Interview – Who we are with Ana!

This is a transcription of our new interview series: "Who we are"

"Who we are" is a new concept live interview to get to know our team. In every live episode, you will meet a member of TLH / Bayswater. We have a multicultural team and everyone has an interesting story to tell. They will share their thoughts about learning languages, teaching languages, living abroad, etc..

"Vincent - How are you feeling today? Ana - Hi Vincent, I am really good thank you.

Vincent - Who are you Ana for those who still do not know you? Ana - Well in terms of who am I to the company, I have been the office administrator at The Language House since April 2017.

Vincent - Where are you from? Ana - I am from Madrid, I was born in Madrid and then moved to the outskirts where my mum and dad had bought a house.

Vincent - Where did you grow up? Ana - I grew up in a small residential area (called ‘La Poveda’ which is part of a small town (called ‘Arganda del Rey’) in the south east of Madrid. It's about 30 kilometers away from Madrid City centre.

Vincent - Where/What did you study? Ana - I went to school in that same area I lived, it was at a walking distance from my house. I then went to high-school at the age of 13 which was in a different place so I had to get a bus or get on the metro to get to it. I also went to university for three years and completed a bachelors degree in workplace relations mixed with HR subjects. Vincent - How do you deal with the current situation? Ana - Well, I just take every day as it comes. I am lucky to still have a job and be in contact with everyone. I like to check in with friends an family and make sure everyone is OK. Although I always say it's ok not to feel 100% every day. I think it's very hard to keep positive and motivate yourself and others round you every day. We all need our feel-down days. I also have a dog so he keeps me busy I walk him twice a day and I also manage to exercise every day. I go for bike rides or watch work out videos at home. We've been very lucky to have this amazing weather since we went into lock down so I've been making the most of it.

Vincent - What is your position at The Language House / Bayswater education? Ana - Student services officer. Admin. A bit of everything right now. I am really enjoying the bigger team I am meeting new people every week and I love to still keep in touch with students. So anyone that is still around and ever needs a chat or has questions about the current situation please reach out and feel free to call the office phone or send a message on whatsapp. I will be happy to listen and help wherever I can.

Vincent - When did you start working with TLH / Bayswater? Ana - April 2017, Bayswater was 31st Jan this year. Vincent - Why did you start working with TLH? Ana - I heard you and Sonia were looking for someone and I raised my interest. You seemed happy with me coming in to help and offered me a position to look after the reception and the admin of the company. I think it helped that I could speak Spanish and some English...

Vincent - Do you like your job? Ana - 100% I love my job. There are new things everyday… New challenges, I am learning a lot from this situation and learning new skills every day.

Vincent - Vale, vamos a hablar un poquito en español. ¿Esta bien para ti? Ana - Claro que si, un placer…

Vincent - ¿Tu primer idioma es español? ¿No? Ana - Así es.

Vincent - ¿Como aprendiste ingles? Ana - Aprendí inglés en el colegio cuando tenía 8 años. Siempre fue mi asignatura favorita y siempre soñé con ser capaz algún día de poder hablarlo bien.

Vincent - ¿Come tienes ese acento tan fuerte en Ingles? Ana - No lo se, supongo que porque aprendí a hablar Ingles en Liverpool con gente local. Siempre he tenido facilidad para copiar acentos.

Vincent - ¿Porque has decidido venir a vivir a esta cuidad? Ana - Vine una semana de vacaciones y me encanto. Vine en Agosto de 2011 y decidí mudarme aquí en Octubre 2011.

Vincent - Tu parles un peu français je crois? Ana - Un peu.

Vincent - Tu peux te présenter en français ? Ana - Bonjour, je m'appelle Ana Je suis de Madrid et J'habite en Angleterre depuis 8 ans.

Vincent - Quelles langues tu parles au travail ? Ana - Español et Anglais.

Vincent - Tu as déjà visité la France ? Ana - Oui, quatre fois.

Vincent - Tu voudrais parler d’autres langues ? Ana - Oui bien-sûr, jaime beaucoup l'italien. Vincent - What advice would you give to people who want to learn or are learning language? Ana - I would encourage them to go for it, don´t be afraid. It is an amazing adventure. Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things. It opens a different vision of life. As we know, immersion is the best way to pick up a language once you have a good base and basic knowledge of the target language. People in Liverpool are quite lucky that they have The Language House where they can take classes with a native speaker teacher while having fun and joining an international community. We have people from all over the world learning with us and it´s what I love the most about the job and about this city."

Make sure you check all our upcoming lives, we have game night shows, more interviews, cooking shows and much more, stay tuned!