Hello!
My name is Ken, but on the internet i've been Senpai Ken for quite a while now, so I think I'll stick with that name.
When it comes to VNs I've gone through different stages, I feel. First I discovered that "Visual Novels" were a thing by watching playthroughs on YouTube (we're talking about 5 years ago, I believe). Shorty after, I started playing them myself. You could say this was one of the reasons why I got interested in Japanese (I'm thinking of Sakura games, Malus Code, Nekopara, Princess Evangile, ...).
Fast forward 3 years of learning Japanese later and I've gone through another 2 phases again. First I started reading VNs that had no official translation (Watashi no Real wa Juujitsu Shisugiteiru, Dekinai Watashi ga Kurikaesu, Dracu-riot!, Koishiki Manual,...). Now, however, I feel like I want to do more than just read and comprehend them. I want to translate them to practise my translation skills and hopefully become a visual novel translator one day. Maybe it sounds like an impossible dream or a stupid one, but I'd like to pursue it.
I looked around and was also introduced to Fan Translations for the first time today! I was wondering... Do people still do that? How does one become part of such a group? What is it all about? And what about noobies like me? Are they allowed to join?