My name is Xiaoling and I am a freelance English-Chinese interpreter and translator based in Toronto, Canada.

First Contact

My first interpreting experience dates back to my university years while I was obtaining a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Toronto, Canada. It happened one summer holiday while I was in China. Some Australian business people came to my town to bid for a Chinese project but experienced great difficulty in communication. After several failures with local translators, they became desperate for better language assistance. I was referred to the job without any previous experience in translation or interpreting. But surprisingly, I outperformed all other translators and ended up helping them secure the deal. Since then, I started to realize there is a real need for linguists to help bridge communication gap and I really enjoy playing that part.

In Pursuit of My Dream

In the years after, I signed up for translation courses and began taking translation and interpreting jobs on my free time. After finishing university, I went a step further to graduate school in translation and interpreting. The one-year Master program in Interpreting, Translation and Diplomacy at the University of Westminster in the UK gave me great insight into the profession and led me to a much higher ground in the field, not to mention the great friends and contacts I made during the program.

A Real World Interpreter and Translator

Following where the demand is, I headed back to China for six months and worked for a Real Estate company that was going public in Hong Kong and in urgent need of a translator and interpreter. My responsibilities involved translating and revising documents including engagement contracts, legal opinion, prospectus, marketing materials, requests for proposal and hotel management contract etc. and interpreting for company heads to interact with foreign counterparts. I learned a great deal in professional communication and culture and my job received recognition by the company.

Freelancer in Canada

Finishing up the project in China, my heart led me where I am right now-a full-time freelance translator and interpreter. The nature of this job gets me exposed to interesting fields and requires constant learning. I love this aspect because it sharpens my natural curiosity and keeps me challenged all the time. I am confident that my educational background, translation experience, passion for language and commitment to clients will make me a perfect candidate for you to bridge any communication gap between English and Chinese!