On October 29 and 30 ProZ.com First Latin American Conference 2011 will be held in Montevideo, Uruguay. The goal of this conference is to provide translators with a means to stay updated on the main areas of the translation business. One of the speakers at the conference will be Xosé Castro Roig, who is a freelance translator, editor, proofreader, copywriter, TV host, semi-pro photographer and stand-up comedian. Xosé travels around the world teaching writing, translation and proofreading in Spanish. The session he will be presenting in Uruguay is entitled “Dudas ortográficas frecuentes y novedades de la reforma académica“. In this session Xosé will be speaking about common doubts about Spanish spelling and grammar translators, proofreaders and editors may have. He will also be addressing the latest reform by the Royal Academy of Spanish (RAE, in Spanish).

Xosé believes that apart from networking, acquiring knowledge and sharing experiences one of the main benefits of attending conferences about translation and interpretation is human contact. In his opinion nothing compares to meeting a colleague in person. This is the basis for building a solid foundation for a professional relationship. In his words conferences are the opportunity of putting a face to a name.

I also asked Xosé to provide a brief description on how he got involved with translation and how he chooses the varied topics of his presentations. I could not help asking him about the role humor played in his professional life and he explained that humor is a fundamental part of his life. He cannot conceive the idea of being bored with what you do and he strongly believes everything is better with a smile.

Towards the end of the interview Xosé gives a very interesting piece of advice to aspiring translators and translators trying to get established.

I feel very lucky to have had the chance to attend one of Xosé’s presentations and I highly recommend them, not only because the content is enriching and helpful but also because you will have a lot of fun. Xosé uses humor as one of his main strategies to reach his audience and his strategy never fails.

You cannot miss the opportunity to meet Xosé Castro Roig in person in Montevideo. There is still time to register for the conference in Uruguay so hurry! You will have a great time. You can see the full program here.

You can listen to the interview with Xosé here: ProZ.com podcast, 2011-10-21

If you have any suggestions for possible themes for upcoming podcasts you can send them to romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom.

See: Translator T.O.