S2 E7: Owning Your Accent, an interview with Barbara Czusz

Today's interview is with Barbara Czusz of @babs.speaks. Barbara is a language lover whose biggest love is the Finnish language. She created her studygram (previously @yoffelanguages) to meet others who share her passion. Besides that, she is a language coach who helps learners create structure and a good plan for their studies. She believes that everyone can learn a language and there is no such thing as “talent for languages.” When she is not talking about languages, you can usually find her with a cup of coffee and a good book in hand.

Today we talk about how sometimes inspiration for learning a language is random and that’s okay. We chat about setting boundaries and surrounding ourselves by supportive people as well as ask why we think of accents as so bad. After all, everyone has one. We go into not liking how we sound in a language – not that we have any solutions, but it’s a thing and we talk about it.

And as you listen I would like you to consider, what’s your stance on accents? Which do you think is more important, accent reduction or improving pronunciation? Or do you find each equally important or unimportant?

As always, reach out to me on Instagram @shhh_imlearning to let me know what you thought about the show, and consider buying me a coffee if you want to see me continuously improve my content and better serve YOU. A little goes a long way. :)