NAME: Marián Amigueti
PROFESSION: Translator, copyeditor
WORK LANGUAGES: German and English into Spanish
PLACE OF RESIDENCE AND WORK: Madrid
What kind of translation work do you do and what type of clients do you work with?
I mostly translate web content on Engineering, Marketing, and Life Sciences. My speciality is Electromedicine with a touch of Marketing.
I also like translating web content, documentation and marketing materials on Tourism and Human Resources. I work with specialised central European translation companies and some selected direct clients.
Can you provide a brief description of a typical work day?
My work routine has changed a little over the last year. I have now two little girls (1 and 5-year old) and my husband and I have organized our work day to spend quality time with them.
A typical working day for me starts at 7:00 am. I am mainly focused with ongoing projects at that time. For me it is wonderful to work with no interruptions. By 8:40 I check my emails and re-arrange later tasks if needed.
At 9:00 I stop to prepare my baby girl for nursery school while my husband takes our daughter to school. Then we have breakfast, and from 10 till 11 I go to Pilates class. At 11:30 I go back to work, check my emails, book tasks in my calendar and then continue with translation work until 2:30 pm.
Then I pick my baby from the nursery and have lunch with my husband. In days with high workload I keep on working until 4 or 5 pm and my husband takes care of the girls. We both work 2 more hours after the girls go to sleep.
What aspects of your profession do you enjoy most?
I truly enjoy freedom and flexibility. I enjoy my tailored-made working day. I love to adjust the week to my convenience, by joining a face-to-face German conversation discussion group a Thursday morning in the centre of Madrid, for instance. I agree very reasonable deadlines with my clients and it is something I really appreciate.
Furthermore, I enjoy editing texts to be published. On the business side, I particularly find marketing and prospecting attractive.
Which aspects do you least enjoy?
I would say bureaucracy (therefore I have externalized the accountancy, 😉) and educating direct clients that do not see an effective international linguistic strategy as a very profitable investment for them.
How long have you been working as a translator?
I have been working as a translator for 15 years, though not always full-time.
Does this work fit with your initial studies? Did you in fact study to become a translator?
Yes, and yes. I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpretation at the University of Granada, I have lived in Ireland, and I have completed my education with a Master’s in Tradumática (Computer-assisted Translation) at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, a professional edition training course on Spanish, and an online copywriting course in Spanish.
What is your career path? Why did you make the decision to work as a translator?
My career path is quite versatile. I gained experience in an export department in Barcelona, and then as a Project Manager and technical translator in a German translation firm with office in Madrid.
From there, I freelanced as an independent language professional for several years, before returning in-house to work as a multilingual assistant in a prestigious Swiss attorneys-at-law firm.
I then went on to join a team of project managers in a well-established translation and language services firm. Here I became familiar with numerous tools, ISO quality, tight deadlines, platforms and procedures involved in translation management.
My decision to work as a translator started very early, as I was fascinated by languages, music, exploring the world and interacting with people from diverse cultures. Deciphering the lyrics and melodies of the music my father listened to at home also kept me captivated.
Is translation your sole professional work? If not, in what other fields are you involved?
I am also a Spanish consultant. From time to time, I teach edition of Spanish texts and German-Spanish translation techniques to private students. I also help connect trusted translators and international clients.
For more information, feel free to explore Marián’s website, website 2, her Twitter’s account, or her Facebook page.
Alexandra
Spanish and English > French translator
French and Spanish teacher (face-to-face/Skype)
HISPAFRA 