A Conference Interpreter with a Passion for Languages:

An Interview with Ldia Machov

I recently got the opportunity to interview Ldia Machov, a conference interpreter and PhD student
from Bratislava, Slovakia. Here she shares her experience learning 8 languages, as well as some
information about working as an interpreter.

FTLOL: Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from and what do you do for a living?
LM: Im Lydia from Slovakia, 26 years old, a keen traveler, and an even keener language enthusiast. Im
lucky to have found a way to turn my love for languages into an income I work as a freelance
conference interpreter.
FTLOL: What languages can you speak to a good conversational level (or else fluently), and are
you currently studying any others? Do you often get a chance to speak these languages in your
daily life?
LM: I studied English and German, which are both my working languages. I use English every single day,
mostly with friends all over the world, or through reading/watching things online. Its a bit more
difficult to practice spoken German because almost all German native speakers I have met on my
travels prefer to speak English (for some reason) and I dont really have German-speaking friends in
Bratislava.
I also speak Polish and Spanish very fluently, and then French and Esperanto on a somewhat less
advanced level, but still fluently, and I am currently working on Slovak sign language and on Russian.
(Getting there, soon)
FTLOL: When did you start learning foreign languages? Was there a specific event that
triggered your interest in them?
LM: Interestingly enough, what helped me learn how to learn languages on my own was a very
incompetent Spanish teacher in a language course I took. At that time (I was 20 years old), I was just
like most other language learners if the teacher told me I was going to be fluent after taking four
semesters of Spanish lessons with her, learning once a week for an hour and a half with 20 other
students in the class, then I didnt have a reason not to believe her, right?
It was only after a few weeks of very slow and ineffective progress that I realized I could do much
better on my own. I continued working with the textbook and soon started to try out additional
methods, which worked amazingly well (Goldlist method, Anki, back translations, intense listening
practice, etc.). After two years, when my Spanish was quite fluent and I could read any fiction book in
Spanish, I decided to take on a new language every two years so far successfully.
FTLOL: How do you study a foreign language? For example, are there specific resources that you
use? Does your personality affect the way in which you prefer to learn?
LM: I use a lot of back translations, meaning that I translate textbook texts into Slovak and then
translate those sentences back into the foreign language (just orally, no writing) until I can do it
fluently. Those phrases then get stuck in my mind and I can use them pretty effectively in my own
conversations.
Only later did I learn that this method is actually already quite a popular one among polyglots its
called Assimil. Besides this translation-based exercise, I also make sure to be exposed to the language
a lot by listening to various material (always at my current level or just a bit higher, no native material
at the beginning) and by reading simple texts or bilingual books.
Another very important part of my studying process is a language tandem with a native speaker. These
conversations always enable me to make huge steps forward which, in turn, enhances my motivation.

And my personality? Well, language learning always requires you to get a bit out of your comfort zone.
I feel just as stupid speaking a foreign language for the first time as anyone else. The pronunciation
feels weird, I know I have a terrible accent, and I feel embarrassed and at times desperate for loss
of words. You just have to stick it out and the breaking point will arrive soon, for sure.
FTLOL: What have been some of the most difficult aspects for you when learning a new
language? What have you found easy? Can you give us some examples?
LM: The first conversations in the new language are always difficult. But theres no way around it if
you want to be able to SPEAK the language well. This is what happens in all the languages Ive been
learning.
Another difficult step is to move from the yey!-I-can-have-a-basic-conversation phase into the letswork-on-the-vocabulary phase. Thats when the progress is not so visible and learners often give up in
the middle of the journey.
And another difficulty Ive had was with sign language. I had to come up with my own system of noting
down signs, as there is currently no dictionary for the Slovak sign language. If I dont note something
down, I tend to forget the newly learnt words or signs quickly.
FTLOL: Do you think that it is better to go to a foreign country to learn a language, or can
someone achieve a similar level of fluency without leaving their home town?
LM: Well, theres certainly no harm in learning a foreign language in the country where its spoken, but
I definitely wouldnt say its necessary. I have never spent more than 3-4 months in any foreign
country so far; Ive always been learning in Slovakia. With the possibilities that the Internet gives us
today, this common excuse just doesnt hold water any more.
FTLOL: From what Ive seen, you are currently a PhD student in Translation Studies in
Bratislava. Can you tell us a bit about what your program is about and what you do there?
LM: I am writing a thesis on the self-assessment of interpreters and I also teach interpreting lessons.
Its quite interesting for me because as a student of the same study program, I tried and tested a lot
of methods to practice interpreting by myself, outside of the lessons.
I am now trying to apply that to my students and to make them understand that there is no such thing
as becoming a fully-fledged interpreter just by attending those few lessons during their studies. Just
like in language learning, it will never be enough to merely attend a language course and do the little
inevitable homework that the teacher requires; you have to give it some extra effort to really learn
the language. This actually applies to anything we ever learn, doesnt it? But with such complex skills,
such as to be fluent in a whole new language or to be able to interpret almost anything (after due
preparation), the principle of autonomous learning is of utmost importance.
FTLOL: Can you tell us in more detail about what you do as a freelance interpreter? What does
this work entail, how do you get interpreting jobs, and do you have any advice for how someone
could go about entering this type of profession? Do you have any interesting or memorable
experiences that came from acting as an interpreter?
LM: I could be answering these questions for several hours and still have a lot to say. Instead, I would
like to refer the readers of this blog to a presentation of mine at the Polyglot Gathering 2015 in Berlin
where I basically answered them all using numerous examples.
For instance, I explained what an interpreter does when they dont know a particular word (starting at
23:26), how an interpreter writes their notes (13:50), and I provided two quick examples of
consecutive interpreting at the very beginning.
In short, interpreting is a wonderful profession that will give you opportunities to meet interesting
people, learn something new every day, and see things that other people do not normally get to see (see

the examples from my interpreting experience starting at 33:57). But its definitely not something you
could just take on after youve mastered a foreign language or two well. It requires intense
preparation, preferably at a university or a professional interpreting course.
Of course, you can always interpret informally for your friends thats great fun and quite useful too
but in order to do this professionally, you really need to learn some interpreting techniques and
processes in addition to your foreign languages.
FTLOL: What advice would you have for people who might be struggling to learn a foreign
language?
LM: My number one piece of advice, and this is something every single polyglot and successful language
learner will tell you, is: Learn in small bits (15-30 minutes a day), but make sure its every day.
Make sure that what you do with the language is fun for you, and not a dreary study routine. And do
not think that other people have the talent to learn a foreign languages and that you dont. Its
nonsense.
Unfortunately, we are living in a society that promotes a very ineffective way to learn languages (from
textbooks, in a course or school, without ones own input and without much contact with the real
language), and thats why many people falsely believe that learning languages is so difficult, if not
impossible. It absolutely is possible, it can be a highly enjoyable process and it can enrich your life in
ways you havent even imagined. Good luck to you all!
fortheloveoflanguages.com