Virginia L. Rodriguez

I am Virginia L. Rodriguez, I am from Argentina and I am studying to become a Public Translator of English in School of Languages, National University of Córdoba. I have always wanted to do an internship and I thought that Modlingua was a great opportunity to grow in my career. Not only have I developed great oral and writing skills in English and Spanish but also cultural competence as regards my foreign language and perspective in relation to my own culture. Also, I am a volunteer of Translation without Borders, which gives me the possibility to help people in need. I would like to strengthen my business abilities and learn about Project Management and Marketing as I think it will be essential for my career as a translator. I take advantage of every opportunity I come across and my main goal is to be excellent at what I do.

During my free time, I like reading, playing tennis and travelling as much as I can, as for me it is the best way to learn about other cultures.

Career Goals

When I was a little child, my motivation to learn about the world came from the English language, as my mother was an English teacher and translator and everything I learned in Spanish, I also learned in English. That is why I decided, at an early age, that I wanted to study the language in a more formal environment. My goal was to be excellent and I went for it. As I grew up, my desire to become an expert in the field grew tremendously, so I decided to pursue a career in translation. I wanted to work with the two languages that motivated me so much to gain knowledge in other fields, to excel at my foreign language and to give value to my mother tongue; in other words, to be a bridge between two cultures. Nowadays, I do not have wishes, I have goals and I have not only already started working towards them, but I plan to keep on developing my skills to become a dedicated leading professional and be able to achieve my career goals.

Throughout my high school years, I have been involved in the organization of a number of projects. I participated in a number of cultural competitions for a student’s organization called UBES, which promotes students’ involvement with cultural activities and provides an environment in which one can put certain skills into practice. In my personal case, I was the coordinator of a group of music. My main task was to organize the schedule for rehearsals, to do all the administrative work and hand in the right paperwork on time, to assess their progress and to keep track of setbacks and improvements as regards their everyday performance. As a result of our efforts, our team was lead to its victory two years in a row and I developed my leadership skills and gained experience as a team player. Also, I participated in the StudentUnion as Press Secretary for two years and as a Secretary-General during my senior year. In my job as Press Secretary, I was in charge of informing through social media and other mediums available within the institution our proposals, projects carried out and achievements gained throughout the school year and the organization of certain events. Also, as a Secretary-General, I was the president and vice-president’s right hand and because of my great skills for communication and interpersonal relationships, I acted as the bridge between the students and the principal. This allowed me to develop even more my communication skills and to grow a capacity for empathy. In addition, I volunteered for a school with limited means, I graduated first from EnglishStudio private institute of English, where I still teach when I am needed, and I tutored my classmates on their English term tests. In 2011, when I graduated from high school, I was chosen valedictorian based on not only academic but also humanitarian performance.

Once I finished high school, I decided to pursue a degree in Translation in the School of Languages, National University of Córdoba(Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), where I am currently finishing my program of studies. During these years, I have been a helping student in the subject Phonetics and Phonology I and I am currently a helping student in the subject English Language IV, which helps me become aware of the latest teaching practices. For the same purpose, I decided to live one year in the United States, where I could work, insert myself into a foreign culture and attend courses at Stanford. I believe that in order to be a good translator having knowledge of the languages is not enough, culture is almost as important. As I want to have my own business, I plan on participating in workshops so as to be trained in that area, and I think that being an intern at Modlingua will be a great contribution and an opportunity to put all the knowledge and skills I have acquired into practice. I want to keep applying for internships for different organizations and scholarships in different parts of the world, become involved in research teams and offer my services to NGO’s such as Translators without Borders, because I believe that as a professional and as a person, I have a social responsibility. Not only do I want to be part of an NGO but I also want to start one which works towards children’s education. When I finish my program of studies, I want to pursue a Master’s degree in interpretation and specialize in medical interpretation. Besides Spanish and English, I will study French so as to acquire a language C and be able to become a translator and interpreter of the United Nations.

I consider myself a motivated, responsible and a committed person who has initiative, attitude and energy. I think I will be a good fit for Modlingua as I have been studying and preparing for this moment and the ones to come to my entire life, gaining experience as regards language use, translation, teaching, leadership, group coordination and teamwork, and the cultural knowledge I acquired about my target language will be an asset to your projects. 

Virginia L. Rodriguez is a Summer Intern 2018 at Modlingua