I used to believe that language barriers were just a social construct. An invention of the unadventurous. A non-issue because life is beautiful and “language is diversity” and everything you really need to say can be expressed with you eyes . . . Bullshit. That ...Read More

I went to Naples three years ago, for three hours, and couldn’t wait to catch the train back to Rome. I returned to Naples this December, for three days this time, and fell deeply in like—dare I say love?—with the city. This tells me ...Read More

We travel with our five senses; we’ve all heard that before. And there’s no denying it: We absorb the smells and flavors of the country’s cuisine, the shouts and bartering in the marketplaces; perhaps the brightest colors we’ve ever laid eyes on. But I’d ...Read More

Bla Bla Car. /blɑ blɑ cɑːr/  Proper noun. A ride-share site popular in Europe. Designed to get you from point A to point B, as long as you know how to say that point B in a shared language.   Here is what I, a ...Read More

Privilege. /ˈpɹɪ.vl̩.ədʒ/ n. An advantage, often life-changing, available to certain groups and not to others. These past few months in the cosmopolitan city of Barcelona have caused me to reflect more deeply on what I’ve come to see as my greatest privilege abroad. The fact that ...Read More

Idioms. /ˈɪ.di.əmz/ n. Those little phrases specific to a language whose meaning is not merely the sum of its parts. Such as, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” which literally no native English speaker ever says, so can we please stop teaching that in ESL ...Read More

ベスデス BesuDesu /bɛsuːdɛsuː / n. Language: Japanese. Meaning: 1. A girl with an insatiable desire to travel the world and experience cultures different from her own (whose interview you’re about to read). 2. A Japanophile. 3. Like a Pokémon or… something. Literally translates to “(I) am ...Read More