November News

November brings business travel in Paris, Brussels and London, interpreting for European Works Council meetings.

I have interpreted for EWC meetings for many years and they are a familiar role for me, but the content is frequently varied, so the new information and exposure to different businesses ensures that I am always learning.

I was sad to read that Massimo Carnelos has now left his role in London as Head of the Economic Section of the Embassy of Italy to the UK and Alternate Executive Director for Italy at the EBRD.

I had the pleasure of interpreting for Massimo Carnelos in March this year, when I simultaneously interpreted his speech from Italian to English during a webinar.

This was part of an assignment with the ITA London Italian Trade Agency (London Office representation at Italian Trade Commission) at their press and industry conference promoting the MCE Mostra Convegno EXPOCOMFORT organised by Filippo Mansani.

Focus of Finance

I am delighted to be spending some time working with a new client in the financial services sector this month.

I have experience with many financial institutions, including PIMCO, Deutsche Bank, Zurich, Morgan Stanley, Blackrock amongst others, and for this particular assignment there will be a mixture of presentations and boardroom style meetings for me to interpret.

For boardroom meetings, I primarily operate with whispered interpreting. Whispered interpreting is a form of interpreting in which a linguist renders a message from one language into another by whispering it to the client. For the larger presentations, I will most likely be in the booth interpreting with the delegates wearing headsets to hear my Italian translation.

As an interpreter I am always aware that I sit at the heart of international business partnership as a communicator, traversing language barriers. Having many years of experience in financial services interpreting stands me in good stead for these such occasions; I am familiar with the language and the tone, and my clients know that a linguist being an expert with their subject matter is vital so that businesses can better position themselves on the international market. I can’t wait to get started!

Thanksgiving

As November is the season of Thanksgiving, I would like to extend warm holiday wishes to all my US-based and North American clients.

I am always glad to spend time focusing on the positives of life, and to express gratitude to the people who are important to me.

This year, I’m feeling particularly grateful for:

• my brilliant clients, who continue to provide me with interesting and inspiring work;
• the wonderful community of interpreters whom I am fortunate to work alongside;
• the joy of being able to work in a role which allows me to travel, meet amazing people, and communicate my love of languages.

What are you feeling thankful for this Thanksgiving season?

J’Adore Dior!

It has been a year since I interpreted at the most fabulous Journées Savoir-faire Lady Dior event at Christian Dior’s flagship store on London’s Bond Street, and I was thrilled to be asked to work at their 2022 Lady Dior event, which on this occasion was held at their majestic Manchester store.

Having interpreted for the event last year I had the benefit of knowing what to expect, but honestly, there is nothing quite like this sort of assignment.

For me, especially, as I adore fashion and covet designer shoes, it is a dream come true to interpret for the illustrious craftspeople of Dior and translate their extraordinary craftsmanship for the awe-struck audience.

Sadly, at the time of the event, the country was in the period of mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and as a result, Dior made the conscious decision to tone down the celebratory nature as a mark of respect. The champagne and cocktails were replaced with fruit juices, and the tone was quiet and reverent, but nevertheless, the event was exceptional, and a true highlight of 2022.

I am delighted to have added the technical knowledge required to interpret for luxury brand events to my repertoire. This is a niche area and I would suggest to translators and interpreters who might want to branch out into this field to thoroughly learn a glossary of terms particular to this industry along with an understanding of the nature of the business. I can assure you, the hard work and time spent studying is well worth it!

The skills involved with interpreting for a luxury brand are, of course, transferrable between companies, and it is a joy to work with such interesting and accomplished artisans and professionals in their industry.

You are your best investment: CPD

Those who know me know that I am a firm believer in investing in personal learning and growth. I am currently undertaking a training course with an interpreter from the European Parliament who is really at the top of the industry to absorb his valuable knowledge with the aim to become as elite as he is! He has shared his knowledge to help me interpret to the best of my ability, every time.

The sky really is the limit!

I thought I could share a few of his pearls of wisdom with you all, as some of his tools have really made me think about how I work and how I could improve, even after twenty years of interpreting!

So, here’s a snapshot of a few of his insights which I found particularly helpful to remember, and hope you might think are useful, too:

• Focus on the main ideas – second best is absolutely fine: your audience will not know!
• In simultaneous, interpreters need to be able to express themselves in short, simple sentences despite the speakers who tend to use complicated, long sentences. Apply the salami technique!
• Try to add intonation into your interpretation, monotony will send your audience to sleep! A person listening to interpretation is often dependent on intonation patterns for emphasis, nuance and structure. Don’t distract your audience with a wrong intonation pattern.
• Don’t worry about taking a second of silence to absorb the speaker’s full meaning before interpreting. Your audience trusts you and a moment of quiet will not concern them, it shows that you are intelligently forming the correct sentence. Silence (for a moment) can be golden!
• Keep your audience entertained.

Top tips for interpreting are always so valuable and something I love to come across. I hope these have been useful. If you’d like to share your tips, I’d love to hear from you!

KUDO Launch Interpreter Marketplace

I have worked with, and championed, interpreter platform KUDO for some time so I was delighted to read of the launch of KUDO Interpreter marketplace, a new product which gives clients access to a network of over 12,000 professional interpreters on a multitude of platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Interprefy.

I am a regular user of KUDO for RSI and during the pandemic, when travel was impossible, it really came into its own as a brilliant and vital resource. You can see it has been designed by interpreters for interpreters. I was fortunate to converse with KUDO’s Co-Founder and Chief Language Officer, Ewandro Magalhaes, just after the news was released, and convey to him my appreciation of this new initiative. Ewandro is probably one of the most knowledgeable and genuinely nicest people in the interpreting industry and it was great to be in contact with him at this important time for KUDO.

