Project Lead

Carlos de Pablos-Ortega is Associate Professor in Spanish and Applied Linguistics at the University of East Anglia, Norwich,UK, where he has been teaching since 2007. He has also worked at the Universities of Sydney, Australia, Bangor, North Wales, UK and Universidad Nebrija, Madrid, Spain where he is also Visiting Lecturer in Pragmatics and Sociolinguistics for the MA in Applied Linguistics.

Carlos’s areas of research include the exploration of pragmatic components from a contrastive perspective, and intercultural communication and audience perceptions on audiovisual materials. He regularly contributes to the area of pragmatics with articles and conference papers and has published a co-authored book entitled Seamos Pragmáticos: Introducción a la pragmática española (Yale University Press, 2014).

For Carlos, leading the SAAM project Support for Access to Audiovisual Media, originally funded by the UEA Alumni, has been immensely satisfying, giving students real life subtitling experiences. The project places significant emphasis on accessibility to the media, for the hearing impaired, providing subtitles for charitable and non-profit organisations and builds on his existing undergraduate modules, entitled Technological Tools for Subtitling and Dubbing and Technological Tools for Media Accessibility.

Carlos de Pablos-Ortega

UEA SAAM Coordinators

  • Ana Badica

    SPRING 2024

    Ana is currently in her final year at the University of East Anglia studying BA Translation, Media and Modern Languages, with a focus in Japanese, which led Ana to Japan in her year abroad. Being Romanian meant that in school she would be exposed to not only English as a second language, but also to an array of French, German and Spanish. This multicultural environment really drove Ana to love languages, which was one of the reasons she chose to study Japanese! Ana decided to be an intern for the SAAM Project as she recently discovered an interest in anything to do with subbing and dubbing, and Ana wants to find a position in which her work will make a difference for someone, in this case for the deaf and HoH communities. Outside of Ana's work for SAAM,  she's an amateur writer, and a bookworm with a great love for the written word.

  • Joseph Tonkin

    SPRING 2024

    Joe is in his final year studying Japanese at the University of East Anglia. Last acedemic year, he had the wonderful opportunity to study at Tokyo at Meiji University. He told us the experiences he made were incredible and he can't wait to return. Joe has loved Japanese video games and culture from a very young age, which drove him to study the langauge. Joe wanted to participate in the SAAM project because the experience gained from the project will be of incredible value and he hopes to enter the translation industry.

  • James Houlton

    AUTUMN 2023

    James is from Windsor in the United Kingdom. He studies International Relations and Modern Languages at the University of East Anglia and is currently studying abroad in La Réunion. James decided to take part in the SAAM project because of his natural affinity for languages and to further develop his translation skills. He looks forward to making media more accessible to others. James enjoys travelling, photography, and the 80s. 

  • Thea Emmerson

    AUTUMN 2023

    "Thea is from North Yorkshire, UK and is currently in her final year studying French at UEA, having recently returned from her year abroad at Université Laval in Québec City. After volunteering for SAAM in previous years at UEA and enjoying learning about the world of SDH and audiovisual translation, she decided to become an intern for the project, enabling Thea to use her passion for languages to help others.

    Thea is looking forward to working with new people and developing skills that she can use in her future career.

    In her free time Thea loves to travel, explore new places, play piano, guitar and read.

    "

  • Alice Killby 

    SPRING 2023

    Alice is in her final year studying Modern Languages and Business Management. She speaks French having grown up in France and is studying Spanish. She has worked at a school in Lyon and studied in Alicante as part of her year abroad. She wanted to be involved in the SAAM Project as it carries out important work for partner organisations and it's also a great opportunity to work on her translation skills. She enjoys travelling, cooking and has recently started learning to ski. 

  • Charles Saxby

    SPRING 2023

    Charlie is studying for his Masters in Applied Translation Studies after completing his degree in French and Spanish at the University of Leeds. He has lived in France where he taught English to high school students and would like to return to live there in the future. He applied for the project because he is keen to learn more about subtitling and to volunteer for such a great cause. Outside of university Charlie loves cricket, golf, and watching films. 

  • Ben Pettitt

    AUTUMN 2022

    Ben is originally from Switzerland, having been born there and then moving to England at the age of seven. He is studying Intercultural Communications and Business Management at the University of East Anglia (UEA). He is one of the interns for the Autumn semester 2022 and decided to go for the role because of his passion for media accessibility which stemmed from Carlos’ enthusiasm when leading his seminar ‘Technological Tools for Media Accessibility’. Ben is an active student within UEA, being Vice President and Social Secretary of the Skateboarding Society for two years running.

