Languages
French. I studied French for 3 years in high school, setting the stage for future language study. While I don’t use French much these days, it laid a foundation that has proven invaluable to me.
Russian. I am an honor graduate of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Russian basic course held at the beautiful Presidio of Monterey, CA. As a graduate of the most prestigious language school in the world, I worked as a professional military linguist for many years, earning and maintaining top scores for my superior skill in the Russian language.
Japanese. I lived in Japan for 10 years and have studied the Japanese language, culture, and arts for over 20 years. I have many years of experience as a professional Japanese translator and interpreter, both in the government and private sectors. I am often told that I have a hint of a northern Japanese (Tohoku) accent, but the Japanese even have trouble telling that I’m not Japanese (provided they don’t see my face, that is). I also run nihongo-à-go-go, an online Japanese language sketch pad designed for the practice and sharing of interesting (to me) Japanese words and phrases, as well as the occasional Japanese-to-English translation on a variety of topics.
Mandarin Chinese. I’m a beginning student, but my Japanese background allows me to read a lot more than is normally expected at my level.
Others. I interested in studying Arabic, German, Korean, and Spanish, in addition to polishing up my French a bit.
Services
Translation. I am available for document translation from the Russian-to-English and Japanese-to-English. Depending on the subject, I may take on select English-to-Japanese projects.
Education. I am available for private, group, and corporate Japanese lessons, focusing on colloquial Japanese as it is spoken today.