The holiday season has ended, and so has round 3 of the I Translate competition. This round of competition, inspired by the spirit of the season, asked contestants to complete the sentence “It’s more than just translation, it’s…” The contest was open to all who appreciate translation and we saw some very passion-filled, creative responses.
The winner of Round 3 is Rodrigo Gaion de Oliveira:
Rodrigo, a professional linguist of 5 years, spent 15 years as a stage actor. He found himself drawn to translation because he saw the need to connect people from all over the world. “We speak different languages, but we feel life around us basically the same way.” Rodrigo shares “…I could say that helping people see they are not that different from each other, despite their backgrounds, is what made me choose this career.”
Becoming a linguist has changed Rodrigo’s life in many ways. It has also changed the way he sees the world around him. “I can say that I learn every single day about virtually any topic. To work as a linguist, I need to pretend that I am the end user of that particular content I am working on. Does it sound good for me as a customer? Does it sound reliable? So every day I take a different perspective about life and business in general.”
One thing that Rodrigo especially loves about being a linguist is the possibility to shape a product, campaign, or user experience. “In my language, there are numerous ways to say the same thing, and the differences are pretty subtle. So this is always a challenge, but also a rewarding task.”
For professional linguists like Rodrigo, it’s true that their job is really “more than just translation.” He shared with us some of the ways he has seen his own work have a greater impact. “First of all, [this profession] allowed me to cross the planet and visit China last year. In addition to that, I had the opportunity once to work directly with lots of social media content – tweets – that were shared and commented almost immediately, defining the way people access information, share opinions and show their interests.”
Thank you Rodrigo for your work as a linguist and for sharing with us your love for translation. In addition to Rodrigo’s answer, we selected several CSOFT favorites:
Thank you to everyone who participated in this round of competition. We loved hearing your responses and appreciate you sharing with us how the art of translation is transforming your life and the world around you!