Oliver Simões is an author, translator, interpreter, and former Portuguese and English teacher, with academic training and professional experience in both Brazil and the United States. He earned a degree in Translation and Interpreting from Faculdade Ibero-Americana in São Paulo in 1984 and, in 1991, obtained a master’s degree in English as a Second Language (ESL) from the University of Arizona.
From 2017 to 2026, he worked as a freelance translator and interpreter, translating documents, texts, websites, and books, and was also a three-time winner of translation contests organized by ProZ.com. As an ESL teacher, he taught at Pima Community College and in schools in Tucson, developing instructional materials, assessment tools, and one of the first online ESL courses in the institution’s adult education program.
His career combines translation, teaching, writing, editing, proofreading, and intercultural communication, providing a particularly valuable perspective for the study of idiomatic expressions, whose meaning cannot always be understood through literal translation and often involves aspects of usage, meaning, and culture.
The author of works on translation and language, as well as books published through Amazon KDP, Oliver published Dicionário Inglês-Português: Expressões, Ditados e Provérbios in 2025, the work that gave rise to the expanded and updated edition presented here.
The dictionary is thus the result of decades of experience with the English and Portuguese languages, combined with more than five years of research, and seeks to provide a practical and comprehensive reference tool for students, teachers, translators, language professionals, and anyone interested in better understanding and appropriately using English idioms and their Portuguese equivalents.
Learn more about the Author’s professional career.
Oliver Simões — Professional Timeline
1984 — São Paulo, Brazil
🎓 Degree in Translation and Interpreting
Graduated from Faculdade Ibero-Americana.
1991 — Tucson, Arizona
🎓 Master’s Degree in English as a Second Language (ESL)
Degree awarded by the University of Arizona.
1990s onward — Tucson, Arizona
👨🏫 English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher
Taught English to students from diverse backgrounds and developed instructional materials and assessment tools.
Pima Community College — Tucson
💻 Pioneer in Online ESL Education
Participated in the development of one of the first online ESL courses in the institution’s adult education program.
2017–2026
🌎 Professional Translator and Interpreter
Worked as a freelance translator and interpreter, translating diplomas, academic transcripts, dissertations, contracts, articles, websites, and books, as well as providing remote and in-person interpreting services.
2017–2026
🏆 Three-Time Winner of ProZ.com Translation Contests
Recognition for the quality of his translation work.
2019
📖 Publication of A Whisper in the Wind: Selected Poems in Translation
First of his translation books published through Amazon KDP.
2023
📖 Publication of The Greenness of Springtime: Alberto Caeiro’s Poetry in Translation
A work dedicated to the translation of Alberto Caeiro’s poetry.
2025
📚 Publication of Dicionário Inglês-Português: Expressões, Ditados e Provérbios
Publication of the work that gave rise to the expanded and updated project.
2026
📚 Expanded New Edition of the Dictionary
Bringing together decades of experience in translation, teaching, and the study of the English and Portuguese languages in a reference work on idiomatic language.