AMY C. FRANKS, PHD
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Education

2009, Ph.D., M.Phil, M.A., Yale University, New Haven, CT. Japanese Language and Literature
B.A., Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. English and Japanese Studies (with Honors in English)


Current & Recent Activities
  • Lecturer, University of Massachusetts, Boston. (Fall 2018). Course:  Japanese 101. Textbook: Genki
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor of Japanese, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus (May 2013 to Spring 2017). Courses:  Japanese 101, 102, 201, 202. In-person and online courses. Textbook: Nakama 1 and Nakama 2
 
  • Freelance translation/proofreading/editing. My clients include: Sabia, Inc., The Art of Translation, Kanagawa University, CCS America, Corporate Translations, Reve Educational Consulting, Inc, Alboum & Associates, HC Language Solutions, Edisense, Yale University Press, TransPerfect Translations, Consortra Translations, Mapa Translations, Translation Business Systems Japan, and individual direct clients in Japan and the U.S.
 
  • E-Book Translation - Fukushima's Stolen Lives: a Dairy Farmer's Story of How Nuclear Power Destroyed a Community and a Way of Life,  by Kenichi Hasegawa. (purchase here). Japanese title: 原発に「ふるさと」を奪われて~福島県飯舘村・酪農家の叫び.  Published in Japan in 2012 by Takarajimasha. Translation completed and published June 2016. Project website here.
 
  • Book Translation - Remaking Tradition: Modern Art of Japan from the Tokyo National Museum. Co-translator of book to accompany the "Remaking Tradition" exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art (February 16, 2014 to May 11, 2014). Exhibition link: http://www.clevelandart.org/events/exhibitions/remaking-tradition-modern-art-japan-tokyo-national-museum Series: Cleveland Museum of Art Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: The Cleveland Museum of Art (March 25, 2014) Language: English ISBN-10: 0300206089; ISBN-13: 978-0300206081. Now on sale at amazon.com and other retailers.
 
  • Book Translation - Multilingual Version of Pictopedia of Everyday Life in Medieval Japan: Compiled from Picture Scrolls, vol. 3.  Translator of the English edition of volume 3 of マルチ言語版絵巻物による日本常民生活絵引, a series produced by the Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials, Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture, Kanagawa University, Yokohama, Japan. Subjects include: art history, medieval Japanese history, literature, Buddhism, architecture, traditional clothing, traditional practices (e.g, archery, religious rituals, agriculture, ship building, geography, popular entertainment)(completed Spring 2011; publication forthcoming).
 
  • Short Story Translation: "Black Diamonds" 「黒ダイヤ」by Ota Ryohaku. Scheduled for publication in Islands of Resistance: Contemporary Japanese Literature from Okinawa (edited by Davinder Bhowmik and Steve Rabson) by University of Hawaii Press, 2015

Test Scores

Defense Language Proficiency Test V (DLPT V), October 2013
  • Score: 2+/3 (scale=0 to 3)
  • Listening = 2+ (Advanced Plus), Reading = 3 (Superior)

Software and Tools
  • SDL Trados
  • Swordfish Translation Editor
  • Systran 7 Premium Translator (machine translation software)
  • Wordfast Pro & Wordfast Classic
  • XTM (online CAT Tool) 
  • Microsoft Office
  • Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
  • ABBYY Fine Reader & other OCR software

Awards and Distinctions

  • Japan Foundation grant for the lecture "Fukushima's Stolen Lives: Japan in the Wake of Nuclear Disaster" (University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA, October 9, 2017)
  • Co-Recipient, VCCS (Virginia Community College System) Paul Lee Professional Development Grant (2014). Co-developed and created a standardized Japanese language placement exam for Northern Virginia Community College students.
  • East Asian Studies Dissertation Fellowship (Council on East Asian Studies, Yale University)
  • Dissertation Research Grant (Council on East Asian Studies, Yale University)
  • Summer Research and Travel Grant (Council on East Asian Studies, Yale University)
  • Richard U. Light Fellowship, Yale University
  • Ishibashi Fellowship for Japanese Language Study, Wellesley College
  • Honors for Senior Thesis, Wellesley College
Service
  • National Language Service Corps. Federal Language Consultant (appointed May 2011)
  • American Literary Translators Association. Reviewer of English translation of Japanese-language novel nominated for its annual literary translation prize (2012).

Other Teaching Experience

  • Spring 2012, Visiting Lecturing, University of Massachusetts, Boston (course: "Traditional Japanese Literature & Culture")
  • 2007, Lecturer, Smith College, Northampton, MA. 
  • 2001-2004, Teaching Fellow, Yale University, New Haven, CT
  • 2000-2004, Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER), Yale Center for International and Area Studies, Japanese Language Instructor, High School Language Co-op Program         
  • 1995-1997, English Instructor, Shizukuishi-chō Board of Education, Shizukuishi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan     
  • Spring 1995, ESL Writing Tutor, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA     
  • 1993-1995, Tutor and Teacher's Aide, Wellesley-MIT Upward Bound Program, Wellesley and Cambridge, MA

Additional Training

  • Dissertation Research, Tokyo Japan with Prof. Saeki Shin'ichi, Aoyama Gakuin University
  • Advanced Japanese Language Study, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, Yokohama, Japan
  • Japanese Language Study, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan

Languages

  • English (native)
  • Modern Japanese (fluent)
  • Classical Japanese
  • Sino-Japanese (kanbun)
  • French (reading)

Professional Affiliations

  • Japan Association of Translators (JAT)
  • Association for Asian Studies
  • Association of Teachers of Japanese
  • American Literary Translators Association
  • American Translators Association
  • New England Translators Association
  • proz.com
  • Home
  • Japanese to English translations
  • CV
  • Fukushima Memoir Translation Project
  • Blog