Shani Tobias

I started learning Japanese at school in New Zealand, and spent Year 12 in Japan, which was a life-changing experience. I then went on to study Japanese and Law at university, during which time I spent a second year in Japan and grew to love the language and culture even more. After graduating, I again travelled to Japan where I worked as a translator on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme for 3 years. This experience motivated me to explore the process of translation and cross-cultural communication in greater depth, and this brought me to Melbourne in 2005 to pursue postgraduate study.

My PhD research investigated Japanese-English literary translation strategies focussing on how metaphorical expressions are translated. During my candidacy I began teaching Japanese and translation/interpreting at Monash. I find my own experiences useful to draw upon when teaching, and I enjoy seeing students develop their skills and become enthusiastic about Japanese and translation.
After completing my PhD in 2009 I first took up a position with Translation and Interpreting Studies at Monash, where, as well as teaching translation, my primary role was to design curriculum and implement a program of professional development short courses for translation and interpreting practitioners in collaboration with the Victorian Multicultural Commission. I was also the Project Manager for courses in basic interpreter skills training that we offered in regional Victoria. Coordinating these programs was a very rewarding experience, as I was able to work with people from a wide variety of cultural, linguistic and professional backgrounds.

Since 2011 I have been employed full time with Japanese Studies, and I am currently also the Honours Coordinator for Asian Languages and Studies.