“When we started out as translators, we thought that using MT made us bad translators. Bad people, even” says Antonella Speroni of Shift Languages. “But we wanted to uplift each other as translators, not bring each other down.”
Wanting a people-first, tech-positive agency that delivers top quality translations across domains is what brought Speroni together with her former classmate, Julieta Olivero, to create Shift Languages.
Antonella and Julieta, Anto and Juli as they affectionately call each other, studied translation together at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina, but they didn’t know each other. It wasn’t until a mutual friend introduced them that they started the friendship that would ultimately become a business partnership.
“We were watching a movie one night and Anto turned to me and said ‘I have an idea’” says Juli about how they went into business together. “I just said ‘yes’ because I knew exactly what she was going to say, and I had been thinking the same thing.’”
Both women had realized that they would be great partners, as they had similar goals and visions but very different areas of expertise. Speroni focuses mostly on social science and humanities translations while Olivero specializes in medical and healthcare translation.
However, neither of them is a one-trick-pony, and they both have experience with projects well outside the range of their chosen specialties. For example, they worked together on translating a full-length martial arts book from Spanish into English.
In addition to translation projects, Shift Languages also gives translator trainings and writes books on various aspects of professional translation, such as a “Translation Survival Guide” and a guide on translation into English as your “L2” (your secondary language).
Shift Languages focuses on writing these books and giving trainings because it goes back to their original mission: Uplifting the translation community instead of putting their colleagues down.
This mission has become especially important in recent years as technology has continued to revolutionize the industry.
When it comes to machine translation and AI, Speroni says “There is nowhere to hide,” meaning that it is important for translators to adapt to new technology and stay ahead of the curve. “But, we also think it is important to be transparent with our clients and tell them we are using MT, and what the benefits of that are.”
In addition to using the latest translation tech in their own business, Anto and Juli also focus many of their trainings on teaching translators to use Bureau Works, their AI-enabled TMS of choice. Initially, it was Anto who was excited by Bureau Works while Juli was skeptical. “But when one of us has an idea or an interest, the other supports them” explains Olivero. “And then when I saw what was making Anto so excited, I was convinced as well.”
Speroni was initially excited about switching to Bureau Works because she felt like they were “stretching [their] old tech to its limits.” Now, they feel like the tech they use has the ability to keep up with their growth as a service provider. And, they are excited enough about the tech that they are teaching other translators to use it to improve their own translation service business.
Antonella Speroni and Julieta Olivero have been working together as Shift Languages for almost 8 years, and they are looking forward to many more years of translation, training, and teaching together!
Bureau Works is honored to have them as one of our featured LSPs!
To learn more about Shift Languages and to get in touch, visit them at https://shiftlanguages.com/en/.
To learn more or become a Bureau Works featured LSP or Freelancer, contact danielh@bureauworks.com with “Featured LSP” or “Featured Translator” in the subject line.
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