With over 12 years of working experience with us, the winner of our November edition of the Translator of the Month action, owns extensive experience in interpreting and translation in various fields.
This initiative is our way to way to say thank you! and recognize the efforts of the industry professionals: translators, the driving force behind every translation company’s success.
Hi Chiara,
You studied a Bachelor of Arts, that is awesome! When did you become interested in Translation?
It was just a matter of chance! At that time I was working in a bakery since I had always considered work a way to make a living and also get to pay my Art courses which I was interested the most before starting to work as a translator.
One evening, I was walking through the old town of Valencia when I noticed a job ad looking for interpreters. I decided to call that number phone and then… my life changed.
You started working with Seprotec as interpreter in Valencia in 2008. How do you remember that experience?
I loved so much that experience! Actually, I was an interpreter in Courts and also in some police stations of the Region of Valencia. I would like to thank my chief in Valencia at that time, Katy Stachon, a highly professional and fair person, definitely the best chief I’ve ever had; she trusted me and gave me this unbelievable chance to grow both as a person and as a skillful worker. I began to work as a translator thanks to her! Seprotec was looking for an Italian-Spanish interpreter based in Valencia and she proposed me…so here I am! Sometimes I miss learning constantly day by day and helping people communicate better. It was very interesting and shocking at the same time to get to know deeper this social and anthropological substratum of our society.
You are a very complete professional! Do you prefer Translation or Interpreting? Why?
Thank you so much!
I really don’t know, it’s such a good question! They are similar but not at all. I’ve always liked Italian grammar since it has helped me understand the Spanish linguistic mechanism to express myself properly. On one hand, Translation allows me to work from anywhere and at any time and it gives us translators enough time to develop concepts accurately. On the other hand, Interpreting focuses on human connections, especially in criminal courts where it’s really important to manage to transmit foreigners’ feelings and improve their communication when they need it the most.
Therefore, I like both because they complement each other.
Being a freelance translator and interpreter and also an Art teacher for many years, how have you balanced both crafts?
I think it’s because all of them are creative jobs. Work is for me a way to achieve my personal fulfilment where translating/interpreting and teaching Art are two sides of the same coin of my own self-realization. I think travelling around the world and living abroad taught to me how to be more open minded. One of the greatest challenges that I had to conquer was figuring out that I needed to believe in myself, and being able to study and work in many different fields at the same time has definitely gave me that confidence.
Do you think the translation industry nowadays requires the ability of using a CAT tool?
Well, that’s in fact what I think. It’s for me the only way to increase the speed and accuracy of the translation services.
Thanks so much Chiara for your time and good work. We really enjoy working with you! Enjoy your SeproTec hoodie and Buon Natale.
