Eat, Sleep, Write, Piano!

Whilst Piet is hanging the washing up, I thought I'd start a 'Hello!' We are a couple from South Wales who have recently been asked to edit and proofread some articles and blogs; most of this is through friends of friends. You may wonder why both of us would be asked to do this rather than (he may tut at this) just the English teacher. Well, you see, alongside my English teaching position I am a mother and have various hobbies including singing and learning German. Piet is a music teacher and originates from Germany and so some of the work we have received has been written by German speakers in English. Therefore, sometimes we work together and sometimes alone depending on the job. Ok, washing sorted! Piet has been teaching music since 2011 and even before that, but 2011 was when he finished his Master’s in Education. He teaches piano, singing and music theory and also has one of those brains which absorb language. He is fluent and more than competent in German, English, French and Welsh although he can converse in many other languages. Piet’s walked in and I’ve made him promise not to delete any of this... Hi I’m Piet (and it’s not pee-et as it may seem – it’s Pete). I’ve been living in Wales for just over two years now and I’ve been helping all sorts of people with their music skills. Our household is not traditional, with 4 kids between us and Zoë having the larger portion of the workload, sometimes it’s like Hamburg City here. The markets we are aiming at are second language English writers in addition to first language writers and I can offer translation services also. I think we complement each other – Zoë is skilled in technique, literacy and persuasion (that’s how I got to do the washing this evening) and I suppose I consider myself creative and I’m diverse in my knowledge and language. Our specialist subjects are music, literature, family history, gender studies, and other cultures writing. Zoë’s dissertation was on ‘Chinese Women’s Autobiography and Diaspora’ and she has a passion for equality and anti-discrimination. Well, I suppose I'll sign off then for now – and so completes our first ever blog (how did we get this old before doing this?)