Contact information

Biographical Information

Mair was born in Wales and brought up in Scotland. At the age of sixteen, she worked as an au-pair in Hamburg before starting her studies in French and German at the University of Glasgow. During her studies she taught English at summer schools in Edinburgh, Durham and Hamburg. She also spent a year as an English language assistant at a catering college in Strasbourg. After graduating with an MA Honours degree, Mair took a postgraduate diploma in translating and interpreting at the University of Bradford. She then moved to Dusseldorf to become a translator for a mechanical-engineering company, but found the world of paper winders, cutters and folding-carton gluers tedious. She married an Englishman of Irish descent, had two children and began freelance teaching, translating and interpreting. She worked at the Volkshochschule in Duisburg for 12 years, teaching beginners and advanced students. In 2005, she took up a post in English and French at Duisburg's Gesamtschule Mitte. She reluctantly gave up the job of teaching lively teenagers to come to the University of Duisburg-Essen in October 2007. Mair could not, however, sever her ties with the Volkshochschule, where she remains a teacher of oriental dance.

Areas of Teaching and Research

Typical courses:

Advanced Oral Skills
British Cultural Studies
Translation