Already back in school …

… did I discover my love for the German language and foreign tongues. So it was only logical for me to go to the United States to visit high school at the age of 16. My heartfelt wish to work professionally with languages became only stronger then.

After I returned to Germany …

… I started to learn Chinese und graduated from German gymnasium (secondary school) with exams also in English and French. Afterwards I moved to Bonn in the beautiful Rhineland area, where I studied Chinese and Korean for seven years from 1987 to 1994 to become a translator.

Of these seven years …

… I spent one and a half years at the Foreign Languages Institute Tianjin, China, where I studied the Chinese language, culture and life. Upon my return I continued to study at the Bonn University, went to Seoul, Korea for about three months in 1993 and graduated from university in 1994 as Diplomübersetzer (graduate translator).

In the following years …

… I decided to work in several different industries to broaden my expertise and my commercial skills. For of what use are all the beautiful words in foreign languages if I do not understand what they describe. All that time I have always translated as a side job.

In November, 2009 …

… I finally switched from side job to full-time freelance translator.

Degrees and certificates …

1994 Diplomübersetzer (graduate translator) from Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Bonn
2009 specialist clerk for office communication at the IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) in Bonn

Working experience

since 1994 freelance translator, side job
since 2009 full-time freelance translator
from 1994 until 2009 different commercial occupations in the following industries:

• Utility vehicles (technics, logistics)
• Mineral oil
• Real estate
• Electronics (semi-conductors)
• Mechanical Engineering
• Metalworking

Other

Since 2014 Moderator and Ambassador of Übersetzer & Dolmetscher – XING Ambassador Community

Since 2015 Official Trainer for the Across Translator Edition (ATE) v6.3 by the Across Systems GmbH

Hobbies

Our dog, medieval ages markets and role playing, Scotland, birds of prey, and of course reading (Fantasy, historic novels, science fiction)

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