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

I grew up in Slovakia with a Slovak mother and a Vietnamese father, so languages and different cultures were present in my life from the beginning, even though I did not seriously study Vietnamese as a child.

Czech came naturally because of the close relationship between Slovakia and the Czech Republic and the amount of Czech media I consumed. I learned English largely through video games, the internet and later through my professional career in cybersecurity.

Spanish was the first foreign language I consciously chose to learn. I became fascinated by how it sounded and gradually started using it with native speakers, especially through gaming communities and Discord. Russian followed because I was interested in Russian-language games, films and online content. Finally, I returned to Vietnamese because of my family background. I have studied it through university courses, private tutoring and regular independent practice.

Each language entered my life for a different reason, which is probably why I have remained motivated to continue learning them.

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

At the moment, definitely Vietnamese. It is the language in which I still have the largest gap between where I am and where I want to be. Reading and recognizing vocabulary are becoming easier, but understanding natural spoken Vietnamese and responding quickly are still difficult for me.

I would also like to spend more time actively speaking Russian. I understand considerably more than I can currently express, so I need more real conversations rather than only listening to content.

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

In the future, German would be a logical option because it is useful in Central Europe and professionally valuable. I would also be interested in exploring another Asian language, but I have not made a final decision. I have learned that choosing a language is easy, giving it several years of consistent attention is the real commitment.

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

Spanish probably has the most immediate charm for me. I love its energy, rhythm and the way conversations in Spanish can feel expressive and alive. It is also the language that showed me how rewarding it is to build real relationships through a language that was once completely foreign to me.

Vietnamese, however, has the deepest personal meaning. Learning it allows me to connect with a part of my family background that I did not fully experience while growing up. So Spanish has the most charm, but Vietnamese has the strongest emotional importance.

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

The greatest pleasure is being able to connect with people without always expecting them to enter my linguistic world. Even a relatively simple conversation in someone’s native language can immediately change the atmosphere and create a stronger connection.

I also enjoy discovering how humor, personality and ways of thinking change between languages. Some ideas sound natural in one language but completely different in another.

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 linguistic diversity will probably decrease, especially because smaller languages are under pressure from global languages, migration and the internet. Some languages may disappear when younger generations no longer see enough practical value in using them.

However, I do not believe the world will be reduced to only a few languages. Language is not merely a communication tool, it is also connected to identity, family, culture and belonging. People may increasingly use a global language for work or international communication while continuing to use another language at home or within their community.

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

Do not wait for the perfect method, the perfect course or the perfect amount of free time. Choose a language that gives you a genuine reason to return to it and start building contact with it every day. At the same time, be realistic. Learning several languages is not about collecting flags or claiming fluency after a few months. Progress requires consistency, patience and thousands of small interactions with the language. There will be periods when you feel that you are improving quickly and others when nothing appears to be changing. Use the language for things you already enjoy: games, films, books, music, travel or conversations. Languages became sustainable for me when they stopped being only subjects to study and became part of my normal life.