My name is Nikolaus Barabas, I'm 32 years old and was born in Nuremberg.

My parents are of Hungarian descent, so they talk to me in Hungarian. Before going to primary school, I had learned to read in Hungarian.

Of course I always went to German schools. I did my A-levels at the Helene-Lange-Gymnasium in Fürth (near Nuremberg) and I finished all my studies in German, too.

Since childhood I'm interested in foreign languages. I had already learned Spanish at grammar school.

That's why in 1994 I decided to dedicate my time to the studies of English, Spanish and French at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen to become a grammar school teacher. But the English initiation test proved to be so difficult that even native speakers were not able to reach the necessary scores to pass it. (Since then this exam has been abolished).
So in 1996 I changed to the Otto-Friedrich-University in Bamberg from which I graduated in 2002 in the subjects of Comtemporary History, Spanish and French with a Magister Artium Degree.

Due to the difficult economic situation in Germany I couldn't find any work with my University Degree, so in May 2003 I did a practical training at the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages in Brussels.

In 2005 I started a training at the academic department of the Institut für Fremdsprachen und Auslandskunde (Institute for Language and Background Studies) in Erlangen to become a Professional Translator and Interpreter for Spanish, French and English in the field of Economics. Although this training lasts three years, I could finish it in two years since I possess a University Degree. During this training I took every opportunity to use and develop my knowledge of foreign languages. Among other things I translated scientific texts for the Complutense University of Madrid. Furthermore, during the 5th World Family Meeting in Valencia which took place from the 3rd to the 9th of July 2006 I worked as a translator in the International Press Center where the journalists praised the high quality of my translations. As an autodidact I also learned Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Norwegian on a basic level and with a good result I passed the Test of Italian as a Foreign Language by Siena University. However, I don't take any translations in these languages, since I know them only on a basic level. On the 4th of July 2007 I took my last exam of this training mentioned above, and on the 27th of July I'll receive my second diploma.