Words travel worlds. Translators do the driving.

Mélani Martincevich is a Technical, Scientific and Literary Translator who right after passing her Cambridge First Certificate in English exam started studying Translation at Higher Education Institute N° 28 “Olga Cossettini” in Rosario, Santa Fe, where she graduated in 2016.
While she studied Translation, she participated in various workshops such as English-Spanish Comparative Grammar and Phonology workshops, and different activities organized by the Colegio de Traductores de la Provincia de Santa Fe.
She’s currently doing a Bachelor’s Degree in Translation at the National University of Rosario.

She works for GeaSpeak as a Project Manager, translator and reviewer, also carrying out a variety of different tasks. 

-Mélani. Why are you a translator?

Well, actually, when I started studying Translation I wasn’t that sure whether this was what I wanted to do for a living. I’d been studying English for about six years then and I was certainly in love with the language, so I was planning to study some English-related thing when I finished my secondary education, and  the options I had were either to study to be an English teacher or an English-Spanish translator. And as you can see, I chose the second option. Those academic years were amazing. I liked all the subjects we studied and there wasn’t a single class where I got bored—I found it all so interesting, not only the Translation subjects but also English Literature, History, and Grammar. But it wasn’t until the last year that I found that I certainly liked translating and that I strongly wanted to work as a translator and get as better as I could at it.

– What does it mean for your career to work at GeaSpeak?

To me, working at GeaSpeak is kind of a master key. When you feel comfortable at work and are surrounded by people you can team with, and you can share what you know while learning from those you work with, you just feel like there’s no door you can’t open. This is a profession where sometimes it’s difficult to be a hundred percent sure about anything, decision making is such a big part of it all, so working as a team is a major part of getting good results, and in GeaSpeak teamwork is a cornerstone.

– When translating, what is your source of inspiration?

Well, I’d like to say that when I translate I get inspired, but that’s not actually how I feel. I’d rather say I get focused. And the more I focus, the better my results, the more confident I feel, the more I enjoy the project I’m working on, and the faster I translate.

So maybe it’s not that different from getting inspired. Anyway, what inspires/makes me get focused is the search for perfection. We know that when we translate there are many things at stake —we want the final text to sound natural, to contain the same amount of information as the original one and hopefully to produce the same effect in the reader as the original text. Well, what encourages me to do my best is simply my desire to get the best possible results despite all the cultural, linguistic or any other kind of complications that may arise.

– What is your personal passion and what do you hate?

It’s hard to choose only one. One of them is undoubtedly studying. I have a passion for knowledge. I’m interested in so many things—History, Grammar, Geography, Anatomy, Politics, Languages, Mechanics, Literature (of course), and the list goes on and on. I enjoy learning. And travelling is another of my passions. Knowing places. I hope I’ll get to visit most of the countries in the world and experience each one’s culture myself. That’s definitely one of my biggest dreams, even though it’s kind of a cliché (I don’t think there exist many people who wouldn’t like to travel all around the globe). And as regards what I hate… Well, disorder is something that I greatly dislike. I think I’m a structured person. I like order, it makes me feel in control and I work and live better that way.

– How do you see yourself in 20 years? What is your vision?

I like my job. I like what I do and what I’m studying, and I’m determined to carry on studying and working and training,  so 20 years from now I see myself as a highly experienced translator specialised in several of my areas of interest and I think I’ll hopefully have a couple more degrees under my belt.