At the age of sixteen, I suddenly and unexpectedly fell in love with English. For the past 40 years, I have been studying the English language and its literatures with enthusiasm and deep joy. I studied ‘English Language and Literature’ programs at four universities (two German and two American) before getting an M.A. in British and American Literature from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. For the past 22 years, I have been teaching English as a private tutor and facilitator and at a variety of schools and institutions to a great range of students of all ages and all backgrounds. From 2003 till 2016, I was an undergraduate lecturer at RWTH Aachen University, teaching English grammar, pronunciation, critical reading, and writing. Since 2006, one of my special passions has been understanding and teaching English syntax in context. In January of 2017, I published The Joy of Syntax & the Zen of Grammar Practice, an innovative grammar book,  the product of many years of scholarship and teaching in that field. I keep expanding in that and other areas of my life.

In 2016, I founded  The Joy of Syntax & English in Color, a one-woman language studio, where I work as a philologist, an author, a creative & a free thinker, a course creator, a language study & language acquisition facilitator, a sentence sleuth and language map maker, and an education & lifestyle activist. I have developed very cool, effective, and colorful approaches to understanding pronunciation, grammar, tenses, text analysis, text production, and language acquisition techniques. I offer bright maps of English and smart study guides and overviews.

I believe that learning, writing about, and teaching languages can all be part of the same endeavor – the process, journey, and goal of gaining self-understanding and awareness, finding what makes you come alive, unfolding your human potential, and making peace with yourself and other beings.

I currently live in Aachen, a German city bordering the Netherlands and Belgium. I am a devoted mother of two young adult sons, who have already left the nest. I was the doting guardian and fond adoptive mom of a fur baby named Rudolph the Black-Nosed Canine. Rudolph is with me in the author photo on the cover of my book “Joy of Syntax & the Zen of Grammar Practice.” My darling Rudolph left his body in October 2020 at the ripe old age of sixteen and half. I will be forever grateful that he came into our lives and will carry him in my heart forever. At the end of May 2022, I became the adoptive mom of Tiberio, Tibi for short, a young shepherd mix from Spain in need of a loving home. And so another wonderful journey has begun. Tibi and I love each other deeply. There is always room for more love in a mother’s heart. Love is the only thing that multiplies with use.  

Studying and teaching English are my joy, my passion, my profession, and my hobby. Reading and writing about syntax and pronunciation are my Zen. I am deeply committed to ethical veganism, animal rights, environmental protection, pacifism, trauma healing, and undomestication. And I am very enthusiastic about healthy nutrition and music.