My name is Heather Marsh. I am Australian and a native speaker of English. I have a Bachelor of Science (geophysics/geology) from the University of Melbourne, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Physics (geophysics) from Western Australian Institute of Technology and a Graduate Diploma in Education (secondary science teaching) from the University of New England. Additionally, I have a CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) from the British Council and have completed the PTC Basic Proofreading course. I worked as a geophysicist for a number of years before beginning to drift towards other interests such as travel, language and teaching. I am a qualified teacher and have taught both secondary science in Australia and English language in Malaysia.
Editing and me
When I began teaching, I quickly learned that it is not enough to understand your subject. The true art of teaching lies in the ability to communicate your information, effectively and efficiently, to the audience (in my case that was a classroom of teenagers). And so my interest in how we use English began, and it was a natural progression, when I moved to Asia, to move into English language teaching where I could help others explore the use of English to communicate ideas, report findings and persuade others. When used well, the English language — with its vast array of words and structures — can be a particularly efficient persuader! And then I found that friends, acquaintances and my husband (he’s an academic) were asking me more and more often to ‘look over’ their documents. And then someone offered to pay me! And so I began drifting towards proofreading and editing. With my background in science, my wide-ranging general knowledge, my English language teaching experience and my perfectionist fixation with minutiae, it has turned out to be both a natural fit for my skills and something that I enjoy doing.
And when I am not editing …
I have travelled extensively, both for work and interest, and have lived in a number of countries (in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as in Australasia). I currently reside in Singapore. I love travelling and I find history, culture and nature endlessly fascinating. I also enjoy reading, writing, swimming, scuba diving, cooking, and escaping into action-fantasy and space-adventure shows where, in my head at least, I love to join in and help the heroes save the world!
-Heather