Meet the team: Ann

Hola, I’m Ann and I joined the Radio Lingua team in 2018. I speak Spanish, French and some Italian and when I have time, I try to learn a little German.

What is your role in Coffee Break?

I have recently joined Coffee Break as a full time colleague, after working part time with the company since 2018. My role is that of General Manager and I am involved in content creation, content curation and production duties. I also have general management and operations duties which include communications with all staff and customers.

What experience have you had speaking and learning other languages?

As one of the older members of the team, I have had a lot of varied experiences using my languages. I graduated in Marketing with French and Spanish from the University of Strathclyde and have been fortunate to use my languages in many different fields of work and life. I spent several years in Spain to gain fluency in Spanish where I mainly taught English as a foreign language. I then worked for various multinational companies in Marketing and Customer Services on my return to Scotland, where I had many opportunities to travel and use my language skills. Next, I decided I wanted to share my enthusiasm for language learning with others so I completed a post graduate qualification in teaching. For over 20 years I was a language teacher in secondary schools in Scotland, as well as spending some time in two different universities working with students training to be language teachers.

More recently, I have been learning Italian using Coffee Break Italian to further increase my understanding of how Italian works. Although it is very similar to Spanish, there are many differences. Grazie Francesca e Maurizio!

What are your favourite memories of working with Coffee Break?

I have to admit that I enjoy all aspects of working with the Coffee Break team and love being in a multilingual work environment. Additionally, there is a great sense of satisfaction seeing a project through from the idea stage to the publishing stage, and I was delighted to have been involved in writing some of the content for our 50 Spanish Coffee Breaks book.

Where would your ideal coffee break be and with whom?

If Brad Pitt or John Cusack weren’t available (or even if they were) I would be happy to have a coffee with my children on a lovely terraza overlooking a beach anywhere in Spain.

What’s your best language-learning tip?

That you should aim for accuracy but not be too worried if you don’t achieve it first time. Language is simply communication between people, so a big smile and a sense of humour is vital. Keep practising and ask people to correct you if you keep making the same mistake.

Quick-fire round

  • Favourite language: Spanish
  • Favourite word/phrase in the language: paulatinamente which means step by step or gradually
  • Favourite film: in Spanish – The Olive Tree
  • Favourite TV Show: Vivir sin permiso is a Spanish Netflix series, set in Galicia
  • Favourite singer: Juan Manuel Serrat
  • Favourite destinationthe beach. Any type of beach,  from the wild Scottish ones to the lively Spanish ones.

Any further thoughts?

My advice is to keep trying to improve your language skills, a little at a time, and if possible, try and travel to places where that language is spoken. Even if people respond to you in your native language, being able to communicate at any level with other human beings in a foreign language can only improve your life experiences.

Learning a language is good for your brain, your social skills and your job prospects, so keep on learning and laugh at your mistakes – they are the best lessons!