Having studied languages in high school, where I topped my senior year in both Japanese and Italian, I went on to do a Bachelor’s degree in languages at the University of Newcastle and the University of New England in NSW, Australia. I graduated with a high-distinction average and a triple major in Japanese, Italian and Latin, with a minor in French.

Ultimately, it was my Italian studies that brought me to where I am today, however indirectly. As the dux of my final year, I was awarded the annual Alitalia prize: return flights from Australia to the Italian city of my choice. Convinced that my future lay in Europe, I used the prize to fly to Rome, where I’d decided to start out by getting a diploma in teaching English as a second language.

This I did, eventually being offered teaching work with the global organisation International House at their school in Tallinn, Estonia. I arrived here in the summer of 2000 knowing that my skills in other languages would be of little help beyond priming me to learn another – in this case Estonian, which, barring the Japanese writing system, is easily the most complex language I’ve tackled!

I spent my first five years here teaching English, all the while teaching myself Estonian. At some point my skills in the language became good enough that I began to branch out into translating texts from Estonian into English, and almost immediately I was snapped up by the country’s biggest translation agency. That was in 2005; I still work for the company, in which I’ve served as its Senior Editor and Translator for English for a good 15 years.

During my two decades with the company – and indeed in the years before that, both here in Estonia and in Italy – I’ve gained experience in just about every area you could think of to do with English language services. Needless to say my primary focus has been translating and editing. For years now I’ve been providing both services to some of the biggest ‘names’ in the country, including the Office of the President, the Government Office, the Cities of Tallinn and Tartu, just about every ministry, Tallinn Airport, the Bank of Estonia… the list goes on.

Carrying over the teaching skills I honed during my time in Rome and here in Tallinn, I’ve since gone on to become a trainer as well. I’ve devised and delivered both general and tailored courses for fellow translators, private-sector employees and government agency staff in Estonia, and even been sought after internationally, training EU officials in Brussels.

My skills have been sought in other areas, too: I’ve been asked to coach the likes of actors and public speakers on their delivery; I’ve done a variety of voiceover work; I’ve co-authored a series of English language textbooks; and I worked for both Estonia and Finland’s national broadcasters behind the scenes on the Eurovision Song Contests held in Tallinn and Helsinki in 2002 and 2007, respectively.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that whatever your English language needs, there’s a good chance I’ve got you covered! I’m open to all offers – so please do get in touch if there’s any way I can help.