How languages changed my life:
From a young age, I have always been surrounded by different cultures and languages. My mum is Japanese, so we spent every summer in the Japanese countryside, surrounded by beautiful forests and lakes, eating fresh soba noodles every day.
I also have family in Spain, so every Christmas, we would visit and indulge in paella and turrón (Spanish Christmas chocolate) for our Christmas Eve meal!
I have always loved visiting these two countries, but I often felt a sense of dissatisfaction and distance because I couldn’t fully experience each country to its fullest potential. That’s when I realized I wanted to learn languages to change my life.
My journey with languages
At school, I studied Mandarin and Spanish and spoke informal Japanese with my mum. But it wasn’t until after I left school that languages truly changed my life. I decided to take a gap year to figure out what I wanted to study at university.
I travelled around Nicaragua, Mexico, and Costa Rica with my best friend—it was one of the best experiences of my life. Something I found interesting was that when I told people I was going to Nicaragua, many would reply, “Where’s that?” or “I’ve never heard of that.” Hearing this only made me more excited to visit and experience the culture and language first hand, something so different from what I was used
to!
While traveling, I met so many amazing locals who showed me around and gave me a real glimpse into the culture and lifestyle of their beautiful country. Without languages, I wouldn’t have been able to have these incredible, authentic experiences
Progressing to University
After my gap year, I felt a real drive and hunger to learn more languages. I decided to study Japanese along with Spanish—I already had a foundation in both, but I couldn’t wait to take it to the next level!
During my third year at university, I studied at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan and that’s when I knew I had made the right decision to pursue languages. The people, the food, the culture, the history—I was amazed that my passion for learning about different
languages and cultures had led me to this opportunity.
Whilst I loved traveling around and doing the typical tourist routes, my favourite part was talking to the locals, asking someone for directions rather than searching on my phone, and having day-to-day conversations with Japanese people, learning from their lived experiences.
Planning ahead for a career
I finished graduated from Newcastle University in 2025 and following volunteering for work experience with the Festival of Languages (social media posting and supporting the Experience Japan workshops), I secured a job in marketing with the BBC.
I hope to use my language and intercultural skills in my chosen career of marketing, using my languages to connect and communicate with diverse audiences, as well as to continue traveling and exploring the world. Languages have definitely changed my life.
Nadine Wilson
- Growth Marketing Co-ordinator at the BBC
