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

I grew up bilingual with an Ecuadorian mother. My second year in University I did a semester abroad in Italy and caught the travel bug. Over the next five years I spend every possible opportunity traveling to other countries, including another study abroad in Spain and one in New Zealand. In Spain, there were a ton of international German students on erasmus. I befriended them and somehow ended up learning way more German than Spanish. After finding how fun it was to communicate in another language with travelers, I started picking up more and more in an effort to be able to talk to everyone in a given hostel. What started out as a whim to randomly learn German unfolded into a passion for languages.

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

I would love to spend more time practising Russian. I find it very beautiful but its hard to meet Russians in America day-to-day with whom I can practice.

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

I think I’ve cut myself off because of the time it takes to maintain the ones I already speak. But if I had unlimited time, I’d learn: Afrikaans, Swahili, Tagalog, Indonesian, Korean, and Catalan.

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

That’s a hard one. Spanish from Colombia or Italian. Definitely not German.

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

People are instantly more open and happy to talk with you if you even know a few words in their native tongue. I also like the feeling of empowerment that comes from working hard to achieve something you’ve set your mind on.

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?

I definitely think it will take longer than that. I think a ton will die out, but I still think we will have dozens and dozens left in 2125.

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

Don’t bother with Duolingo - just try talking to a native. Learning goes much faster. Immerse yourself as much as possible and seek out native speakers. Be aware that learning a language takes a lot of effort, but maintaining them also takes work. I’d recommend going for quality vs quantity.