I am a Canadian/American native speaker of English now resident in Utrecht, and am fluent in Dutch to a C1 level, with a NT2 certificate (Program II). I have varied and extensive experience with writing, editing and translating.
My educational background is very broad, which makes me comfortable editing and writing in very diverse areas. I have a BA from Yale University in a double major of Psychology and History of Science, History of Medicine. I also have a Masters from the University of British Columbia‘s top ranked School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP). At Yale, I nurtured my writing skills with specialized writing courses, including the legendary Daily Themes class, in addition to writing papers for most other classes, mainly social sciences and history. During my Masters, I wrote short and long analyses, policy analysis, handbooks, reports and, of course, my thesis.
I also have experience from the other side of education, as an English teacher, which is how I formalized my knowledge of English grammar. Between my degrees, I taught English in South Korea for several years, including several university level writing courses. I also taught in Vancouver and at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, including writing courses.
After I finished my Masters, I began working for the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM). While there, I wrote newsletter features, wrote and edited reports, articles, analyses, booklets and other publications in various areas of interest to local governments. I also had a major role as project manager, editor and co-author of a very well-received book on UBCM’s history.
My other work experience has also been very broad and has usually involved writing and/or the English language, sometimes in surprising topic areas. For example, directly after my bachelors, I wrote a how to document for printed circuit board software. In Korea, I also edited promotional materials for the university and papers for my colleagues. And, during grad school, one job involved editing a book on wood science.
In August 2007, I moved to the Netherlands with my Dutch husband. For the first couple years I concentrated on learning Dutch and having children. In September 2010, I founded Written Harmony. My work here has continued to cover diverse areas and topics, which you can read about on the other pages of this site. You can also check out my profile on LinkedIn.