Being able to speak more than two languages, makes you a polyglot. This year, I was comfortable enough to add Spanish to the list of languages I can fluently function with. I have been passionate and curious about languages since childhood and loved listening to people exchanging in foreign languages.
I dreamt of understanding the beautiful sounds of this love language. I was optimistic and thought that, since I already knew French (also a Latin-based language), it shouldn’t be too hard for me. In September of 2016 I called that language school I kept driving by, registered and started learning.
I took the journey seriously; I used a few techniques that helped me learn English back in the days, such as listening to music while studying the lyrics, watching tons of series & movies as well as reading and writing lots; which all made a big difference in the process.
Learning a new language is not easy. I believe being passionate and making it a priority are the key to success. Soon enough, all my personal devices were set in Spanish and I was also lucky enough to work with someone who had a Colombian background. Poor guy, he had to put up with my terrible beginner’s incompetency!
I, since then, had the chance to travel to Dominican Republic, Colombia and Argentina; All good times and great practice opportunities. I also dated a native speaker for over a year, it eventually ended up, but look, turned out to be quite useful!
Two years ago, I met a fabulous private Spanish tutor, Paola. She became the pillar to my current advanced level. We were a perfect match. We developed a beautiful teacher-student relationship meeting in a cafe each week for a 2-hour session. Many laughs, conversations and precious teachings were at the rendezvous.
I believe learning a language is the gateway to making connections, and it opens a whole new world of knowledge and possibilities. For me, it was even more; I discovered that I loved it enough to want to build a career around the amazing universe of cultures, languages & traveling.
Slice of life a part, I would love to remind you that we never know what we will learn from something new until we actually do it; we never know what seed will grow into a magnificent tree of opportunities. I challenge you to do something you always wanted to accomplish in the year to come, to listen to your inner "compass", to push yourself and be brave.
Thanks to my efforts, thanks to my great tutor and, thank you, 2020, for being the host of this accomplishment!
With love and inspiration,
Ashley xx
P.s. Now, is always a good time to start!
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