Born to Dutch diplomats abroad, I have started learning other languages almost as soon as I learned to speak. During my youth I was going to international schools in The Hague, Geneva and Paris, in respectively Dutch, English and French.

I graduated with a Baccalaureate International in English at the International School of Geneva, with emphasis on literature, history, geography and art. A lot of my language abilities stem from my obsession of reading. I have read and re-read thousands of books, National Geographics, newspapers and magazines (mostly in English but also in other languages).

I moved to the United States for a 12 year stay: I did my Bachelors' (at Chapman University, Orange) and Masters' (at the Academy of Art College, San Francisco), both Fine Arts degrees, specializing in sculpture: anatomy, metal casting, ceramics, welding, forging, neon, installations.

From there on I had a variety of jobs: as a bronze caster, lamp maker, carpenter and welder.

Also, I continue all this time drawing, painting, sculpting. To see my work, check out: www.nikola-meerburg.com .

In 2002 I moved to Barcelona and worked first in tourist-related jobs (using all the languages I knew), then as head of the maintenance program at a sailing school.

Nowadays, I am running a small bed-without-breakfast via Airbnb.com, and am making a start in the translation business. I started thanks to a client in London for whom I have been doing FR-EN translations regarding mining operations in Africa.

I go back and forth between the Netherlands and Spain, but also make trips to Morocco, France and some other places. One of the things I love about translating is that I can do it pretty much anywhere with an internet connection, so I am hoping to travel more and hopefully add Arabic and Catalan to my translation languages next.

Though I am fairly new to translating and do not have any related degrees, I am dedicated to excellence in my translations and do a lot of research.