Anja Spilker on using languages and travels as a reboot, and mental health

This episode is brought to you by the Italki Goals competition where you can win up to $500 of Italki credit, and $500 towards a flight ticket of your choice. All you have to do is take a picture or record a video of you saying your language goals for 2019 and sharing them with Italki on social media. For full details and how to enter the competition, go to actualfluency.com/goals.

Hello everyone, and welcome to Actual Fluency Podcast episode 141. And today I'm chatting with Anja Fielka who has set up her own language learning company in Mexico, originally from Germany. So, we're talking a little bit about that, but the main focus of today's episode is a kind of a serious one. Anja and I talk in depth about how we both used language learning and and traveling to an extent to kind of shake things up, reboot what had become kind of a terrible mental, uh, psychological state.

So, we, we talk a little bit about what it means to be stuck and how, and some techniques that we've used to move forward in our lives. It obviously, it, it's different for everyone and it's important that I say this, that nothing in this episode is medical advice. Like, it's, it's not professional in any way. Uh, we might sound like it at some times, the, the things we say are absolutely 100% verifiably true, but if you are dealing with any kind of problems in your life or mental uh, struggles, it's very important that you go to the people who are actually trained in this.

And for many countries you have the helplines, the online chat where you can anonymously just call and talk to people about your situation. They have been trained to, to help you. So, and, um, what I would say is, you know, start with going to your doctor. And that's a really good place to start. If you have a GP or uh, a private physician, you can go to, they usually a good starting point and they can usually refer you to, um, further on if you, if you qualify or if, if there are any problems. And obviously, you can also try medic, uh, medical solutions and they work for a lot of people. So, it's worth giving a bash.

Um, but otherwise, yeah, with all those disclaimers, let's, uh, jump into this week's, uh, pretty serious episode. I, I just want to give you some background as well. This wasn't intended to be part of the episode. Um, Anja did reach out to me before we went to record it to say that some of the previous episodes that I worked had talked about depression and, you know, feeling kind of down and, and how language learning naturally helped me get out of that to, to a certain extent.

It was never meant to be the topic of the episode, but uh, the first question I ask Anja is uh, why she left Germany and moved to, to France, uh, when she was younger. And, uh, her response kind of surprised me and, uh, we had a really good long talk and I hope you enjoy it and, uh, I'll see you next week for more language learning podcast. So, see you then.

Well, Anja, welcome to the Actual Fluency Podcast. It's a pleasure to have you. And, uh, Thank you for having me. You're very welcome. And before we get started into the deeper topics, can you just give the audience a, a quick primer of who you are, where you're from and, uh, what sort of language journey you've been on.

So, born and raised in Germany, but then I moved in 2007, I moved to France, um, so after that I had a pretty good French level, and then after that I moved to the French part of Switzerland to study there. Um, same, I moved to, to Canada to improve my English and also a bit to the French part of Canada. And, um, yeah, and basically this is how I got interested in, in this whole like language life, um, because I realized how much fun it is and, and also, um, yeah, all the advantages that it actually has.

Um, yeah, so I moved to Mexico about five years ago, and it's actually mostly here where I started learning other languages without living in the country. I didn't do this before. Um, and this is a, well, a complete different experience I think.

Uh, but before, I just want to just get a little bit better feel for like your, uh, background, so to speak. Um, so, so you're traveling a lot and early age. Was that inspired by your family or was it your career or what kind of, uh, a lot of people, they don't really move countries. Uh, so, so what caused you to, to get up and, and get out of Germany for, for, for some time?

When you leave your, when you leave your home country, um, I think it's also, um, yeah, kind of, there is always something happening in your life that you, uh, don't want to deal with maybe even. And, uh, I think really it took me ten years to realize that and, um, uh, also to work on this. And this is also, uh, the other part. When you move to other countries, it's not only this like language learning part, which is definitely great, but I think it's also this part of everything you that comes with it, that you learn about yourself, um, maybe also the distance to your family, uh, helps a lot, uh, to improve relationships.

Um, and yeah, I think for me, ten years later, I think I'd say that it was definitely also running away, like going out of something. I come from a very, very small town in Germany. And I always felt that I would never really like fit. Um, and yeah, I think, um, this was definitely a very, very big reason why I started all this. And then, um, once you have this feeling of how it is to, to be away, to travel, to, to find yourself as well, uh, it's kind of you can't stop until maybe the point where you finally, um, realize or where you step by step realize, um, what you really need to work on, which is, yeah, very personal, I guess, right?

