English with Kirsty

I met Sion through the networking for language professionals sessions that I run with Rita Prazeres Gonçalves. I thought it would be good to talk with Sion about her work and her experiences of moving from the US to France and then later to Spain, where she now lives and works.Sion Dayson is an American voice actor based in Valencia, Spain. She works in many genres of voiceover, and specializes in eLearning, corporate narration, audio description, and materials for English-language learners. She’s voiced projects for clients including LG, Pearson, Business Spotlight, the National Academy of Sports Medicine, Iberian Media, among many others.She’s also narrated more than 130 titles for Blinkist, an app that summarizes the key takeaways from bestselling books. Her Blinkist credits include titles by Michelle Obama, Brene Brown, Robin Sharma, and many more.In addition to her six years in Spain, Sion’s experience with different languages includes studying in Mexico and Ghana, and ten years living in Paris, where she acquired French nationality.We talked about:🗣 Sion’s work as a voice actor and her story in relation to learning other languages.🗣 How the lockdown became a turning point in Sion’s career.🗣 Some cultural differences when comparing life in the US, France, and Spain.🗣 Things that have helped Sion to improve her Spanish while living in Spain.🗣 How speaking an additional language can facilitate better communication with clients, even when the service you provide is in English.Find out more on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode247

Marta is originally from Barcelona and has lived in Germany since 2002. She is a freelance translator who works from German and English into Spanish and Catalan, specialising in marketing and advertising.After many years of struggling with self-doubt, impostor syndrome and a fierce inner critic, Marta now offers consultancy services for fellow translators and interpreters, focusing on marketing and time management. What she enjoys most is encouraging people to believe in themselves and helping them to overcome their perfectionism when needed.We talked about: How we define perfectionism How perfection appears in the context of language learning How good attention to detail can help us, but perfectionism can also hold us back or make life harder Some practical tips and strategies for dealing with our perfectionist tendencies and reducing their impact on ourselves and our performance. Who and what can help us. Find out more on theshow notes page;https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode246/

My guest today is Joana Lisboa from Unleash your Vocal Power. We met on LinkedIn last year when I think I commented on one of Joana’s voice-related posts. Then, after chatting some more, I thought she would be a great guest for the podcast.For the past 12 years, Joana’s life mission has been to help others find their authentic voice. The process of self-discovery she suggests to her clients has been proven by her before starting her career as a Vocal Coach. She went from being a shy girl, barely heard, to someone who believes in applying her vocal power authentically, no matter the circumstances. She works with entrepreneurs and companies and also gives singing lessons. Anything related to voice and body captures her attention: communication, singing, acting, cinema, dancing.We talked about:🎙 Joana’s story and how she came into vocal coaching🎙 How both shy and outgoing people both have communication challenges🎙 Why it’s important to know your voice and how you can be creative and flexible with it. The freedom when you can be yourself!🎙 How public speaking can help you to develop and discover your voice🎙 The best advice – to be present and focus on what’s happening here and now.Find out more on the show notes page:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode245/

I loved recording this episode!Originally I asked for volunteers from the conversation club for freelancers and business owners to record an episode with me about why they come to the club, how it has helped them, and what advice they would give to anyone who was thinking about coming along. Patricia, Maria, Anja, Lieselotte, and Marta all volunteered and I was so happy to hear what they had to say. I’m proud of what we are creating together and so happy that a recurring theme was the feeling of safety within the club – safety to use the language, talk freely, and even make mistakes!The club is for people who aren’t looking for a course, but who would like to have an opportunity to speak English in a welcoming and friendly group. We have a topic that is related to freelancing or running your own business and everyone has the opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, and we can all learn from each other.So, if you’d like to join us at the conversation club, you can sign up or find out more on the club's page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/conversations or on the show notes page for this episode:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode244***********Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast:podcast@englishwithkirsty.comor come and find me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-wolf-a8478235/

My guest today is Rita Menezes, whom I met through the language networking events that I run with Rita Prazeres Gonçalves.Since 2002, Rita Menezes has been working as translator, subtitler, transcreator and reviser/quality controller in several audiovisual, transcreation and marketing projects; these projects include, for example, films and series now on streaming and marketing campaigns of well-known brands. Since 2014, Rita has also been involved in translator’s training. Rita has a BA in Translation and Interpreting, a MSc in Relationship Marketing and a PhD in Translation Studies, specialised in audiovisual translation. As a researcher, her main research interests are subtitling, subtitling revision/quality control and pivot subtitling. She is the co-author of the educational project ApiVoT and co-editor of a special issue of “Perspectives” about pivot audiovisual translation. Creativity, ethics and technology are areas that awaken her curiosity.We talked about: Rita’s background and how she got into subtitling Different types of subtitling projects Some of the rules that subtitlers need to follow when creating subtitles How subtitles can help you to learn a language or improve your language skills Current changes in the subtitling industry. Find out more on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode243***********Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast:podcast@englishwithkirsty.com

