How did you get started in this industry?

I was lucky enough to be born in a multicultural family. Most of my “tribe” is fond of languages. My grandpa was an interpreter from German, English, and French into Russian. His brother spoke Hindi and Farsi. One of my great-grandmas was Polish, while another one was Armenian. I also have a Belorussian great-grandpa, to complete the picture. I grew up among antiquarian books and newspapers in foreign languages, so this passion for linguistics was inevitable, as I see now. I graduated in 2004, but, being an eager lifelong learner, I can never be satisfied with what has been achieved, that’s why I keep following my learning path. Courses and webinars at Washington University, Moscow State University, TAUS, and so on are an integral part of my life.

What language(s) do you speak?

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​French, English, Spanish, and Russian (native). Now I’m learning Russian sign language, but it’s not such a fast process.

Whose industry social feeds (twitter, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook) do you follow?

Social media is an amazing way to keep up to date, so I follow a lot of industry leaders and companies all over the world: MultiLingual, Nimdzi Insights, Anne-Marie Colliander Lind, Miguel Sepulveda, Danilo Monaco, Diego Cresceri, Carlos la Orden Tovar, and many others.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I’m crazy about mountain skiing, traveling, reading, and collecting antiquarian books.

What industry organizations and activities do/did you participate in?

To begin with, I’m a member of Women in Localization and the Union of Translators of Russia. I’m a passionate conference-goer — conferences facilitate cooperation and communication between all participants of our industry and helps me keep up with the latest trends. And we have a lot of fun there! 2020 was especially eventful: I attended 12 inspiring conferences (Elia Together, TranSib Forum, and many game localization gatherings like DevGamm and Hamburg Mobile Summit). I was thrilled to bits to be invited as a speaker to five amazing events (such as LocWorld, BP Translation conference, and KTLC). Every year I feel really happy and honored to be among the jurors of Littera Scripta, an international youth translation contest.

Do you have any social feeds of your own? Twitter handle, blog?

I don’t have much time to be as active on social media as I’d like to be. However, I share useful information on LinkedIn and Facebook. When I speak at conferences, I share my infographics, tips and helpful links after every presentation.

Why do you read MultiLingual?

To tell the truth, I read all issues as soon as I receive them. This past year, Multilingual has been especially important — I should say vital for our industry — when we all were separated by the lockdown. Your magazine is like a tie uniting translators from all over the world. It encourages and inspires us; it makes us feel that we’re still alive and we are not alone with our problems. When I opened the November/December 2020 issue, I couldn’t believe I saw our project on the pages of my favorite magazine! I’ll keep it for my great grandchildren!

These days I spend most of time following new natural language processing papers.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I listen to a lot of podcasts in Chinese in a wide range of topics, like physics, the economy, and psychology.

Do you have any social feeds of your own? Twitter handle, blog?

Not yet. I just started writing about AI for the language industry. Perhaps you’ll see articles of mine soon!

Why do you read MultiLingual?

MultiLingual is the go-to magazine for the industry. Who doesn’t read it?.