I, I feel like some people, they just like, they, they need to start fresh maybe, or just like reset, hit the reset button a little bit and maybe the only way to do that is to just get a little bit out of the, the known comfort zone. I would definitely say that my traveling, I didn't used to travel very much except for like family holidays to really hot places when I was a kid. I didn't really travel that much outside of that and when I grew, grew older, I would have a trip here and there, but nothing serious.

And then for the last couple of years, I've been traveling a lot and like you said, I think it really helps to find yourself and it helps to see what, learn what's important and through other cultures and people understand your own better as well. So,

The, the one advantage is that you, that you need to talk to natives, so in terms of languages, this is perfect, the best ever. Um, but also I think it helps you to, to take the time or to, to really, yeah, take your time to also, uh, be upset, to, um, I don't know, to analyze yourself and, and, um, uh, yeah, to, I don't know, look for, um, look for solutions as well. How to deal with, um, certain situations.

And I think really everybody has something, uh, mostly it's from the childhood, I'd say, but, um, I think we all have this and, and I feel still very, very sad that this is in society still not, uh, a topic to like freely talk about and, um, I wish it was. But, uh, yeah, I think like podcasts like yours for example, um, help, um, help people to, to connect with that and, and to maybe, well, to start talking about it and, and to start, well, getting inspired and, and, um, uh, uh, working on, on those things as well.

And you realize that it's not the languages necessarily, I mean, it's not what you pick, it's who you meet and what you do with it. So, if you put your mind to something, it can be a really positive experience to feel progress, which many people sadly don't feel in their normal day-to-day lives. So, uh, yeah, that's, I mean, it's very deep. I mean, good start to the episode. We're going straight to the, to the deep problems, but, um, well, one comment I wanted to mention to you, I, I don't know what you think, is I also learned a little bit that going abroad didn't solve my problems either.

Like, um, it, it, maybe in some cases made them worse. Like, for instance, I realized when I moved to Budapest that I, I felt quite alone suddenly. Whereas at home, at least, you know, you had your family right next to you and you, you had a circle of friends and stuff. And I realized that, yeah, you had them physically, but you could still feel kind of lonely or, you know, uh, by yourself in your home country next to your family. So, I don't know if you had the same experience early on, but I definitely felt like that, that it's not going to solve your deepest problems, but it might kind of reveal them in a, in a more direct way and then you can work on them maybe. Uh, obviously it's going to differ for everyone, but, uh, that's what I experienced.

And I think at least for me, um, as I said, ten years ago, I would have given you completely different answers and, and we could also do this podcast now and I would tell you, yeah, this is everything is great and, um, I think in general it is, but I think it, it, it would be a very superficial show and what I have seen from your podcast, it's a very, um, deep podcast, which I really, um, uh, yeah, admire you for that you do this as well.

And, um, uh, I think doing or giving, um, this kind of image of you that everything is just perfect and, and nobody would like really connect, uh, to that and, and I think people out there should also, well, connect to, to what you do with this podcast and, um, yeah, for my experience, it was definitely me ten years ago. I would have never said what I say right now.

But, um, uh, I think I, um, short term it, it didn't help me and I had also those like loneliness problems a lot and, uh, uh, but then I, I always found a solution. I always found, found people to, to, I don't know, to be with and then to not feel lonely. Um, but in the end, um, when I've realized that this like feeling lonely also helps me in the end, um, it took me a while and, and I also think life makes this and, um, for me it was definitely also I started being negative about my home country and, and about, um, my home region as well, which is as I said from the countryside and, and, uh, I think it was maybe in 2017 when my dad passed away and it was very like from one day to the other and, uh, and, well, two years ago in 2017, I, I went to Germany then and, and I stayed there for a while.

After eight years or so, I stayed with my mom and with my sister and, and I started enjoying this country again after such a long time and, um, and then obviously things like, like that in life, um, uh, yeah, you have to, you have to deal with them. I mean, you know it by yourself and so, um, I think this is really, um, what made me realize, okay, now when I go back to Mexico now, it's not anymore running away. Um, it's rather like taking the distance and continue working on it and also allowing myself to, to feel, uh, sad sometimes or lonely or whatever. Um, and, uh, yeah, because in the end this is those moments, um, help me in long term.

