To:
Nintendo of Europe GmbH
Human Resources
Nintendo Center
63760 Großostheim
Germany
From:
Benedikt Grosser
61 Goldsteinstraße
60528 Frankfurt
Hesse
28th April 2013
Dear Sir or Madam,
Re: [(Junior) Translator Japanese - German m|f - full time -]
I would like to be considered for employment in the position of “(Junior) Translator Japanese
- German m|f - full time -”. I was born in Germany and have studied English and Japanese
Studies (M.A.) at the University of Trier for over six years, including various courses on
translation and a whole year abroad in Japan from 2006 - 2007. In general, my grades at the
University were above-average, and I passed the required language assessment test at the end
of the first 4 semesters of English Studies with one of the best results ever achieved by a
student. I graduated in February 2011 with a cumulative grade of 1.3.
I have always shared a deep love for the study of foreign languages and translation. I believe
that all the experiences I have gathered throughout my life, in respect to both English and
Japanese culture, will contribute greatly to the quality of my translations, seeing as the act of
translation is so much more than just a literal replacing of words from one language with
words from the other. A translator’s responsibility, in my opinion, is to also be familiar with
the cultural context of every source material and the respective target language, and I would
relish the chance to take on such responsibility as a translator for your company.
Apart from translating, I am also well-versed in proofreading and can look back on a history
of several successfully finished jobs: At the University of Trier, twice I worked as proofreader
of an academic book on Classical Japanese (Katsuki Noriko: A Grammar of Classical
Japanese; München: LINCOM, 2009), written in British English and Classical Japanese. The
author of the book, Katsuki Noriko, later told me that she was impressed by my keen eye for
finding even the smallest mistakes and my general thoroughness in proofreading. In the end,
she even doubled my pay, stating as a reason that I was one of the best proofreaders she had
ever come across. In 2010 - 2011 she also employed me twice as a proofreader for her next
academic book which dealt with Japanese ideophones and onomatopoeia (Katsuki Noriko:
Japanese Ideophones; München: LINCOM, 2012), written in British English, German and
Japanese.
Through my current employment as external German game tester for Nintendo (via ZiW
Zeitarbeit GmbH) I have already gained valuable experience in game testing and, therefore,
am familiar with the specific problems that a game translation can run into.
Finally, I would like to add that I have always been fascinated by video games and the whole
creative process that lies behind them, and I believe that this interest in the video game
industry as well as my various creative abilities, computer skills and knowledge of languages
will make me a hard-working, dependable and trustworthy member of your future team.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
Benedikt Grosser