“I love being able to speak with my Cuban family” #BaseLangStories

Julianna has always wanted to improve her Spanish, especially to be able to communicate with her family in Cuba. Through BaseLang’s Real World program, her confidence and speaking ability have improved to the point of even watching Spanish-language TV.

BaseLangStories series puts the spotlight on BaseLang students – asking them about their motivations for learning a foreign language, what impact learning Spanish has had on their lives, advice they have for fellow students, and more.

1. What’s your name and where you are from?

Julianna Gyenes. Budapest, Hungary.

2. Why did you want to learn Spanish?

To be able to communicate with my family from Cuba and to be fluent in more languages. I also felt like Spanish is one of the most used languages in the world, so it just made sense learning it.

3. In the past, what did you use to learn Spanish?

I went to group classes and private teachers.

4. Before BaseLang, which part of learning Spanish did you struggle with the most?

Speaking. I was always terrified of expressing myself in front of people who speak Spanish.

5. What obstacle would have prevented you from signing up for BaseLang before?

Well, this year I had more ambition, as I had to take a big exam in Spanish. Also, in the past I didn’t have a lot of time.

6. What did you find as a result of signing up?

I was provided a safe space where I could learn Spanish without any prejudices and it was lovely. The program is really good, you can also learn words and the grammar which is really helpful in my experience.

7. What specific feature did you like the most about the Real World program?

That I could book classes whenever and that I got to meet so many different teachers, with interesting personalities and teaching methods. If I only had 30 minutes in school I could easily go to the library and have a zoom class. It was really efficient.

Julianna, learning Spanish at home with one of her BaseLang teachers

8. How has learning Spanish impacted your life?

I am able to speak with my Cuban family and I can also understand more TV shows, articles etc…

9. Would you recommend this course, if so, why?

Yes, totally, it really helped me a lot and I think especially for beginners this is an excellent program to learn Spanish and to be able to communicate with native speakers which is awesome.

10. Complete the following sentence “After my first month of BaseLang, I realized that…”

I shouldn’t be afraid of speaking in Spanish and I should try to express myself more courageously.

11. Anything else to add?

I wish I had known that because of the time difference, European students cannot book classes in the morning, just later (after 12pm). But this didn’t affect me that much.

My advice would be to not be afraid of having to speak to different teachers. Book as many classes as you can if you really want to make progress! And don’t be afraid, the teachers do not judge for not speaking perfectly.