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Already from a very young age I have a knack (talent) for languages.
In school I
studied English, German and French and was able to further develop these languages
in my different international jobs.
I speak English fluently and it all began at Philips; a global company with employees from
many different countries. My best job there was with Marketing Software, where I worked
for many British managers. They came from all UK regions and found it weird but special
that I could understand their dialects when they had their British 'private chats'.
After Philips I have always worked in international or multicultural companies and
also with lots of Americans. This way I learned the differences between the UK- and
US spelling. Many people still mix them up.
My passion for Spanish:
In my 'younger' years, when I noticed a Spanish self-study course I thought:'I want
to try that' and started reading some of the lessons. I immediately was 'hooked'
and decided to further explore this. In no time at all I had finished the 40 lessons
and was chatting quite a bit 'beginner Spanish'. After this I went to Spain to try it out.
Once arrived at the Costa Brava, with my 'beginner Spanish' and in Barcelona shirt
walking across the market, I instantly made contact with the market people.
They liked to see someone from 'Holanda' speaking Spanish and offered me fruit and
other delicious snacks. They complimented me for my pronunciation and said that,
with my long dark hair and Barcelona shirt, I looked like a real Spanish seņorita.
This was my very first súper fun experience with Spain and the Spanish language
and I intended to do more with that.
A few years later I applied for a job of International Secretary.
They were looking to hire an assistant for the Spanish speaking regions.
I thought I would not get it, because my Spanish was still very basic, however,
I always like a challenge and got tested on my English and Spanish skills.
A week later I was hired. First a bit shocking of courses, but at the same time
a wonderful opportunity to further develop my Spanish skills.
I found some books about Spanish correspondence and studied in the evenings.
At work I arranged with my Spanish speaking contacts that we would call every day.
A few months later the real challenge followed when I had to speak to our Spanish
speaking customers 'live' during the yearly trade fair. But again I received
nice comments and compliments on my Spanish and I became
'Seņorita Patty' and my Spanish got better and better.
Unfortunately I could not use Spanish in all my jobs, so I had to find more ways
to keep my Spanish up-to-date. I regularly read a Spanish book or magazine,
I watch Spanish movies and series and I love to listen to Spanish music.
I took a class, mainly for conversation, but also to learn and understand
better the several past tenses. I also had a Spanish boyfriend for a couple of
years and that still is the best way to actually learn a language.
By daily communicating in Spanish and going to Spain on a regular basis,
I learned so much more in those years.
During that time I went to Spain via Lisbon Airport, which is located at approx.
3 hours drive from the Spanish border. This way I also got in touch with the
Portuguese language; a language that previously never had my attention nor interest
because of its totally different sound (especially words ending with for example
-įões or -įão or -de). But as I heard it more often, I also began to like this language
and started to see recognizable words with Spanish. I can now even read some Portuguese
and can have simple conversations with Portuguese people; I then mostly speak in Spanish
though, while they respond in Portuguese. This way another very nice experience
popped up for this multilingual Seņorita Patty'.