I learned English and Latin at a ‘Gymnasium’ in Germany. After leaving school, I continued to use English in recreational activities.  In 1976, I joined IBM in Germany in an administrative capacity where I needed to use English regularly. Because of my command of English, I was offered and accepted, in 1981, an IBM assignment to a European project located in England. My tasks within the project included the writing of application development documentation for the different phases of project management.

Being mindful of the criticality of excellent English skills, I immediately enrolled in a college and took advanced English classes. Within 6 months of my arrival in England, I passed the ‘Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English’.

I rejoined IBM Germany in 1984 in a managerial capacity in project management for IBM internal software development and stayed in this position for 5 years. In 1989, I was offered a second international assignment to the United States. At this point in time, I was completely fluent in English and employed those skills verbally and in writing on a daily basis.

I married in 1994 and stayed in the United States. I left IBM and the corporate world for a completely new and different career in the fitness industry. I am working in my own business as a Personal Fitness Trainer with a specialty of post-rehabilitation and the training of people with special medical conditions.  This specialization has led to a further enhancement of my vocabulary.

In addition to English and German, I also speak French sufficiently well to communicate on an intermediate level. I am by no means fluent in spoken French but have good reading comprehension.  

I have been an avid reader all my life, and, in addition to reading for business purposes, have read English and American literature extensively over the last 20 years. My personal favorite is English literature of the 19th century.

I have been a US citizen since 2000 and live in Raleigh, North Carolina, with my husband Rufus and my dog Mr. Darcy (after Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”).