On January 23, the modern history materials translation team of Yeungnam University translated and published Daegu Story, written by Asao Kawai, who lived in Daegu in the early 1900s. This document recorded changes in Daegu’s political, economic, social, and cultural environment in the early 20th century. It is considered an important record that can confirm the situation in Daegu at the time. In particular, the Daegu Story translation project is significant because Department of Japanese Language & Literature students participated in every step of the translation process.
The Yeungnam Observer interviewed two Japanese students who participated in the translation project, Yamashita Aoba and Yoshimura Haruka. They experienced an exchange student program for one year at YU’s Department of Korean Language & Literature. Yamashita decided to study in Korea because she felt that staying only in Japan limited her in improving her Korean skills. Yoshimura also decided to study in Korea to deepen her knowledge of the Korean language and culture.
Yamashita and Yoshimura participated in the translation project through a professor’s recommendation. They said Daegu Story had many difficult Japanese words because of the old material. Furthermore, they mentioned that translating such old Japanese into modern Korean was complicated.
On the other hand, Yamashita said the translation project was a meaningful experience because she was able to do translation activities that she had been interested in previously. Yoshimura also said the translation project was a valuable experience for developing language skills and learning historical knowledge not typically taught in school. Moreover, she realized that Daegu was deeply related to Japan.
They returned to Japan after studying at YU for about a year. After graduating from university in Japan in March, Yamashita works at a hotel in Osaka, Japan. As well she is preparing tests and certificates to continue translation activities. After graduating, Yoshimura works teaching Japanese to international students. Furthermore, she also hopes to teach history and Japanese in Korea.
Lastly, Yamashita said it is rare for students to be able to participate in a translation and publishing like this project, so she wants to recommend it to students who are interested in translation. Yoshimura also added if students participate in this type of project, they could get valuable experience.
