Alan Thwaits

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Freelance Chinese-to-English Translator for History, Art

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Alan began studying Chinese while working as an editor at the MIT Press. He studied four years of modern Chinese and two years of literary Chinese. After starting work as a freelance copyeditor, he gradually took on more and more Chinese translation work, primarily for art auction houses and academic publishers.

Areas of Expertise

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Art, philosophy, history, philosophy, economics, Japan, literary Chinese

For more information, please visit Chinese translator, history, art, philosophy, economics.

Chinese Translations

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Experienced in the following fields:

  • Antique Chinese furniture
  • Biographies of Chinese scientists
  • Chinese aesthetics
  • Chinese economics
  • Chinese fiction set in the Qing period
  • Chinese imperial seals
  • Chinese musical performances
  • Chinese paintings
  • Chinese poetry
  • Chinese porcelain
  • Daoism
  • Literary Chinese
  • Qing women's court apparel and accessories
  • Scholars' rocks
  • Scientific ethics
  • Television programming
  • Traditional Chinese law

To view samples of his work, please visit Chinese history, painting, calligraphy translations.

Freelance Japanese-to-English Translator for History, Art

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Alan began translating Japanese in the late 1970s at Japan Echo. He again took up Japanese translation while working as a freelance copyeditor. His clients include academic publishers and translation companies.

Areas of Expertise

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Art, philosophy, history, economics, philosophy, China

For more information, please visit Japanese translator, China, history, art, philosophy.

Japanese Translations

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Experienced in the following fields:

  • Chinese ceramics
  • History of East Asian education
  • History of Japanese Sinology
  • Japanese ceramics
  • Japanese economic history
  • Japanese naval history
  • Japanese painting (Nihonga)
  • Japanese swords
  • Japanese traditional mathematics
  • Japanese ukiyo-e artists
  • Japanese war artifacts

To view samples of his work, please visit Japanese history, ceramic, sword, ukiyo-e translations.

A Freelance Copyeditor for History, Art, Philosophy, China, Japan

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Alan began his editing career in Tokyo at Press International. He returned to the United States to finish a PhD in philosophy. And then he served for fourteen years as a copyeditor at the MIT Press. Finally, he struck out on his own, working as a freelance primarily for encyclopedia publishers.

English Editorial Services Offered

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  • Copyediting
  • Substantive editing
  • Rewriting
  • Translating Chinese and Japanese

Subject Areas Edited

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  • History, especially Chinese and Japanese history
  • China and Japan studies
  • The fine arts
  • Archaeology
  • Philosophy
  • Economics

For more information, please visit Copyeditor for China, Japan, history, art, philosophy.

Edited entries

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