My favourite kind of language connections are the most unexpected ones – speaking Spanish in Delhi

I just got back from India where I took a food and heritage walk of old Delhi with Stanley at The Lost Compass.  The tour was fantastic – we tried the street food in a safe way and Stanley helped us to navigate the chaos of old Delhi in a way that we would never have been able to on our own. We tried many foods (fried potato with pomegranate flavour was a definite favourite!) but we also learned about the history of the city and the past and present culture of the place and it’s people.

We got to know Stanley over the course of the evening, and we discovered that we both speak Spanish! Our faces both lit up at the exact same moment and we started chatting away in Spanish. So there I was, an English and an Indian person speaking Spanish in a tiny backstreet restaurant, amidst the noise and chaos of old Delhi! I couldn’t miss the opportunity to ask a few questions! I love hearing about peoples motivations for learning

What is the thing you like most about your job? 

I’m passionate about connecting with people from diverse backgrounds and exploring their cultures. In return, I love sharing my own affection for Delhi, showcasing its vibrant spirit and hidden gems.

Which languages do you speak and why did you start learning them?

I speak three languages.  Hindi, English and Spanish

Hindi is my mother tongue. 

I learnt english in 2017 from a Non profit organization as it was the most spoken language in the world. Hence more work opportunities.  Also I learnt English to learn Spanish because one of my friends told me that If you want to learn Spanish so first you need to learn English to learn Spanish. 😄

Spanish – I am a big fan of Enrique Iglesias.  I have been listening to Enrique Iglesias for the past 20 years. I wanted to learn Spanish since I was a kid and wanted to explore spanish music, Spanish culture and Spain is my favorite country that’s why I learnt spanish

What does it give you, speaking other languages? 

It gave me confidence back when I learnt the languages.  Now it gives me joy when I speak to different kinds of people, learn about them and tell them about my journey. Maybe the language barrier could have been a problem for me before but now it’s not.  I really thank my past self who encouraged me to do something out of the box.

How do you plan to use your languages in future?

When I started learning the language it wasn’t really to make something out of it as it started as a passion and it kept growing on me with the time passing. Also it is one of the reasons that I was able to learn languages in a short span of time. Yes, it has opened doors of new opportunities for me and I would love to learn more languages in future

I love the comment about thanking your past self for something – what do you thank your past self for? In the meantime if you’re in India check out The Lost Compass!