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

When I was 6, I started taking English lessons at school. I remember I felt a bit out of place because I’d never studied it as my classmates had before. However, I was very interested in the language and I found it beautiful. As time went by, I learned a lot about the culture of the English-speaking world and found out I am very passionate about languages and linguistics.

Some years later, I began learning French and Japanese only because I wanted to study something totally different from what I had studied beforehand. That’s the beginning of my story :)

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

I think I would love to practise them all with natives more frequently because in my city there are not many foreigners unfortunately. However, if I had to choose one, I’d say it’s Japanese the one I would like to practise more.

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

I’d definitely like to study Modern Greek and Latin since they have a remarkable influence on the grammar and etymology of my mother tongue.

Korean is another language I’d love to master one day, but maybe after getting an excellent command of Japanese and Chinese, which means it’s going to be in a very long time because Eastern languages are very very difficult.

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

I think I’d choose French as the sexiest language just because everybody says it is the language of love.

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

Communication and culture are a great passion I have. Nonetheless, to be honest, I study and speak different languages of different roots just because of the sheer delight and wonderful feeling I get inside me when I’m studying.

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 think it’s going to take longer for many languages to disappear, but I do believe there are just going to be some of the languages there are today in 100 years.

I can instance one of the languages of my culture (Náhuatl), which I am, by the way, currently studying.

There are still a lot of people whose mother language is Náhuatl, but due to discrimination and the fact that others look down on native Náhuatl speakers, they feel somewhat afraid and/or ashamed of using it in their everyday life. As a consequence, they learn Spanish and refuse to speak Náhuatl on the streets as well as teaching it to their offspring. It might be one of those “endangered” languages, so to speak.

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

Set yourself a goal and go for it. Study hard, practise as much as possible, don’t let mistakes or blunders deflate you, we all commit mistakes, create your own way of learning vocabulary, read books, watch movies and listen to or read the news in that (those) language(s). In other words, immerse and bury yourself in the culture of that language, it does help a lot. But above all, enjoy the process of learning a foreign language.