole in the disintegrating bamboo fence, I was curious as to what would transpire upon my entry. Surely this would be interesting! I successfully infiltrated the private grounds of a human’s mansion.
Fate works in quite curious ways. Had I not seized this moment, had this bamboo fence not been in such a decrepit state, had I not stumbled across such a profound entrance…. Who is to say what would have become of me - it is far too likely that I would have perished from starvation along the roadside. To this very day, this hole in the bamboo fence, which I may credit as having a substantial role in my continued survival, has become an instrumental passageway in my visits to the neighbouring lady calico.
I arrived at the base of a nearby tree, relishing in the shade. Although I had managed to sneak into the premises, I was uncertain of what benefit my continued presence here would bring me. Before too long, it would begin to get dark, and I was already ravenously hungry. As the night came, the bitter cold would become ever colder, and considering the circumstances, it would undoubtedly start to rain very soon. I couldn't bear to wait another moment. I suppose I couldn’t afford to cry over spilt milk; regardless of my unfortunate circumstances, I would have to locate and travel towards a warmer and brighter place. Reflecting upon this now, it would appear that at this point, I had already entered the humans’ dwelling. It was here that I would, once again, encounter an opportunity to observe a human other than the scholar. I would later learn that this human was called ‘biddy maidservant’, and I must declare that at that time, I had really grown to despise this particular human.
The reason for my distaste was that this human ended up being much more violent and unreasonable than the previous human scholar - as soon as it had caught a glimpse of me inside of its habitat, I was abruptly apprehended by the scruff of my delicate neck, rendered immobile, and thrown me back outside to face the bone-chilling, merciless world that I fought valiantly to escape from. I figured from the beginning that my intrusion was a useless endeavour on my part, but I truly had nothing left to lose. I simply closed my eyes and left my fate for the heavens to decide.
However, I could not stand being so hungry and cold. I managed to locate another opportunity to slip by the biddy maidservant and into the dwelling, sneaking past into the kitchen. Unfortunately, I was seized once again and thrown out. This demonic ritual was repeated perhaps four or five times; I remember being made to feel insignificant and unwelcome, not unlike a little ant, where I was thrown out of the house, before crawling back in, re-entering at an opportune moment, before being ushered into another prompt exit. This treatment was certainly quite unbecoming for an esteemed house guest.
I was eventually able to repay the favour by stealing away three of the biddy maidservant’s horse mackerels, delivering a swift retribution for my cruel and unusual treatment. We had created such a noisy ordeal, that it had prompted the master of the house to appear before us, just as I was to be kicked out for the final time.
The biddy maidservant accosted me by the scruff and presented me shamelessly to the master, saying that no matter how many times I throw this importunate kitten outside, it keeps coming back up to the kitchen, and that it is being quite a problematic menace. The master twisted the black hair under its nose and stared at my face for a while, eventually returning inside the dwelling, telling the biddy maidservant to leave me alone and bring me inside.
The master seemed to be someone who did not hold value to the opinions of others. The biddy maidservant threw me down into the kitchen with a look of remorse. Despite the ill-mannered welcome, I finally decided that this dwelling was suitable to announce as my own home.
I seldom show my face around the master. From what I understand, it seems its occupation is a teacher. It returns from school at the end of the day and slips away into its study room and does not seem to exit very regularly. It would appear each member of the household is equally quite a diligent worker. This would also seem to be the case for the master. However, in reality, the master is not quite as studious as the household would say. From time to time, I sneak into its study unnoticed, as quiet as a ninja, and take a peek around; I often spot it partaking in a catnap. Occasionally it would be asleep, slobbering atop a book it had barely begun to read.
It suffered from indigestion, its sagging skin reflecting this with a sickly and yellow sheen, an indication of lethargy. Despite this, it continued eating meals of questionably large volume. After eating such a large meal, it would drink from a mysterious brown bottle, labelled as Dr Takamine's Diatase: Stomach Elixir. Then, it would open up another text volume. After reading just a couple of pages, it would begin to get quite slumberous, beginning once again to slobber atop the volume. This is the master’s nightly routine.
Since I am a cat, I do often take the time to ponder and reflect on my encountered circumstances, despite my busy schedule. The position that the master holds, of ‘teacher’, seems to be quite an easy and relaxed one. If you do happen to be born as a human, my understanding is that your role in life is confined to becoming a teacher. If it’s possible for one such as the master to be qualified for this role and fulfil one’s duties at all, despite these overly occurring catnaps I have witnessed, then there truly is nothing that a cat cannot do. The master, despite this clear negligence, would take every possible chance to get in a twitter about how horribly difficult it is to be a teacher, complaining about it every time his companions pay a visit.
