Translator Community Spotlight: Sara Migliori

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. Much like our Employee 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 Sara Migliori, a professional translator in Lilt's widespread translator network. We sat down with her to learn more about her background, how she got started in translation, and her favorite things to do outside of work.

What languages do you speak or have you studied?

Italian, English, Spanish and French.

How and why did you become a translator?

I have always wanted to become an interpreter, however, during my first month in university, I realized that I liked better its “better half”: translation.

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

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of zen music playlists, since they help me focus. And now, given the work from home situation, music helps me focus while my husband discusses Data Science problems in the next room! 

What led you to join Lilt's translator community?

By coincidence, I was contacted by a recruiter around the same time I became a freelancer again and I have been working with Lilt ever since!

What does your day to day look like?

With the pandemic my days are all terribly similar: I wake up, read the news, check if my plants are still alive, drink coffee, and have breakfast. After that it's basically e-mails > coffee > translations, translations > coffee > e-mails until I am done for the day.

What do you like to do outside of work? How do you maintain a good work/life balance?

Sometimes, I wish days consisted of 36 hours to have more free time, take a nice walk, meet friends, read books, watch the TV shows I like, try new recipes, drink a glass of wine, relax, listen to music, learn something new, and spend time with my family. But the truth is that once I turn off my computer, I try to disconnect completely and enjoy the rest of my day.

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

As translators we learn new skills daily. In my personal life, however, after moving from San Francisco to Vienna, I've started attending German classes (with little success), since it turns out that life in a German-speaking country can be complicated when you do not speak the language.

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

100%. The role of the translation has changed a lot and is constantly evolving, with more and more machine translation and post-editing tools and technologies. However, even if the artificial intelligence improves visibly, languages constantly change. This is why the "human translator" is still needed. Will machine learning AI make translators an endangered species? I doubt it. However, translators must absolutely keep up, know how to continuously adapt to innovations and take advantage of the new tools available.

What's the best career advice you've ever received?

I was told to have a curious mind. So far, it's helped a lot.

• • •

Keep an eye out for our upcoming posts in both our Translator and Employee 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!