Practitioner Spotlight: Oksana Katorjevskaya
“Why are translators always in good shape? Because they care about every word and its weight!”I am Oksana Katorjevskaya, and my journey as an interpreter and translator has been a dynamic and rewarding exploration of languages, cultures, and industries — all while being in a constant quest for growth. Graduating from Moscow Linguistic University marked…
Practitioner Spotlight: Dean Briscoe
I grew up north-west of Alice Springs in the Tanami Desert area. The main language I spoke growing up was Anmatyerr, but there was Warlpiri as well. I learned English at school so I’ve been interpreting since I was a kid for family and stuff. When non-Indigenous people would come out to communities, I’d have…
Practitioner Spotlight: Heba Kassoua
When I first arrived in Australia 17 years ago, I had to learn English. It was one of the hardest experiences of my life. As a 16-year-old who didn’t speak the language, I very quickly had to become my parents’ eyes and ears. The more English I learnt, the more empowered I felt. Language was…
Practitioner Spotlight: Slobodanka Trajkovski
Always follow your heart! I was born and raised in Macedonia, a small but very beautiful country in Europe. My parents were lawyers, but growing up I was never really interested in becoming a lawyer myself. In fact, ever since I was a young girl, I was infatuated with foreign languages and cultures, and all…
Practitioner Spotlight: Leonora Adidi
Indigenous Language Interpreting in Queensland Interpreting was actually a bit of an unexpected career path twist for me! I graduated from linguistics at Batchelor College in the Northern Territory(NT), looking at a career in academia, but was offered the lecturer position for the Diploma of Interpreting, working with Aboriginal language interpreters from NT, South Australia…
Practitioner Spotlight: Valentine Aghajani
My journey in the interpreting profession I migrated to Australia as an infant with my family in mid-1970. My journey and passion for interpreting in Assyrian language commenced when I was still in high school. I was the very first Assyrian interpreter in Victoria who started interpreting with Department of Immigration and various other government…