My name is Tom Rivers Ardura, I’m a graduate of the University of the Basque Country, where I studied translation and interpretation, I have studied conference interpretation at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, but most importantly, I am the person behind Rivers Translations. Currently, I am based in the region of Asturias, in the north of Spain.

I grew up in Asturias in a bilingual household. As a result of this, I soon realised the need for good professional native translators. This inspired me to study translation. I wanted to help people to communicate and add value to the services they were offering to people from abroad.

The quality of translations has improved immensely since I was little, but you can still find some impressive mistakes out there, especially if you hire a non-native translator. There are some non-native translators who can produce good quality translations, but they are pretty rare and we won’t even go into the subject of translations made using Google translate.

Nowadays, it is easier to find a good native or near-native translator in Spain, but finding a translator can still be a difficult task. This is even more noticeable in my part of Spain, the Principality of Asturias, where there is still a lack of decent native translators.

My aim is to provide both locals and the expat community in Spain and abroad with high quality translations, at a reasonable price, as soon as possible.

– EXPERIENCE

I am a qualified translator and interpreter with many years of freelance and in-house translation experience under my belt. I have mostly worked in the cosmetics, e-commerce, finance, and legal and certified translation fields. During one of my in-house postings, I worked closely with sworn translators to ensure the quality of their English translations. I also headed up the English department of a recognised translation agency, worked as an internal linguist specialising in financial translations at one of the largest LSPs on the market and collaborated closely with a leading LSP in Greece.

Apart from that, I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) for Spanish and English, and at an Associate level for French. You can verify my membership by clicking on one of the logos below, which will redirect you to my listing on the CIOL websit.

– LANGUAGES

One of the most important sections of the ‘about me’ page. With which languages do I work?

Well, I work with Spanish, English, French and Portuguese; though I never translate into French or Portuguese as it is not one of my native languages. Therefore, you will never receive a French translation from me, I leave that to the Francophone professionals.

I also speak Norwegian (et veldig fint språk), Portuguese (uma lingua muito linda) and a bit of German (aber ich have viel vergessen) and Chinese (我的中文不好). I am also currently learning and improving my Greek (αλλά είναι λίγο δύσκολο τώρα γιατί είμαι στην Ισπανία).

– HOBBIES

As you can imagine, I love languages. But I am also a huge history geek, I enjoy videogames, reading and learning new things (I am currently studying Greek).  I am also a bit of a sports fan, tennis and cricket being my sports of choice, however, finding enough people to play cricket with can be a bit of a challenge in the north of Spain. I have also recently become an official tour guide in Spain, which helps me combine my love of languages and helping people to understand different cultures with my love of history.

– THE FINALE

So far so good. However, what do you do if I don’t speak the language you need? You need not fret. I work with other freelancers to increase the amount of language combinations I can offer, so if you are discouraged by me not speaking or working with the language you require, don’t worry. I work with other qualified translators to try and ensure that all your translations needs are covered. It doesn’t matter if it’s German or Lingala, we should be able to help.

So, don’t hesitate, send us a message today and let’s talk about your translation needs.

If you want to learn more about how we work, why not check out our FAQs page. Yes! We have a FAQs page! But what if we still haven’t answered your question? Well then, just send us a message via our online contact form, give us a call or write us an e-mail. We will be thrilled to help you with your language needs.