Beyond Full-Stack: Becoming a “Translator” — Another Weapon in My Arsenal

From Building Systems to Connecting Systems

“Wait… I’m not building an application this time?”

When this system development project began, things took a somewhat unexpected turn.

In fact, my department did not have that much of a role in the initial development of this system.

Why?

Because the system itself was already built.

This was not a project where we developed an application from scratch. Instead, we were introducing an existing, fully developed system and adapting it to the Japanese business environment.

Of course, it was not that simple.

When a completely new system suddenly enters an existing environment, it inevitably creates an “interface” problem with the surrounding systems that have been running until then.

Naturally, those surrounding systems need to be modified as well.

“The system is already complete.”

That may be true.

But from the perspective of the surrounding systems, the reaction is more like:

“Wait a minute… this new system just showed up out of nowhere!”

And so, a project struggling with interfaces began.

Understanding Became More Important Than Building

My department is responsible for developing those surrounding systems.

At first, we naturally assumed that this system introduction would also require us to build new applications.

But as we began to understand the system, our perspective gradually changed.

The system was far more flexible than we had expected.

Its configuration capabilities were extensive, allowing a wide range of adjustments simply through settings.

In other words, many requirements could be accommodated without actually modifying the underlying program itself.

On top of that, the business side was also redesigning its processes to work with the new system.

As a result, there were fewer situations than initially expected where we needed to make major changes specifically to accommodate the existing Japanese business processes.

So what could someone like me, coming from a large-scale application development organization, actually contribute?

That was where two skills I had developed over the years became useful:

English and systems.

I Still Have a Long Way to Go Beyond Full-Stack

Of course, there are people out there who can deeply understand a system, design it, implement it, and communicate about it fluently in English.

People who go beyond what we normally call “full-stack.”

Honestly, I’m not at that level yet.

But there is something I can do.

I can read English system documentation while understanding the underlying system specifications.

I can understand the technical meaning.

And then, I can translate that knowledge into Japanese so that people in Japan can understand it.

Before I knew it, my main task in this project had become translation.

And I’m not talking about a few pages.

I was translating hundreds of pages of system documentation.

That became my primary assignment.

Hundreds of Pages of Translation? Bring It On.

How you perceive this kind of work depends on the person.

Some might think:

“Hundreds of pages of translation…?”

But I chose to look at it differently.

This is not simply translation.

To translate properly, you have to understand the system.

The more deeply you understand it, the more clearly the structure of the system begins to emerge.

And through the translation process, the technical knowledge contained in those English documents becomes your own knowledge.

In other words, the translation itself becomes a learning process that helps build the next version of yourself.

So, hundreds of pages of translation?

Bring it on.

I read through the documents one page at a time.

I learn specifications I did not know before.

I turn English into Japanese.

And in the process, I understand the system a little more.

In this project, my department did not get as many opportunities to build large-scale applications as I had originally expected.

But in exchange, I discovered a role that I could uniquely contribute to:

understanding the system and connecting technology, language, and business.

I want to become full-stack.

And then go beyond it.

Not just someone who can build.

But someone who can understand, connect, and communicate.

Perhaps translation is one step toward becoming that kind of person.

I can do it! I’ll take the first step tomorrow.