Hi there! My name is Alba Vidal, audiovisual translator. “Audiovisual” and “Vidal” rhyme in Spanish, but sadly not in English. I will eventually come up with something nice to make up for it, I promise!
I have over 7 years of experience as a professional translator and proofreader. Of those 7, 5 years have been dedicated almost exclusively to what I enjoy more than anything in the world: audiovisual translation.
I remember being a pre-teen self translating Hilary Duff lyrics for fun. And I’m talking pre-internet times, so I used a physical dictionary! With pages! I also remember when I was 18 and had to choose what to study after high school, and how I would end up crying because I couldn’t decide between English, Media Studies or Translation. Well, it turns out you can combine all three, and that is what I’ve done.
After completing my BA in English Studies in Universidad de Oviedo (Spain), I moved to London, where I lived for several years. Among the many things I did there, I studied an MA in Audiovisual Translation at the University of Roehampton.
Fast forward to 2023, and I have translated over 40 films and TV shows into Spanish. In 2018, I won an ATRAE award for Best Subtitled TV Show for my translation of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Besides freelance translation, I have also worked as an in-house Linguistic QA specialist for companies such as Electronic Arts and Deluxe Media. I also collaborate with film festivals as a subtitle technician.
Why work with me?
But Alba, isn’t ChatGPT just as good as a human translator these days? Isn’t the proofreading function in Word enough? Why should I hire a professional?
Translation:
But Alba, doesn’t McDonald’s sell cheaper food? Why would I go to a Michelin star restaurant, then?
They are both, in fact, acceptable options. But the choice depends on what you are hoping to achieve by translating your product and how far you’d like it to go. Are you trying to grow your brand by translating your website? Submit your short film to a festival? Do you need subtitling for the deaf that really makes media accessible and actually helps its users rather than frustrate them? Then, you want to work with a professional who understands not only the source and target cultures, but also what your goals are, and who helps you get there through translation.