Abstract:

The travel industry has been a lucrative field for many decades. Despite the global COVID-19, pandemic it has managed to retain its status as one of the most sought-after lines of work. English dominates this area as the lingua franca that ensures international communication. However, aside from English, the necessity may arise for the use of other languages, especially those spoken in economically advanced countries where the official language is systemically different from English such as Japanese.

The fact of the matter is that a certain number of tasks in this industry require the services of a professional translator or interpreter. When the source language has a noticeably different structure and is associated with a culture that has few similarities to that of the target language, localization tends to become a useful tool for minimizing inconsistencies.

In the translational discourse, educational materials are localized depending on the target language and the country of instruction. A certain approach to the translation between one set of languages may prove to be useless in rendering a different group of tongues.

Generally, English does not require the use of specific linguistic units depending on the speaker’s gender. This notion, however, is in noticeable contrast with Japanese, which has grammatical structures associated with different genders known as “joseigo” (女性語―women’s language) and “danseigo” (男性語―men’s language).

This article aims to analyse the teaching methods connected to the challenges that may arise in the translation of gender-related differences between target and source languages by using examples from Japanese and English. A special emphasis is placed on the grammatical units associated with gendering an individual within the context of travel industry.

Tackling the challenges of translating gender-dependent structures has the potential to provide gender equality in the travel industry. According to the hypothesis of linguistic relativity, the structure of a language influences its speaker’s world view. By addressing gender-related hurdles that may lead to an incorrect translation, not only are translators more likely to produce a successful translation, but they also contribute to levelling the field between men and women in the industry.

The communicative approach, which can be applied in the teaching of translation, is used in this article alongside the grammar translation and the audio-lingual methods.

As a result of this research, the following has been concluded:
1. The localization of travel-related translational materials is extensive and is constantly developing,
2. Travel-related translational discourse for many languages includes a plethora of gender-dependent linguistic units.
3. Inequality is an issue that can be ingrained in translational materials connected with the travel industry.
4. An exhaustive review of teaching materials through a lens of gender-dependent language is a promising factor ensuring equal opportunity in the travel industry.

Keywords:

Tourism, translation, gender, localization, education.