?? Equity & Client Success ?? March Newsletter 2023

I feel like the year is moving along so quickly, it is hard to believe?March?is here already.

As always, I am so happy to be in touch with you and continue to provide you with my?latest updates, news and insights.

This month I wanted to share with you a focus on?certified translation services?– I have found there’s recently been a real surge in demand for this service. There’s also a top tip at the end of the newsletter to help you with your own newsletter’s reach, I hope you find this useful!

I was deeply saddened to read the tragic news of the boat carrying migrants from?Turkey?breaking apart on rocks off the coast of?Calabria, resulting in the loss of at least 63 lives, including?children?and?women.

Every life lost is a tragedy, and it is especially heartbreaking when it involves innocent individuals who were simply seeking a better life.

My thoughts are with those and the many others having to take such horrendous risks to escape persecution or find a better place to live.

In the UK, life progresses into?March, which brings with it the resumption of?British Summer Time?on the last Sunday of the month, with longer, brighter days, the emergence of new buds coming up from the cold ground and the joy of moving into spring.

However, one thing that is missing this spring is tomatoes!

The extreme weather has caused shortages in Morocco and Spain and as a result, my local supermarket’s shelves appear to be completely bare. As an Italian, this is a concern for me, as tomatoes form the backbone of many of my meals, and, of course, a Caprese salad is one of life’s joys!

Perhaps I should consider growing my own this year? Is this shortage affecting you, too?

And lastly, perhaps if you have time this month, you could consider training to be a?bell ringer?in time for the coronation?

The new?Ring for the King initiative?is such a lovely idea, encouraging people to take up bell-ringing to enable all the church bells to ring out across the UK to mark the King’s coronation. Sadly, I don’t think I have enough hours in my schedule to take up a new hobby, but I hope that they reach their target!

While there is sadness in the world, there is still so much goodness and joy, and much to look forward to.

Let's explore together.

Happy reading!

Luciana

March is a month to celebrate women

March is a month in which Italy along with the rest of the world celebrate women, with?International Women’s Day?falling on the?8th March.

This day is dedicated to honouring the social, economic, cultural, and political accomplishments of women. This year the event will be marked on the theme?DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.

Known as?La Festa della Donna, this day in Italy has a symbolism more reminiscent of Mother’s Day. A feature of the day unique to Italy, is that often women – as well as men – gift flowers to important women in their lives on this day, marking their colleagues and friends’ achievements, and as an act of solidarity, recognising the impact that they have made along with their value in society.

There are many fabulous women whom I’d like to honour on?La Festa della Donna, I really am so fortunate to meet such inspiring women in my line of work.

One woman who has hugely inspired me, and to whom I would be delighted to gift flowers, is?Nane Annan, widow of the former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kofi Annan.

I had the pleasure of interpreting for Nane some years ago, at an assignment at the?International Women’s House?in Rome, and the assignment and her impact have stayed with me.

During the time her husband was in office, she focused in particular on developing programmes relating to girls’ education and women’s empowerment.?I was lucky to interpret for her during a visit to the Women’s House, which provided shelter and a safe place for women who had been victims of acid attacks.?Nane?was poised, kind and genuine, and?it was an honour to interpret for her: a true advocate of women and a real inspiration.

Memories of the assignment have, as you’d expect, stayed with me over the years,?and I was delighted to read that the International Women’s House is still going from strength to strength, providing vital support and becoming a cultural engine for women’s actions.

I am delighted to present my virtual flowers to Nane.

How will you mark La Festa della Donna, and whom will you honour?

Did you know that there are over 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, but more than half of the global population speaks just 23 languages as their native language?

What would you like to see in my newsletter?

I love keeping in touch with?all of you?and this newsletter is written with you at the forefront of my mind! So, if there is something you would like me to focus on – perhaps there’s an element of?interpreting?that you’d like to understand more, or even just to find out about?places in Italy, its customs and traditions, or a country I’ve worked in,?I’d love to hear from you!

Keeping my correspondence interesting and in tune with you is so important to me, so if you have any feedback or thoughts, I’d be happy to hear them!

Working with all clients, small and large

This past month I have had a surge in requests for?certified translation services.

A?certified translation?is a translated document with a certificate of accuracy.

In particular, this has been for Italians purchasing property in the UK, and as a result of the number of applications I have translated recently, I think I probably know all there is to know now about the process!

Taking an individual client through the journey to Italian citizenship, or to becoming an homeowner, is such a positive experience and an aspect of my job that I truly enjoy.

As a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI), I provide certified English to Italian and Italian to English translations of personal and official documents for individuals and companies.

For?Italians purchasing property in the UK, mortgage applications usually request certified translated copies of:

• Bank statements
• Proof of residence in the form of utility bills
• Police certificates

So if you are looking for a certified Italian interpreter and translator who can assist you with Italian legal documents, I would be happy to help!

It’s also worth pointing out that?police certificates are only valid for six months from their date of issue, so be aware of this if your purchase is taking longer than anticipated – you may need to apply for this again (I have applied for many repeat certificates recently).

