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

I grew up bilingual until I was 17, when I learned German to study in Germany. This experience ignited my love for language learning and the unique cognitive approach required for mastering new languages. I then learned Italian to study opera singing, a necessity for the field. French was always part of my life; I picked it up naturally through exposure, critical thinking about its structures, and media consumption.

I enjoy reading in all these languages, which deepens my understanding and proficiency. Modern Greek came into my life through friends and a girlfriend from Cyprus, leading to a deep appreciation for Greek culture, music, and history. Traveling in Greece with my language skills was a fantastic experience that fueled my desire to learn more languages.

Portuguese was next, spurred by a relationship with a girlfriend from Rio and a love for the works of Saramago. My study of Hebrew started with friends from Israel. Currently, I'm learning Arabic, motivated by friendships and my political science studies, focusing on the Arabic-speaking regions. Additionally, I'm curious to master a non-Indo-European language.

I have also dabbled in Romanian and Swedish, mainly for travel and social reasons, achieving a decent level before they fell out of practice. Overall, my journey is driven by a passion for language learning and a desire to connect with people I care about.

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

Greek and Portuguese, sadly I don’t know many people who speak these languages where I live, so I rarely get to use them in real life situations.

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

I think Arabic is going to be quite a handful, so once I get good at MSA, I’d probably look at the Egyptian dialect. Otherwise, maybe a Slavic language will call, but they haven’t piqued my interest yet. Perhaps Russian, love Dostoyevsky.

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

Greek, so much Greek.

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

Getting to know people that I would’ve otherwise never encountered, also meeting a deeper side of my friends, only accessible through their native language.

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 certainly hope not, I don’t think so many languages will disappear, but globalization will most likely lead to a heavy influence in many unrelated languages.

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

Demystify the process! Embrace mistakes! Speak as much as you can, speak to yourself, speak to the plants, to the cats. Fall in love with the process and language learning will never be a chore!