Antonella C
Spanish Team Translator
“I think that being a bridge between cultures and knowing that I’m helping people through my profession is what motivates me the most. I love that we’re constantly being challenged to translate different topics and I can learn a lot about them."
Antonella C is from Mendoza, Argentina, and as she says, was, “Born and raised in the land of sun and good wine.” English-Spanish Certified Translator (UNCuyo), Proofreader and Subtitler, and started translating in her spare time at the age of 12. Later it became her profession. Antonell speaks fluent English (C2) and is currently teaching Russian and Italian. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sworn Translation.
When asked to share something about Spanish that people wouldn’t necessarily know, Antonella shares, “Spanish has quite a massive range of different accents. For instance, Spanish from Spain has a different verb and idiom usage than Spanish from Latin America. Also, people don’t even know that there are other accents in Argentina other than classic ‘acento Rioplatense’. I come from Mendoza (West side of Argentina) and we don’t use that ‘sh’ sound (lluvia-shuvia).” She also says, “Legal English feels like another language. For instance ‘null and void’ is a double word expression but it can be translated as ‘nulo’ in Spanish.
Antonella is aksed what motivates her to be part of the Respond team, “I think that being a bridge between cultures and knowing that I’m helping people through my profession is what motivates me the most. I have a strong humanitarian side so Respond has allowed me to channel that side in a rewarding way. I love that we’re constantly being challenged to translate different topics and I can learn a lot about them.”
When asked how she cares for her mental health while doing this work Antonella says, “I try to take care of my mental health as much as I can so I exercise daily and try to avoid working during the weekends. I usually take a break when I’ve been translating several projects in a row because I tend to feel overwhelmed. Right before any project, I organize my schedule so that I won’t be pressed by time and I also drink a cup of an anti-stress herbal tea. Uh, I describe myself as an Empath so the most challenging part is reading about those hard situations in which I wish I could do something else than just translating. For instance, I wish I could help women which are dealing with gender violence.”
Antonella shares the impact this work has had on her life, ““Ever since I started translating for Respond, I feel grateful to have a chance to help people my way. This work perfectly combines my passions: translation and community service." This work helped me in a dark time of my life because when I joined Respond I had just graduated and didn’t know what to do with my life. I tried to join other organizations as a volunteer but none of them gave me such a warm welcome as this one. I’m forever grateful to the friend that told me about Respond!”
When asked to describe language justice, she says, ““Language justice is the fair way every person deserves to be heard. Regardless of gender, race, sex, profession or background, we all deserve to be heard and understood. As a translator, I feel like I can contribute to that justice from my place.”
When asked to tell us a little known fact about herself, Antonella says, “Not many people know this about me but dancing is my therapy! There’s nothing like dancing to a good beat when I feel stressed out”
Her favorite word in any language is, freedom, “ It’s something I absolutely believe in and we all deserve.”
