Languages

I was raised with two languages, having lived and attended school first in Germany and then in Great Britain. Although my initial native language is German, English had become my first language by the time I had finished school and a BSc degree at university in the United Kingdom, where I had switched to almost sole English language use. I reimmersed myself in a German-speaking environment by moving to Vienna, Austria and spent some years there working as an English language editor, English teacher and translator, during which time I developed my skills in both languages and in the ability to switch and relate between the two languages.

My employment as editor at two intellectual/academic online publications and their associate organizations not only required my English-language editing and translation skills, but also involved me in many conferences, where I presented papers and led workshops and debates both in German and in English. My academic career led me to achieving two MA degrees at Boston University and at the Central European University in Budapest, both of which were funded by merit scholarships. My subsequent work on a PhD project at the Univ. of Vienna in the German language, including a City-of-Vienna stipend funded research and writing project, allowed me to also develop my written German skills and address the parallels and differences between the two languages and their application in academia. I have published and presented academic and journalistic texts both in English and in German. My university experience in both language environments and academic cultures serves as an ideal basis for my translation and editing work in the academic field.

Having used the English language both as my language of every day use and academically for the majority of my life, including my school and academic career, I have firmly established it as my language of primary use. Although German was my initial native tongue and I am able to both speak and write it at the highest level, linguistic work benefits greatly from being limited to one target language only. Thus I translate from German into English and proofread, edit and compose English language texts only.