I think KUDO have really produced something brilliant with this new launch, passing on the freedom for the client to choose their platform whilst still enticing them with their top-quality professional base of interpreters. It is a sign of the times that hybrid and remote multilingual meetings can become the norm and so easily hosted. Thanks, KUDO!

Where will work take me in September?

September will involve travel to a variety of cities in Europe where I will be interpreting for the European Works Council (EWC) meetings, medical investigators’ meetings and luxury fashion houses.

I have interpreted for EWC meetings for many years, and it is always an interesting engagement. The nature of the meetings is varied and I have been exposed to so many different industries and organisations, it has, at times, really kept me on my toes!

With so much experience interpreting for these meetings, I feel that it really is another area in which I have become very knowledgeable and feel totally comfortable working. Also, as I have come to know other interpreters from these meetings over the years, I’m excited to see some familiar faces!

I am looking forward to working with the pharmaceutical industry again this month, translating for medical investigators’ meetings. These meetings are often large-scale events, with sometimes as many as 20 interpreters working in ten different languages. They are generally very technical in nature and so we interpreters absorb any notes (sometimes it feels like entire books!) which we are sent prior to the event so we are totally prepared for the specialised language. There is a real sense of achievement of a job well done after these events, and the feeling of satisfaction is brilliant.

Fashion is an industry in which I adore working, I think it must be in my Italian blood! So, as you can imagine, I was delighted to be asked to work again with the wonderful Christian Dior. Dates and location cannot be revealed at this stage (I promise I will keep you informed!) It will be a delight to meet with and interpret for this luxurious company.

Last year, I learned so much about the intricacies and skill that goes into creating a Christian Dior handbag: the craftsmanship is truly out of this world. And, of course, let’s not forget that I also treated myself to a beautiful pair of shoes. I wonder if I might do the same this year!

In addition, I will soon be working with another luxury brand, La Perla, and towards the end of the month I’ll be heading to Malaga in Spain for another new assignment. I look forward to letting you know all about those in next month’s newsletter.

Having enjoyed a completely restful month of August, the busy months ahead are very welcome indeed!

My Mission

I’ve noticed some new subscribers around here (welcome!), so I wanted to briefly reintroduce myself and explain why I’m here!

• Are you an Italian company involved in business with the UK?
• Or a UK company involved in business with Italy?
• Perhaps you’re led by Italian entrepreneurs?
• Or do you need personal documents translated?

Perhaps you’re moving or managing your properties in Italy or the UK, or even need help with requesting a loan from your bank to buy a new home? Maybe you’re an events planner organising a conference, webinar or summit?

I’m here to make your goals a reality!

Working with me, you’ll communicate clearly and confidently with your audience as I translate and interpret for you between Italian and English.

How do I do this? I focus on you.

My goal is to build bridges between Italy and the UK, and between you and your customers, supporting the growth of British and Italian businesses.

With an in-depth understanding of your industry and acute awareness of your target market’s cultural norms, you can rely on me for seamless communication between you and your audience.

For over two decades, I’ve been breaking down linguistic barriers in-person and remotely at the highest level. I provide world-class interpretation and translation services for everyone from international companies, heads of state, the EU and UN, Unicef, Nobel prizewinners, and A-list celebrities.

Watch my short video here for more information on what I do and the services I can help you with! And to see all the details and examples of what I can offer you and to get in touch, take a look around my website here.

And most importantly, I offer more than just a service: I’m here to be a friendly, personable presence supporting you through your international dealings and events.

To summarise, I’m here to connect you with your customers and support the success of English and Italian businesses, and am a huge advocate for promoting and developing companies helping to support Italy’s economy and creativity.

​Along with connecting in person, I love social media and the networks it enables and am prolific on Instagram and LinkedIn. Come and join me on social media: it would be great to connect with you on these platforms, too.

Industry News

I have just renewed my Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) membership for another year and being a Chartered member of this esteemed institution is a wonderful way to open doors to new clients and companies globally. Alongside being a valuable institution, membership offers expert assistance in specialist divisions along with a comprehensive events agenda and networking opportunities.

I would wholeheartedly recommend membership to all those working as an interpreter or translator.

It was so interesting to read recently in Slator the news of Google signing a contract with an Australian based transcription and translation provider for three years for their internal translating and interpreting requirements.

This is a sure sign that a move to entirely AI or machine learning interpreting and translating is still some way in the future. As I have often said, the nuances associated with interpreting and translating are something which are intrinsically human in their very being, so let’s hope that the human touch will remain in this industry for some time!

I am always keen to keep my skills and training up to date and as such I was interested to learn that on the Eventbrite website you can search by keyword – for example “translating/interpreting” – to find forthcoming events relevant to your industry. Some of these are even free of charge. What a great, and easy way to network and increase your industry knowledge. Do you have any top training or development tips? I’d love to hear them!

I Love September

Whilst January may seem like the typical time of year to take stock and start afresh, there’s something about September that makes it a perfect moment to reset and refocus on the remainder of the year ahead.

September, to me, is a time when there’s a renewed vigour in the professional world, with new projects on the horizon as well as valued clients and colleagues to connect – and reconnect – with.

I have spent a wonderfully relaxing month of August with my family in the beautiful town of Syracuse. It was truly idyllic, and I was in A-list company, with Dolce & Gabbana hosting their 10th anniversary Alta Moda summer party in the same location, and Madonna also in residence, celebrating her 64th birthday! Syracuse is my place of birth, but it has become a go-to destination for many international tourists who have bought properties there to enjoy the beautiful coastline, stunning architecture and fabulous food. I can’t say I blame them!

I hope you have also been able to take some time out from day-to-day work-life and perhaps enjoy a new destination, or at least a change of scenery. A break from the daily routine is genuinely good for the soul, and now I am excited and eager to get back to work and see what the rest of the year has in store!