Gillian Szemeti is a language and technology enthusiast. She is a big fan of her Accio apps and knows a good app when she sees one. We asked Gillian some questions about her language usage and favorite Accio products. We had a great time getting to know her!

Accio: Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do, and where do you live?

Gillian: I am a systems analyst and live in small village near Milton Keynes, UK.

Accio: How do you use language in your daily life?

Gillian: I write emails to friends, read emails from friends, and read multiple magazines. I am taking an Italian class in the evenings once per week and I use those skills when I visit Italy once per month.

Accio: Which Accio apps do you use, and how do you use them?

Gillian: I use the Italian-English dictionary every day. It is much quicker than a paper dictionary. It even points you to the right verb if you enter the conjugated form. It shows the gender of nouns, which is essential in Italian. It shows the context in which words can be used too. In class I compete my work long before the others using this dictionary and it keeps history so I don’t forget what I’ve learned. I have not found any other app as good as Accio, though I have tried many others.

Accio: If you had more free time, is there another language you want to master?

Gillian: A few languages -  French, German, Spanish and Greek.

We’d like to thank Gillian for answering questions for us and telling us all about her language learning endeavors. If you are interested in sharing your Accio story with us, let us know by e-mailing us at contact@accioapps.com.

This one’s for you, study abroad-ers! We asked some of our team here at Accio to talk about their study or work abroad experiences and brought back the comments to share with you!

What you’ll find: Tips, advice, and surprising stories about travel, culture, and language experiences abroad from Bill, our support guy, and Kelsey, a marketing intern!

Tell us the details about your trips!

Bill: I lived and worked in Brussels, Belgium for 3 months with my family. During this time, I traveled around Belgium and visited London, Paris, Amsterdam. I also went to Spain a couple of times on separate trips.   

Kelsey: I traveled to New Zealand for about 6 months in the fall of 2010. I was at the University of Otago in Dunedin, which is on the South Island of New Zealand (which is also the best island, by the way). I traveled almost all of the South Island and parts of the North Island while there. I also took a very brief holiday to Thailand.

What was one thing you wish you knew before leaving?

Bill: I wish I’d known how isolating it would feel to be immersed in two languages I knew almost nothing about (French and Flemish). I could recognize a few words, but had to work hard to have even the most basic conversations with people.

Kelsey: I wish I would’ve researched the weather better! I knew that it would be somewhat chilly where I studied in New Zealand, but I neglected to find the fact that no one there had central heating until I got there! There is a big difference when it’s around freezing and you have absolutely no heat and not much for insulation in the house than here in the U.S. where at least when you’re inside you are toasty warm. Some days it felt colder inside than outside, which was bizarre for me especially being from Minnesota.

What tips do you have for other students who are or will be studying abroad?

Bill: Speak the local language as much as you can. Try even if you’re terrible at it and don’t be shy! Watch tv to learn common phrases and slang so you can talk with native speakers. Remember that you can also use your hands, face, and body to communicate. If you can’t master a language, learn the basic polite phrases (please, thank you, I’m sorry, etc.) and the basic questions that will get you by (and potential answers to the questions). 

Kelsey: Branch out and take some risks! It’s great to study abroad with your friends and hang out with other Americans, but my favorite (and most rewarding) experiences are the times where I stepped out of my comfort zone and befriended the “locals”. You learn a lot more hanging out with the locals than just with your friends from back home. Of course, it’s a balance, it’s hard not to get homesick at times when you tell someone proudly you’re from Minnesota and they ask if that’s next to Oklahoma… So that other support system is always nice too.

Did others speak a different language? If so, how did you communicate?

Bill: Yes, I was in a multilingual workplace, but everyone spoke at least 3 languages, including English, so communicating at work wasn’t hard. Outside of work I learned how to order food, ask for directions, catch a taxi, etc. Plus I quickly learned how to ask if the other person spoke English, apologizing for not knowing their language.

Kelsey: No, but it felt like it! The New Zealand (or Kiwi, as New Zealanders are called) accent is very strong, mumbled instead of enunciated, and usually thrown in with a half a dozen colloquial slang words that were not intuitive to me.

New Zealand also has some pretty cool cultural origins. The original inhabitants, the Maori, are still a very big part of the New Zealand culture despite the whole becoming a British colony bit. Maori words like “Aotearoa” (New Zealand), “Kia Ora” (hello), and a lot of other Maori terms for plants, animals and places were used interchangeably with New Zealand English. So communicating in New Zealand was some combination of learning to listen very carefully to different accents, grasping the meaning of slang words, and trying to gain a basic understanding of Maori culture. 

Going to a magical and foreign land for Spring Break?

Want to pretend you are?

We don’t want you to miss out on that gem of a restaurant or perfect beach just because you can’t remember the translated words for it. 

So, starting today we’re taking between 20-60% off a few of our most Spring Break worthy apps to help you get on your way. Have a relaxing break and let us take care of the translating. 

Our Spanish-English packs, dictionaries and phrasebooks with useful words, audio translations, phrases and more are UP TO 33% off. Our Portuguese-English apps are all AT LEAST 40% off.

The sale is good from March 19 through March 25 in the iTunes store. 

Here’s a little sample of some classic spring break phrases you could look up with the Accio packs. If you’re going to Mexico, Central America, South America, or just anywhere they speak a bit of Spanish or Portuguese you may need to know how to say:

“I would like a beer, please” 
Spanish: “Me gustaría una cerveza, por favor.”
Portuguese: “Eu gostaria de uma cerveja, por favor.”

“Where is the beach?”
Spanish: “¿Dónde está playa?”
Portuguese: “Onde fica margem?

“Can you recommend a good restaurant?” 
Spanish: “¿Me puede reconmendar un buen restaurante?”
Portuguese: “Você pode recomendar um bom restaurante?”

Tweet about this sweet deal and tell us @accioapps where you’re going for spring break! Bon voyage from Accio.