À la Plume
About
I am an independent translator and proofreader. My line of work allows me to combine my personal experience as a bilingual traveler, my passion for languages and writing with my extensive academic training.
Find out more below, or download my resume here.
My Story
I was born to an English-speaking mother and a French-speaking father in the Philippines. I grew up fully bilingual as our family bounced around the world, living in various countries including Bahrain, Qatar, France, and the United States. These diverse environments have nurtured in me an openness and curiosity about other cultures and languages.
I started writing stories and translating at a very young age and turned these childhood hobbies into professional skills over my years as an English and American Studies student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Paris Diderot and Trinity College Dublin.
I am driven by a deep love of languages, storytelling, fiction, research and writing. In my downtime, I like to read, watch films and shows, play story-forward video games, cook, and daydream. My skill and passion for languages, writing, fiction and research are just what you need!
Academic background & Professional training
Here is a summary of my main skills and fields of expertise. For more detail, feel free to download my resume!
Fiction & Creative
Writing
I am an avid fan of storytelling and fiction of any kind, whether it comes as a book, a film, a play, a show or a video game. I have also followed several courses in Creative Writing and Game Design.
English &American
Studies
Over the years, I honed my skills in English-language literature, translation, academic writing, and teaching English as a second language. I eventually took an interest in academic research on visual studies, especially photography, film, and television.
Academic Research
& Teaching
As a lifelong learner, I currently teach English at various universities in Lyon while conducting my PhD research on the Salem witch trials as depicted in contemporary American cinema and television at Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier.
So what’s with the bird...?
Magpies, like ravens, crows, and blue jays, are members of the Corvidae family. These birds seem to have followed me over my many relocations in Europe and North America somehow. Every time I moved to a new home, I could see a magpie nest from my bedroom window—and the one time I didn’t, it was because that nest was actually on the roof above my bedroom! I have since regarded these intelligent, chatty, curious and spirited birds as a kind of lucky charm. In French, the word “plume” means both a feather and a quill or pen. The combination of all this only seemed fitting.
