Experience
Silvia S. Schrage, MA, CT
Phone (847) 697-8936 – Fax (847) 697-1974
Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Spanish<>English Interpreter, Translator, Instructor and Consultant
PROFILE:
• Native speaker of Spanish, raised in Argentina, with educated native speaker command of English.
• Higher education and work experience in Argentina and the United States, and extensive work experience with Mexico and Mexican immigrant population in the Midwest.
• Thirty years of experience as translator and over ten years of experience as interpreter, particularly in the legal and healthcare settings.
• Ongoing work as proofreader of English or Spanish, including textbook on Spanish Phonology, legal forms addressed to patients, various websites and translations (English or Spanish).
• Successful developer of in-house interpreting and translation departments, obtaining national awards for innovation and excellence in patient-provider communication.
• Over six years of experience teaching language (English and Spanish) at the college level and at a community college adult education program.
• Consult with various agencies and clients on their translation process, terminology data management and interpreter/translator training and evaluation.
• Coordinator of interpreting and translation services for multilingual/multicultural events.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Free-Lance English<>Spanish Interpreter (Representative Projects): August 1988-Present
• Consecutive and simultaneous interpreter for depositions, arbitrations and other civil cases, human resources training sessions and presentations at public library.
• Simultaneous interpreter on presentation to Argentine judges on intellectual property.
• Simultaneous English<>Spanish interpreter for multilevel marketing distributor meetings and other national conventions, including the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical Professional and Technical Employees (IRO-FIET) meeting, Willow Creek Community Church leadership conferences, InterVarsity Conference held in the Chicagoland area and in Champaign-Urbana.
• Coordinator of interpretation and translation of materials for seminars given by the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs to government officials from Argentina.
• Simultaneous, consecutive and escort interpreter for the President of Argentina, Dr. Carlos Saúl Menem, the Governor of Zacatecas, Mexico, and other Latin American officials visiting Chicago.
Free-Lance English<>Spanish Translator (Representative Projects): August 1988-Present
• Edited/consulted on terminology research for legal contract to be executed in Mexico.
• Translated and consulted on translation process/review on research project regarding understanding of language in medicine.
• Translated footage for documentary on micro-lending and proofed subtitles for marketing videos.
• Prepared certified translations of divorce decrees and birth certificates submitted to Mexican judge.
• Translated Biography and Guide to Constituent Services for Senator R. J. Durbin into Spanish.
• Translated Spanish loan agreement and Guatemalan security documents for Standard Chartered Bank into English.
• Translated UIHMO new members’ information package into Spanish and Cook County Recorder of Deeds’ help menu for their Document Indexing Management System into Spanish.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Adjunct ESL and Spanish Instructor - Elgin Community College - Fall 2010-Present
• Teach high-intermediate and beginning listening/speaking ESL courses. Have taught Spanish conversation and high-beginning ESL courses. Responsible for initial student assessment, selection of instructional materials and writing of syllabus to best serve student needs.
Adjunct Medical Translation Instructor - Waubonsee Community College - Fall 2011-Present
• Teach Medical Translation and Translation laboratory courses at Waubonsee Community College, as part of their health care interpreting certificate and associate degree programs, focusing on comparison of English/Spanish grammar.
Manager, Cross Cultural Communications - Sherman Hospital - 2000-2006
• Developed Cross Cultural Communications department, including hiring and training interpreters, and drafting policies and procedures, and providing direct interpreting and translation services. Participated in HIPPAA Committee and Medical Records Committee, focusing of readability of consent forms and other legal documents addressed to patients and requiring translation.
• Department recognized in 2005 by National Quality Forum in “Improving Patient Safety through Informed Consent for Patients with Limited Health Literacy” report, and by AMA Ethical Committee for “Innovative Practices in Patient Centered Communication”, listing Sherman Hospital on the AMA website as one of eight hospitals nationwide.
Ph.D. Teaching Assistant - University of Illinois at Chicago - 1999-2000
• Taught Introduction to Linguistics course for Spanish majors, and Spanish conversation course for non-native Spanish speakers.
Instructor - Gordon College, Beverly, MA - 1998-1999
• Taught Elementary Spanish and Intermediate Spanish conversation, introduction to linguistics, Latin American sociolinguistics, dialectology and Spanish peninsular literature courses.
Ph.D. Teaching Assistant - University of Illinois at Chicago - 1995-1998
• Taught Spanish elementary and intermediate courses for native and non-native Spanish speakers. Taught legal and business Spanish to advanced Spanish majors.
English<>Spanish Interpreter/Translator and Legal Assistant - GM&A International Attorneys and Business Counselors (formerly George Muñoz and Associates) - 1991-1995
• Provided translation and interpreting services for business transactions between the U.S. and Mexico, as other Spanish speaking countries. Interpreted for meetings with government officials in Mexico, and for business negotiations, annual meetings and technical presentations in Cancun, Mexico City and Chicago, including consecutive interpreting for presentations on oil refining.
Translator/Copy-Editor - Desarrollo Cristiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 1983-1987
• Translated, revised and copy-edited articles for publication in Apuntes Pastorales, a magazine distributed throughout the Spanish speaking world. Translated materials used in counseling workshops, leadership training courses and courses taught at Instituto Bíblico Buenos Aires.
EDUCATION:
University of Illinois at Chicago
ABD in Hispanic Linguistics (April 1999), MA in Hispanic Studies (December 1995)
Coursework in Spanish phonology, dialectology and syntax, English syntax, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, literacy, and law and society.
Northeastern Illinois University
Graduate courses in TESOL program (Fall 1991)
Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
BM in Ethnic Music Theory, May 1991 – Magna cum Laude, Presser Scholar
Conservatorio Provincial Juan José Castro, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Piano Performance Major (transferred to Wheaton College) (1983-1988)
MEMBERSHIPS AND ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
• *Certified Translator (English into Spanish), American Translators Association, since 1993.
• Certified as Spanish Translator and Interpreter by Illinois Early Intervention Program, in 2010.
• Charter Member of the National Language Service Corps.
• Member of the National Council of Interpreting in Healthcare (NCIHC).
• Member of the Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual Education (Illinois TESOL-BE).
• Attended TRADOS and MS Project training courses at Sherman Hospital, in 2002, and workshops on terminology management at Kent State University, in 1992, 1993.
• Attended Bridging the Gap, Medical Interpreter and Train the Trainer courses offered by the Cross Cultural Healthcare Program in Seattle, December 2000.
• Published “In Search of the Right Equivalent for Legal Terms: Bridging the Gap or Creating False Expectations?” and “In Search of the Right Equivalent for Educational Degrees: Bridging the Gap or Creating False Expectations?” in the ATA Chronicle, May 1995 and April 1996.