Anyone who takes translation seriously will tell you that native speakers are best. I was born in France and brought up mostly in Provence and Alsace. A bookworm from a very early age, I was always fascinated by the French language (yes, grammar lessons, dictations and later literature classes were my favourites at school, after volleyball!). Naturally, learning English, and then Spanish, opened a whole new world of fascination, so much so that I studied English Language and Literature at University, obtaining first a Licence (BA), then a maîtrise (MA) in English literature. I was destined to devote my career to researching English 19th literature when I came to Sheffield to teach French at the University for a year. One year turned into two and that’s where I discovered the world of translation. First for the City Council, then for a small local agency specialising in video games. This was in the early 90s, in the days of floppy disks and noisy modems, of everything sent by post and of heavy paper dictionaries. But I was hooked and the rest is history.