Uh, but but it's a very tough, I feel like anyway, because I thought about, okay, how can we, what is actually, what, what is the problem actually? I, I think in society today, I think one of the biggest problems is probably the, the pressure on young people to, you know, perform, like basically, okay, you're, you're starting in school, you have to get all A's, then you have to get a good degree, you have to get a good job. So, this endless

Uh, but I don't know, it's kind of a scary statistic that I think it's about one in two Americans for instance, have been prescribed, um, what do they call them? The the, the uptake inhibitors, the, uh, happy pills, as they call them. Anti-depressants and, you know, when you think about it, okay, maybe there's some over-prescription going on, but even if it was like a third or a quarter or something who actually benefit from them, that's a huge part of a, of a country where a very, you know, developed country. And I'm sure the statistics in Scandinavia and, and Europe are not much worse.

Um, so what is it that does that makes us so, so, you know, stuck in our own, uh, mental hell? I mean, I don't have an answer for that. I don't know if you have any comments to add to that, but it, it's a big problem that it, it's kind of a big scary problem in, in that sense, because it shouldn't be like that, you know. Yeah, you can have people who have terrible childhood experiences, like, you know, abuse and, and maybe they have personal tragedies that, you know, would mess every anyone up. But for most people, they don't even have that. They don't even have any traumatic experiences. It's just kind of the way the society is stacked against you that you need to be like, uh, thin and, uh, you know, tall and, and, uh, have a, a great degree.

I think my issue was rather in my personal case that I come from the countryside and, and I used to be judged a lot for everything I did. And, um, in the end, uh, there is like no like worse or, or better situation. Um, being abused, uh, well, is, is horrible, I, I believe, but, um, uh, also if you, if you have other, uh, issues that you have to deal with, that are maybe not being abused, um, it can be as bad as, as the abuse feeling, you know?

And, and the, and the thing is just that society still doesn't talk about this enough and, and I think this is why those like, uh, you call them happy pills, um, uh, um, are used that much and I think it, if, if it rather comes like from the inner part and, and this is why like people like you who, who do this podcast have, um, such a huge or can make such a huge impact as well and, um, and allow people and to show people as well that this is totally okay to, to deal with things and, um, and to make the best out of it.

And I think as for language learning, where you need to find your way to, to learn a language, it's the same in life. And, um, if, if, yeah, definitely. And I think like if you wanna, if you wanna overcome your inner fears or issues or whatever, talk to people who have done this and, and go to, to places where, where you can find those people. And usually when you travel, you, you find a lot of those people and, and you connect with them.

And then there are some people who are maybe already more advanced in terms of like self, uh, analyzing, um, themselves and, uh, and there might be people who, who you meet and who just started with this whole process and, and you feel that you could even, uh, make an impact in their lives because you talk to them or because you talk about your own experience. And so, this is what is, what is great about this whole, whole thing of, of traveling.

And it, it does not necessarily have to be like long distance, a long distance trip or whatever. For me, for example, after my dad passed away, two, three months later, there was the first polyglot event that I've ever went to, which was the one, the polyglot gathering in in Bratislava. And honestly, I, I wasn't even sure whether I wanted to go or not because I back then I just didn't feel myself, I didn't feel very like confident to go there and to speak languages and, um, in the end it was completely the opposite of what I had expected.

It, I have talked, I had so many great conversations and, uh, um, yeah, this is just what it is all about in the end that you let things out, that you dare to talk about it. Same again as for languages, that you dare to speak, right? That you dare to overcome this fear. And, um, yeah, and so for me in my personal life to, to connect those two parts, on the one hand to continue learning a language, but on the other hand also to continue learning about myself, because I believe that this is something that we will never ever finish. Um, is what helps me in general, um, and what I feel that I also, when I talk one, like one to one, uh, with other people, that I can even help others with that experience that I, yeah, that life gave me, let's say.

And I think one-on-one tutoring is one of the most efficient ways to learn anyway, because the materials are so tailored to you. Your level is the only one the teacher needs to take care of. So, you can definitely learn a lot in a very little time compared to traditional methods. Right now, there's two things going on at Italki you need to know. So, there's the goals competition, which I mentioned in the intro. So, if you go to actualfluency.com/goals, you can see the competition there.

Basically, you just have to share a photo or video with a hashtag and you could win $500 worth of credits towards lessons, including a $500 flight ticket, uh, or towards a flight ticket if you want to go far, uh, where you can choose where to go basically. So, that's the grand prize. The other thing is the language challenge returning on Italki, so that starts February 1st. Um, basically you commit to taking a number of lessons and then you can win prizes by completing those number of lessons.

