Mom Blogger Uses the Power of Translating English to Spanish To Find Her Voice

/ October 8, 2019

As a child, Natalia Sepulveda wanted to have her own business. She is a mom blogger, translator and mother. Bilingual Life Style is a space she uses to share everything she loves including: God, bilingual family adventures, book reviews, translations, educational and bilingual resources, and collaborations.

Natalia, a mom blogger and translator, knew she wanted to start her blog after she had her son. “Being a first time mom was a bit lonely. I am very extroverted and needed more human interaction. I started @bilinguallifestyle to connect with other moms, learn from them and support them, while I shared my bilingual family adventures.” Her blog started evolving as she shared more about her journey in raising her son bilingual as she realized the deep need for learning resources.

: Natalia and her family

: Here with Bee-ing Happy Children’s Unicorn Book

: Natalia Sepulveda

Since then she has been able to add book reviews, share educational and bilingual resources, share the Word of God, and share about her translation and project collaborations. “I love how I can combine all interests, my passion, and my strengths,” adds Natalia. She also hosts giveaways, and the majority of them are books.

“I did not grow up with access to a lot of books or a library. The library I volunteered at in school was for the teachers and many of the books were so old that they were falling apart. I saw opportunities in collaborations through book reviews and feature giveaways to help promote books for authors, and a need from many parents and teachers for educational and bilingual resources. Therefore, I wanted to bless as many families and teachers as I could with at least one free book for their children.”

Family has been very important to her and marrying her husband Joseph, taught her what a true best friend is, and how God should be the center of their relationship. Being a mother, has taught her to have more love for God and her husband. She feels that being a mother is the best job in the world.

The hardest thing to translate are rhymes and jokes, since they do not translate well in Spanish.

She first realized she wanted to be a blogger and translator when she started selling fashion jewelry since elementary school age through her early college years to help her family. As she continued studying Spanish, she noticed that there was a need to reach more of the Hispanic population, not only in Orlando, Florida, but the world.

NATALIA’S UPBRINGING

Natalia was born in San German, Puerto Rico. When she was around 12 years old, her family moved to Orlando, Florida. An honor’s student, she was very involved in school, and she took an interest in foreign language classes. Through her college career, she followed the same path with many leadership opportunities between being president of clubs and honor societies, and being part of leadership teams.

“It is not what I want, but what the Lord wants.” – Natalia lives by this quote

She pursued studying Spanish in order to learn more about her roots and complete a certification of translating and interpreting to add to her teaching credentials.

Then came an amazing opportunity to complete a thesis as an Honors in the Major student and as a McNair Scholar and Fellow with a ‘full ride’ to complete her master’s degree.

Mom Blogger, Natalia has traveled nationally and internationally to present her thesis research and she even studied abroad in Croatia. She completed her thesis on “The Importance of Education from a Global Perspective: Teaching Don Quixote in the 21st Century.”

After completing her master’s degree, she worked as a Spanish teacher briefly for All Kids Spanish and then transitioned to be an Academic Advisor at a local college. Shortly after, she decided to focus on family and be a stay-at-home mom. During this time she also worked remotely doing social media for a local optometrist office and slowly work on her business as a Spanish Translator.

Most people don’t know that Natalia has a family business with her husband called Panem LLC PanemProject, where their mission is to financially support full time missionaries around the world.

Jesus makes me happy. My family makes me happy. And eating some yummy chocolate from time to time makes me happy.

Q&A Time… On being a writer, and author:

I’ve always enjoyed learning, and writing was a big part of it, especially after taking so many humanities courses and majoring in Spanish Literature twice in college. I have written and published my thesis along with some scholarly articles. I never thought I would write books, until I started translating children’s books. I am currently working on my first children’s book a bilingual Christian book about missions.

Many of my ideas come from my experiences, interests, and some inspiration from my little family.

What do you like to do when you’re not working? I work on my blog and collaborations as a hobby. Besides that, I do enjoy traveling, exploring new places, making new friends, doing sensory activities with the kids, and spending time with family and friends.

