About

Hi, I’m Ute,

I am a Linguist working at the intersection of multilingualism, language history and intercultural communication. For more than three decades, I have been exploring how languages develop, dominate, interact and shape communication across time and contexts in families, classrooms, institutions and everyday life.
(You can find out more about my professional background on my LinkedIn profile)

My work brings together academic linguistics, lived multilingual experience and long-term observation of how people actually use languages in complex settings. Rather than offering rules or ready-made solutions, I focus on understanding language system and communication dynamics, and on making these understandable and usable for others.

A multilingual life, lived across borders

I have never lived in my parents’ country of origin, Germany. Instead, my life has unfolded across Italy, France, Switzerland and now the Netherlands. Like many internationals, I have moved for study, research, work and personal reasons, repeatedly building a sense of belonging in new linguistic and cultural environments. 

As an Adult Third Culture Kid and lifelong multilingual, I am deeply familiar with the subtle adjustments, negotiations and reinterpretations that multilingual livey require; not as abstract concepts, but as everyday realities.

Academic foundations

My academic background is in Linguistics and Philology. I hold a PhD in French Medieval Literature and Linguistics and conducted postdoctoral research in Italian Medieval Literature and Linguistics. My research interests include historical linguistics, language change, contact linguistics, discourse analysis and the long-term effects of multilingualism and language contact.

These perspectives continue to inform my work today, especially when looking at contemporary multilingualism through a historical and systemic lens.

My work today

At the International Lounge, I bring together linguistic research, intercultural experience, applied frameworks and frameworks I developed over the past 15 years to explore multilingual communication in depth. My focus is on helping people understand what is happening linguistically and communicatively, so they can interpret situations more accurately and act with confidence.

This work now takes place primarily through carefully designed programs and self-paced courses, complemented by selected guided formats for deeper exploration. The emphasis is on thinking, interpretation and transferability, rather than short-term intervention.

You can explore more about my academic background, scientific publications, and professional experience on this site and on Linkedin.

Why "International Lounge"?

Living across languages and cultures often comes with moments of disorientation: feeling foreign, unheard, misunderstood, or "not quite at home" (yet). The International Lounge was created as a conceptual and intellectual space where multilingual experiences can be examined, understood and placed in context – without simplification or judgment.

It is a place for people who want to:

• understand multilingual development and language constellations

• think more clearly about language dominance, change, and contact

• navigate communication across languages and cultures with awareness

• move beyond prescriptions toward informed decision-making

My work is guided by a simple principle: effective communication grows out of understanding, not instruction. If this perspective resonates with you, you will find structured ways to explore it further through my programs and courses.

 

Communicating effectively is the most important skill we need.