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

I have a different relationship with each language, as they carried different meaning and accompanied me through various periods of my life. Born in multilingual Singapore and raised by a Taiwanese family with strong Japanese influence, I was exposed to many languages at a young age. I first got into Spanish because of football, but over time, each language I crossed paths with reflected my relationships with people, with each one leaving unique marks and stories.

Later on, I developed a strong fascination with the Slavic languages, especially those written in Cyrillic. Everything about those languages looked so strikingly different from anything I had known before that it actually sparked scientific curiosity in me. That eventually led me to develop neuroscientific theories about how different languages might train the brain in different ways during my PhD.

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

That’ll definitely be Japanese, and in particular its syntactic structures. Even with Mandarin as my first language and a lot of writing similarities between Japanese and Chinese, Japanese structures are among the most challenging I’ve ever experienced as a language enthusiast. It’s not just a new set of rules—it’s also the honorifics, the subtle particles, and the way meaning often depends on context and social relationships—Japanese sentences beyond elementary level are almost something to construct with finesse. It’s something I should really take more time to understand.

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

I am aware that my linguistic repertoire so far is concentrated on the East Asian and European languages. The world is so, so much bigger than that though and I often feel there is still so much to expand in terms of my worldview. I’d really like to learn Hindi and a couple of African languages. Probably Mongolian too.

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

People tend to decide if a language is sensual based on how it sounds (and that’s okay, humans are naturally sensual beings). For me, however, a sexy language is one that persists through the odds and through the test of time, despite the threat of being eliminated by force or going extinct. Ukrainian and Māori, for example, are languages I really admire—their history really tells you a lot about the resilience of their people and how much heart they pour into preserving their identities.

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

Multilingualism in the internet age is amazing—I have such a sizable repertoire of things to appreciate and admire! For example, my favourite Youtube channel is a series in Mandarin, I can laugh at a much wider repertoire of memes from across the world, and it irritates me how Slavic pop music is severely underrated. I also have the courage to go to completely rural places in a foreign country, trying truly authentic dishes made by the grandmother restaurant owner who speaks no English at all. If I weren’t multilingual, I’d most definitely be missing out on some truly wonderful things in this lifetime.

The greatest pleasure is also being able to get my head around challenging aspects of different languages—I’m very easily pleased, so I can be proud of myself and dance around all day if I can form a sentence in Russian genitive case correctly without help!

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?

Language extinction has existed throughout history, but we are right to be concerned about the speed at which it is happening today. Some people argue that with AI and machine translation, the need to learn languages beyond English has already decreased to a certain level.

Interestingly enough, I think the very tools people sometimes blame for the decline of languages can also help preserve them. AI and machine translation can support documentation, help create learning materials, and make less commonly spoken languages more accessible. Of course, technology alone cannot keep a language “alive”—languages only truly live through authentic human use and the building of genuine communities who find common meaning in them.

That said, we shouldn’t forget the new languages that are being invented in the current age, and media actually makes this increasingly easy. A lot of this is tied to fandom and modern literature—Klingon, Na’vi (from Avatar), Dothraki (from Game of Thrones) are some examples. It’s interesting to think what will come next!

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

Simply don’t rush the process. Trying to speed through it can take away the joy and the foundational meaning of learning a language. For me, language learning shouldn’t be thought of as the simple act of memorizing words and grammar; it’s about connecting with people, developing empathy, and building your brain’s cognitive reserve. The process itself feels almost artistic, and rushing it can diminish that experience. Take your time, savor it, and let the languages become part of your life.