Toby Wakely

Activist, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Foodie, Parent

I grew up in the London area and went to Leeds University where I studied Economic History. During this time, I became involved with Nightline, an all-night confidential telephone listening service. Here, we were trained to deal with student concerns that ranged from loneliness, poor self-esteem and domestic abuse. Between 1995 and 1997 I worked as a project leader for BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) organising weekend activities for volunteers to get involved in protecting local habitats. I worked in Russia as a teacher from 1997 to 1999. During this time I obtained a very different perspective on our way of life. In Moscow a flat for four people was the same size as my living room, elderly people with real hunger(something I had not seen in the West) and, a highly authoritarian government, but also people willing to share all they had with you. I have also travelled well off the beaten track to the mountains of Azerbaijan, Paraguay and Iceland. Travel has helped me appreciate different ways of life and different opinions. Moreover, I can value more things I used to take for granted such as freedom of speech and to express ourselves as these freedoms are not respected everywhere. In 2002, I packed up my life and drove from England to Spain to follow my heart as my partner lived there, and have now been living here ever since. When I arrived I spoke no Spanish and after many years working at it, I now speak the language fluently. I have been an active translator, since 2011 and work with subtitles in different fields from environmental protection, law and human rights. I am also a qualified interpreter and work from Spanish to English and vice versa. Furthermore, I love the social side of this work. It also keeps me on my feet as I have to think very fast. Regarding my practical experience, I have interpreted at different conferences (both presentially and remotely) for non-governmental associations such as the Association for Potocki-Lupski sufferers in Madrid, and Global Greens, an environmental pressure group. I also interpreted for two days at Soría Gastronómica, an international event to showcase the local gastronomy in Soria. I aim to continue interpreting and training because you can never know too much.

travelling, speaking in Spanish and learning about it, nature, wine, history and culture.

TED is a wonderful example of free speech, something that must be treasured in today´s world as every day we see instances where this has not been respected. TED is unique in that anybody, no matter how humble their position, can have a voice and spread their ideas to an audience, and this is something we must cherish. That is, it gives a voice to those who might not otherwise have one. I love the idea of helping them boost their message by conveying their thoughts in another language.

altruism,, entrepreneurship,, environment,, finance,, health,

During my interpreting course, I interpreted many TED talks from Spanish to English and vice versa. These interpretations were carried out simultaneously just as in a real conference and with turns of up to 20 minutes. Some of the topics I covered were:the environment, health and medicine, freedom, how prepared we are for future outbreaks of viruses, our personalities, lifestyle, crime, healthy eating by Jamie Oliver, creativity and entrepreneurship, how to talk like a native speaker, the link between unemployment and terrorism, the surveillance society, challenges to learning,the power of the informal economy,stories of refugee survivors, the workforce crisis of 2030 and how to solve it, letting altruism guide you, and how to find a story in a painting.

Empathy, memorising, analysing