My name is Weronika and I come from Poland. For many years, I have been passionate about languages, especially Spanish, so I decided to combine my passion with my future career path and to become a translator. I had an idea for my future business, but I lacked practical knowledge. I found out about the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme by chance from social media and thought it could be the perfect option for me to gain such knowledge. I established a collaboration with Ania, a sworn translator of Spanish language who has been living in Spain for years and running her business there. The expected benefits for me were to learn how to run a translation business in Spain and learn more about translation techniques and software I didn’t have a chance to experience at a university (I have a bachelor’s degree in Spanish Philology). In return, I could help Ania further develop her business by promoting her company on social media and providing a fresh perspective on her activities.
During my stay with the host, I focused on doing practical translation tasks. They varied in subject matter but were a new experience and challenge for me each time. From simple translations from individual clients to legal, medical or IT-related translations. There were also assignments from large companies known all over the world. Ania always watched over my work and helped if I had any problems. At the end of each working day, she used to give me a solid feedback on my mistakes and suggest solutions to them. This is extremely important knowledge for me, as I plan to be a translator myself and I am committed to performing my tasks with professionalism. Moreover, I was occasionally involved in finding new clients for Ania and developing a new marketing plan for her company. She, in return, would organise individual workshops for me at the end of each month covering aspects such as translation techniques, business management and using specialised software.
My collaboration with Ania has brought many benefits. I learned what running a business looks like from a practical perspective and gained valuable knowledge about the legal framework for developing a business in Spain. Furthermore, I have gained very important wisdom and experience about translation techniques and tricks that they did not tell us about when studying at a university. Not only have my professional skills improved but also my personal ones. I am now more confident in myself and what I do. I have learnt self-discipline and how to solve problems creatively. Thanks to the programme, I have not only gained knowledge but also contacts. I can definitely see myself working with Ania again in the future. And of course, my language skills have improved to a whole new level.
If you feel something is meant for you, do it. These four months spent with Ania have brought many positive experiences. I learned not only how to run a business and perform translations but also became a different person – more confident and unafraid to look towards the future.