Andrea Quintana is an English to Spanish translator specializing in medical and IT texts. She is based in Argentina.
Andrea: After high school, I had difficulty finding a career I liked. I tried Physical Education, and Architecture later, but gave up both. Finally, I realized that I should go for what I'd always loved, which was languages. No doubt it was the right choice!
Andrea: Moms working as freelance translators from home must have good organizational skills and a good balance between their profession and their personal life, otherwise the whole family may go nuts! Fortunately, I’ve successfully passed that stage.
Andrea: Receiving positive feedback from my clients is very rewarding. That’s when I can actually perceive the usefulness of my work, as I’m helping things happen by bridging communication gaps.
Andrea: After 24 years of experience, I’m happy to work at what I love, make a living from it, choose my terms and conditions, help others, and learn a lot.
Andrea: Working from home in this profession has allowed me to raise and be available for my children whenever they needed me.
Andrea: Doing what I like, being well organized, saying "No" when necessary, being professional, respecting my clients and demanding their respect in return.
Andrea: I’d advise them to be professional, consistent, study, improve, and invest in their profession. All that will certainly pay off.
Andrea: ProZ.com has been vital in the creation and maintenance of a steady client portfolio for me. I’ve met – or rather "e-met" – many of my clients through ProZ.com.
Andrea: A short time ago, someone pointed out how good machine translation had become. I hadn’t thought of it, but it’s true. That scares me a bit. Will we be needed in the future? I don’t know, but I hope we are!
Andrea: I’ve worked on my own for a long time now, and have enjoyed it, but I’d like to take a more "social" approach to my activity, so I’m thinking of turning to interpreting, teaching Spanish to foreigners, or something related. I’m still deciding.