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The name is easy to guess - Mafalda Abreu. I am Portuguese and a professional translator. The pleasure of languages evolved within me by indirect means. Initially my preferences fell essentially on foreign cultures, being this the reason why I developed an interest for social sciences. This caused me to choose social work at the university, once such studies would enable me the contact with sociology, anthropology, psychology, among others. This approach to the social and human sciences reforced eventually my fondness for the deepening of my knowledge concerning the usages and traditions of other peoples and respective countries.
In September 2001, after the conclusion of my social work studies, personal reasons took me to Germany. During the attendance to several German courses at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, I started feeling a strong appeal to give response to my desire of knowing another culture which, although different from mine, deserved my attention and respect as well. Indeed, the languages and forms of expression of a folk certainly reflect a lot about its culture by revealing certain ways of thinking and facing life. With this new perception of language and after the approval of the German language proficiency test for the admission to higher education of foreign students (DSH, 2003) and of the German language diploma (KDS, 2003), I threw myself headlong into another adventure: to study translation for English and German in a foreign university (the Institute of Languages and Interpreters) in Munich. It was a hard challenge, I faced many difficulties, but at the end the reward was simply overwhelming. In July 2006 I finished my studies and obtained the title of graduate translator for the English and German languages.
During my higher education I had the opportunity to gain some professional experience by accepting some translation assignments concerning tourism and doing some voluntary training in a Portuguese-German translation agency in Lisbon. These chances were extremely important, once they enabled me to expand my horizons behind those scientific areas I had already specialised in during my studies.
Yearnings and homesickness were, however, stronger and in September of the same year I decided to follow the voice within me and return to Lisbon. I have established myself here and begun my career as a professional translator. Currently, and after an enriching experience at a translation agency in Lisbon, I have been collaborating with some companies, being able to enumerate not only Portuguese but also other international references.
Now I am looking forward to finally be able to meet you and work with you.
Should you wish to have a more concrete idea about my curriculum, please click here.
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