What does your family think of your work? Who is the most supportive of your writing? My family is very supportive. They knew I always liked to be a busy bee and enjoyed connecting with people. My parents are very happy that I am using my degree while working from home. My husband, he is my best friend. He is so supportive. He loves seeing me excited about my projects and helps me so much. Both my kids are very inspiring. My son loves story time and helps me promote all the awesome resources you see on my blog.

What would you tell your 8 year old self? I would tell my 8 year old self that there was a big reason why I didn’t want to let go of a children’s book in elementary school, when it was time to return it. I still remember that day, it was the end of the school year and we had to return all the books. I asked the teacher why she wanted the book back. It was falling apart, smelly and old and it wasn’t even colorful. I had to give it back, but a poem inside the book meant the world to me, and I did not want to let it go.

How about your 21 year old self? I would tell my 21 year old self that I am very proud of her for being involved in college, taking on leadership positions, mentoring students, volunteering in the community and traveling. All those experiences have shaped who I am today.

Natalia feels every story should have a lesson – something you can learn and apply to your everyday life. Her 3 top favorite picture books are:

Daniel and the Donkey Factor| Daniel y el factor burrito by Kevin Horath. This was not just the first children’s book I translated, but it also determined by path in taking on translating children’s books as a career and it inspired me to write my first book. The message of the book is amazing and it carries many themes such as a bond between a mother and son and sharing the Gospel.
Los Pollitos| Little Chickie by Sue Jaramillo from Canticos World. I love these series of bilingual books, they are very interactive and are great resources including many free educational materials, and they are on Nick Jr.
Unicorn Jazz by Lisa Caprelli. This book series has made such a big impact in our lives, especially in Ezra’s. It’s been such an honor to translate them. They have amazing lessons. I want these books to be a part of every child’s life. Thank you for being a blessing in our life!

unicorn jazz christian childrens book series

Beyond being a great mom blogger and translator, Natalia wants to be known as a Jesus follower, as an advocate for bilingualism and education and as a loving wife and mother. Being a mother means the best job in the world to her!

Check out our Spanish books: Unicornio Jazz and Abejita Feliz.

Natalia can help you translate from English to Spanish with so many projects. Like this Unicornio Jazz song;

To learn more about Natalia Sepulveda, or to work with her go to her website.

Natalia Sepúlveda, is a children’s book author and Spanish translator. She holds a master’s degree in Spanish from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Natalia currently lives in Orlando with her husband Joseph and two children. She enjoys traveling, spending time with family, and serving the Lord. She’s the owner of Bilingual Lifestyle Publishing and Co-founder of Panem Project. She also runs a Bilingual Lifestyle blog, where she shares her bilingual family adventures, book reviews, and bilingual and educational resources.

Natalia Sepúlveda is a bilingualism advocate, Spanish translator and editor, and children’s book author. She holds a master’s in Spanish and a certificate in translation and interpretation. Through her research and passion for education she believes in the benefits of raising children bilingual. She can help translate educational materials in Spanish and English such as: curriculum guides, children’s books, games, activities, websites, and much more.

Based on the 2018 U.S. Census, the Hispanic population constituted to 18.3% of the nation’s total population, 59.9 million making people of Hispanic origin to be the largest ethnic or racial minority. According to a 2015 report by Instituto Cervantes, the United States has the second concentration of Spanish speakers in the world, after Mexico. Therefore, bilingualism is an asset for both to individuals and to society. Bilingual education can help promote bilingualism for English speakers and for students who come from non-English backgrounds. Bilingualism can be linked to a number of positive outcomes such as: delays the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (Research from Washington State University), decreased of probability of dropping out of high school, increased probability of obtaining a higher status job and higher annual earning, can have positive effects on intergroup relationships, identity and self-esteem, as mentioned in an article by the Stanford University Professor Claude Goldenberg.

https://www.aft.org/ae/fall2015/goldenberg_wagner

ABOUT

Blog: Bilinguallifestyle.worpress.com Social Media: @Bilingualifestyle

Natalia Sepulveda

Spanish Translator & Editor

Instagram: @bilingualifestyle

Facebook: Bilingual Lifestyle

Blog: www.bilinguallifestyle.wordpress.com

Grateful she has been part of many of our kids shows at The Thing I Do, including this fun one