Spanish · French · English
A Logophile’s Journey From Home.
Fluency in English or French should be water under the bridge. Across seas and oceans, I aim to bridge the gap among cultures, coaching learners into comfortably expressing themselves in parts of Europe and North America while retaining their heritage. Why not put our hard-earned skills into practice through cooking, too?
I offer practical language coaching, shaped around your goals, appetite, cultural and polyglottal desires.
About
Following years of work in the food/hospitality industry as a seasonal employee, I've decided to use this foundation towards a career that involves coaching, content creation, and freelancing.
I've been trilingual throughout adulthood, yet learning a language has never gotten easier; I'm challenged to learn Italian, and all of the obstacles I've faced and overcome are haunting me once more.
With that being said, this is the sort of experience that I hope learners will find useful, for I understand all too well how difficult it is to reach fluency in a foreign tongue.
Perhaps it's best to approach this endeavor optimistically!
We've all experienced hunger, and it’s more exciting to talk about what our next meals will be than ramble about the pain of an empty stomach.
Concretely, I seek to demonstrate how much one can learn about culture and language when the focus is placed first into what goes into our mouths—rather than what comes out.
Why work with me
Food for thoughts: how about we gather around a table, speak our minds, and share our erudite gluttony?
€39/hour for a private session shaped around how you want to communicate—re-empowered.
I'm particularly equipped to coach Latin American learners who have acquired a solid foundation in English or French while assisting them in making “the jump” to greater fluency through smoother communication and personalized practice. Everyone is welcomed, of course; as a Venezuelan-born Spanish speaker, however, I can relate from a cultural standpoint.
Conveying information beyond expectations is possible if one is careful when considering meaning, tone, context and intention. Indeed, translating words isn’t nearly enough to express one’s thoughts accurately—one ought to take pleasure in squeezing out the essential significance of what’s being said, and I can certainly be helpful here.
Wittiness aside, I propose that we get to know languages from the inside out; stimulating conversations aimed at improving your ability to communicate, discussing nuance, idioms, humor, difficult expressions, and colloquial references. You’ll be delighted by how improvisation can jumpstart training!
Along with fluency comes a reality that is oftentimes difficult to navigate when we find ourselves unprepared for the emotional hurdles that surround a language; opening up and just talking about it often helps. I’m prepared to keep us focused on sharpening your linguistic knives so that you may cut through any doubts as you go about soothing the heart.
Coaching
Hesitation can stall the progress you have worked hard to make. If you want to speak, think, cook, laugh and bathe in English or French, I will match your willingness to improve with equal attention, shaping our conversations and practice around the way you want to communicate. Together, we will turn what you know into language you can "live" in.
Flying coach provides an all-time high—and if you dare dream it, I’ll coach you to be fly as you reach new heights.
Grab ’em by the horns
Develop a more natural way of speaking through rhythmic interactions. We will aim to sound correct while keeping "sound" authentic to yourself.
Flip ’em on their heads
Culinary etiquette calls for a rich vocabulary of actions, textures, techniques and sensations. Our practice will yield clearer descriptions, more precise verbs and confident explanations.
Tame the beasts
Discover how tonal moods shift from one language to another. Imagine us dabbling in bilingual poetry mixing Frenglish & Anglench.
“How does one describe a dish from home in English or French without losing touch with one's birthplace's influence?”
A family’s heirloom recipe; a regional ingredient. Occasions in which said dish is served, and all the memories deserving of a place in the telling. Traditions. Heritage. Learners help define what they want to communicate, based on what's intricately theirs, and go about identifying where their current method of expression falls short.
Descriptions using the English or French already in your possession, drawing on your personal experiences when useful, will make identifying expressions worth keeping that much easier; uncertain translations and meanings receive closer attention.
By reshaping an explanation, for example, reconnecting new language to something you understand intimately could become second nature. Indeed, your inner knowledge will lead us.
Explanations provide a purpose; a curious friend may want the story behind those slurpy noodles you made the other night, while a restaurant guest may wish to understand its components and preparation a bit better—a colleague may require a heads-up before gulping that bowl of spicy ramen. The meeting between what we consume, and how it's come to present itself that way, borders on lyrical musicality. We'll be attuned to food descriptions.
Consider this: we find ourselves deep in the middle of a negotiation, where you're encouraged to challenge any given interpretation; you'll ask for clarification, a distinction or a justification as to why a familiar comparison feels inadequate. As a form of role-play, you'll act the lead generator and I'll be the closer. We try alternatives and scrutinize their effects: which description is clearer, sounds more natural, and preserves the details we'd care about?
Language pairs well with food because the former imposes limitations rather abruptly; once we've genuinely acknowledged that we don't understand what someone is saying, we quickly convince ourselves that we can't. However, the latter offers no such impositions—food breaks down the walls since there isn't an edible thing out there we feel we're unable to understand.
A meal is the great leveler.
In the end, can you introduce a homemade dish to someone unfamiliar with its ingredients, answer unexpected questions about it, and recover when a word escapes you? Could you carry the same skills—describing, comparing, clarifying and explaining a sequence—into a conversation about work, travel or another part of your life?
You've got to really want to learn, improve, and give this experience your best shot.
My job will be to coach you along the way.
Culture · cuisine
Being at a loss for words over a scrumptious meal creates a delicious awkwardness, sure, but I’m here to assist you in retrieving them. If you find yourself drooling over the prospect of multilingual prowess, allow me to offer up a tissue before words start falling out of your mouth and you lose them anew.
Viva Leoncio paves the way to a peculiarly cultural and culinary destination, one that rewards your hard-earned, flavorful lingual dexterity.
By exploring cookbooks, markets, restaurants and stories worldwide, we put our abilities to good use: reading instructions, asking questions, describing tastes and techniques, and learning the customs that give meals and idioms their meaning.
Interested?
Private 1:1 coaching starts at €39/hour. You can find me through the platforms below, or contact me directly.
Platforms
The exact profile links will be added when each account is live.
Or email me directly →
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