When I first moved into this house, I was extremely unpopular with anyone other than my master. No matter where I have been present in the house, I have been kicked aside, smacked with a brush, among many other horrors, and there was nothing I could do in protest. My presence has not been valued, which is clearly evident in the fact that I still have not even been graced with a name, even to this very point in time. There was nothing I could do about this unjust treatment, so I did my best in staying by my master’s side, as it was responsible for having let me enter the house.
For example, I was sure to accompany it on its morning read of the newspaper, by keeping its lap warm during its browsing. I also act as its personal defender in various vulnerable situations, such as keeping guard during its catnaps by nestling atop its back. Of course, it is important to consider that I am not doing this out of affection, and it is not to say that the master enjoys this treatment; it is more so that the master already had no companion and was ambivalent in these displays, deriving neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction.
I would also choose other locations for optimum rest in times when the master was not present; in the mornings I would rest upon the bamboo rice pot, and then at night I would rest atop the heated kotatsu. On opportune days where we would happen to enjoy some good weather, I would spend the afternoon catnapping on the narrow engawa ledge that ran along the house.
However, with consideration of resting spots in times of languor, the location of choice has been to infiltrate the sleeping place of the ‘children’ undetected and sleep alongside them, as they appear to slumber together in the same room at night. There are two of these things called ‘children’- one of five years and one of three. Naturally, I would invite myself into their nest, inserting my humble self carefully in the centre - I always managed to find a space between them to accommodate myself. Unfortunately, one of the children would usually wake itself up in a frenzy, and in the end, upon discovering my humble self packed comfortably in between, something dreadful would occur.
One of these children —especially the smaller ones, which are of poor quality and even poorer character—would cry loudly even in the middle of the night; an ear-piercing screech of displeasure, not unlike an unoiled carriage tyre or a crow caught in a pebble storm, and the pandemonium would rouse the entire dwelling, interrupting my own peaceful slumber. It would usually go something along the sounds of “The cat is here! The cat is here!”, with the child bursting into unsightly, snotty tears – quite an unbecoming and grotesque reaction.
As an inevitable result of the cacophony, the nervous, indigestion-ridden, stomach-weak master would wake up, scrambling out from the next room. I was unjustly disciplined across my rump with a ruler for this same exploit just the other day. The longer I live with humans and observe them, the more I am forced to assert that they are selfish, heartless creatures. Especially when it comes to the children, who voice such instant displeasure and complain in the bed I sometimes share with them - it truly is a preposterous and inexcusable display.
In their own flashes of selfishness, they would turn me upside down, put a bag over my head, and throw me around, or perhaps shove me into the charcoal cooking stove.
If I even try to interfere in the affairs of the house in even the slightest way, the mistress of the house will chase me around and persecute me. The other day, while sharpening my claws on the tatami mat, the mistress got very angry as it appeared that it couldn't easily enter the tatami room due to my actions. Even if other people were trembling dramatically against the wooden boards in the kitchen, I personally was completely unconcerned.
Shiro-kun, one particular feline whom I happen to greatly respect, says each and every time I meet her, that there is truly nothing more heartless than a human being.
The other day, Shiro-kun birthed four kittens that looked like tiny round balls. However, a couple of days later, the house’s resident scholar took them to the pond in the back of their abode. The little kittens were effectively banished from the dwelling, abandoned, all of them left to fend for themselves in this cruel world.
Shiro-kun shed bitter tears while recounting the dreadful ordeal from start to finish, and when she was done, she declared that no matter what, all of us felines must fight against these barbaric humans to protect and fulfil the love between parent and kitten, and that we would need to destroy, if not exterminate these humans, to achieve a beautiful and harmonious family life. I found this to be quite a convincing argument. The lady neighbouring calico also expressed her displeasure, feeling a sense of anger that humans appear to not understand the concept of property rights.
Originally, among our kind as felines, the first to find the head of a sardine or the discarded sphincter of a mullet has the privilege of eating it. If the other party doesn't follow this rule, it is to be considered as insulting behaviour, not unlike the brutality of resorting to physical violence. However, the humans seem to have no awareness of this basic concept, basking in their own ignorance, and the treats we locate for ourselves are always plundered away without fail. Relying only on their brute strength and size advantage, they ignorantly steal what we should be able to enjoy for ourselves.
