Mental health educator: For those who want to understand themselves and their pain better. (Eng, Esp, Pt, Fra)

Find out more about Juliana

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  I teach Spanish, English, French, and Brazilian Portuguese, and I speak them all fluently. My mother tongue is Spanish, and as a child and teen, studied in a trilingual setting (English, French as foreign languages). I have a specialization course in Francophone literature and another one in Social Psychology (taught in English, Rutgers University) as well. 8 years ago, I moved to Brazil, and I had the opportunity to study and immerse myself in the daily use of the Portuguese language. Besides the teaching, I work as a psychotherapist with Brazilian patients on a daily basis. I had some great inspiring teachers, but my main inspiration has always come from the desire of having access to more cultural and historical knowledge: of course, speaking several languages help. I use all these languages everyday.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  For Spanish: Isabel Allende and Laura Restrepo (Chilean and Colombian authors). They depict the historical, political, and social realities of those countries, and make you actually feel those realities in your own skin (with wonderful skills).
  For English: Charles Darwin, William James, Nancy Huston (scientist, authors). Really many more. But these explain in very simple ways who we are as a species, how our thought works, and with what purposes.
  For French: Maryse Condé and Dany Laferrière (authors from Haiti, based in North America). Also Frantz Fanon (psychoanalyst and author from Martinique). Each one of them, in different ways, teach us about the effects and daily-life consequences of colonialism to this day (politically, socially, and psychologically).
  For Portuguese: Paulo Freire (philosopher of education, author). His points of view on how education is supposed to liberate the minds and the individuals have set important standards for pedagogy and public policy in the world.

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  For Spanish: Honestly, I like that it's the language in which I dream almost always, so it is deeply rooted emotionally in me. It connects me to the people and places I've known for the longest time.
  For English: I like that it works pretty much as a universal language that can be used across the world with basically anybody. It comes very handy to be able to use it.
  For French: The French colonizers put a bigger stress on educational institutions when they stole the cultures of their colonies. As cruel and disrespectful as that may have been, it is apparent to this day that they created a unique devotion for the "right" way to speak, address strangers, and show their cultural background to the world, which is of utmost importance for them. That shows an interest for knowledge, in the very least.
  For Portuguese: "saudade", "cafuné". Cute and unique expressions that Brazilians use to explain very specific concepts of tenderness. They help you understand their particular way to relate to others, which are not necessarily the same for other Latin Americans.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  In every case, being able to speak a language is important to me because it helps me approach a bigger picture of the reality of the world.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  Difficulties learning any language always have to do with what works differently compared to what our brain is familiar to: different grammar structures, sentence formation structures, phonics... I am now trying to learn Finnish, and the unique grammar of this one makes it a bit of a challenge, for instance. I've studied German for years, from time to time, and the way it builds up words and phrases up is also unique which, with the limited practice I've had, has made it hard to actually take off as a regular user.The difficulty is always newness, in my opinion.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  It was curious once, during a Portuguese lesson, the teacher asked "Cê tá... qual página?", And there was no possible way at that point I could understand "Cê tá" (you are/are you?) because it is a very informal and short spoken form of the phrase "Você está", but turns out I understood it, just because in French "C'est à..." is pronounced the same, and along with the part "qual página?", which I understood ("which page?"), led me to mix up languages, and paradoxically, understand.

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  Cultural and emotional immersion, as well as the need to solve problems, have helped a lot every time.

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I have relevant experience as a learner, as a teacher (15 years), and helpful training, which has helped a lot also to understand learning processes in a very scientific and practical way.