As someone who has been tested and found to have three mother-tongues, my ability to fluently translate and interpret from and into three languages (Arabic, English and Finnish) is not so much a learnt as an acquired skill. The first two are the languages I was taught all subjects in at school and in University and Finnish is the language my mother spoke to us and taught us at home. Besides, we kids got to speak and learn it in our childhood in Jerusalem at the Finnish Mission, where my mother worked. So, all three languages have been constantly present in my life on a daily basis as a means of communication and they have been instilled in me at school as well as through rich social contacts with diverse people in an environment where people interact very vividly and intensely.

So, these three languages developed in a natural manner into languages I could use on a professional level. After being asked frequently to translate and interpret, and when I received positive feedback for my capacity and performance on each occasion, I decided to get the official qualifications to become a legal translator, and did so. My C.V. and portfolio contain my certificates.

It is beside the point here to mention that I master the basics of 8 languages, because I only use three of them professionally. The other five merely benefit me in my daily life and contacts, but having a degree of mastery of them does contribute to an even better grasp of my so-called professional languages, because obviously, each language has nuances, connotations, sayings, points of reference and a normative code that widen a person´s horizon and serve to see matters from many perspectives. This makes one very conscious of the need for accuracy as well as the necessity of avoiding literal translation or interpretation and aiming at contextual translation and interpretation of meanings.

 Nowadays, the term "culturall interpreter" (kulttuuritulkki) has been adopted by many. As a translator and interpreter, I strive to transmit meanings rather than words and sentences. Of course, it goes without saying, that when transslating documents of an official nature as opposed to belles-lettres literature, conversation or even political or scientific negotiations, the focus and emphasis must be on finding the exact corresponding term in the target language. When that is not possible, the concept might have to be explained a bit, but it is imperative in such cases not to "over-elaborate" the point.

Even though, in this web-page, translation and interpretation services are listed in separate sections, in my case, the two are inseparable, which is why I have talked about both in both sections. My experience in both translation and interpretaion is extensive and covers a range of topics and levels that is hard to enumerate. One day I hope to be able to publish descriptions of a fraction of the types of assighments I have executed. For now, I simply hope I can be of assistance to anyone in need of such services, and anyone wishing to recommend me or send for publication feedback on previous assignments, may write in my Forum or send material by e-mail, so that I can complete my pages. In the section "Contact Me" I do bid anyone under the title "Call for Material" to send me whatever they might find in their archives pertaining to my profile,