My guest today is Olivia Segal whom I met on LinkedIn last year.This is how Olivia introduces herself:Hi! I’m Olivia. I’m an English Language Specialist. I help Spanish- and Catalan-speaking organisations with all their content in English through my reviewing and editing, translation, writing, and language consultation services. I’m based in London, but you can find me in Barcelona a few times a year.I love talking about languages! I studied them at university, learnt even more by living and working abroad and am still amazed by the people you can meet through speaking another language.We talked about: Olivia’s language story – which languages she is learning and where she has used them so far How Olivia worked to overcome her reluctance to speak while living in Spain and Brazil The power of learning through asking lots of questions and finding opportunities for authentic conversations Olivia’s experiences with language tandems The importance of exposure to new languages to build vocabulary and how one-to-one classes can help with that How Olivia discovered podcasts during the pandemic and how looking at which podcasts are trending in each country can help you to discover new things to listen to. Find out more about olivia on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode242and check out the events section on my home page for details of te events that I mentioned at th beginning.***********Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast:podcast@englishwithkirsty.com

My guest today is Diego Perez, whom I first heard being interviewed on the Language Worker podcast! Thank you Rita for interesting me to so many cool people!!I wanted to do this episode because we're talking about something outside of my experience, but it is another way for people to develop their language skills.Diego Perez is a passionate and optimistic voice in video game localisation. With loc credits for Diablo Immortal, Baldur’s Gate III, and Final Fantasy VII: Remake and nearly 10 years of experience under his belt, he is the Portuguese translator behind the upcoming Kenshi 2, a mentor for beginner translators, a language industry writer, and the lecturer of a game loc course at TranslaStars.We talked about: Diego’s story and how he learned English by playing video games with his brothers What is meant by “game localisation” and why it’s important Tips for how you can change the game language to see the content in another language Where you can find Diego online and information about his course on game localisation Find out more about Diego on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode241***********Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast:podcast@englishwithkirsty.com

My guest today is Megan Miller, whom I met last year on LinkedIn.Megan Miller is the CEO of Aprovechar Language Solutions, LLC, a company which acts as a bridge between English and Spanish language learners. Her personalized and small group programs take a habit-based approach, and whether it’s in class or a Book Club – you know you’ll have fun! Megan has a Bachelor’s in Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture and is certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language.We talked about:• Megan’s podcast for learners of Spanish and how she focuses on one word in each episode.• How habits and routines can help us to improve our language skills.• The mountains and valleys of language learning and what you can do when it stops being fun.• What we want to call ourselves – teacher? Coach? Mentor? Trainer? What do these things mean in different languages?• And it comes back again … learning a language needs to be fun!!Find out more about Megan on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode240***********Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast:podcast@englishwithkirsty.comor come and find me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-wolf-a8478235/

My guest today is Craig WealandLondon-born Craig is a DELTA qualified teacher, materials writer and a professional podcaster and podcast editor.He settled in Valencia, Spain in 1997 where he worked for the British Council and was a Cambridge speaking examiner until 2021.He has spoken at several international conferences on podcasting and language teaching. These days, he spends his time teaching English conversation and fluency online and producing his co-hosted language podcast.We talked about:⭐ Craig’s story and how he got into teaching⭐ The hidden meanings behind words and why it’s important to understand body language as well as words⭐ Craig’s experiences of living and working in Spain⭐ Tips and resources for passing the Cambridge speaking exam⭐ Craig’s podcast for learners of EnglishFind out more about Craig on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode239***********Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast:podcast@englishwithkirsty.comor come and find me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-wolf-a8478235/

My guest today is Renata Fernandes from Renata Fernandes Translation.Previously Renata was a guest on The Language Worker podcast and we met at one of the networking events for language professionals that I run with Rita Prazeres Gonçalves.This is how Renata introduces herself:“I’m a Brazilian bi cisgender female chronic pain warrior who translates movies and TV shows for a living, and someone who’s relentless about pizza and inclusive communication.”We talked about:* Who Renata is and what she does* Why inclusive language is important to Renata* A Netflix initiative to promote inclusive language* Different ways of communicating inclusively in Brazilian Portuguese* Where you can find Renata online.Find out more on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode236***********Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast:podcast@englishwithkirsty.comor come and find me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-wolf-a8478235/