I highly recommend this because you can choose how many you want to go for and having this kind of extra extra reason to do a lot of lessons can really boost your learning. Just be sure not to go overboard. It's easy to burn out after doing a lot of lessons in a in a short period of time. So, yeah, check that out. You can find the challenge at actualfluency.com/challenge and uh, see all the rules and prices there. So, I hope you enjoy those initiatives from Italki and if you want to get started with a lesson, you get $10 free credit after doing your first lesson. So, that's for everyone, you don't need a special link for that. If you use actualfluency.com/italki, they will be very happy and they can see that it's worth for them to be part of this show. So, anyway, let's get back to the show with Chris and Kable talking about goals and New Year's resolutions.

I, I would love to, to be a bigger part of that kind of, uh, message. I, I think here on the podcast, I definitely try to, as you've mentioned, I definitely try to talk about these things because I think learning languages is a great way to shake things up, get moving in your life and also it encourages travel and socializing. It encourage getting out of your own house, which is uh, a first step towards, uh, getting out of a, a serious depression, I think. You need to get out and and listen to the birds and, and get feel the wind, you know.

Um, but at the same time, it's also, it's also very difficult because everyone is, is different and and also it wouldn't be, like I would feel a little bit bad if every episode was, was like that, because then maybe a lot of people listen and a little bit like, okay, well, you know, you can talk about a topic enough for it to have the negative effect as well. So, it's a, it's a fine balance, I feel like of, that's all I mentioned that before and I had a few episodes about about this topic and I always mention like, I would love to do this more and and stuff, but I also have to recognize that you the more you talk about a certain thing, the more you think about it.

So, you have to be careful not to put yourself in that state as well, even though you're mentioning, like, it's great to talk about things. I, I definitely think so. And, and that's something I haven't done my entire life. Like, I was not brought up in a, in a family where we talked about serious issues. Like how you would feel.

But it's a tricky one in, in any case. And, and also you also have to always be careful what you recommend people, because it's a very touchy subject and I'm not a professional anything. So, I can only encourage people to do more and and be more and learn more. Um, and hopefully we, we have, uh, successfully done that today.

Um, maybe a, a good finisher for this for this topic before we move on to to some of the slightly lighter topics, uh, is, um, what do you do today to, to keep sort of mentally balanced and keep working on your things? Because one of the things I, one of the theories I have is that the kind of, maybe not abuse and stuff, but that the, the mental problems that we have had as maybe kids growing up, or, or even older, kind of, they kind of linger in the back of our our mind somewhere. Like, they, they, they have these small interference. So, I think probably ideally everyone should just be in therapy all the time. Like, once a week or once a month or something. But do you have, do you have any other tips or tricks like that you do today to kind of keep yourself balanced and and not fall into the the traps of of ten years ago?

And I think just for myself, what I really try to do, obviously, those like very obvious things, uh, exercise helps me a lot, a lot, a lot. Doing yoga, um, doing things like, um, uh, I'm vegan. So, this helped me a lot as well to get a lot of things, uh, negative things out of my body, becoming vegan. Um, but this does not mean that I'm perfect. I, I do drink alcohol from time to time, I do smoke from time to time. This is stupid. I know it, not good for me, but still I do it. Nobody's perfect.

But I think just being open-minded and, and, and like, uh, yeah, not trying to hide from something is in general what helps me to keep being balanced. To the first step, as you said, like it's, it's hard to, uh, to talk about things and, and also to share it with others because, well, you might not even trust them or whatever. But in the end, what do you have to lose, you know, when you talk to others about it? What do you have to lose? Uh, there might be some people who make fun of it or whatever, but this is such a small percentage. And this is just because they are not ready to talk about their things.

But 99% I'd say, uh, people you talk to, uh, you can even help them with that. And, uh, this is also I think this, um, kind of helping, which, which I always like doing in, in my life, which helping others, uh, is often a very, um, selfish or has also very selfish reasons. Um, and in my case, I think like talking to others, helping others, listening to others, because as you say, uh, as you say, I'm not a psychologist, I can't give recommendations and I, I even think psychologists shouldn't give recommendations. But just listening and just showing them that it's okay to have those issues and to talk about it is what helps a lot, I think.

Um, but I, I definitely agree that helping others helps yourself as well. Because it's kind of like a, it's a, a greater purpose. And if you feel like your life has a greater purpose, then it's also easier to, to move on and and sort of develop and grow even faster.

Um, I feel like what happens when people get depressed and they get, they mentally shut down, they will start to turn to, they could turn to alcohol, drugs or fast food. I guess it's almost the same thing, drugs and fast food, but, um, what happens is then you get less energy because you're not getting the right nutrients, you're getting too much sugar, too much salt, too many carbohydrates. Your body is just going to get messed up. And then you don't have any energy, you sleep all day.

