In a nutshell
- State-certified translator and interpreter for the English language who gets by, to varying degrees, in two handfuls of other languages
- Publicly appointed and sworn translator for the English language for the Berlin courts and notaries public
- Just over half a century old
- Former handball-player with a penchant for gymnastics and modern dance
- Two fairly young children
- Someone who loves reading, travelling, and exploring
- And who cherishes beautiful spaces…
Why me?
More than 30 years (and counting) in German federal government makes me the perfect ally to help navigate the maze of German regulations.
Of course there will be things I don’t know but if there is one person who will find out, it is me.
What makes me the person I am today?
Ever since I was a child, I dreamt of travelling the world, helping others, making people feel at ease, and the spaces around them (and myself) beautiful. It was clear to me that I would be some sort of polyglot social worker with amazing interior design skills. Alas, my extremely poor grades in maths prevented me from becoming an interior designer, and also stopped me from studying sociology and psychology (who knew that you needed maths?). What was a given, however, was my aptitude for languages, possibly honed by the fact that – despite growing up in a small town in the South of Germany – I heard a multitude of languages spoken at home. My meandering path led me nearly all over the world, starting with an au-pair job in the South of France, extensive travels in Europe and further afield, studies for an interpreter’s and translator’s degree in Munich while temping in a vast variety of businesses (Kraft Foods, Arri Cinema, Siemens, MSD, Eaton Semiconductors, MBB, and many, many more) in Munich and London, to working as an assistant lecturer for Modern Languages in Cambridge (GBR) and in Auckland (NZL). I also produced several theatre plays with my students as well as acting in them myself. I designed and sewed costumes for an Auckland theatre, worked as a project manager for a binational Chamber of Commerce, held freelance jobs as a translator and interpreter, held an executive PA role in a top-notch German aerospace company, was employed as a relief-teacher, and worked with socially disadvantaged and uniquely challenged children and adults. The urge to live in places most people wouldn’t dream of visiting, led me to applying for a job at the Federal Foreign Office more than a quarter of a century ago, and I’ve never looked back. I have lived and worked in countries such as Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Vietnam, South Africa. I was able to use my urge to design personal space in a very practical manner: With every move, creating my own beautiful home became a necessity, and hosting travellers from every corner of the globe a given.
So, after all that – why on earth offer a translation service?
Living in Berlin made me realise just how difficult it must be for anyone unfamiliar with Germany’s daunting bureaucracy to actually live here. And that – in a nutshell – is why I decided to set up my freelance “linguistic naturopath” business on top of my “day job”.