I remember a holiday in Spain, aged seven, when two boys asked if I spoke Norwegian. When I couldn’t answer, they ran away, leaving me sad. Back at home, I would search stores for old language books and enjoy trying out all these different words to express what was on my mind. I thought it was amazing and still do. Subscribe to our Inside Saturday newsletter for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the magazine’s biggest features, as well as a curated list of our weekly highlights. The first language I learned was French, at school, when I was five. I got top score every year. However, the teachers wouldn’t let me learn German either and I was devastated. In high school, I went on a geography trip to Germany, just to practice the language. In sixth form, I completed GCSE Spanish, followed by A-levels. From then on it became a way of life. I did a combined languages degree at the University of Hull, studying French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. I sat in Swedish and old Icelandic lectures and did language exchanges for Romanian and Catalan. I went to Lyon, playing darts with the French gas and electrical trainees who were sharing my accommodation, and then to Malaga. I spent time in Verona, where I read the Bible in Italian (I had never even read it in English). After university, I worked as an au pair in Germany and eventually studied German. I cycled to the Netherlands, taking Dutch, then took Russian lessons in Spain and a Czech diploma in Prague. I entered a Greek night school in Rotterdam and took Arabic lessons in Leiden. It turned out that speaking a foreign language with locals was an ideal way to learn, especially in a pre-internet era. Traveling to learn a language became an adventure – it came with huge excitement and of course lonelier, more complicated moments. I have found that the speed of learning depends on the language and how intensively I study. If it’s similar to a language I already speak, I find I can use it in a comprehensible, if perhaps not polished, way within a few weeks. Languages have had a big impact on my personal life as well. In 2003, during a train ride in the Balkans, I met my future wife – she is Macedonian, with a degree in Southeast Slavic languages and philology. I returned to the UK and got a job at the Foreign Office, where I used languages to communicate with diplomats. I moved to Skopje and Sarajevo in the Balkans and Chisinau in Moldova and learned the local language. When our daughter was born in Chester in 2007, we spoke to her in English, French and Macedonian. By the age of one, he could speak three-word sentences in three languages. We introduced German and Spanish. We still talk all five at home. We moved to the Balkans in 2010. I studied Turkish and Albanian and learned content – such as TV, music, radio, memes and jokes – from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Bulgaria. Now I live here, I only speak English for work or with friends online. When I’m introduced to someone new, I’m often asked to stick out tongues as a party trick, which I take on the chin. Besides, it’s unusual. I have been described as one of the most multilingual people in the UK, which is very sweet. I have studied more than 50 languages now. I generally use 15 a week and more than 30 a year. During the lockdown, I took short courses in Northern Sami, Scottish, Korean and Irish. I joined chat groups and sat exams in Cornwall. I also did a month-long intensive study in Estonian and was interviewed about the experience – in the language – on Estonian TV. In 2013, I founded the annual Polyglot Conference. I also support vulnerable, indigenous and endangered languages. Having a world of languages out there and not learning them is like watching TV in black and white and not knowing there is color. They will continue to enrich me for life. The most important thing about language learning is the ability to build bridges with other people. They allow you to experience dimensions and perceptions that you might never have considered otherwise. As he told Deborah Linton Do you have any experience to share? Email [email protected]