Uh, so, if you've ever have been in that cycle, and I have, definitely, more than once, um, also part of the reason why I'm quite overweight today. I'm working on it. Uh, that's a, a tough one to find the reason for though. Uh, I think I have a new theory that overweight people are not overweight because of current habits and ideas. I think they have a probably a long rooted, um, psychological, maybe a, a trauma or a mini problem inside them.

Uh, so for me, exploring that has also, that's something quite recent. Because I just thought, okay, if I just go on a diet and, and do exercise, I will eventually lose weight. But it always came back because there's something more to it, you know, there's something deeper. And, and that's very hard to deal with, of course, but, uh, hopefully I can figure out, figure out that by exploring more and, and sticking more to these, uh, other things. But I also feel as I free up mental energy from, you know, like now I have a, a fixed place to live, I have a, a job, I have, you know, money sorted. Uh, I don't need to worry about those things and therefore I can worry more about improving my psychology or, uh, psycholog, uh, mental state anyway, improving my psychology.

And changing society is never going to happen in a year or maybe not even in within five years. But I think really step by step, same again, as for language learning, step by step, um, uh, you can make changes and, um, uh, step by step we can make changes for ourselves, but also in society. And I think one of those podcasts, for example, is one mini baby step, um, to do so. And, uh, yeah, to, to get inspired as well to do so.

And, um, Robin Will, it's a great scene. Like, if anyone watches that and they can do it without crying, then I'll challenge you, you know. Um, because that is a touching scene. I, I don't know if it touched, uh, touched me because of my, the application to my life, uh, or if it's just a powerful scene. Uh, maybe people can comment about that. But, but in, in that sense, he just keeps saying it's not your fault. Because he was blaming himself for what happened to him when he, what, what his father was doing to him.

And likewise, it's not uncommon and I probably have thought the thought, uh, maybe more than once, uh, I, I lost my father when I was 14, 15, about many years ago. And there's definitely some unresolved grief there. And I definitely blamed myself at times for that, which is ridiculous because I had nothing to do with it, of course, and I wasn't, I wasn't even anywhere near. And but that's what the brain does. The brain will do a lot of stupid stuff.

Like, we have a fantastic brain, you know, it's amazing. It's the biggest by size, I think, for, for any being. But it can also mess you up big time because it will find all these reasons why you're not worthy of something or why you shouldn't do something. And it really works against you so hard that you have to constantly question your own, your own thinking. And especially if you're in a, kind of a rut, because then the brain will really sabotage you. Like, oh, I shouldn't go outside, it's cold. I shouldn't go visit with these friends because, oh, they'll notice I've gained a bit of weight. Who cares, you know, that doesn't matter. Just get out there. Stop the excuses. And I mean, it's deeper than that, of course, but the brain is really a sabotage of, of many mental, images, I think.

And, and it's never too late to do something that you think, oh, I should have done this ten years ago. Maybe, but maybe it just wasn't the time for you, but it's, it's might be today or it might be in ten years and don't also feel like bad about this when, when you're not able to do it right now. It's, it's totally fine as well. Like, this acceptance, I think, is the most important and again, this is society that pressures us, uh, that we have to do certain things on time and, um, uh, same for language learning again, it's never too early, never too late. Uh, and, uh, if you don't feel ready right now, you might feel ready in summer, whatever. It doesn't really matter. It's never too early, never too late, I believe.

Actually, it's funny how breathing is so helpful. Like, I, I recently started doing these like in the morning. I, I, I'm not the best early riser, so if I get up a little bit too early, I'll feel kind of tired or groggy. So, what I'll do is I'll go out, again, get some fresh air. And then I'll just focus on my breathing for a 20-minute walk. And when I come back, I'm smiling all over the face because I, I changed my state from this, uh, morning and, uh, so it's funny how something as simple as breathing, which we're all doing all the time and just focusing on the breathing kind of helps.

I, I, I don't know anything that can help, that helps me as quickly physically as, as focusing on my breathing. And that's kind of a meditation thing. But I think, you, you probably know more, more than me on that. Uh, but, um, that's a good tip as well. Just, if, if you feel, if you feel like everything is, is wrong and feels bad, just take a moment to appreciate everything and and count your breaths and you'll be amazed how quickly it, it lowers your anxiety levels and and stress levels. Um, and for me it just, it's like night and day. If I, if I jump out of bed and go straight to doing something, it could be on the computer, it could be, you know, going to work or in the office. I'll feel terrible. I need that time to get ready, like that prime time to change the state. And, and I think that, that's for everyone. You, you can't just expect to jump out and be, be ready, you know. You have to.

