Linda Ann da S. Costa

Faloinglês.com

English teacher and interpreter

São Paulo -- Brasil

My first job was in Rio de Janeiro as a bilingual executive secretary for a British food industry concern. My main activity was to translate for the directors all the oral and written company communications and documents, including technical manuals, and acting as the link between the company and CACEX (Brazilian government imports regulating agency), since none of the directors spoke Portuguese. 

Shortly thereafter, I was offered a position as Administrative and Finance Officer at the United Nations Information Center in Brazil. The Director then was a Spaniard, so I spoke, prepared and translated correspondence and reports in 3 languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.  

Four years later, I moved to São Paulo and was transferred to Unicef – United Nations Children´s Fund, where I worked in an administrative and financial position. To this day I continue to participate, every year-end, in the Unicef campaign to help raise funds for their social projects in Brazil. 

A few years later, I left my career with the U.N. to manage the administrative and financial department of my husband´s company, in the agricultural field. During this period, I also helped to translate the promotional pamphlets and instruction manuals for U.S.-designed grain storage equipment. I was in charge of communications with our North American suppliers and clients. 

Afterwards, I started a company, with two other partners, to import eletronic devices, so I used my English and Portuguese skills to translate the owner´s instruction manuals for each appliance. I was in charge of the administrative, financial and logistic departments of the company; and also communications with our suppliers from other countries. 

My next enterprise was the purchase of an English Language Course franchise, which I managed for 5 years. Besides administering  the school, I tested the teachers to evaluate their fluency in the English language and taught them how to minister the school´s teaching method. I hired and trained a team of pedagogic coordinators, trained them to apply tests, at the school and “in company,” to properly evaluate the students English levels; and to supervise the teachers´ work.

 After I sold the franchise, I became na executive distributor of na American cosmetic company, for whom, besides my commerical activities, I performed consecutive interpretation at training sessions, conventions and meetings.  

I have experience in traslations involving audio and visual resources. I prepared subtitles for videos of the “Force for Good Foundation” and for Power Point presentations for the humanitarian foundation “Nourish the Children.” I also did several jobs for Johnson & Johnson, translating and recording marketing research interviews (“voice-over”), from Portuguese into English.