1. What’s your story? How did you get into all these languages?

My story with languages began before I even knew. As a kid, English had always been a part of me. I grew up under the influence of music from the US and the UK, and at the same time I was quite fond of TV shows and movies like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. Moreover, I was lucky to meet foreigners on vacation quite often. As a result, and without being conscious about it, English felt like a second skin, it was like a second home.

For this reason, I consider French as the first foreign language I purposely learned. A fun fact is… it was not actually what I had in mind. My goal was to enroll in an Italian course, but because of a really fortunate mistake I was placed in the French class. I was reluctant and confused in the beginning, but when the first lesson ended it was too late for me, I had fallen in love.

A few months later, I was deep into French grammar and literature and decided that it was time then to start with Italian. It was amazing! Everything made so much sense now. A door to a whole new world had been opened to me and it felt just right.

Later I couldn’t resist the possibility to delve more into languages so I decided to become a professional translator and interpreter. The magnificent German language came into the picture during my studies and from that moment on I just knew I could not stop getting curious about the mysteries behind every language.

After that, during the pandemics, I was conquered by Bossa Nova, and thus Portuguese won a place in my heart. And soon I found myself talking to people from Bahia, Curitiba or Sao Paulo and sharing really entertaining and warm experiences.

I think there is a story for every language I have studied, and so will be with every language that I am still to learn. And that is what makes it as fulfilling and rewarding.

2. Which language(s) do you wish you could spend more time practising?

I'd say all of them. However, the ones I need more time to focus on are German, Japanese and Russian. I find them as appealing as they are challenging.

3. What are some languages you’d like to learn in the future? Among my future languages there is Arabic, Hindi, Swahili, Yoruba, Catalan, Basque, Indonesian, Turkish and Thai... For now, maybe I’ll add some later. I find them all fascinating and worth learning. I have “flirted” with some but I need to find the time to actually study them.

4. So, let’s be honest, what’s the sexiest language?

Hmm, well I guess that depends on the speaker and the listener. I don’t mean to fall for the cliché, but for me, French takes the spot. Ever since I heard this beautiful language, I’ve thought it to be mesmerizing.

Another that has caught my attention is Arabic, which I find extremely diverse and exotic. And it goes without saying that Spanish is rather charming and vibrant.

5. What’s the greatest pleasure you get from speaking so many languages?

Meeting new people, without a doubt! And I do not say this lightly, what I actually mean is, what a nice gift is to be able to really understand someone else, to tap into their hearts and most profound feelings.

Furthermore, the access to content and literature ought to be mentioned! As a translator I must say, there are some people doing an extremely good job out there, and for that we should all be thankful. However, having the capacity to read books, watching content and doing research in the language that it was originally created is indeed priceless.

6. Some people say the world is really just going to have a few languages left in 100 years, do you think this is really true?

Statistics are sadly quite discouraging. It is nonetheless in our power the responsibility to prevent this phenomenon. Often times languages are seen as a matter of its own, while the reality is quite different. We must remember that behind every language there are different countries, cultures, communities, and therefore people. So when a language ceases to exist, so much more than words are left behind.

7. What is your message to young (and not so young) people out there who are interested in studying multiple languages?

Just do it! Forget about past negative experiences, prejudices and misconceptions. Learning a language is never a waste of time; on the contrary, it is an extraordinary path that will lead you to new experiences, acquaintances and specially to discover unknown parts of yourself.

I have no proof, and yet I am completely sure that the world would be a better place if everyone cared enough to learn other languages.