Here's three things you might not know?about certified translations and working with me:

1. Did you know, I am partnered with?two notary publics and an Italian law firm?based in London so my clients can rest assured that I have the specialist contacts to progress your application at a timescale that works for them?
2. All my certified translations have a?personalised stamp?to prove my credentials. This translation can always be traced back to me, which gives my clients peace of mind as I’m accountable for my work, which means it’s always fit for purpose and of the very best quality.
3. It’s not just property purchases that require certified translations, if you are obtaining?Italian citizenship, applying to university or planning a wedding?in Italy you may also require this.

Let’s look at how the?certified translation?process works:

Reach out to me for your certified translation requirements, and take any stress away!

Medical Conferences

This month I spent some time interpreting for a medical conference which was focusing on the rare condition,?lipodystrophy. The subject is very specific and, as with all new topics, my research before the conference was thorough.

Prior to this assignment I had never come across this rare condition, which doctors say affect just four people in every million. Lipodystrophy (or LD) affects fat distribution in the body and makes it uneven, which can have a knock-on effect on the body’s metabolism causing diabetes, general exhaustion, and many other issues.

World Lipodystrophy Day is coming up, on 31st March, and now I have a much more in-depth understanding of it I thought I could do my bit to the attention of a wider audience.?I will be making an “L” for lipodystrophy with my fingers and posting a picture of this on my social media with the hashtag #worldlipodystrophyday!

Simultaneous interpreting services

In contrast to the medical conference, I spent some time carrying out simultaneous interpreting for an?Iconic Italian Sports Car Manufacturer. It never ceases to amaze me the different industries I am exposed to, but along with each industry comes a new vocabulary and different tone.

I have to spend some time before each assignment familiarising myself with the expected lingo that will be used - every day is a learning day, as they say! Unfortunately I wasn’t required to go to Italy for this assignment, but it was still great to work with an iconic Italian company.

Interpreting for families overseas

I have been working with a British family who have moved to Italy?and bought property in a?condominio.

If you haven’t come across this word before, a condominio is a property structure whereby individual units within a building or complex are privately owned while the common areas and shared infrastructure (i.e. roof, stairwells etc.) are collectively owned and maintained by all the unit owners. The unit owners typically form a condominium association or management board to oversee the maintenance and management of the shared areas – and this is where my input was required.

The management meeting was held in?Italian, and my clients were not fluent Italian speakers. Of course they needed to understand the implications of the meeting and ensure that they could be involved in the discussion, so I interpreted for them and informed them of the content so they didn’t receive any unwelcome surprises!

Whilst much of my work is?corporate, working with?individuals?and?families?is also another area that keeps me busy and gives me so much job satisfaction.?It is great to be involved in achieving a helpful and positive outcome.

Come sai che sono andata a Parigi? (or, How do you know I went to Paris?)

This particular assignment in February was for a client for whom I have worked many times, so I was able to enjoy the luxury of being familiar with the company and the industry, carry out the?simultaneous interpreting assignment?and also make the most of my time away.

In?Paris, I love the amazing shops, but also walking by the?Seine?and people-watching whilst drinking a?café au lait?in the inimitable Parisienne cafes gives me a huge amount of joy. Another favourite past-time for me in Paris is to book a dinner cruise on a?Bateaux. It is such a novel way to dine and a great way to absorb Paris on both a culinary and tourist level!

I would also wholly recommend a trip to the?Palace of Versailles; it is a true spectacle and a wonderful day out. The short train ride (30-40 mins) from Paris and the ten-minute walk are worth every second, I promise!

What’s your favourite city, and what do you love to do there?

I’d love to hear your stories!

Exciting new code to enlist subscribers to your LinkedIn newsletter

You can now encode an external link to prompt people to sign up for your LinkedIn newsletter. Using a feature called?“LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms”?it’s a fairly easy process, so I thought I’d give you a step-by-step guide in case you wanted to set this up for your own newsletter.

This is what you need to do:

1. Create a form for your LinkedIn newsletter using the?Lead Gen Forms?feature. The link is?here, to make life super-easy!
2. Customise?the form to collect the information that you need from your subscribers, for example their name, email, job title etc.
3. Once you’ve created your form,?LinkedIn will generate a unique URL?for it. This is generally quite long, so you can use a URL shortening service if you like, to make it easier and more memorable. TinyURL is a good URL shortening site.
4. Embed the shortened link in a call-to-action (CTA) text link in your LinkedIn profile, blog or newsletter.
5. When the link is clicked on, the Lead Gen Form will automatically pop up, pre-populated with the requested LinkedIn profile information, so the reader can quickly and easily submit the form and sign up for your newsletter.

It really is so simple, and what a brilliant way to streamline the process, by pre-populating your reader’s information.

Do you have any top tips that you could share? As my clients and colleagues, you all know, I am a huge fan of technology and try to use all the tools I can to make my workflow more efficient.

What is the number one thing you do to keep your processes streamlined?

As I draw this newsletter to a close,?I wish you a wonderful, and – let us hope –?peaceful, March.

Thank you so much for reading, as always.

Luciana

P.S. Not enough time in your day to read the full newsletter? I totally understand!?Get in touch now?to discuss how I can help you with your translation or interpreting needs.