An Interview with a TWB Translator: Andreia, a translator shaping a more equal future

TWB News Featured Translators
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“Translating and interpreting is not just about converting words from one language into another. It is about communication.”

@andfraz, translator and reviewer for TWB :star2:

To recognise the incredible work of our TWB Community and to join the world in celebrating International Women’s Day 2021, this month our #LanguageMatters blog features an interview with Andreia Frazão.

Andreia has been incredible in her support for TWB, translating from English, German, and Spanish into Portuguese, and from Portuguese into English too. She is also an amazing part of the TWB Community, guiding other translators and making the Community Forum feel welcoming!

Based in Coimbra, Portugal, Andreia joined TWB in early 2020 to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. But her work and dedication have contributed to TWB in so many other areas too. For example, she has worked on projects that address issues of gender-based violence and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse.

“It gave me a sense of purpose right from the start, which has helped me stay positive throughout the COVID-19 crisis.”

Andreia also reflects on how working with TWB has helped her through the pandemic, providing structure and giving her confidence!

Discussing International Women’s Day 2021, Andreia includes Malala Yousafzai as a woman she deeply admires and talks about women-focused groups that are working to create change all across the world.

“Humanitarians play a key role in raising awareness and fighting gender-based violence and stigma…Translators amplify these efforts by translating guidance, research, advocacy messages and informative materials intended for the public. They also make sure vital information is in the right language for affected people.”

Thank you so much to Andreia, and the entire TWB community, for your invaluable support :heart_decoration:

Andreia
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To find out more about Andreia and her experience, read the full blog post here :sunflower:

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Congrats again lovely @andfraz for being featured! :heart_eyes: I am really glad I had the chance to meet a wonderful person like you. :dizzy:

Wishing you always a boundless success! :star2:

Warmest regards, :cherry_blossom:

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Congratulations, dear @andfraz! This was a most deserved feature! I really enjoyed your interview, as well.
:star_struck:

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Congratulations, dear @andfraz. We are proud of you.

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Dear @SalwaAlrifai, thank you so much. :hugs: I feel the same way about you. We arrived here at the community around the same time, and your kindness and dedication to TWB have always inspired me deeply. :heart: Wishing you lots of success too! :star:

Dear @faretto5, thank you very much! :smiley: As to being deserved, I must say I would like to see the whole community featured. I like to think of everyone in the community as the irreplaceable pieces of an immense puzzle; without one of us, it isn’t complete - especially during this wordlwide crisis we’re living. :jigsaw: :heart:

P.S.: I’m currently working on a full project, but I will write to both of you soon. :grin: :writing_hand:

Dear @Badjolao, thank you so much for your kindness! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Dear @charlotte1, welcome to our community! :partying_face: It’s nice to meet you. :slight_smile: I hope you enjoy your internship with TWB and time with us. :heart: Thank you very much for writing this thread. :grin:

Have a great evening, everyone! :first_quarter_moon_with_face:

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Congratulations from here to the moon my lovely @andfraz! :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes: :tada: :tada:
You are always helpful and inspiring all of us! You are inspiring me always with your motivated words! :heart_eyes: I really enjoyed reading your words and wish you nothing but success! :heart_eyes:

I thank you for being an active person in this community and thank all the other volunteers! Also, I thank the project mangers for their kind manner with all of us! :heart_eyes:

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Congratulations @andfraz!
I read your interview, and it left me speechless.
I believe that, from now on, you will be an inspiration to everyone -here on Kató Community- more than ever! :star_struck:

Thank you so much for your support to all of us :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Dear @andfraz , congratulations! So well deserved!
I was actually wondering for quite a while, why you have never been featured, and now I see the TWB team were waiting for a special occasion :wink:

Let me tell you that you set a very high standard for every one of us, volunteers.
Though we never interacted directly, I admire your energy, professionalism and multi-tasking skills!:blush:
This is a great occasion to thank you for your dedication and selfless desire to help, for everything you do for this community, aside from being a great translator. I read a lot of your posts, and always keep in mind your tips and suggestions :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Parabéns, Andrea, bem merecido! :clap: :

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Dear @Dalia1, thank you very much. :wink: Your words always make me smile. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: I’m really grateful for having met you, my friend.

I’m also sincerely grateful for having found this community, so being part of it gives me great joy. How could I resist the temptation of being active around here, and witting at great length (or at a too greater length, according to our charismatic @sifatnoor)? :grin: TWB holds a special place in my heart. :heart:

And you are right, TWB’s PMs are amazing. :smiley: And so are our community officers! :grin: :heart:

Dear @Alex9, you are too kind! :hugs: When I arrived to this community, it didn’t take long until I found out about our amazing @Iris. :clap: :1st_place_medal: She has been a role model for me since the start. For years, I would think - ‘what I pity I’m not fluent in more languages; but well, I guess it can’t be helped now’. Yet, now, against all odds, here I am honing my German and French language skills. And it was the charming @Avellana who, with sisterly devotion, encouraged me to put hone my Spanish skills and put them to good use. :hugs: And @brenotelesp, another great friend of mine, always encouraged me to keep working on my language skills, enthusiastically sharing great learning tips with me. :wink: :+1: Everywhere you look, this community is full of jewels. :heart:

