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

I’m a self taught polyglot. I have learned languages with movies, songs, books, travels.

I was lucky enough to make friendships with people of many countries, I was always invited to different venues such as art exhibitions, concerts inside of a “wardrobe” that was hidden inside of a bar, massage parties, poetry readings, a Brazilian barbecues with caipiriñas, Italian dinners with pasta pomodoro  a lot of wine and endless laughs. At times I also had the opportunity to join a calçotada, a Catalan dish made if chives with romesco sauce.

I became part of a theatre company so I always had the opportunity to interact with interesting people in other languages. Later I studied tourism business management and I worked as a tour guide in the city of Barcelona. Later I move to Formentera, Italy, Uruguay, Kenia and I also visited other places such as Sweden, Paris, London, Ireland, México and so on.

I’m thankful for all these experiences because they helped me on my journey of becoming a polyglot, without daring to get out of my comfort zone I would have never learnt all the languages I enjoy speaking today.

Languages had changed my life in many ways for the better good. I have had the opportunity to express myself in different languages, I felt at times as if I was playing different roles. One can sound different in another language and even adopt a different personalities or perspective. Some languages sound smoother, others sound funnier, sexier or more serious.

Languages have given me the freedom to choose who I really want to be. Nothing is written in stone so there is always room for improvement when it comes to learning or expressing yourself in another language. We will never truly reach the upper echelons of languages learning unless we understand that “ language is not just about words; it’s about history, culture and context”.

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

I wish I could spend more time speaking Portuguese.

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

Swahili, Lingala (my heritage language) and Chinese.

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

Italian.

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

I love connecting with people from different countries and when I speak different  languages I feel closer not just to other people but to their cultures too.

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 there will be many languages in the future because people love preserving their heritage and with artificial Intelligence we will have the opportunity to preserve them and learn them in an easier but also funnier way.

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

Speaking languages is a Super Power because it opens your mind and gives you endless opportunities to work abroad and make valuable connections with people of all around the word.