March is a month to celebrate women

March is a month in which Italy along with the rest of the world celebrate women, with International Women’s Day falling on the 8th March.

This day is dedicated to honouring the social, economic, cultural, and political accomplishments of women. This year the event will be marked on the theme DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.

Known as La Festa della Donna, this day in Italy has a symbolism more reminiscent of Mother’s Day. A feature of the day unique to Italy, is that often women – as well as men – gift flowers to important women in their lives on this day, marking their colleagues and friends’ achievements, and as an act of solidarity, recognising the impact that they have made along with their value in society.

There are many fabulous women whom I’d like to honour on La Festa della Donna, I really am so fortunate to meet such inspiring women in my line of work.

One woman who has hugely inspired me, and to whom I would be delighted to gift flowers, is Nane Annan, widow of the former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kofi Annan.

I had the pleasure of interpreting for Nane some years ago, at an assignment at the International Women’s House in Rome, and the assignment and her impact have stayed with me.

During the time her husband was in office, she focused in particular on developing programmes relating to girls’ education and women’s empowerment. I was lucky to interpret for her during a visit to the Women’s House, which provided shelter and a safe place for women who had been victims of acid attacks. Nane was poised, kind and genuine, and it was an honour to interpret for her: a true advocate of women and a real inspiration.

Memories of the assignment have, as you’d expect, stayed with me over the years, and I was delighted to read that the International Women’s House is still going from strength to strength, providing vital support and becoming a cultural engine for women’s actions.

I am delighted to present my virtual flowers to Nane.

How will you mark La Festa della Donna, and whom will you honour?

Medical Conferences

This month I spent some time interpreting for a medical conference which was focusing on the rare condition, lipodystrophy. The subject is very specific and, as with all new topics, my research before the conference was thorough.

Prior to this assignment I had never come across this rare condition, which doctors say affect just four people in every million. Lipodystrophy (or LD) affects fat distribution in the body and makes it uneven, which can have a knock-on effect on the body’s metabolism causing diabetes, general exhaustion, and many other issues.

World Lipodystrophy Day is coming up, on 31st March, and now I have a much more in-depth understanding of it I thought I could do my bit to the attention of a wider audience. I will be making an “L” for lipodystrophy with my fingers and posting a picture of this on my social media with the hashtag #worldlipodystrophyday!

Simultaneous interpreting services

In contrast to the medical conference, I spent some time carrying out simultaneous interpreting for an Iconic Italian Sports Car Manufacturer. It never ceases to amaze me the different industries I am exposed to, but along with each industry comes a new vocabulary and different tone.

I have to spend some time before each assignment familiarising myself with the expected lingo that will be used – every day is a learning day, as they say! Unfortunately, I wasn’t required to go to Italy for this assignment, but it was still great to work with an iconic Italian company.

Interpreting for families overseas

I have been working with a British family who have moved to Italy and bought property in a condominio.

If you haven’t come across this word before, a condominio is a property structure whereby individual units within a building or complex are privately owned while the common areas and shared infrastructure (i.e. roof, stairwells etc.) are collectively owned and maintained by all the unit owners. The unit owners typically form a condominium association or management board to oversee the maintenance and management of the shared areas – and this is where my input was required.

The management meeting was held in Italian, and my clients were not fluent Italian speakers. Of course they needed to understand the implications of the meeting and ensure that they could be involved in the discussion, so I interpreted for them and informed them of the content so they didn’t receive any unwelcome surprises!

Working with all clients, small and large

This past month I have had a surge in requests for certified translation services.

A certified translation is a translated document with a certificate of accuracy.

In particular, this has been for Italians purchasing property in the UK, and as a result of the number of applications I have translated recently, I think I probably know all there is to know now about the process!

Taking an individual client through the journey to Italian citizenship, or to becoming an homeowner, is such a positive experience and an aspect of my job that I truly enjoy.

As a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI), I provide certified English to Italian and Italian to English translations of personal and official documents for individuals and companies.

For Italians purchasing property in the UK, mortgage applications usually request certified translated copies of:

• Bank statements
• Proof of residence in the form of utility bills
• Police certificates

So if you are looking for a certified Italian interpreter and translator who can assist you with Italian legal documents, I would be happy to help!

It’s also worth pointing out that police certificates are only valid for six months from their date of issue, so be aware of this if your purchase is taking longer than anticipated – you may need to apply for this again (I have applied for many repeat certificates recently).

Here’s three things you might not know about certified translations and working with me:

1. Did you know, I am partnered with two notary publics and an Italian law firm based in London so my clients can rest assured that I have the specialist contacts to progress your application at a timescale that works for them?
2. All my certified translations have a personalised stamp to prove my credentials. This translation can always be traced back to me, which gives my clients peace of mind as I’m accountable for my work, which means it’s always fit for purpose and of the very best quality.
3. It’s not just property purchases that require certified translations, if you are obtaining Italian citizenship, applying to university or planning a wedding in Italy you may also require this.

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Let’s look at how the certified translation process works: