Hi, I’m Helena, a professional linguist living in Edinburgh, UK. I am a native German speaker working with English, French and to a certain extent Russian.
Since early childhood, I have been exposed to different languages and cultures. I was born in Kasachstan to Russian-German parents, lived in Russia until I was 7 and then moved with my family to Germany where I grew up in a bilingual household.
In school, I developed an interest in languages at an early stage. However, after I graduated from school I decided to try my hands on something new and started studying Biology in Bochum (Germany) and quickly realised that I missed studying languages too much. Therefore, I decided to work on my career as a linguist instead. Below you can see my current qualifications.
Education
- Abitur (German A levels) from Gymnasium Lünen-Altlünen, Advanced subjects: English and French (2008)
- BA in Multilingual Communication from University of Applied Sciences, Cologne (2013).
- The course was taught in German, English and French.
- Thesis: Interpreting within the hospital environment: Demands of Institutions and Patients Regarding Skills and Tasks of an Interpreter. A Glance at the Current Use of Lay Interpreters based on an Individual Case. An Empirical Study in the Interpreting Sector
- MSc in Translation and Interpreting from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh (2015). (English and German).
- The course was completed part-time over two years while working.
- Thesis: Applying Nord’s (2005) Source-Text Analysis on the novel “2 States-the story of my marriage” by Chetan Bhagat (2009) in order to make an informed translation decision regarding culture-bound elements.
Certificates
- Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (from University of Cambridge), Level C2 (2013)
- Diplôme d’etudes en langue française B2 (from Commission nationale du DELF et du DALF du Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Énseignement supérieur et de la Recherche de la République française) (2008)
- Certificate of Additional Language Qualifications awarded for Anglo-German bilingual studies (from Gymnasium Lünen-Altlünen) (2008)
Professional membership
I am a Career Affiliate of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and subscribe to its code of professional conduct.
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