Please Introduce Yourself Here

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Melanie Fox on March 14, 2009 at 12:09pm

I am a linguist who specializes in Dialect Coaching for English (American English) and Accent Elimination. I taught adult ESL in a classroom setting, but I am now available to give private lessons for accent coaching. I can also teach native English speakers Spanish for business purposes (medical Spanish, Spanish for business professionals, diplomats, etc.)

I am not exactly a translator by trade, but I did work a bit in machine translation (related to Computational Linguistics) at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). I taught adult ESL and also have done some informal translation projects.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Luz on March 17, 2009 at 9:10pm

I am a professional translator/interpreter with more than 25 years of experience. I love to write, whether it is an old fashioned letter, on the internet, or emails and have found my career very rewarding!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Marialba Baez on March 19, 2009 at 10:10am

I am a professional English-Spanish translator with over 30 years of experience (started young!) and specialize on medical, technical, military, marketing, telecom and banking projects. I also do editing and interpretations. I am originally from Venezuela, and have lived in the US for over 20 years. I am a member of ATA and proz.com.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Genaro Hernández on March 24, 2009 at 9:24am

I now am a retired IT professional of 26+ years. However, most of my 36+ years in Canada I have been doing pro bono translations and have interpreted for hundreds of my conationals and other Hispanics who have arrived in Canada these many years without knowledge of the English language.
Upon being "restructured" out of my IT job, it wasn't difficult for me to find my vocation and a way to continue to earn an honest living. Thus, Be-Clear.ca was born! I now dedicate myself 100% to this fulfilling activity, charging modest rates.
Most of my translations jobs have been for individuals, and most of them have been legal documents of different types: birth, marriage, divorce, educational certificates, work testimonials, and credentials.
My goal here is to network and eventually create long term work relationships with small to mid size companies who do business with Latin American partners.
I'm finding it frustrating that in seeking accreditation in this profession my long part time experience, although equivalent to several years of full time experience, is not taken at all into account, so I have to start from scratch and gather the minimum of 4 or so years to even be considered and then tested.
I'm originally from Ecuador, South America.
My best advice for those thinking of becoming certified translators: Attend specialized courses in translation, especially those taught at universities. Having studies in the field certainly help when seeking certification.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Margarita Morales Vega on April 19, 2009 at 8:31pm

I'm a telephone interpreter for AT&T Language Line Services. I've had my own business as a translator/ interpreter/transcriptionist and it was fun while it lasted. Now I am again working from the comfort of my home and loving it. Language Line is an excellent avenue for anyone who is bilingual/multilingual -- not just Spanish/English.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by P Diane Schneider on May 2, 2009 at 10:20am

Like most people I suppose, I got into interpreting informally at first when I would find people having difficulty communicating in the market place, on public trans;ortation, etc our of a natural desire to help. Later in my public service jobs, I often began interpreting for our staff who did not speak Spanish. When I finally got around to taking interpreter training at the University of Arizona it was a real eye-opener because of the emphasis on interpreter ethics including impartiality, confidentiality, register, etc. I took the federal court interpreter written exam and was one of 3 out of over 300 persons who sat at the exam I took. The oral exam is a separate process of course. I later passed the Washington State court interpreter certificatio in 1992. Still I only interpreted as a side job as I did need to support myself with a "real" job. Since the first of the year 2009] however, I have been concentrating full time on interpreting and translating. The hardest part is my third language Greek as I have fewer opportunities to practice it.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Marcial "Eloy" Mendez on May 16, 2009 at 8:22pm

Hi, my name is Eloy Mendez and I am a Translator. I came to this profession about 10 months ago by my daughter Vanessa who lives in Houston.I live in Tampico, Tamaulipas Mexico right now and I work from here. We do mostly Paralegal, Immigration and Business Forms, but we welcome any jobs large or small.
I believe there is a huge market in this business and I definitely plan to continue doing it.
Like any other profession it has good and bad, but the most challenging are the last minute jobs.
I am from Mexico born in Nuevo Laredo, but lived in Houston for 27 years.
Customer Service is very important professionalism and accuracy are a most.
Thank you for the opportunity and Y'all have a wonderful day :)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lily Cortes Navarrete on September 8, 2009 at 11:30am

My name is Lily Cortés Navarrete. I was born in Merida, but moved to the United States with my family at the age of three. I graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Business Administration minor. I also attended the Monterey Institute of International Languages where I received a Certificate in Translation and Interpreting with a final rating of "Excellent. I am 100% bilingual – English to /from Spanish

I worked for 25+ years in various law firms in the SF Bay Area, first as a legal secretary, then a legal assistant, and finally as a paralegal/research assistant. I also worked in the International Division of Fair Isaac and Co., as well as an independent contractor doing translations and interpreting for Workers Compensation insurance companies. I have spent the last 6 years in bilingual schools, as a Teacher of English Grammar and English Literature, but also did freelance translations and interpreting. I have many years of experience as a translator and interpreter providing services to law firms, architects, construction and engineering companies, and have done website real estate property descriptions and their Spanish translations.
I became interested in interpreting when I realized how many Spanish speaking people live in the Bay Area and become thoroughly frustrated when they need to go to an attorney, an accountant, a doctor, etc. I know how frustrating this can be even when you do speak the language! And from there I went on to doing translations when I saw information pamphlets which had been erroneously translated into Spanish.
Thank you for the opportunity to join this group and I'm looking forward to collaborating with the group on projects

▶ Reply to This

▶ Reply to This