Adam Century   June 2010-August 2010

I came to Japan for my summer internship at Urban Connections carrying my fair share of insecurities. Not only was I journeying to a country that I'd never stepped foot in, but my Japanese was far from fluent and I lacked any genuine office work experience. From the moment I arrived at Urban Connections' conveniently located Shibuya office, however, my uncertainties quickly faded and I became engrossed in the interesting, challenging, and team-driven work that presented itself before me.

I can still vividly recall how on my first morning at the office, the Editorial Division – which I was to become a part of – congressed in the conference room so that I could have a chance to be introduced to everyone. I was surprised by the attention that I was granted and in turn felt the desire to integrate myself into the Editorial Division and make valuable contributions to the advancement of the company. From the very beginning, the Editorial Division, as well as the company as a whole, took me seriously and treated me as a regular employee. In turn, I was expected to act and perform as a regular employee. On my first afternoon, I was asked to summarize an hour-long lecture on the country-specific obstacles that prevent Japanese women from reintegrating themselves into the workforce after they become mothers. The work never ceased to be both challenging and educational.

During my time at Urban Connections, I was actively engaged in a wide range of different projects, from transcribing episodes of '30 Rock' for translation, to proofreading sections of the Ministry of Defense's gargantuan yearly defense white paper. Work was oftentimes time-sensitive, and I was expected to perform at a high level. Such expectations at times were accompanied by a degree of pressure, perhaps an element lacking from most college internships. But the cohesiveness and helpfulness of the Editorial team, as well as the knowledge that I could always ask colleagues for direction or assistance, ensured that such pressures never became overbearing.

During my internship at Urban Connections, the bar was set high and I was expected to meet my manager's realistic but challenging expectations. Reflecting on the experience, however, I am extremely grateful for the responsibility, respect and trust that I was granted. I hope you have the opportunity to share this sense of accomplishment as an Urban Connections intern!

Christina   April 2009-December 2009

Ich hatte gerade einen 6-monatigen Japanisch-Intensivkurs in Tokyo abgeschlossen, als ich zum Vorstellungsgespräch für ein Praktikum bei Urban Connections eingeladen wurde.

Während meines zweimonatigen Praktikums war ich im Rahmen einer Marketingkampagne für die DVD-Kollektion der Tochterfirma Digital Meme für den gesamten europäischen Raum, insbesondere für deutsch- und französischsprachige Länder, zuständig. Meine Aufgaben reichten vom Übersetzen der Marketingmaterialien bis hin zum Recherchieren und Anschreiben von potentiellen Interessenten. Dabei arbeitete ich täglich direkt mit dem Geschäftsführer von Urban Connections und Digital Meme, Herrn Larry Greenberg, zusammen, was mir wertvolle Einblicke in die Welt des Marketing und die Kommunikationsbranche verschaffte und mich diese verantwortungsvolle Aufgabe sehr gut bewältigen ließ.

Nach dem Praktikum wurde mir eine Festanstellung als Junior Account Executive im Marketing & Sales Team angeboten. Von da an habe ich nicht nur die verschiedensten Projekte in den Bereichen Filmuntertitelung, Übersetzung und Design & Layout für internationale Kunden aus dem englisch- und deutschsprachigen Raum und Botschaften in Tokyo akquiriert und koordiniert, sondern war auch als Übersetzerin und Texterin tätig.

Von Tag 1 an wurde mir bei Urban Connections Verantwortung übertragen. Das mir damit entgegengebrachte Vertrauen weiß ich sehr zu schätzen. Auch möchte ich die Erfahrung in einem internationalen Team in Japan gearbeitet zu haben, auf keinen Fall missen.

Lisa Kawamoto   May-July 2007

Prior to my internship with Urban Connections, I had had no work experience, and I had never lived in Japan. Despite this, I was able to spend two valuable months that changed the way I thought about translation, language, Japan and its international relations, politics, and economics.

 

I spent my first month in the Total Documentation Group-completing projects that required transcription, editing, and proofreading-and my second month in the 2nd Sales Division-exclusively completing Japanese-to-English translation projects. It was always exciting and invigorating to realize that I was lending my abilities to and learning from this powerhouse of a company with prominent clients. I translated daily summaries of news articles for Nissan, announcements for Digital Meme, and profiles of Cabinet members. In addition, my major translation projects were press conferences held twice a week by the Foreign Minister and portions of the 2007 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

 

At first, I was scared that I would be unable to complete what was asked of me, but before I knew it, I was learning how to balance the demands of understanding and conveying subtleties, producing the best work possible, and working efficiently. I feel that the difficulties inherent to translation-such as capturing nuances in meaning and neither adding nor removing content-were a good metaphor for helping me understand the subtleties of the corporate environment. I learned to keep both the big picture and the small details in sight, something that will serve me well in academics and beyond.