  • Jacqueline Flynt

    AUTUMN 2022

    Jac studies Translation, Media, and Modern Languages. She volunteered for SAAM in her second year at UEA and now she is one of the interns for this Autumn Semester 2022. She speaks fluent English, Spanish and Twi as she is from Ghana. She is passionate about learning languages and communicating with people of diverse backgrounds. Having worked as support worker for children with Special needs, she understands the importance of Media accessibility for the blind, deaf and hard of hearing and would love to pursue a career that allows her to play a significant role in improving accessibility for all.

  • Ella D'Arcy-Jones

    SPRING 2022

    Ella is currently in her final semester of her fourth year at UEA and studies Modern languages, specialising in Spanish. She has been a volunteer for SAAM for three years (since 2018) and is now working as the project’s intern for the Spring semester. Last year, Ella spent her study abroad year in Madrid and was lucky enough to visit Alcalá University with the SAAM project to meet the partner students and help teach a class on subtitling. She loves the SAAM project because it has helped her to develop her subtitling skills and gain confidence in using the OOONA software. After graduating, Ella aspires to work in audiovisual translation, specialising in subtitling.

  • Nusaiba Meshquat

    AUTUMN 2021

    Nusaiba is from Dhaka, Bangladesh and is in her 2nd year doing English Literature and Philosophy at UEA. She speaks 6 languages and is learning her 7th, hence SAAM seemed the perfect intersection of her interests of languages, communication and helping the community around her. She found working with SAAM incredibly rewarding under the wonderful guidance of Dr Carlos.

  • Eva Steiner

    SPRING 2019, AUTUMN 2020 – SPRING 2021

    Eva is from Austria but is a full-time student at UEA now in her final year studying Japanese. She first volunteered for SAAM when she took project leader Carlos’ module ‘Technological Tools for Media Accessibility’. Since then, she has developed a real passion for subtitling and practises it as a hobby.

    She loves collaborating with fellow volunteers and continuously improving her subtitling skills through SAAM. Above all, she loves having the opportunity to create subtitles for real clients that will benefit real people, doing her small bit in making media a little more accessible. She hopes to do subtitling professionally in the future.

  • Katherine Wright

    AUTUMN 2019 – SPRING 2020

    Katherine Wright is a final year translation and interpreting student at UEA, working with French and Spanish. She decided to join the SAAM project to help gain practice using WinCaps, a feature of the technological tools modules that she studies, as well as practising her translation skills. She also finds the work incredibly rewarding and important, considering the impact it has on helping charities to achieve their goals and helping more people to be able to access audio-visual media. Thanks to working with this project, she has been inspired to study audio-visual translation at Masters level and to go on to make it her career. In her free time, Katherine enjoys playing the clarinet, spending time with friends, and improving her language skills.

  • Izzy McDonald

    AUTUM 2018

    Izzy is from Cheshire, England. She is currently in her final year studying Translation, Media, and Spanish at UEA. After taking the module Technological Tools for Subtitling and Dubbing in her second year, she became interested in creating accessible media through the use of subtitles. She therefore wanted to join the SAAM Project in order to become a part of the solution to the problem of inaccessibility within different media forms, due to language barriers. Her interests include, watching films, music, and knitting.

Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid (Spain)

SAAM Coordinators

  • Alicia Carreras Hernández

    AUTUMN 2023

    Alicia, who lives in Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, studies Modern Languages and Translation at Alcalá University. She has always been interested in learning new languages and all the opportunities that come with it. She speaks Spanish and English and is currently bettering her German. Alicia took part in the SAAM Project as a volunteer and in 2023 she worked as a coordinator, as it is a task that combines her passion for translating and languages with the experience of working with a translating team. Apart from working as a translator, Alicia plays the violin, she works as a vet assistant and she’s passionate about reading, drawing, and watching TV shows with friends.

  • José García Cutillas

    AUTUMN 2023

    This is José, he lives in Madrid, and studies Modern Languages and Translation at Alcalá University. He always found English easy, and decided he wanted to pursue video game translation. Once he tried translating a video game into Spanish as a little kid. It was part of a trilogy, the third part was only available in English, and José wanted to play it. He speaks Spanish and English, and he's got a basic-to-intermediate level of German, José also knows a little bit of French as he did it in secondary school. Since October 2023, he has been working in the role of a coordinator at SAAM as an intern. Since he's really interested in audiovisual translation. José also hopes his contribution to the project helps people with hearing impairments.

