by: Anastasija Jovanovska
I was born in Macedonia, now called North Macedonia. And as unknown as we are, we enjoy welcoming different cultures into our scope. In my case, I love diving into different countries, cultures and, of course, meeting their peoples. And the languages I now know have offered me exactly those possibilities.
My language background goes way back to when I was very little, probably 6, and I started watching some Spanish-spoken TV shows together with my family. It was when I first started to come into contact with that language. And reading the subtitles in my own language made it possible for me to start learning it. From my experience, it is true that children learn faster, because I was capable of learning three different languages at the same time: Spanish, English and my native language, Macedonian. And even a fourth one: Russian, but that was a bit later.
Back in my childhood days in my country, in southeastern Europe, it was pretty common and widespread to watch Spanish TV shows and to listen to what they call Latino music; it was very popular at parties and for dancing. It still is.
So, after becoming acquainted with the spoken Spanish, I wanted —and needed, to learn more. Interested in exploring its depths, I started to do more online researching: I looked for any other media related to learning the language in order to become more familiar with it, I also looked for material to learn how to write in Spanish.
Maybe this love for the Spanish language has to do with my feeling of nostalgia for my childhood and that time that I spent together with my family. But Spanish is, without a doubt, my personal favorite out of all the languages that I know. And what I love about it is particularly the way it sounds. Its melodic, soft and fluid pronunciation makes it sound very gentle and romantic, yet sophisticated at the same time. Its relation to English and stemming from the classical Latin gives it a refined aura, which I just love.
The fact that I lived for 1 year in both Russia and Spain made me realize how lucky I was to be able to speak these two languages, because it made it easy for me to get around, meet people and to get to know all their traditions.
It’s amazing how a new learned language can show you a whole other aspect of yourself and of the people who speak it as their mother tongue. It helps you relate to them in a more personal way.
As I continue to expand my vocabulary and knowledge, I am thankful for the recent -and amazing- stream of Spanish movies and TV shows available, such as La casa de papel (Money Heist) and Elite. The same goes for the latest Spanish movies, especially The invisible guest: absolutely recommended!
Lastly, I would suggest to everyone reading this to really consider the idea of starting to learn a new language, even if it’s not Spanish, because it allows you to explore and take part in a whole different world. It can bring a new cultural and spiritual treasure to your character.