Hello. I am a native English speaker from Canada, currently residing in northern Ontario. Presently I work as a freelance translator with Transperfect Translations. In June 2011, I received my Honours Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of Waterloo. A key component of my degree included a Specialization in Spanish-English translation as well as an option (similar to a minor) in Applied Language Studies. I also hold a Computer Programmer/Analyst diploma from Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario.

My goal in joining ProZ is to use it to continue to develop my career as a professional translator in the Spanish-English language pair. Prior to returning to university in January 2009, I had already developed a very solid understanding and proficiency in the Spanish language. I lived in Mexico and Guatemala with my family starting in the early 1980’s when I was 14. In total I spent 9 years in Latin America. In those formative years, when language learning comes more easily, I not only began to develop my listening skills in Spanish, but also in speaking, reading, and writing as my understanding increased. It was during that time that I began to correspond with a pen pal in San Sebastian, Spain. That friendship lasted for many years. Learning Spanish as I did in a more naturalistic manner (“on the street”), much as one learns his or her first language, allowed me to gain language and cultural experience and understanding which are not available in a classroom. In the late 1980’s, when I first began my postsecondary studies, I attended university in Guatemala for two and a half years, taking many architecture and civil engineering courses, completely in Spanish. This really cemented the nuances of the language into my mind.

My years living and studying abroad and the cultural awareness acquired, coupled with my formal university studies from University of Waterloo, form an invaluable asset when it comes to doing many translation projects.

In the late 1990’s I spent 2 years working at an orphanage in Quiché, Guatemala as an English teacher, also performing the role of translator/interpreter for the director of the organization and for visiting speakers and work groups. While there I assisted local public school teachers in designing and creating computerized report templates for year-end student grades, a task which, up until that point, had been performed by typewriter. In 2005 I went to Mexico to interpret for a church group that built a residence for a needy family.

As part of my studies at Waterloo, I spent the summer of 2010 at Universidad Antonio de Nebrija in Madrid, Spain, where I took intensive courses in Spanish literature and history. This was a great help in developing a broader picture of much of the historical and cultural knowledge of Spain that I had acquired up to that point. My literature professor in Madrid, in relation to the work I submitted, commented to me that she had not seen a foreign student with such a strong command of written Spanish.

My areas of translation expertise, in which I have considerable background knowledge, life and work experience, include construction, renovations, automotive, computers, agriculture, and engineering. I apply the same obsession to detail in doing translation or document writing as I do to all home renovations I undertake, a field I have been involved in since I was a teen working with my dad.

I look forward to a bright future in the translation industry and I appreciate your interest in my profile.

All the best,

Nicholas Lentz.