Mel Ok is a translator and project manager based in Tottori Prefecture. We talked about Japanese study, the JET Program, translation, and Japanese whisky:

• Japanese in high school
• When did your Japanese skills start to “click”?
• Japanese in college
  • University of Washington – Technical Japanese Program
  • Working with long sentences – identifying subjects and verbs
  • USJETAA Reading Group
  • Jay Rubin’s “Making Sense of Japanese“
  • “Mirroring“
• Teaching English in Japan
• JET Program
  • JET CIR placements – rural vs. urban
  • Tottori Prefecture’s internationalization efforts
  • Interpreting on JET – consecutive vs. simultaneous
  • JET Program Translation & Interpretation Course
  • Connecting with local organizations for interpretations/translation opportunities
  • JET Program application advice
  • Watching TV = studying
• Project Management
  • Shifting from JET to project management
  • QA work
  • Unemployment in Japan – ハローワーク (Hello Work)
  • Types of translation projects
  • Experience writing
  • Sales
• Freelance Translation
  • Translation Memory
  • Japanese Association of Translators (JAT)
  • Felix CAT
  • Accordance searches
  • Sales work vs. translation work 
• Incorporating as a translator/company
  •  Hiring an accountant
• Translation Trials
• Work-life balance
  • The Oatmeal – Why working from home is both awesome and horrible
• Spirits/Japanese Spirits
  • Yamazaki 25
  • Balvenie 12 DoubleWood
  • Nomunication
  • The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks, Stephen Lyman
  • Japanese Whisky, Brian Ashcraft
  • Stephen Lyman and Christopher Pellegrini Instagram events
  • Fuji-Sanroku
  • Aged Shochu
• Investing in Whisky
  • Yamazaki Owner’s Cask
  • Whisky secondary market
  • Mighty No. 9
• Karaoke Songs
  • “Sakura,” Ketsumeishi
  • Orange Range (The band Mel couldn’t remember.)