What fascinates me most about learning languages is the personal human interaction. It’s all very well being able to decline irregular verbs but if you can’t communicate with people from other cultures, frankly what’s the point? We are running a series of interviews of language learners with our partner Get Fluent Fast. The idea is to investigate what languages people speak, why they are learning and what tips they have. The first in our series is Dawn Ablitt, a Zimbabwean living in London, who is learning Spanish.

Dawn Ablitt
From: Zimbabwe
Speaks: Beginner in Spanish
Job: Works for the London Underground (though not driving trains!)

Which foreign languages did you learn at school?
Back in Zimbabwe Shona and Ndebele are the primary spoken languages. However in the majority of schools English is the primary language of teaching. Shona dominates the northern part of the country whereas Ndebele is spoken more in the south. French and Afrikaans were the two language options in city based schools with an international leaning, like I went to. I wouldn’t say that I managed to pick up any of them particularly well.

Why do you want to learn Spanish?
I’m visiting Cuba and Mexico next month! I’m keen to do a “blitz” on my Spanish before I go and use this to better connect with the people in the countries I visit. It’s a really strong motivation. I also find the phonetics of Spanish attractive, above any other European language. After I return from my travels I intend to do a longer term course in Spanish and cement my knowledge.

What are your tips for language learners?
I think it’s important just to “have a go”. I’m not too worried about my accent and pronunciation initially, I just want to communicate!

Thanks Dawn!