I recently had the chance to spend a very enjoyable few minutes chatting with Michele Berrios, our new President. Michelle comes to the Circle with more than fifteen years of Spanish to English and English to Spanish translation experience which includes a specialization in the US Hispanic market.
The daughter of parents who were both PhD’s, Michelle came from a family where bi-lingual reading was always encouraged. At the age of 14, she chose translation as her future career during a meeting with her guidance counselor when she spotted “translation” as one of the possible career choices on a list that the counselor showed her.
Michelle’s academic experience is impressive. In addition to a BA in Translation from the University of Puerto Rico and a Postgraduate Certificate in Translation from City University of London, she also has an MA in Lexicography from the University of León and the Royal Spanish Academy in Spain. From 2016 to 2021 she worked as a lexicographer for Curiosity Media where she helped to expand dictionary and grammar content for SpanishDict.com and ingles.com. She is also an active voting member of the ATA.
Michelle mentioned that some of her most fulfilling translation jobs have been volunteer assignments. These include translating for the Obama Campaign and for the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL). On a personal note, she is currently editing a book of short stories written in Spanish by her late father which she hopes to eventually translate into English.
As our newly elected President, Michelle now brings her commitment to service to the Circle. In our case that means fostering opportunities for networking and communication to help us stay abreast of current industry conditions and trends. Without such knowledge, translators can be at a disadvantage when dealing with employers and building their careers. An advocate of lifelong learning, Michelle is also committed to providing continuing education opportunities for our members as we face challenges such as the effective use of CAT tools and the proliferation of machine translation.
Welcome to the Circle, Michelle! We look forward to working with you on these exciting initiatives during the coming year.
