Autobiography

Background

I was born in Chebanka, near Odessa, on 29 November, 1972, into a military family. My father, Victor (1948-2002), was an ensign (he soon left the army and worked as an operator), he comes from the Crimea. My mother, Olga, born in 1952, is the daughter of a tank colonel, who comes from Bryansk. Soon we moved to the city, where my grandfather got an apartment uptown, where we lived until 1980. Then we moved downtown, where I lived until 2003. Then I left Odessa for another town in Ukraine.

Education

I finished Odessa High School 117, where I studied in the physics class. My teacher was one of the best teachers in the then Soviet Union, Mr Yakov Tsikinovskiy. Then I matriculated into Odessa State University and majored in physics. It was hard to study at that time because of the hard economic situation; it was just then when the Soviet Union fell apart and the turmoil began. Very soon it also became clear that it would not be possible to obtain a job as a physicist. So I had to make a U-turn and get down to English. I did not have time to switch to majoring in English and get a diploma, but I do not think it a shortcoming whatsoever. I do not know Latin, economics, ethics and esthetics, newly-written history and other subjects taught to the students, but this does not mean that I know English worse than an average graduate who majored in English. Moreover, I dedicated the time that was free from those stupid subjects, to a deeper study of English. If I encounter a conservative or distrustful employer, I can show my certificate with distinction that I got at Odessa State School of Foreign Languages without attending classes. As for the university diploma, I could get it quickly enough, but this takes time which is money, and money which is time. So far it does not make sense. I prefer to spend my time on advanced English studies.

Languages

I studied English entirely on my own, still I know it very well, and I am constantly improving my knowledge. I started learning it in 1991. By 1998 (when I started work) I had accumulated a vocabulary of about 6,000 basic words (now over 10 thousand). I have never been to the UK or the US, but I got an invaluable help in my studies from learning radioprograms of the BBC World Service (I even wrote an article about it and published it in a local magazine), later I made up for it by great practice and live communication with English-speaking foreigners. I also read a lot of original English books and never miss a new word. Finally, my teaching experience advanced me a lot: when trying to explain, you understand it better yourself.
I prefer American English, but know British English as well.
My native language is Russian, however I think in English more than in Russian. I have English Windows and usually take notes in English.
Now I am learning German. I can already understand and speak a little. When I was in Austria in July, 2002, I was able to get around.

Work Experience

In 1998 I got a job in Marine Technologies exhibition center, where I worked a year as a translator. I also took part in the organizing of international exhibitions. Half the exhibitors came from abroad, and the co-organizer of the exhibitions was Dolphin Exhibitions, a British company. No one but I knew English in the entire company, so I had very intensive and diverse everyday practise: phone calls and faxes, email, correspondence, translating of advertisements and exhibition catalogs, talks, troubleshooting during exhibitions and just communication with the exhibitors. The main reason why I left the job was an inadequate salary.
After leaving and up to now I have been working basically as a teacher, giving private lessons, and as a freelance translator and interpreter for many Odessan companies and private persons (for the most part they are foreigners wishing to get married and coming to Odessa to meet women). I also help people to correspond.
See also the list of my customers and partners and my resume.

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