Shiro-kun lives in a military man's house, and the lady calico has a master whose occupation is an attorney. I live in a teacher's house, so perhaps my living situation is considerably more relaxed and easy-going than theirs, especially when it comes to such matters. My only worry is just going about my own day-to-day business, taking just one day at a time. No matter how invincible or self-important the humans may feel, the inevitability that will pull them from their high horse is their own mortality – a candle’s light will eventually burn out, regardless of how bright it shines. The only thing that we cats can do is remain patient for our own opportunity.
On the topic of selfish and ignorant humans, perhaps let us dwell a little bit on how the master faced an enormous blunder due to its own egoistic nature.
Essentially, this master was not able to excel at anything above other people, even if it always acted as though it did. The master would write haiku and submit them to Hototogisu, a local poetry publication, submit exploratory new style poetry to the monthly literature magazine, Myoujou, write English sentences littered with basic mistakes, and then moving on with becoming absorbed in the practice of correct bowing posture, to then practising the art of the culturally significant but monotone Noh chant….
Unfortunately, the list is not exhaustive; on other occasions, it will ‘play’ the violin among other varieties of Western instruments, screeching along with extraordinary persistence. It is certainly a real shame that none of these endeavours were entirely successful.
When it did start these various ministrations, the master was always very enthusiastic despite its weak stomach. It did its rendition of the Noh chant in the lavatory, and although the master was given the nickname "Kouka-sensei" in the neighbourhood, it remained completely unconcerned, instead replying: “As expected, this is Taira-sensei”. Clearly having no sense of shame or self-preservation, it went about repeating the first phrase of Munemori de Sourou, a beginners’ Noh chant to anyone who would listen, to the extent that everyone who heard it would exclaim in recognition; "Oh, it's Munemori!".
About a month after I had moved in, the master arrived home in a hurry, holstering a large parcel on its payday. When I wondered what it had bought, it soon seemed to me that it had decided to move on to painting pictures instead of Noh chanting and haiku, having bought a large assortment of watercolour paints, brushes, and Whatman paper. From the next day onwards, it had spent every waking moment in its study drawing, without even taking a catnap.
However, looking at the abandoned scraps of paper and crumpled sheets, no one can judge correctly what was created in this time. Perhaps the master didn't find its performance in its newfound talent satisfactory.
More
Less
New! Video portfolio:
More
Less
Translation education
Master's degree - University College Cork
Experience
Years of experience: 2. Registered at ProZ.com: Oct 2023.
Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Aegisub, ChatGPT, EZTitles, Google Translator Toolkit, memoQ, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Trados Studio
Professional objectives
Meet new translation company clients
Meet new end/direct clients
Network with other language professionals
Find trusted individuals to outsource work to
Get help with terminology and resources
Learn more about translation / improve my skills
Get help on technical issues / improve my technical skills
Learn more about additional services I can provide my clients
Learn more about the business side of freelancing
Help or teach others with what I have learned over the years
Buy or learn new work-related software
Improve my productivity
Bio
My name is Jennifer Clifford and I am a UCC graduate and continuing student from Cork, Ireland.
I hold a Masters programme in Translation Studies (2022-2023). I have graduated from the courses BAWL - BA Hons in World Languages (2017-2021) and HDLGSB - Higher Diploma in Languages and Global Software Business (2021-2022).
Through my undergraduate programme, I was fortunate enough to be enrolled in 龍谷大学 Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan (2019-2020) as part of the JEP-J course (Japanaese Exchange Programme through Japanese).
I am looking to further my experience in the area of practical translation as well as audio-visual media. I am open to working through translating various pieces of media such as brochures or documents, literary translations or audio-visual translation and transcription/subtitling in my respected languages.
I work mainly looking to maintain the essence of the Source Text (ST), focusing on a sense-for-sense approach as opposed to a direct or adapted word-for-word translation. Therefore, I keep my focus on being a medium for accurately representing the text or media's message while keeping within the constraints or boundaries imposed by a Target Language (eg. grammar) or as directed by the Translation Task or Brief. This is one of my key strengths as I can convey the translated content with accuracy and respect to the original, while producing a translation which is coherent, stylistic and clear in the target language.
My main language passion is working through Japanese, as I have a cultivated interest in Japanese media and culture. As I have previously spent time studying abroad in Japan, I have a confident understanding of the respectful values of Japanese culture, etiquette and language, allowing me to seamlessly blend content or communication fluidly between Japanese and European/Western sociocultural contexts.
I hope to expand my career into producing literary translations into my L1 language of English, as well as developing a presence in song and lyric translation and transcription. I hope to build my professional experience and portfolio and aim to apply for an EU Translation Apprenticeship at some point in my working career.
Expertise