I graduated in April 2005 from the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece. The course of studies included lectures and seminars in sociology, anthropology, history, law and economics. In search of learning about the functioning of the Turkish social institutions, I decided to write my dissertation on the Harmonization of Turkey with the European Social Charter, which further enhanced my interest in Turkey. Intensive language studies were also included in the Curriculum. I attended Arabic language lessons for two years, along with Turkish, which I studied throughout my four years of studies. Apart from the language studies included in the university curriculum, I also attended language courses in English and French at private institutions. I have currently obtained the Michigan certificate of Proficiency in English (2003), along with the DELF (2004) and C1 certificate in French (2006).
After the end of my studies and in an effort to get in an advanced level in the Turkish language, I moved to Istanbul where I stayed for one year period. During my stay there I enrolled in language courses at the University of Tömer and the University of Istanbul until the obtainment of the diploma in June 2006.
In September 2006 I followed 9 month interpretation courses in the MA in Conference Interpreting, in the University of Cyprus. During the training I was acquainted with the necessary skills needed to work as simultaneous conference interpreter and got familiarized with the theories and methods of the field. The course also included lectures on analyzing relevant issues and most importantly learning the terminology in areas such as the economics, medicine, law, politics and an introduction to the European Integration and EU institutions. Special emphasis was given on communication skills, conference procedures and working conditions. I graduated from the MA in October 2007, having English and Turkish as source languages and Greek as target language.
In February 2008 I was given the opportunity to work, as a teaching assistant at Bogazici University, where I participated in both consecutive and simultaneous teaching courses. During these sessions I gave speeches for the students to interpret from and also took the opportunity to practice my own interpreting skills. I attended four-day courses that kept me in close contact with the skills of interpretation. As all of the students on the course have Turkish and English as working languages, I was always able to either practice myself or offer feedback to the students.