I believe my English skills have been upgraded to near-native proficiency because of my exposure to an English-speaking environment for quite a long time. I have extensively read English and American literature (fiction, as well as books on linguistics, history, philosophy, economics, law, psychology).
I believe my approach to translation is hands-on and to the point. I have worked hard to build up my skills and enhance my knowledge. I have always sought to achieve a certain clarity, which I think should be a hallmark of good translating. Instead of pyramiding tons of unrelated and confusing word-for-word renditions on top of each other, I tried to drive home a clear message devoid of ambiguity and equivocation.
My linguistic background is also helpful for my work. I'm keen on phonetics, the history of English and English dialects. In particular, I've studied modern English slang, chain shifts (the Great Vowel Shift, the Northern Cities Vowel Shift etc), the development of rhotic and non-rhotic accents, some aspects of the Scouse, Brummie, Cockney and Hiberno-English dialects and the influence of the Anglo-Norman variety of the langue d'oil on the development of English.
I'm also versed in economic and financial terminology not only because I have translated articles on these subjects but also because I have researched many economic and financial issues from the scientific standpoint. I have studied classical, institutional, Keynesian and monetarist economics. I'm also interested in the history of the gold standard, fractional-reserve banking and fiat money.
My knowledge of legal terminology is partially based on my research into the history of common law from Magna Carta on up and my familiarity with the Russian legal system. I have followed landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases (such as Roe and Kelo) and delved into many legal issues (such as eminent domain, inquisitorial and adversarial systems, habeas corpus, due process).