It's the same when you, when you learn a language and, and I just recently did a, an Instagram post about this that it's very important to me that I take my time afterwards. So, for example, if I have a, a study, uh, I study, I don't know, a language for 30 lessons by myself or I take a class or whatever, and then right after that, I rush into my daily life again. It doesn't have the same language learning effect as it, as it has, uh, when I take my time after my learning session and, and just do meditation for example, or yoga or just sitting and doing nothing, uh, watching my cat playing or these kind of, like, yeah, simple things in life. And if we can make a habit out of this, this amazing effect, to be honest.

Um, but I think it's interesting that, I think it's interesting that people who are listening to this, who want to learn a language. I think many times that is probably an indicator that they want more out of life. Like, they're ambitious in a way. I don't think people, I don't think somebody who's going to France on holiday on, you know, for two weeks is going to listen to these episodes and and get, get much out of them, if anything out of them.

So, that's what I also say to people listening is you have to also, you know, really appreciate your, your own ambition there, that you are actually doing something which a lot of people cannot do and won't do. So, you're kind of like a hero in your own story and that puts some pressure on us at times for sure. Uh, like I don't know how you feel, but I I definitely feel pressure of like this podcast is a good example. You know, it's great to do. It, it helps me. It, it helps a lot of people, a lot of people listening, but if I didn't feel stressed and anxious half an hour before recording every episode, I would be lying, you know. It, it is, it is, it is tough. Uh, but it's really good as well.

So, so that's what I'm, I'm saying is, uh, you, you have to take the, the good with the tough and if you are listening to this and you want to learn languages, it's probably an indicator that you also want to do more with your life, whether that's traveling or career or, you know, what do I know, love or, uh, experiences or whatever you want to do. So, so write that down. What is it you want to do? And, and move towards it.

And I think if you, if you, basically, if you can learn a foreign language by yourself in a completely different language, I believe you can do anything. I think you can learn how to be a doctor. I think you can learn how to be a programmer. I think you can, you can be an astronaut even, you know. The sky's the limit because you have the what it takes to, to self-start, learn what needs to be learned. And a language is a huge undertaking. There's some people underestimate greatly what it takes to learn a language. Even sort of intermediate level, you know. That's a, a very big time investment. So, so maybe we should, maybe that's a good, uh, point in time to,

And I was offered a job in one of the first Berlin conferences that allowed me to go completely remote for a, a while, live in Hungary for 18 months. So, I'm not saying that a lot of people will have that opportunity right now, like, to just, you know, pack up their things and live in 18 months in, in Budapest if they wanted to. But if you keep working on yourself and your projects, and your languages, then I believe that good opportunities will come, uh, to you as well.

Like, uh, most people have found careers out of language, like, there's a lot of bloggers and YouTubers who have, oh, yeah. you know, someone like Benny, who has basically taken a, a blog and turned it into a, a massive company. And, uh, best-selling author of multiple times, you know. This is not unrealistic. These, these, and these things don't happen overnight either. They, they're very, you know, what do you call it? Step by step.

So, you might not think that it's important to, to record a video of yourself speaking bad Spanish or something because it won't matter. But every, every little bit helps and it, it all adds up to the opportunities you get later. Like, I just, like, just for an as an example, this is not to brag or anything, but one of my friends, and this is the opportunities that I have now because I've done all these things. One of my friend said the other day, why don't you come to, uh, why don't you come here for a month and learn Spanish? He's just started a Spanish school. And I'm like, I'm like, that's really random, but, you know, that sounds like fun. You know, and, and I'm in a position now where I, I can accept crazy offers like that. But it would have never happened if I hadn't started with those very small first steps of going to the first conference, realizing that, okay, language learning is something I'll commit to. And to be committed, I need accountability. Cause otherwise I'll just give up. So, I need to make a, a blog or a podcast. And that was the start of Actual Fluency. So, in a sense, this podcast has really done everything for me. Even, even if it's all indirect. Like, nothing, nothing directly has changed my life from the podcast. It's just everything has come as a, as a, you know, a side benefit, uh, or, uh,

But I also realize there's lots of work still to be done and, and my ambition is not satisfied with what I have yet, you know, I wanna reach more people. I wanna, I wanna contribute more to, to the language success of the world. And, and hopefully, in so doing, bringing people a little bit closer together and, you know, maybe we'll see how this goes and and then, uh,

For some people, uh, it might be about this like very, very personal and very deep stuff. For others it might be more about like general, let's say, I don't know, from grammar tips to, to other things, uh, uh, reading, uh, sessions or, um, in my case, uh, I, I combine it now with fitness as well. And we can all contribute to something very, well, to something big and and help each other. And this is what I like also very much about this language community, like worldwide community. Uh, and I find it very like pretty amazing, to be honest.