 

I appreciate the opportunities and responsibilities given to me as an intern at Urban Connections. Because of my internship, the "future" and the "corporate world," which had been vague concepts to me in the past, became more real and something to embrace and a newfound confidence gave me hope in my abilities.

Lee Joo-Un   September 2006-April 2007

With hardly any experience in the professional world, I arrived at Urban Connections perhaps a little naive and wide-eyed. My nine month internship with the company has definitely been a steep learning curve, which has left me with a new perspective on the working world. Although challenging at times, Urban Connections provided me with incredible opportunities. Within two or three weeks of my internship I was sent to Hiroshima and Kyoto to report on the activities of an international youth conference. Throughout the course of my internship, I was dispatched to several interesting conferences but the most exhilarating experience by far was being part of a live transcription team for the 9^th Asian Pacific Conference for the Deaf, with Prince Akishino providing the welcoming speech. I discovered that the high-energy and pressurized environment was something that really appealed to me.

It was also exciting to work on the Anime DVD project that Urban Connections completed for Digital Meme, as I was able to put my Korean to use when editing subtitles. Through the various editing, transcribing and translation jobs I gained valuable insights into industries ranging from the automobile sector to specialized medical fields. The uniqueness of Urban Connections is that the CEO, Larry Greenberg directly oversees your growth as an intern in the company and places a lot of faith in your abilities. I feel that my internship at Urban Connections has given me a head-start to starting a professional career after I graduate. I was given real responsibilities, amazing opportunities and was able to experience a thriving, global environment.

Carlos Enrique Álvarez Galindo   February-March 2007

Para mi primer estancia en Japón queria hacer unas prácticas en una compañía situada en el país. Queria mejorar mis conocimientos de japonés y además reunir experenicas sumergiéndome en la vida laboral japonesa.
Por esos motivos solicité un puesto en Urban Connections.

En mi primer día laboral en Urban Connections se me presentó Larry Greenberg el jefe de la compañía. Fue un recibimiento muy agradable. A continuación me presentó a varios compañeros de trabajo. Todos eran muy amables. Ese día tuve que traducir cartas para hacer la promoción de una película japonesa. Fue la primera vez que trabajé en ese ámbito del marketing. Ha sido muy interesante ver como funciona la promocion de películas en el extranjero, como por ejemplo en Alemania, España y Sudamérica. En los días siguientes tuve que hacer varios trabajos de traducción, pero todos con un equipo respaldándome y ayudándome siempre que era necesario. Pero mi principal trabajo era la traduccion de los subtítulos de una película japonesa muda llamada “Taki no Shiraito”. Fue un trabajo muy interesante y nuevo para mi. Ya había traducido páginas web o cartas pero nunca tuve la oporutunidad hacer esa clase de trabajo. Tuve que tener en cuenta muchas cosas, como por ejemplo, no hacer los subtitulos demasiado largos.
Siempre tuve a compañeros que me ayudaron constantemente.

Mi mayor duda cuando empezé en Urban Connections era, que sólo tuviera que hacer trabajos típicos de practicantes, como hacer fotocopias o traer el café. En cambio no tuve que hacer esa clase de trabajos. Estuve totalmente integrado en un equipo, teniendo mi propio área de trabajo.
Fue una gran experencia para mi el trabajar en Urban Connections. Pude alcanzar todos mis metas. Hasta conocí a gente muy capaz y amable. Sin dudas una de mis experencias más importantas hasta ahora.

Aki Ito   May-August 2006

I've heard countless stories about the monotonous but apparently necessary days of an undergrad intern creating Excel worksheets, running to the copy machine, and taking everyone's coffee orders. Frankly, that was what I half expected my intern experience to be like too. Instead, on day one, I was briefly shown around the company, given the company guidelines for documentations, and by the middle of the day, I started working on my first transcription. I worked in the Total Documentation Group, and most of my work involved transcription, translation, and some editing as well. Because of the broad nature of the group, I was able to take a glimpse at not only the life of a transcriber, a translator, and an editor, but also at various political problems and medical fields that my work dealt with. It was exciting to learn about the benefits of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of urological cancers, the issues that surround Okinawa related to US-Japan relations, and the IMF's vision of the developing world's road to economic development, possibly all in the same day. I became a semi-expert (or at least I could sound like one) on some fields that I had never heard of before. At a time when, for the first time, I started thinking about what I really want to do with my future, my experience here not only provided me with an interesting introduction to various fields, but it also made me dive head-first into a professional environment and taught me from scratch what it means to play a role in a company. The strangest thing is that this was all in a span of less than a semester at school.

