Overview

Shalini was born in Singapore and completed her initial education there before she moved to Melbourne in 1998 at the age of 18. Despite being of Indian descent, she studied Mandarin from as early as in kindergarten. This was unique at the time. A natural ability, consistent practise and exposure to the language coupled with professional training have been instrumental in taking her skills to the next level.

Professional Life

At university, she took on an Arts (honours) degree that gave her linguistic and theoretical grounding in a myriad of areas ranging from politics, law, social welfare and economics to business, human biology and international relations. This provided her with the foundation she required as a language professional. Following this degree, she completed a year of study in Interpreting and Translating while working at an English language and senior high school college taking on roles in teaching English and Chinese, office administration and student welfare. She excelled in her course and shortly after graduation, began practising in the field of interpreting and translation where she engaged in legal, medical and community interpreting as well as business, immigration and medical translation. A year later, her passion for international education and cross-cultural communication led her back into a teaching role at RMIT where she imparted the knowledge she had gained to budding translators. She continues to practise in the field, taking on more specialised interpreting and translating roles within the legal and medical areas. Most recently, she took her skills to mainland China during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Personal Interests

Outside the interpreting arena, Shalini is completing a Masters degree and serves as a musician on her Church band. She also enjoys working out at the gym and quality time with family and friends.