What is your role in Coffee Break?

I am an Italian Content Developer and a Publishing Associate. I work on episodes of Coffee Break Italian, write social media posts, support in the writing and editing of notes on the Academy and film videos for Coffee Break TV. I also keep an eye on the book market and I make sure that we have everything we need to publish books, like our 50 Coffee Breaks series. There’s a lot of researching involved in my job, which makes it very exciting!

What experience have you had speaking and learning other languages?

I’ve been learning multiple languages since I was in primary school. I started with English and Spanish, then I moved to French when I started my undergraduate course at university. During my postgraduate, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Portugal and learn some Portuguese.

I speak Italian and English on a daily basis and I try to keep up with my French and Spanish by talking to my colleagues, listening to music or watching TV shows and films in the two languages. I would like to learn German in the future and I have already started listening to Coffee Break German Season 1.

What are your favourite memories of working with Coffee Break Languages?

When I was working as an intern a few years ago, Catriona surprised me with a delicious chocolate cake for my birthday. I didn’t tell anyone that it was my birthday that day and when I got into work I found a birthday cake in front of me! It was such a nice surprise and the cake was so yummy. I appreciate the fact that we take the time to celebrate each other here at Coffee Break Languages.

Where would your ideal coffee break be, and with whom?

There’s a little café on top of a mountain, near a small village called Pintura di Bolognola, in Marche, Italy. From there you can see the sea beyond the valleys of my region. My ideal coffee break would be there with my grandmother Lina.

What’s your best language-learning tip?

Make your language-learning a daily habit! Try to expose yourself to the language you’re learning on a daily basis. You can do this by listening to a song, watching a video on YouTube, or reading a news story. It’s better to practise your new language 5 minutes every day rather than 2 hours once a week. If you practice your language every day, you will make small and constant progress, and after a while you will see how far you’ve come with your learning.

Quick-fire round

• Favourite language: Italian (of course!), but I love all romance languages.
• Favourite word/phrase in the language: Daje! (Come on!)
• Favourite film: Les amours imaginaires by Xavier Dolan
• TV show: Great British Bake Off
• Book: Un amore by Dino Buzzati
• Favourite destination: Marche when I feel homesick and Portugal and Spain for a fun holiday

Do you have a message for the Coffee Break Community?

Learning a language is fun but it’s also hard work. Be kind to yourself and celebrate your successes. Don’t be discouraged when you make a mistake. Instead, use it to improve and to move forward. Just keep going and have fun on your language learning journey!