Um, and I came there and even one of the person, even one of the people I had on the podcast didn't recognize me. So, you know, really, really starting small and, uh, and, uh, I didn't, yeah, I didn't know anyone. I, I, just, I just knew one person that I, I'd written a little bit with, so I had like an a partner in crime, because we were like, okay, we don't know anyone. This is like really weird.

But for people, I don't know what it is about. I, I, I think again, it comes back to ambition. I think if you want to learn languages and if you have learned a lot of languages, you are a special kind of person. Um, and my experience at the first polyglot gathering was, wow, these people are just incredible. Not only do they speak all these languages, but they're some of the warmest and most welcoming, hospitable people I've ever met. And it was across the board.

Yeah, there were some people I didn't really connect with at all. Like, and that's to be expected. But there was not one milligram of negativity in that room at any point. And, you know, I'm coming with maybe, you know, Danish English and some German. So, I'm not exactly a, a hyper polyglot by any definition. So, you, you can be worried about going in there and thinking, okay, what are they going to think about someone like me. And that was just nothing and there was just so, so well received. And, uh, you know, even a listener came up to me and it, it was really touching and, uh, yeah, so, so it's a great first experience.

But I think if you go to any event today, I would be surprised if you didn't have the same experience. Yeah. Because the group of people doesn't, like, the feeling of the group doesn't change. Yeah, the group might get bigger, but everyone is there for similar reasons. And it's just that personal, personal profile is just lovely. And I just, I feel so home in, in, in at these events because the, the vibe and and people's, uh, feeling. So, that's a big recommendation for me. Just go to these events, uh, wherever you can. If at all possible.

And, and it's, well, definitely for the language community, this like, uh, positive environment and, and positive spirit, um, uh, as well. And, uh, yeah, and in the end it, it inspired me 100%. Like, I, when I came there the first time a year and a half ago, I already had my language business. Everything went already pretty well, but it was more like on a, on a local, um, yeah, more local because it was more in Mexico. And, and all those polyglots and all those people who also work with languages as I do, showed me that this is not only local, this can be huge and, and this can be worldwide as well. And, um, this was thanks to being surrounded by people who do things like this. And, uh, yeah, hilarious, really.

And then when I moved, uh, to Mexico, so I did this for a couple of years, worked in like huge companies and, and had great experience. And then I decided to do my master studies again. Not because I wanted this title. Honestly, I knew already that it was never about the title. It was more about this experience again to study. And I did study in my master's degree management, which is like the most stupid title ever, I think. Um, but still, I, I've learned so much because we were, um, I don't know, about 35 different nationalities and, uh, already this was great. Like, to, to connect with other people and, and I really, I really like business, to be honest. And I found it very interesting and, and I started focusing more like on, on startup communities and, and help startups and, uh, but still it was, it was still like, even that, even, even though that impact was already bigger, it was still not what I really felt was right for me.

And, uh, so then I finished my master's thesis. It was actually, actually the reason why I moved to Mexico because I did my last semester here. And I decided that I wanted to learn Spanish. And this is why I chose Mexico for my last semester of my master's degree. And it was really this country and the people here, um, that showed me that if you want to do something in life, in Mexico, you have the saying tener huevos, which means literally having, well, eggs. Um, but, uh, it means that to just dare doing stuff. And here I felt like in a very natural way that doing something with languages, uh, I've been teaching German wherever I used to live before, but I never thought that I could make my living out of this.

And, uh, uh, yeah, again here I started a job in a huge German company here. And it was just not what I wanted. The impact that I had was so small and so I just decided, well, I'm going to do my own stuff. And, uh, it just without like realizing it, it became bigger and bigger and bigger. And it wasn't my plan to have like a business in Mexico. Not at all. It was really, um, well, it just happened, let's say it. And, and I let it happen as well.

And, um, yeah, what I do right now is I have, um, a language school here in Mexico with my lovely business partner. We have a team of almost 50 people now, which is, uh, yeah, it's huge now. I mean, not all of them are working full-time with us. Um, uh, we have many freelancers, uh, working with us, but they're not even counted within these those 50 people. But let's say, we have a lot of like part-time people working for us. They have maybe at the same time their blog or, or they have another part-time job or they're starting their business and they want to do something like just to, to earn some money.

