A Wild Anthropologist

First and foremost, I’m a people person. I’m interested in people: how they think, how they make decisions, and what influences them. The more you know about people, the more you are able to connect with them – to educate them, to help them, or simply to communicate with them more effectively.

Communication at the highest level is only possible if one understands not only the words being said, but the underlying culture as well.

I studied Linguistic Anthropology at UCLA, focusing on the creation of national/cultural identities through language – the words we (and those around us) use make us who we are. During my last year I arrived in Germany to complete research for my Bachelor’s Thesis and never left!

Since settling in Munich, I’ve been honing my skills working with international companies providing English and Intercultural Training to make their employees more successful. I’ve also taken charge of my company’s social media channels (Facebook / Youtube) to provide high quality content useful to English language learners. Additionally, I have spearheaded the design and implementation of the online tool to make face-to-face instruction more effective.

While that all sounds real business-y, I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do – observe a foreign culture all day long! An anthropologist at heart, I was never satisfied just reading about theories in books. Every day, with clients or at the supermarket, there is a clash of language and culture happening all around. I call it wild anthropology, taking ideas from linguistics, intercultural communication, cultural anthropology, sociology and more and applying it to everyday life to solve real world problems.