BIOGRAPHY
I have graduated from Rostock university (Germany) in 1985 with a BA and an MA in English Literature (called Diplomarbeit) having read English and German Language and Literature for 4 years. I had chosen the path of becoming a secondary school teacher and qualified accordingly with a teacher training diploma equivalent to the HDip. I was working as a teacher in a secondary school (in Germany) from 1985 to 1988. In September 1988 I got a four year grant from Rostock university in order to complete a PhD thesis (Doktorarbeit) in English Literature. However, due to profound political and social changes in 1989 after the Berlin Wall came down and the Eastern Block collapsed I could not continue working on my PhD and rather answered a job advertisement for a German Language Demonstrator in the German Department, UCC, Ireland. Due to a (then) recently established university exchange link with Rostock university I was lucky to be the successful applicant. I had gained experience with teaching German as a foreign language beforehand having taught foreign students during 'summer schools' organized by the International Education Office in Rostock university.
I took up the position of College Language Teacher in the Department of German in September 1994.
Prior to that I had been employed by the Department of German as a Foreign demonstrator for 4 years, i.e. from September 1990 onward. I have been working as a College Language Teacher in the Department of German up to this day.
In 1995 I obtained the Diploma in Translation from the Institute of Linguists, London. I have started doing professional translation work as a student and I have been doing free-lance translation work and translation work for the Language Center, UCC, ever since.
As a College Language Teacher, I am not employed to do research of any kind. My main activities are teaching and administrative work. This includes putting together new language courses and materials and updating and modifying existing courses.
I have always had a strong academic interest in Classical English Literature of the Victorian Era; having completed my MA in the prose writings of Thomas Hardy.
Due to my personal circumstances I have developed a strong interest in the French language and culture. I am particularly interested in the French Language spoken by the French Canadians in Quebec and New Brunswick and have gained quite an expertise in this by now. But this remains a hobby. Nevertheless, getting to know a third language does help to acquire a deeper inside into the linguistic structure of the language I am teaching, German.