Dear @Cristina17, thank you so, so much. :smiley: I must confess that, although I’m always looking forward to see other volunteers being featured, :star2: I wasn’t expecting to be featured myself. :see_no_evil:

Regarding setting high standards, this is something we are all doing together. :raising_hand_woman: :raising_hand_man: :raising_hand_woman: :raising_hand_man: There’s no community like TWB’s. :heart: I’m just a happy member of the team. :partying_face:

I’m glad you find my posts useful. :smiley: :tada: It’s always a pleasure for me to help in any way I can. Moreover, writing them (as well as talking to our lovely @Avellana :heart:), has helped a lot improve my English skills. Before joining the community, I was used to reading literature in English, (especially from the 19th century) but not to write, so my English was a bit old-fashioned. :books:

And it’s true that we have never interacted directly, but that can change. Let’s stay in touch! :wink:

Muito obrigada, Cristina. :slight_smile: É sempre um prazer tão raro falar português aqui na comunidade. :smiley: Só falamos português com o Kató TM, mas o Kató TM não responde. :joy:

Have a great evening, everyone! :star2:

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Andreia

I am so pleased TWB featured you on a special occasion, you are such a dedicated, selfless translator.

Im too am soo glad to have met my new sister through the community and thank you for encouraging me with Portuguese.

You are truly amazing xxx

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You people are just amazing, all of you. I really don’t know what to say to a group of people who show and spread so much positive energy, warmth, and kindness :heart: I feel truly blessed to have the chance to call you colleague and friends :hugs:

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Dear @andfraz, learning a language through good literature is always one of the perfect ways, no wonder those who study languages at an university or an institute have a looong list of classical literature in original to deal with, and I see now were your skills come from! :+1:

And you’ve mentioned something very important: that you had all those friends to thank for helping you and shaping who you are as a translator.
This is actually what all of us, people with good language skills, but sometimes not enough belief in ourselves or courage need: to feel appreciated and find those who share our beliefs and, most importantly, give us valuable pieces of advice. Sometimes it’s enough for someone to say: “you’re doing good”, “you’re on the right way”, “just think about it”, “have you actually considered?..”, “we appreciate you”… Just like this. And this may make a tremendous difference in somebody’s life and future career choice.

That’s why this community is so special —for me and, I am sure, for so many others.:sparkling_heart:

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Dear @Avellana, thank you so much for your unwavering support. :smiley:

I always had the conviction I would meet good people here, and perhaps make friends - but who would’ve thought I would even find a sister? :hugs: Your presence brings daily joy to my life. :revolving_hearts:

As to Portuguese, you have a natural gift for it. :wink:

Dear @ambra, and you are one of TWB’s most shinning stars. :star2: You were my guiding light when I arrived here, and one of the main reasons why I found the community such a welcoming place. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Dear @Cristina17 - absolutely. :slight_smile: People tend to think of translators like something you do 100% on your own, but language is about communication, so the more you communicate, the more you’ll hone your skills as a translator. :speech_balloon:

:books: You will always benefit from reading a literary masterpiece (and not just from a professional viewpoint; I do believe that literature makes us better people, as seeing the world through a character’s eye is always a bit of an empathy exercise). Hardly anyone has a better command over a language than a writer, so being an avid reader is bound to make you a better translator.

But reading books alone isn’t enough. You may react to what you read, and you may actually become very fond of certain characters, but there’s no interaction. As a reader, you are a bystander. And to become a good translator, you need to interact, you need feedback, and sometimes you need encouragement. And I found all of that in TWB, absolutely. :heart:

Maybe we could organize ourselves here in TWB so as to promote more teamwork and mutual help in general. For instance, maybe we could occasionally set up a system of teams, rather than a system where you claim a task, but you have no idea who will be translating / revising it, so you have no way to contact them unless you leave a message on the community thread (which they may miss). A system of teams could also be helpful to keep track of individual progress. If you get feedback, you’ll be able to enhance the quality of your work. But if your work is revised by the same linguist, they have no way to know you are the same translator, and so they can’t compliment you on your progress. And, sometimes, all you need is to have someone telling you to trust yourself. :wink:

Have a great evening, everyone! :first_quarter_moon_with_face:

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Hi everyone,

I praise you ALL for having the patience for reading Andreia’s community novels (those who know her will understand). I wrote something for Salwa and Andreia here on LinkedIn. I am not gonna say she’s wonderful, she’s awesome and such… I have a habit of not congratulating my very good friends (she knows it).

I am not writing much. Today is, honestly, a sad day. It marks Joanna’s (I’m not tagging her, god knows how many replies she has to make today) last day at TWB. Some of us know what a helpful person she has been for all of us. Words might seem exaggerating, I’ll just say I am SAD.

A bittersweet time for me. Seeing my good friend get what she deserves, and another friend’s last day at TWB.

Take care everyone.

