I am currently working for a freelance translator mainly handling various technical documents such as software, software localization, IT as well as general business/finance, and marketing document. My recent major work to translate English into Japanese includes and the localization of AA.com (Translation of American Airline website from English to Japanese)

In addition, below is a summary of my qualifications.

Native level of Japanese plus proofread/Edit skills: I am native Japanese. I finished all education up to the college in Japan. After I graduated from the University of Hiroshima, I worked as a textbook Editor and Writer for the one of the major educational publishing company, Benesse, in Japan for 5 years.

High proficiency of English: I started living in the United States since 1997 and successfully earned Master of Mass Communications (MMC) in public relations from the University of Georgia in 1999.

Proven Japanese language and research skill as a professional translator: After the graduate school, I was a full-time in-house translator at CNN.co.jp, which is the Japanese version of CNN.com. (news website) for two years in Atlanta, GA where the CNN headquarter is located. I conducted numerous online researches to deal with various subjects such as technologies, politics, science, and business on a daily basis. Since this is the public news website, the translated contents are required accuracy to a great extent.

Proven ability to handle large project: I also worked as full-time in-house Sr. Technical Communicator for one of the major financial software companies, TSYS, in the United States for them to bring their software into the Japanese market – Software Localization. I was in charge of the translation of over 2000 screens. I am familiar with error message translation with place holders in source programming code. Furthermore, my most recent AA.com project consists of 40K words.

I would be glad if I am given an opportunity of discussing my further qualifications. I can be reached at 1-404-452-5797 or .

I appreciate your time.

Rika Yoshida

Rika Yoshida Hicks

851 Simon Park Circle, Lawrenceville, GA 30045

Email:, Telephone: (404) 452-5797

English-to-Japanese Software Localization & Translation

Localization of English software/website into Japanese version

Translation of English language documents into Japanese

TRANSLATION QUALIFICATIONS

  • 10 years of translation experience from English to Japanese as an in-house and freelance translator
  • Five years experience of large scale software/website localization
  • Extensive online research skill
  • Mother Language: Japanese

WORK HISTORY

2007-Present Quality Assurance Analyst,Tokio Marine Technologies, Atlanta, GA

  • Provided QA manual test experience for desktop, client-server, and web-based application for risk management and simulation tools for Japan-based casualty insurancecompany. SQL back end / front end testing. Java, DotNET, MS SQL server environment

(Although there are no translation responsibilities at this job, I have been able to do a significant amount of part-time freelance translation for these years. I can commit average 35 hours / week including weekends. It is possible to adjust my hours to meet translation project deadline. I can be reached via e-mail and Skype during the daytime )

2005- 2007 Customer Support Analyst, Syniverse Technology, Tampa, FL

  • Provided technical support to Japanese and other Asian-Pacific business customers for the global wireless communication company which data clearing house, call processing (roaming, short message), network services. Client-Server/Unix/NT/IBM DB2/Cobol environment.
  • Assisted communication by being on teleconference between U.S and Japanese technical / business staff and customers to solve software issues.
  • Translated English business and technical documentation into Japanese for the Japanese business customers.

2002-2004Sr. Technical Communicator, TSYS (Total System Services), Atlanta, GA

One of the largest third party credit card payment processors in the United States.Double Byte Characters project (DBCS) is to localize English-base main frame application for the Japanese market.

  • Translated over 2000 screens for the financial main frame application.
  • Translated user manual from English to Japanese.
  • Translated business specifications from English to Japanese.
  • Conducted localized screen verification.
  • Conducted manual testing (functional / integration testing) for the localized application.
  • Worked with off shore (India) / in-house developers to facilitate in solving linguistic and programming issues.

2000-2002 Online Writer, CNN, Atlanta, GA

  • Translated various kinds of news articles, (mainly politics, general business, technologies) from CNN.com for CNN.co.jp, which is the Japanese version of CNN.com on a daily basis as in-house translator.
  • Identified the articles to be translated for the target audience (Japanese living in Japan) to meet their interest.
  • Conducted numerous online research to fill in the cultural difference in the contents.
  • Selected and formatted photos for the articles from the available online sources.
  • Coordinated with graphic designers to create graphic suitable to the translated articles.
  • Responsible for publishing the news article to the server.

EDUCATION / TRAINING

  • Master of Mass Communications (MMC), University of Georgia, Athens, GA
  • Bachelor of Liberal Arts, University of Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan
  • Summer intensive workshop for a cross-cultural trainer at Institute for Intercultural Communication, Portland, OR

COMPUTER SKILLS

WORD, Excel, PowerPoint, Access