Doremi-fansubs

No problem.

There are no native Japanese speakers in the group.

We (Ladholyman and Maceart) are brothers and we both came from Taiwan. We learned Japanese in UC Berkeley (Class of 2010) Ladholyman received a major in Japanese and Maceart received a Minor. Before we got language training we used Chinese subtitles for Japanese cartoons and were effectively a Chinese->English fansubbing group. Quality used to fluctuate a bit since Chinese subtitles weren't always the most accurate/precise/correct.

To sub children's shows confidently around 4 years of college is probably enough. Ladholyman did not feel confident until after getting his major. Kanji is easy for the both of us since we both know Chinese.

Nope, it won't be fansubbing anymore if we get paid. There will always be people wanting us to release faster, but we don't think we can go any faster.

The biggest difference between 2005 and 2013 in terms of fansubbing would be the quality of the fansub and the speed. Back in 2005 most shows would take at least a couple days for the fastest groups to get a sub out. (Even Dattebayo took a day to get Naruto out). Many shows would sit in the neglected pile while popular ones get multiple groups working on it to get exposure for his/her own group. Today, with the advent of Crunchyroll, over 70% of any current season would reasonably have a chance to be subbed and the turnaround time is in hours, rather than days after an episode airs. Crunchyroll also offers a base level acceptable quality, both in terms of translation and in terms of video quality.

Of course there are other aesthetic aspects that are different from 2005-2013. Video quality has gotten exponentially better, at the cost of around 2 times the filesize due to better video compression techniques. Today, fansubbers don't go crazy over using Adobe aftereffects for karaoke and typesetting. Distribution is now done mainly through bittorrent and streaming, rather than IRC (internet relay chat) and FTP. Translation wise, fansubs are now leaning towards a more liberal style rather than "translation notes and honorifics everywhere" literal style.

Eight. It'll get better with time.