Diary of a Language Freak

Have you ever noticed that when you make a language mistake that is particularly embarrassing or funny then you never forget about it?

That’s because a strong emotion is linked to that moment.

NEWSLETTER

Why all my teachers didn't help me at learning smarter? I want something more back in return for my time and money. So, I try to fix this issue.

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/09/28/experiencing-the-great-resignation-firsthand-5-march-2021/

I don't really remember what I felt when all the flights got canceled.
I think that's a sort of way of coping with trauma and to me, it feels like Covid never happened. I forgot all the feelings. Like a huge black hole.
I talked about it and other people share the same. Anyway, let's go back once again to April 2020.

I had a salary that for my life standards and expectations at that time was pretty good. I was making around 1800€-1900€ net. I rarely drank alcohol, I've never smoked, I rarely ate out, I barely did anything besides working, no gym subscriptions… nothing (but Persian classes). Even before the lockdown.

When the lockdown came, my life got even more "Calvinist". I was looking at my bank account regularly and seeing with pleasure that there was plenty of money I had no way to spend. After all, yes, I went to Law School, but it was actually a branch of a business school and along with the family environment I was raised in, the idea of using money meaningfully was luckily quite natural.

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/09/02/how-covid-changed-my-life-but-in-a-good-way/

As I said previously, everything was OK, but not great. I was happy to have a job, a good salary, to have kept my Brussels life, to have nice colleagues… but I was not enthusiastic.

I thought that this feeling of unease was due to the weirdness of realizing that you don't need to fight for a job anymore, at least for a while.

Over the weeks I was also better understanding my job. I understood that some admin/database reorganization was needed, but it was slowly seeming like it was a never-ending job. I will not add further details.

Around September I was starting to realize also that the real reason why I was sort of happy to go to the office was because of the people I could find there and not for the job itself actually.

That's a problem.

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/08/13/a-taste-of-employee-life/

I honestly enjoyed my internship period, especially the first six months. However, already back at the end of 2018, I started to like the idea of having my own business.

For the first time in my life, I seriously thought I could do something good. What gave me this confidence? Well, there was a good amount of disorganization, seeing people very well paid with skills I considered even lower than mine, people making gross mistakes without basically any consequence.

Getting decent pay was crucial and very empowering.

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/07/29/here-we-go-brussels/

When I came back from Moscow, it was hard to get used again to my usual way of life. First of all, I missed my freedom. The freedom of walking in the streets and not being recognized. The freedom of going home whenever I wanted to.

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/07/25/back-to-russian-part-3/

I had an intense experience interning in Russia, mostly feeling like an outsider with my Italian colleagues. Knowing Russian language saves me from panic in sticky situations. I find diplomacy isn't for me, hate the hierarchy and dislike having my name tied to shoddy work. Although I didn't enjoy the disorganization at the Italian embassy, I did love the Russian side of things. What I learnt the most? Getting out there on my own was 80% of the experience. I didn't miss the Italian environment, but cherished my time with Russian translators. And Moscow... I still get homesick for it. Up next, I'm off to Brussels!

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/03/24/hoe-ik-talen-ontdekte/

Hallo iedereen,

Ik heet Chiara en ik kom uit Italië. Ik woon in Brussel en ik hou van talen leren en studeren. Door de jaren heen kon ik dankzij talen onvergetelijke ervaringen hebben en dus heb ik besloten om ze te delen via deze podcast. Talen zijn ook mijn fulltime baan geworden - daar zal ik je ook meer over vertellen.

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/07/17/back-to-russian-part-2/

The first weekend, I had one of the sweetest moments ever. I went to the center to explore a bit. I went walking in the Gardens located right outside the Kremlin, called Alexandrovsky Sad.

It’s a small park with a long marble monument to commemorate the battles of the Second World War. People often took pictures in front of it.

At a certain point, two quite old ladies asked me to take a picture of them. I did what I had to, and we left each other. However, some minutes later, I came across them again, and they asked me if I wanted a picture too.

I accepted the offer, gave them my phone and immediately one of them said: “But it’s not in Russian!”.

TRANSCRIPTION: http://chiaralanguagefreak.com/2023/07/09/back-to-russian-part-1/

What I told you about Persian happened between 2012 and 2014. After that year I was really too busy with university and exams… and suffering from crazy anxiety because I was totally lost with my life.

I had picked the wrong course at university and I couldn’t see any way out. In those years I posted almost nothing on my Facebook group, let alone Youtube or anything else. After all, it was “a waste of time instead of studying”, right?

So, fast forward to 2017… and back to Moscow, again like in 2004.