And so what we do basically is that, um, it's a language institute where we, uh, teach languages, but we try to analyze as well what went wrong in, in, in school usually. Because, as we all know, when we learn languages in school, like, maybe there is a two, three, I don't know, uh, percent that really, uh, yeah, succeed in, in this language learning when they do it in school or in university. And so what we do is that we limit our groups to five people. We work exclusively with native teachers. We have, uh, currently nine languages that we offer. Um, and we limit our groups as I said to five people.

And in addition to that, we think about like new ways of integrating your language learning into your like daily life. And we've recently launched burn and learn, it's called. Um, and it's a method, uh, to study, uh, German vocabulary in this case, because, uh, we started just with German to focus first on German. And it's basically very easy exercises. So you don't need to be like, um, the fittest person on earth to do the exercises. It's just really doing exercise while, uh, repeating German vocabulary.

And the effect is amazing, to be honest. I do it myself, for example, vocabulary. I, I learn vocabulary right now, which is an indigenous language for Mexico. Um, and so vocabulary is a language that has nothing to do with all the languages that I've learned before. And so I need to find a way to really remember vocabulary. And remembering vocabulary is just part of the language process. And so doing it while you do fitness exercise is just, for example, I do it usually in the mornings, I do it maybe from seven to eight. And then I feel like, oh my god, this is amazing. I've done one hour of physical workout, plus I've done one hour of vocabulary. And also like really all those vocabulary groups that I learn while doing exercise, um, this is the vocabulary that I best know in the end.

And, uh, yeah, we had very, very positive feedback from our live sessions, um, that we have done at like different events, uh, here in Mexico, but also at the Lang Fest in, in Montreal, Canada, uh, last year and also at the polyglot, uh, which is a conference in Brazil. Um, and, uh, yeah, the, uh, the feedback was very, very positive and this is why we decided to launch a YouTube channel for this, which we did about three months ago. And, um, yeah, it's very much a learning process as well for me.

Um, if you're exercising, I mean, back then you wouldn't exercise for fun. Um, you would only exercise if you're in danger, because there was no fast food. There was no all these added stuff, uh, so it was virtually impossible to be, um, unhealthy, I can imagine. Uh, maybe you might be underweight and malnourished, but, uh, you definitely wouldn't be overweight, I would imagine.

But anyway, so if you are exercising and you're getting the heart rate up high, it's probably because you're reacting to some kind of threat that could potentially kill you. And that's the brain's most primary function is to not kill you basically. It, it needs to keep you alive. And my thinking was that years and years and years of evolution doing this means that the people who learn most after these events, these, uh, like, uh, fitness, uh, or high heart rate, they would know for the next time that if they heard that sound again or that, you know, movement or that scenario, they would be more quick to take notice and that's the kind of genetic line that has continued. I don't know if that has any,

Um, but that's probably the best event I think for for new, well, I mean, you can go to any event and you won't find any problems and you will have a great time. But I think the social nature of the gathering, like, it's spread out over more days, and it's quite, you know, it's nice time of the year. There's a lot of people there. I think it's a great first event to go to if you are in Europe and you're thinking about if you should go to any of them. I mean, I'd I'd say go to all of them if you can. I'm just saying the gathering for me is definitely the best, uh, just gives me lots of time to catch up with, with my friends that I've gotten to know from these conferences and and the, like I said, it's spread out. It's, it's, uh, what is it? Four days of talks and then a day on the side for social events. So, so you can really take your time. You don't need to fret about, you know, getting to talk to everyone on one or two days. Um, so, so that would be great and, and, and I hope to make it to Canada as well.

Uh, for me, it is tough from Europe to go to both Japan and and Canada. Definitely. It's, it's and it's not just financially, although that is a, a point as well. But it's also just the effort because it's like 20 hours to Japan, I think. Uh, and Canada is not much better unless you get like more expensive direct tickets and so, so, yeah, I'll hope to, to make it to everyone and hopefully I'll meet you somewhere around the world. Uh, if not, we'll have to start doing the, the polyglot therapy podcast instead.

Just before you leave, I just want to give a quick shout out to today's sponsor, which is Italki. Italki is a tutoring platform where you can find affordable tutors for every language in the world, pretty much. So, get started today and get a free $10 credit when you book your first lesson. If you go to actualfluency.com/italki, that's spelled I T A L K I. So, give it a go and feel how tutoring can really boost and enhance your language learning.