I started as a student then teacher of western classical languages. Later in life I took up Chinese. My first class Classics degree at Oxford was followed 25 years later by a first class Chinese degree at Cambridge. After that I lived for 11 years in Shanghai, teaching and translating.

My background has made me a scrupulously careful linguist. I have a lifetime of experience working in languages different in structure from English, and dealing with the challenge of representing them in readable, idiomatic English of an appropriate style. My translation work has ranged over such different material as exhibition display boards for children, historical legends, PowerPoint presentations for marketing executives, and contracts and confidentiality agreements. In each case I have worked to produce versions faithful to the Chinese, suitable for the context envisaged, and expressed in excellent English.