Meet your Consultant Interpreter

Interpretair is a network of professional interpreters, managed by Specialist Consultant Interpreter Professional:

Tazara Spafford

Tazara takes on diverse assignments across a variety of fields providing her skills in interpretation, translation, proofreading, and creative writing. A long-standing career working in a multitude of industries and cultures has afforded Tazara a well-rounded set of skills, discerning judgement and understanding to ensure cultural compatibility. Via her company Interpretair, Tazara provides first rate efficiency and accuracy in her quality services which are tailor-made to client requirements at competitive rates.

Tazara Spafford is:

• a professionally trained Conference Interpreter
• a qualified Translator and Proofreader 
• and an experienced Teacher of English and French as a Second Language

More about tazara spafford

Professional experience

Tazara’s international background led her to master both English and French perfectly but it was studying comparative literature and studying drama that sparked her strong interest for language. Studying Wole Soyinka and playing in Peter Brook’s Conference of the Birds as a Drama and Theatre Arts student gave her a foretaste of Africa which her longing for adventure led her to fulfill.

Tazara first trained as a Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages to add an extra tool to her arsenal before setting off to explore the world.

During the early years she spent in Africa, where Tazara taught an array of different audiences, she learned to use her acting skills to facilitate communication. Tazara’s teaching experience has helped her enhance her public speaking skills, learn to be articulate, express herself clearly, and provided her with the capacity to feel comfortable in all sorts of situations. Tazara was sometimes solicited as an ad hoc Translator and Liaison Interpreter which led her to acquire new skills which she later decided to hone by completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Translation Studies.

Later still, Tazara’s never-ending quest for learning and need for challenge led her to train as a Conference Interpreter.

Tazara’s varied professional experience has afforded her a well-rounded set of skills, including first rate efficiency and accuracy.

At the Embassy of the United States in Libreville, she learned to handle all kinds of situations and comply with protocol. When in position at the Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne, Tazara was in sole charge of coordinating and responding to all the Learning Department translation requests which implied close collaboration with Faculty and the technical teams, dealing with tight deadlines as well as high pressure.

Since Tazara fully engaged as an independent, she has worked for diverse institutions and organizations and been confronted to an array of different topics. Tazara likes to view each new assignment as an exciting opportunity to discover, grasp new concepts, and further her knowledge. As an integral part of her work, Tazara follows world events, activities and keeps up with the evolving language used in the media.

Education

• 2017 – Master of Arts in Conference Interpretation: University of Ireland – Galway
• 2011 – Postgraduate Degree in Translation Studies: University of Birmingham
• 1998 – Bachelor or Arts in Drama and Theatre Arts: Goldsmiths College, University of London
• 1995 – Bilingual International Baccalaureate, International School of Geneva

Additional training

• 2019 – CCIC, Two week Specialised Conference Interpreting Course, Cambridge, UK.
• 2018 – Curso de lengua y cultura española, Barcelona, Yuste & Calliope, Spain.
• 2016 – Spanish Language Diploma, DELE C1, Instituto Cervantes.
• 2015 – SDL Trados (beginners and advanced), Geneva University, CH.
• 2015 – La révision des traductions, buts et méthodes, Geneva University, CH.
• 2014 – Editing in English, Geneva University, CH.
• 1998 – TOEFL Teaching Diploma, Oxford House College, London, UK.