Teddy Okuyama   June-August 2006

I am truly grateful for my 10-week intern experience at Urban Connections. I was first unsure of whether I was capable of doing an internship. I had no prior work experience, and all I had to offer the company was my mediocre bilingual skills. During my time at Urban, I was involved in various projects. I did tape transcriptions, translations, and I was also given an opportunity to go to a conference. Tape transcriptions were very interesting. Usually, the tapes are of conferences or round-table discussions, and they are of many academic fields. I recall transcribing tapes on economics, international relations, and medical science, just to name a few. The translations were very challenging but, at the same time, a great learning experience. Translation projects for Nissan and Honda are two examples that were challenging but also helpful for the development of my translation skills. The conference that I went to was the OECD conference. I am grateful for the rare opportunity that I got to meet esteemed people of the field. Reflecting on the 10 weeks that has passed, I feel that I have had a very exciting learning experience. I would like to express great appreciation to all the people at Urban Connections for this great experience.

芝沼慶人   2005年7月-8月

アーバン・コネクションズでの2ヶ月間の間は自分にとって貴重な経験でした。翻訳という経験のみならず、日本の社会を取り巻く様々な時事問題や一流企業の文書に直接触れることができ、とても自分にとって良い経験となりました。僕の場合、大学では理数系の勉強をしているのですが、自動車関連の文書などの翻訳などもさせていただき、理系での英語と日本語の活用などを知ることができました。また、日本政府の経済白書や年間報告書などの文書にもかかわることができ、日本という国の立場など今まで見ることのできなかった側面 から経済問題などに触れることができたことも大きな経験のひとつです。社内の体質もとても素晴らしく、「良いものは良い、悪いものはだめ」ととてもはっきりした職場環境はインターンとして会社の一員であるという自覚が芽生えました。また、短期間で質の良いものを仕上げるためのこまめな配慮や努力なども身につけることができたことも自分にとってここでの財産のひとつです。この2ヶ月間では学校の授業では得られることができない社会での経験をさせていただいたことが自分にとって貴重なものになったことは間違いありません。例えどのような分野で今勉強していようと、アーバン・コネクションズでの経験はきっとプラスになると思います。

須藤萌名   2005年6月-8月

私は6月から8月までのちょうど2ヶ月間、アーバン・コネクションズでインターンとして働かせていただき、多くのことを学び、身に付けることができました。アーバンでは様々な分野の仕事を扱っていて、どれもこれも興味深いものばかりでした。多様な企業の年間報告やレポート、日本政府や国際機関の書類や報告書、政府機関の記者会見や白書といったものから、映画の字幕や化粧品アンケートまでわずか2ヶ月で色々と触れることができました。全ての仕事において段階があり、どの段階も欠かせないこと、コミュニケーションやフィードバックの大切さなど、仕事場に入らないと経験できないことを知ることができました。国籍も個性も豊かな仕事場の中で、仕事に対する高い意欲とそれに見合った完成度を目の当たりにすることができて本当に良かったと思っています。

焔理絵   2005年5月-7月

アーバン・コネクションズでインターンとしてお世話になった11週間は、まるで一年勤め上げたかのような錯覚を覚えるほど充実した日々でした。この短い期間にあれほど多岐に渡る仕事やプロジェクトがどう凝縮されていたのか不思議なくらいです。私が携わらせていただいた翻訳は政府関連文書を始め、大手企業の年次報告書や市場調査などの民間企業文書と様々でした。翻訳以外にも、テープ起こしやサマリーの作成、同時通 訳の吹き替えなど、トップレベルの翻訳会社が請け負うあらゆる業務を経験させていただきました。仕事やプロジェクトに対して必ず評価と改良点を提示していただけるのもアーバンのインターンシップが希有な点です。プロ意識を持って働く姿勢や新たなスキルの発見と開発、果ては営業・経営のなんたるかを垣間見ることも出来、多くの事を学ばせていただきました。