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Hi all! @ambra said it right - you’re all amazing and it’s been so inspiring working with you over the past year. This thread totally encapsulates the TWB community and you should all feel very proud of the incredible work you’re doing :blush:

Congratulations @andfraz :star_struck: you absolutely deserve it :cherry_blossom:

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Hi @sifatnoor, :cherry_blossom:

Yeah, I know what you mean. I hope there is no blame on me since I’ve encouraged her to keep going with this novel style writing… :grin: :laughing:

Thank you for this lovely post on LinkedIn! :blossom: I love that you always include my name when talking about our Ninja. But to be honest, when I’ve read the interview and known how much she is committed to her work here in TWB, I said to my self… okay, here is a turtle talking to a Ninja!!! :sweat_smile:

It is very sad to know that it’s our lovely @JoannaW’s last day here. You will be missed so much. :slightly_frowning_face: :heart: I hope we keep in touch on LinkedIn. And I’ll let you know if the translator hasn’t completed the translation using Kato TM. :face_with_hand_over_mouth: God, I’m gonna miss your replies. :broken_heart: :worried:

Wishing you all a great weekend! :dizzy:

Warmest regards, :purple_heart: :green_heart:

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@andfraz Será possível banhar os macacos? Parecem-se os burros! :smirk: :smirk:

Bye Bye @JoannaW we will miss you :sob: :sob: :sob:
Don’t forget us.

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Hi @sifatnoor, your words in LinkedIn and about Andrea’s writing style here were way too funny :sweat_smile:, but let me tell you in her defense, that she’s really sweet, paying so much detail to every single comment and question. I read her reply first thing in the morning and it made me smile, just seeing the size of it. :grinning: Isn’t she amazing?

I am also sad Joanna is leaving, I had no idea. I’ve come to know her as an indispensable member of this community.
Wishing you good luck in your next professional experience, @JoannaW! We will definitely miss you here! :slightly_smiling_face: :100: :hugs:

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Dear @sifatnoor, thank you for your kindness. I’ll have a look at your short story about me and Salwa as soon as I can, then. :grin: I’m in the middle of a 2,000 words task (which is part of +20,000 project), just taking a break. Today is indeed a sad day. :broken_heart:

:star2: But, fortunately, we’re living at a time where, even after her departure, we can send Joanna a message wishing her well, and asking her how things are going, so that makes things slightly easier. :slight_smile:

Dear @JoannaW, thank you so, so much. :hugs: And never forget that we couldn’t do it without you, me included. Your ongoing support and kindness throughout your time with us was key to make our work possible. Today, our hearts are beating in Portuguese - after all, saudade is the right word to describe how the whole community feels right now. :sparkles:

Dear @SalwaAlrifai, no blame at all, haha. When you happen to have a novel-writing gene, I guess it can’t be helped.

:bulb: Maybe our charismatic @sifatnoor could summarize my posts to make them more reader-friendly for those who need information but are in a hurry? :running_woman: :running_man: :running_woman: :running_man:Do we have a deal? :grin:

And there’s no reason for you to think that, dear Salwa. :slight_smile: I feel a turtle most of the time, to be quite honest. :joy: I wish I could do more everyday, both here and in general - for instance, I haven’t managed to write you nor Lucia yet :frowning_face: (by the way, if anyone has great time management techniques, I’m all ears :hourglass: :raising_hand_woman:).

You are as commited to TWB’s mission as I am. I really look forward to seeing you featured soon. :star2: It will bring me much joy. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :tada:

Dear @Avellana, I love how you are always playing with idioms. :grin:

A teimosia dos macacos não tem limites. Na hora do banho, dizem sempre: “minha senhora, não quero ter uma vida de cão”. E depois fogem para o sótão.

I could play this game for hours. :joy:

Dear @Cristina17, thank you so much for your sweet objection to Sifat’s words, hehe. :woman_judge: :grin: :hugs: Novels are an endagered species and someone has to do something to preserve them. :wink:

Have a great evening and weekend, everyone! :first_quarter_moon_with_face: :sun_with_face:

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Hi Cristina,

We haven’t met before, but it’s nice to make new friends with passion for words and languages. While others are too overwhelmed by her politeness, I am too annoyed. And I have been training her on “how to be not too polite always.”

We have some histories lol. She was forever polite when we first met. Her messages were always like this: “Hi Sifat, good morning/afternoor. I hope you are having a bla bla day… Take care, Sifat. I hope you’re having a nice day and bla bla bla… .” Even if we talked several times in a day! It was sooooo boring, I just couldn’t tell her because we just met.

I was like “Come on! What’s wrong with this girl?!” Then as our friendship developed, I threatened her – if she continued to be “polite,” I would shoot Superman rays from my eyes that would burn her politeness down to ashes. (And it’d “Let beauty come out of ashes” – that Celine Dion song.)

Jokes apart, I just love humor and love to joke with my good friends. Andreia is one of them, and the good news is, she’s stopped being polite, at least with me. (All thanks to myself, of course.)

Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Cristina. Feel free say hi to me anytime. Anyone friends with Andreia, is a friend of mine. Only one condition, just don’t be “Andreastic-polite” with me. We need more friends with whom we can have good laughs.

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