Gerhard's story
Born 1979 in Hamburg, Germany, from a South German father and a Chilean mother, he grew up in the small town of Uetersen, Schleswig-Holstein. Though having quite good academic results in general, he clearly had no talent for foreign languages (and speaking, in general). Even friends smirked when he had to speak up during English classes.
At the age of 18, he decided to step into his biggest discomfort zone and to start learning several languages at the same time. Before obtaining his MA in psychology from the University of Hamburg, he took courses in Spanish, Portuguese and French, later also Swedish, at the university.
After university, he relocated to the Republic of Moldova in 2006, in an attempt to start a new life without any social security net. In the meantime, he has taught at universities for many years, been a university administrator in international cooperation, written regular newspaper columns, and worked as a translator and interpreter for high-level diplomatic and business meetings.
For more than 20 years, he was an obsessive-compulsive language learner. During a period of three years, he produced weekly podcasts on psychology and communication in 21 languages.
Today, he focuses on helping other language learners overcome psychological blocks in international communication.
Gerhard is married and father of two boys. In his free time, he studies theater plays and plays violin in the symphony orchestra of the Moldovan Conservatory.