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

I was raised bilingual in German and Burgenland Croatian. I belong to a minority that has spoken Croatian since the 16th century; there are only about 55,000 to 100,000 of us worldwide. I learned the Cyrillic alphabet in school, and when I was in Moscow, I was able to read the words even though I didn’t understand everything.

This experience was the primary motivation for my interest in languages. Because I already knew Serbian Cyrillic letters, I thought I could simply buy a Russian textbook (A1 to B1) and start teaching myself. Around that COVID time, I had my first phone call in Russian. It was quite a shock because I didn't understand a single word! However, after one year of study, I was able to understand and speak the language. That was the most rewarding part - I had decrypted a new language, could talk to people, and felt connected to a new culture.

After five years of Russian, I started learning Macedonian. The most interesting aspect was the blend of grammar and vocabulary. Since I knew Croatian and Russian, I already understood about two-thirds of the language; the remaining third was Bulgarian-like grammar and vocabulary. This combination made Macedonian easy to pick up. An additional advantage was that I could then understand Bulgarian as well.

After another 1.5 years, I began learning Persian. This has been the hardest language for me so far because it challenged everything I had learned about languages before. It was a new challenge that I gladly accepted, and I managed to learn it too. Every language is like an endless sea - you can keep improving forever.

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

Honestly, the saddest part is that if you don't use a language for a long time, you start to lose some of it. But it’s not all bad; the good thing is that once you start speaking it again, you remember it quite quickly.

Because I am Burgenland Croatian, I still feel deeply connected to Croatia, where I go on vacation every year. However, I feel that by learning new languages, I lose focus on Croatian, and I realize I should speak and practice it more often. For me, it is the most useful language besides German and English, especially since I spend so much time in Croatia.

3. What are some languages you’d like to learn in the future?

I was already looking for a new language, even after only 1.5 years of Persian. Until now, my favorite candidate has been Armenian because it meets all my criteria: it has unique alphabet and a new script - since I love decrypting new alphabets - and it has no grammatical genders, which I really enjoyed while learning Persian. It also seemed like the easiest to learn given the languages I already know.

However, after doing more research, I started looking into Urdu. It does have grammatical genders, but on the other hand, compared to Armenian, there are significantly more speakers: 90 million versus 6 million. This became a decisive criterion for me, as the chance of meeting someone who speaks Urdu is much higher than meeting an Armenian speaker.

4. So let’s be honest, which language has the most charm for you?

After learning my seventh language, I think Persian is the most romantic one so far. There is so much poetic literature; for example, you don't say 'I miss you' directly in Persian - the literal translation is 'My heart tightens for you.' To me, Persian is like pure poetry.

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

The most beautiful part of speaking different languages is that you can connect with native speakers much more easily than by just speaking English. I realized this during a specific situation in Ohrid, North Macedonia. A couple from Bratislava was having difficulty getting a taxi to the center of Ohrid. When I approached the taxi driver and started talking to him in Macedonian, he suddenly agreed to take the three of us together. Being able to help others by using a foreign language really made my day.

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

Since I am part of a Croatian minority, I feel the weight of this situation right now. In my region, almost all newborns raised in families where only one parent speaks Burgenland Croatian face difficulties in understanding and using the language. Therefore, my advice is to preserve our ancestral language along with its traditions, culture, folklore, and literature. We must keep it alive, just as it has survived from the 16th century until today.

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

I wasn't good at languages in school. Now, I am learning my seventh language. It just goes to show that “everything is possible”.