---- Andrea Clunes <andreaclunes@gmail.com> wrote: 
> A lot has happened in my life, the most important thing being that
> I've finally graduated from the University and I'm now a professional
> Japanese/English/Spanish Translator.

Congratulations!

> Also, I still love seiyuus, still love Miki Shinichirou beyond words
> (even though some things have changed...) and my admiration towards
> Okiayu Ryoutarou grows everyday. :D

I'm very fond of both of those seiyuu, too. But what do you mean "even though some
things have changed"?

> My fanatism for seiyuus has had some kinda influence in my way of
> seeing things and it's so much so that I've started to think in
> becoming a voice actress myself, here in Chile.

Good luck in your endeavor!

> You'll see... There's this doubt that I have in my mind and I thought
> this was the best place to ask it. I don't know you, but, even in
> spite of my deep love and respect towards seiyuus and their work, I
> haven't got the slightest idea of how do they become the great
> professionals they are! Are there schools or universities, in Japan,
> that teach the "seiyuu career"? Where can you study to become one? How
> long does it take?

There are schools - sometimes you can see them advertised in seiyuu magazines, or
a bio on a seiyuu may mention that they graduated from this or that seiyuu school.
I think some of the seiyuu companies/talent agencies (I don't know what exactly to

call them) may have schools attached, too. It looks like Wikipedia has a page on seiyuu
that covers some of these questions - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiyu - but with
Wikipedia your mileage may vary.

You have the advantage of being able to read Japanese web pages. Since you're a translator,
probably you have a way to generate Japanese characters on your computer so you can
plug Japanese terms into a search engine, but if you don't, you can always
find a term on another web page and copy and paste. 

Hope this helps!

-Kael