Introduction

Becoming an interpreter, in my view, is often closely interconnected with the fortune one has had in naturally learning languages other than one’s mother tongue at a young age, speaking more than one language when one was a child, and by the fact that languages just… ‘run in the family’. I consider myself a TCK, a third culture kid, as I was born in Italy, brought up in Latin American countries (Panama and Peru) and studied in North American schools.

Speaking more than one language was part of my family’s tradition. My father, Paolo, and my grandfather, Stefano Burich, were born in Fiume under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, my grandmother was born in Budapest from Italian parents. My grandfather was a teacher of Hungarian for Italian students and my grandmother was a teacher of Italian in Hungarian schools in Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia). I was fortunate to have two eminent Germanists in my family, Enrico Burich and Ladislao Mittner. Ruth Hromatka, a cousin of my father, was a translator during and after WWI. A more distant relative, Eugen Kumicic, was a poet and a writer, and a member of the Croatian Parliament in the 19^th century.

I received my interpreter training in Rome, Italy, where I began my interpreting and translating career. I have been a member of AIIC, the International Association of Conference Interpreters for over 20 years and am now a member of ATA, the American Translators Association, IMIA –International Medical Interpreters Association, The Critical Link.

Being trilingual English, Italian and Spanish are my active and passive languages.

I am a free-lance interpreter and translator. I have been interpreting for 35+ years for Italian and international institutions, especially in diplomatic settings (see my profile for further information). I have also acquired a considerable expertise in medical, defense, environment and international organizations terminology throughout my career. I currently enjoy working remotely and have the certifications to do so.

I have been an interpreter trainer at the University of Salento (Lecce, Italy), and at the former San Pio V University, in Rome.

I enjoy reading, dancing and sailing and, of course… love traveling! I enjoy preparing and eating Peruvian food. I practice Chi Kung every day.

I am honored to have been awarded the honorary Royal Victorian Silver Medal, when I served as an Interpreter to an Italian President of the Republic during a State Visit to the United Kingdom.