Born in Holland (The Netherlands) in 1964, I studied 6 languages at school (Dutch, English, French, German, Latin and Greek. Latin and Greek meant translating on a daily basis for several years at school, and I seemed to do quite well.

I've always been very interested in other cultures and languages. I've always liked travelling and communicating with people from other places.

After school I studied Sociology for 3 years, but found little of what I was looking for, so started working and later studied in the evening Pedagogics, which I did finish.

I was looking for combining my interest in other cultures, travelling and in education and offered myself as a volunteer in Chile, and after a year of very interesting experiences, I found out I'd learned Spanish quite fluently and decided to study for translator and interpreter. In 1995 I finished succesfully my translation studies at VERTOL and decided to go for the very difficult Dutch State Exam in those days, which I passed succesfully as well. Based on my diploma's I became a sworn translator in the Netherlands and are now registered in the WBTV register.

In 1996, I emigrated to Chile, and I've lived and worked there ever since. Spanish has become like a second native language to me.

I've worked as a translator and interpreter ever since 1991, doing all kinds of jobs, from poetry to legal and medical documents. For the last few years I've been the only sworn translator in Chile, which has meant a great deal of legal and business translations. I've taken specialization courses in this area as well.
As I've worked as a teacher in banks, hospitals and for private professionals, I've learned a lot about those specific areas too.

I consider myself as a bridge between people, between countries and cultures, trying to express the intentions of the author in an accessible way for the target audience.