In this conversation, Anders Hansen shares his fascinating journey through language learning, cultural immersion, and career transitions across various countries. From his early years in Denmark and Portugal to his experiences in the UK, Singapore, China and now Italy, Anders emphasizes the importance of language in opening doors and building connections.

He discusses his sales career, the challenges of adapting to new cultures, and his eventual move to Sardinia, where he embraces the local language and culture while working in the solar power industry and as a hiking guide. The conversation also touches on the role of AI in language learning and business, culminating in Anders' reflections on life lessons and future aspirations.

Languages bring opportunities - Anders shares the career opportunities he had thanks to his languages skills.

Learning from mistakes - he arrived to Shanghai in China with a busy job, communicating in English, and didn't prioritise learning Mandarin Chinese - and left the country 8 years later when he realised the lack of the local language was a disadvantage in his private and professional life.

Making his own opportunities - with solid experience in sales and speaking multiple languages, he was able to work and thrive in various different industries by being intentional in what he chose to do.

Fluency is a feeling - the moment you stop “buffering” when speaking in a foreign language - when thoughts and language flow naturally - marks a turning point in confidence and belonging.

Anders Hansen is a sales leader and certified Italian hiking guide (Guida Ambientale Escursionistica) based in Sardinia, combining more than 25 years of international business experience with a lifelong passion for the outdoors.

Born in Denmark and raised between the forests of Northern Zealand and the coastline of southern Portugal, Anders developed an early love for hiking and the natural world - a passion that has accompanied him through studies in London and Sydney and professional chapters in Europe, Asia, and now Italy.

Known for his optimism, empathy, and trustworthiness, he helps people and businesses grow, whether by promoting renewable energy solutions with Vivisolar or by guiding hikers through Sardinia’s wild landscapes.

• Anders on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anders-hansen
• Anders Hikes Sardinia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andershikessardinia
• Anders and Caroline's rental holiday home in Sardinia: https://airbnb.com/h/villabuonasperanza

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingwithlanguages.podcast/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff/
• Website: https://moreperfect.digital/
• Email: sonia@moreperfect.digital

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In this episode, Sonia Kampshoff welcomes Fritz Oberhummer, Head of Solution Architecture for EMEA at Sabre Corp, to share his fascinating journey through languages, cultures, and technology in the travel industry. From growing up in an Austrian ski resort to navigating life and work in London, Madrid, and beyond, Fritz reflects on how language shapes not only communication but also cultural understanding and business relationships. He also explores how AI is transforming the travel industry, from booking experiences to biometric travel, and what this means for the future of travellers worldwide.

• Languages for conflict resolution in business: cultural nuances, workplace dynamics, and even mealtime conversations vary widely across countries and must be adapted to.
• Living abroad is the best way to learn a language: it takes three to four years of immersion to deeply understand both the language and its cultural context.
• TV shows as cultural teachers: watching local TV series helped Fritz and his family not only learn Spanish but also understand the deeper cultural references and humour.
• AI is reshaping travel: from facial recognition at airports to AI-driven personal travel agents, technology is making journeys more seamless and personalized.
• The way we interact with AI matters: speaking to AI rather than typing can produce more context-rich and useful results.
• AI will disrupt jobs as well as industries: while AI brings efficiency and convenience, it also poses challenges for global workforces, especially in industries like customer service and call centres.
• The resurgence of hand-made goods: the AI revolution will bring us to want and purchase more hand-made, authentic goods

Fritz Oberhummer is the Head of Solution Architecture for EMEA at Sabre Corp, a global leader in technology for the travel industry.

Originally from Austria, his family runs a hotel in the third generation. From early on he was surrounded by international visitors, sparking his lifelong passion for languages and cultures.

His career has taken him across the US, UK, Spain, and Germany, giving him first-hand experience of how language and cultural understanding shape global business. Today, he combines his deep knowledge of technology and strategy to bridge the gap between commercial needs and technical solutions, while also exploring how innovations like AI and biometrics are redefining the travel experience.

• Fritz on LinkedIn: Fritz Oberhummer
• His personal website: oberhummer.com

• LinkedIn: Sonia Kampshoff
• Instagram: WorkingWithLanguages
• Website: MorePerfect.Digital
• Email: sonia@moreperfect.digital

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In this episode of Working with Languages, host Sonia speaks with Marina Koleva (linguist and developer) and Manuel Augustin (product owner and plugin release lead) from Yoast. Together, they explore how linguistics, technology, and SEO intersect.

From mastering multiple languages to building features in the Yoast SEO plugin, Marina and Manuel share insights into how language expertise drives better search optimization tools. They also discuss the challenges of adding new languages like Japanese to the plugin, the role of AI in SEO, and why human editing is still essential for high-quality online content.

• Language knowledge doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful - even partial familiarity with a language can open career opportunities and problem-solving approaches.
• AI enhances SEO tools by suggesting improvements like optimized titles, but still requires a human eye for originality, nuance, and tone.
• Working with languages builds adaptability - the more you get used to linguistic “discomfort,” the easier it becomes to tackle new systems.
• Not all AI replaces traditional methods - rule-based processing remains essential, especially in areas like counting words and sentence structure.
• Human creativity remains central to SEO - automation assists, but originality and cultural context still define high-quality, optimized content.

Manuel and Marina both work at Yoast on their multilingual SEO plugin for WordPress and other website building platforms. They are linguists and also developers - as they tell us in this conversations, at Yoast all linguists need to know about web development, and all developers need to know a bit about languages and linguistics.

• Yoast website: yoast.com
• Manuel on LinkedIn: Manuel Augustin
• Marina Koleva' profile on Yoast: Marina Koleva

• LinkedIn: Sonia Kampshoff
• Instagram: WorkingWithLanguages
• Website: MorePerfect.Digital
• Email: sonia@moreperfect.digital

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