Translator Community Spotlight: Meet Vítor Gonçalves

Here at Lilt, we’re focused on providing the highest quality translations possible, and that requires a large professional network of translators.

We've spent years building a community of experienced and quality translators, and we're excited to showcase the incredible individuals helping to lead the charge in building successful global experiences. Much like our Liltonian Spotlight series, we're sharing the backgrounds of the talented professionals in our community in our newest series, the Translator Spotlight Series. 

This week, we’re happy to introduce Vítor Gonçalves, a gamer, animal lover, and engineer-turned-translator. We sat down with Vítor to learn more about his background, how he started his translation journey, and his thoughts on the ever-changing translation industry.

What does your day to day look like?

I like to wake up and immediately prepare a cup of coffee to get my day going. After that, I start looking through my emails before starting my translation work. Throughout the day, I tend to my pets (a dog and two turtles) and like to play video games as a break in between work shifts! 

What languages do you speak or have you studied?

How and why did you become a translator?

Languages have always been a passion of mine. However, I decided to pursue engineering and graduated with a chemical engineering degree. During this time, I still continued to value independency and self-fulfillment above all.

Up until I started translating, I actually never even considered becoming a translator — I'd never met anyone that worked in the industry and didn't know anything about the market. Luckily, I ended up getting to know a fellow translator and after learning about his work-from-home independence and experience with a lot of language/technical skills, I knew this would be the perfect job for me. And so I started my translator journey.

Do you like to listen to music while you work? If so, what kind?

I do! Mostly Indie/Alternative Rock (Arctic Monkeys, Muse, twenty-one pilots, etc) and Brazilian Pop and Sertanejo. 

What is your favorite non-English word and what does it mean?

Inexorável - inexorable, relentless."Inexorável" is a lovely word not because I value being relentless, which is not a very good trait to have in my opinion, but rather because life is relentless, so we might as well enjoy it!

When you have an hour of free-time, what do you like to do to pass the time?

I like to unwind by playing video games or spending quality time with my friends with a drink! It's definitely important to find breaks in your workday to maintain a healthy (and happy) work-life balance.

What's one fact or skill that you've learned recently?

I've been learning how to inline skate again after over 15 years away from it. It's awesome!

Has the translation industry changed in the last 10 years? Do you think it will change in the next 10 years?

I've been in the industry for close to four years now, and I think it has changed quite dramatically because of COVID-19. I believe we'll be seeing a large transition to permanent WFH worldwide after the pandemic, increasing demand for home services. The translation business will be thriving because of all of the required connectivity needed.

Keep an eye out for our upcoming posts in both our Translator and Liltonian Spotlight posts! We'll continue to highlight people from across the company and our wonderful translator community.

Learn more by following us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook!