Ever since I was young I've had a special interest in languages. I have my roots in the south of the Netherlands, where I lived in a small town near the German border. Since our television had more German channels than Dutch channels, I grew up on all those brilliant series from the 1980s (Knight Rider, the A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard) dubbed in German. At that time I didn't like that all, but looking back I'd say it served me well as it greatly helped me in learning German on a later age. Besides being used to hearing German on the television on a young age, I've been corresponding in English with my American uncle since the age of 8.

That really triggered me to learn another language, so after leaving high school I decided to study Portuguese. When I was abroad during my studies, Portugal and especially the city of Oporto stole my heart. I learned to appreciate the food and wines and gained some friends for life - so I still go as back as often as I can.

Besides a translator, I'm also husband to a wife and father of two daughters. I like to read (a lot) about World War II, the Vietnam War and history in general. Besides reading I'm addicted to music - I've been playing bass since I was 14 and have been in a band with my best friends for almost 20 years. I'm als a huge movie and tv series fan - among my favorites are mainly series to a historic background like Da Vinci's Demons, Marco Polo, the Borgias, Ripper Street and Black Sails, but I also really appreciate more modern series like Gomorrah and Narcos. Last but not least, I'm an avid sports fan and I like to attend a football game with my friends every now and then.