Brief Biography of Leticia Klemetz

I am born and raised in Palma de Mallorca (Spain). I have an Argentinean mother (who's an architect) and a Swedish father (who's a linguist). I am completely fluent in Spanish, Swedish and English. I have studied several years of German, Italian, and French, which I speak but don't translate. They come handy when translating touristic texts. :) I have also studied Biblical Hebrew, which I read but don't speak since it's a dead language. I have lived in Madrid and Utah, and now reside in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, but I travel a lot!

I had my primary and secondary education at Scandinavian schools in Spain (Palma de Mallorca and Madrid) from ages 3 to 18, in Swedish, taking also some classes in English since the age of 15. In high school I specialized in natural sciences. These Swedish schools abroad are characterized by small groups (an average of 3 per class) so the teaching is quite in-depth.

I studied half a bachelors of Dramaturgy (writing and adapting dramatic texts, theatrical critique and research) at  RESAD (Madrid, Spain) and then a course on Nutrition and Dietetics with UNED (both in Spanish). 

I graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Linguistics and a minor in Scandinavian Studies, with University Honors, from Brigham Young University (BYU). I studied for this degree in English, while living in Provo, Utah (USA) 2004-2007. I was under full tuition scholarship throughout my major, which I completed with a GPA of 3.89 (4.00 being the highest grade). My Honors Thesis/Capstone Project, as a part of the Honors Program, was entitled Applying and Evaluating the ASTM Standard Guide to Quality Assurance in Translation. As a part of this, I also coauthored a scholarly article with Dr. Alan Melby and Dr. Alan Manning for a peer-reviewed journal called Linguistics and the Human Sciences, vol. 1.3, entitled Quality in Translation: A Lesson for the Study of Meaning. 

Before attending BYU, I was asked to take the TOEFL test. I did so in May 2003, passing it with 290 points (out of 300). You can thus see that my English level was quite high even before residing and going to college in the US.

I am a corresponding member of (American Translators Association), certified in English into Spanish translation. I am a full member of SFÖ (the Swedish Association of Professional Translators), which requires them checking on three references per language pair (that is, six references in my case) to assess the quality of my translation services. 

I am also a member of Phi Kappa Phi, and Golden Key International Honour Society, and Platinum member of ProZ.com. Feel free to visit my profile at ProZ to read some positive feedback from clients of mine. I was awarded Governor's Scholar by the Governor of Utah, Jon M. Huntsman, Jr in 2005.

I have a wide experience in the field of alternative medicine, both through studies and professionally. I have taken courses in translation, Musicosophia, music, vegetarian cuisine, gemmology, Mayan calendar, alternative healing techniques, compared religions (specializing in general Christianity, LDS and Catholicism), theatre, handicrafts, and genealogy. Those courses were taught in Spanish, Swedish, English, and German.

Among my hobbies are reading, doing genealogy, listening to classical music, cooking (and pondering how to create nutritious meals) and traveling, improving my language skills.  

I can truly say I have the experience of a whole lifetime, since I started interpreting (unpaid, of course!) at the age of three, when I started studying Swedish. My very family is multilingual, and living in a touristic island broadened my opportunities to communicate in my various languages.

I specialize in touristic, literary, religious and nutrition/food/health translations. 

Click here to download a copy of my CV (résumé), or if you wish to see some sample translations, please send me an email.

To read about my quality procedures, please refer to the corresponding page.

 

 

Here's a page with some various links and interesting information.

 

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