  • Lola Jiménez Álvarez

    SPRING 2024

    Lola is 24 years old and she’s from Madrid. She’s a Modern Languages and Translation student at Alcalá University. She’s in her last year and currently works as a SAAM Project coordinator, as part of her internship. Apart from learning languages, which she loves, she finds the audiovisual translation world very interesting, and she’d love to know more about it. In addition, she believes the role of project coordinator can be very useful in her future and give her a great experience in the business world.

  • Irene Merchán Nieto

    SPRING 2024

    Irene is 22 years old and she’s from Madrid. She’s in her last year of Modern Languages and Translation. Her favourite hobbies have always been enjoying reading and watching TV shows, as well as learning new languages and cultures. For this reason, she decided to study this degree, where she has discovered audiovisual translation and what an amazing world it is. This led her to take part in this project as part of her internship and professional training in the translating world, and also led her to learn from it in every way possible.

  • Mariya Yordanova Tsileva

    SPRING 2023

    Mariya is from Bulgaria, but she lives in Madrid, Spain. She is studying Modern Language and Translation at the University of Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. She decided to volunteer for the SAAM project because she is interested in audiovisual translation and gaining more experience. Also, she wants to help make audiovisual media more accessible.

  • Isabel García Genuario

    SPRING 2023

    Isabel is from Villanueva de la Serena, Badajoz. She is a student of Modern Languages and Translation at Alcalá de Henares. She has signed up for this project because she loves audiovisual translation and she has always wanted to be part of an organisation that helps others on a non-profit basis. It will also help her to learn and get more experience.

  • Laaziza Labrahimi Carmona

    AUTUMN 2021, SPRING 2022

    Laaziza Labrahimi Carmona is a 21-year-old senior at University of Alcalá studying Modern Languages and Translation. As her father is Moroccan and her mother is Spanish, the mixture of languages and cultures have always played a crucial role in her life. She decided to join in with SAAM Project since this way she could mix and perform two of her passions at once: her interest and curiosity about the Audiovisual field and her concern on helping charities to be internationally recognized. In her free time, she loves listening to music, going for walks, gathering with family and friends and meeting new people.

  • Natalia Mesonero Villar

    SPRING 2022

    Natalia is a 21-year-old senior at University of Alcalá studying Modern Languages and Translation. She has always loved languages, from a very young age. She has always been good at them, especially English. She was never sure what she wanted to study until she found out about the degree in Translation. Today, as she is about to finish her degree, she is happy with her choice. She has been on ERASMUS in Southampton, a small city in the south of England, and it has been one of the best experiences she has had. She has learnt a lot about the language, culture, education and people. This project is another step in her educational and work experience.

  • Amanda García-Donas Pacheco

    AUTUM 2021

    Amanda is a 21-year-old final-year undergraduate at the University of Alcalá, studying Modern Languages and Translation. She can speak Spanish, English and French. She has always been very interested in learning about new cultures and languages; this led her to take part in many different exchange programs from a very young age. She has also worked and studied abroad. When she found out about SAAM Project, she immediately wanted to be part of it, inspired by their philosophy of helping others through what she specialises in: translation, added to the fact that she has always been keen on audiovisual translation. She is particularly committed to the Feminist cause and Civil Rights, and whenever she can she is involved in some kind of activism.

  • Giulia Serenato Aguiar

    AUTUMN 2020 – SPRING 2021

    Giulia studies Modern Languages and Translation at the University of Alcalá. She is currently on her Year Abroad, studying Translation and Interpreting at the University of East Anglia. She is Brazilian, but she lives in Spain. Therefore, languages have always had a very important role in her life. She decided to join the SAAM project due to her wish to continue to work with social awareness and bringing accessibility everywhere. The SAAM project also had a significant impact on her academic development, as up to that moment, she had not had any kind of subtitling module. In her free time, she enjoys playing Touch Rugby and collaborating with Erasmus Students Network Association.

  • Pilar Pecharroman

    AUTUMN 2019 – SPRING 2020

    Pilar is from Burgos in Spain. She is studying Translation and Modern Languages at the University of Alcalá de Henares in Madrid. She is interested in being a part of the SAAM project because she would like to have a career in audio-visual translation, after completing her degree. Some of her hobbies include performing arts, and anything to do with cinema.

  • Melissa Penedo Barrera

    AUTUMN 2018 – SPRING 2019

    Melissa is in her final year studying Modern Languages and Translation at the university of Alcalá, in Madrid. She was born in Venezuela but has lived in Spain for her whole life. Melissa wanted to become a part of SAAM because she thinks it will be a great opportunity for her to gain experience in translation, as well as being able to meet new people who share her love for languages. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys reading books and watching TV series.

  • Roberto Florín Matei Baloiu

    AUTUMN 2018 – SPRING 2019

    Roberto is a student at the University of Alcalá de Henares, studying Modern Languages and Translation. Roberto wanted to participate in the SAAM Project because he wants to gain experience working in the field of translation, so that he is better prepared for a professional career. He also finds audio-visual translation interesting in terms of language use and code-switching. Some of Roberto’s hobbies include reading and playing video games.

Université de Lorraine, Nancy (France)

SAAM Coordinators

  • Léa Huot

    SPRING 2024

    Léa comes from Besançon but she's studying in Nancy. For two years, during her MA, she could specialize in translation., that's when she heard about the SAAM Project. She is now its coordinator during the internship that will end her studies. Enthousiatic and passionate, Léa intends to carry out her mission : to take care and to grow SAAM's family !

  • Aziza CHALOULI

    SPRING 2024

    Aziza CHALOULI is a freelance trilingual translator-interpreter and trainer. She has experience in both translation and teaching. She obtained a master's degree diploma in "Literature and Civilization in the Anglo-Saxon World and the Commonwealth" from the "Doctoral School" at the University of Oran, Algeria. She is currently studying Translation Studies at the University of Lorraine. She applied for the post of SAAM Project Coordinator to gain experience in the field of audiovisual translation in a muliticulural environment.

  • Fanny Emering

    SPRING 2023

    "Fanny is 27 and is in her last year of a master’s degree in Languages and Societies “Bilingual-bicultural”, specialized in translation and translation studies in English and Spanish at the University of Lorraine in Nancy. She worked as a project coordinator for three months as part of her master’s degree internship. Fanny is willing to be a specialized translator, a subtitler among other things. This is why the SAAM project held all her attention with its services in intralinguistic and interlinguistic translations and in subtitling, in addition to the values of sharing, mutual help and solidarity that the project carries and that are close to her convictions.

    In the digital era, accessibility to audiovisual material is, according to her, a current struggle for the inclusion of all.

    "

  • Lidia Lassad

    AUTUMN 2022

    Lidia is 21 and has just completed her degree in Foreign Languages, Literature and Civilisations with a focus in English. She really enjoys translation and hopes to make it into her career. She worked with the SAAM project in 2021 as an intern and has decided to continue this year as a volunteer. She also works for another association translating and transcribing as a volunteer in her free time.

  • Julie Soutra

    AUTUMN 2022

    Julie was born and raised in Nancy in Lorraine. She is completing her Masters in Translation in French, English, and Spanish at the ESIT. The SAAM project has already helped her to improve her translation skills and to learn more about audiovisual translation. This is why she wanted to continue for another semester. During her free time, Julie likes reading and writing, cooking, and spending time with her friends. She loves learning new languages and would like to learn many more, but for the moment, she speaks French, English, Spanish, and Italian.

  • Mariia Kokot

    SPRING 2022

    Mariia is from Ukraine and is currently in her final year of study for a Master's degree at Université de Lorraine. She studies translation and her working languages are English, French, and Russian. Mariia joined the SAAM Project because she wanted to make good use of her translation skills to help charities. Also, it was an opportunity for her to develop new skills, gain experience working for an organization that wants to make a difference. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing, singing and reading.

  • Chloé Matton

    SPRING 2022

    Chloé is a 24 French Master's degree student at Université de Lorraine of Nancy, studying translation, mainly from English to French. She intends to become a professional translator very soon. She decided to join the SAAM Project as an intern to complete her Master's degree but also because she thought it would be an opportunity to practise and improve her skills in translation and subtitling and that working for charitable organisations would be very rewarding. In her spare time, Chloé likes reading, drawing, listening to music and playing video games.

  • Luka Gille

    AUTUMN 2021

    Bonjour! Luka Gille is an exchange student from Nancy in France. He has always had a deep running interest in translation and humanitarianism, but never had the opportunity to work at a professional level. Coming to UEA and participating in the SAAM project has helped him to improve his translation skills A LOT, as well as teaching him other skills such as time management and data organisation. He now feels way more confident!