Chaimae MaananeHello everyone or “Sveiki visiem (in Latvian)!
My name is Diana, I am 23 years old and I have been a SPEAK Lisbon intern from Latvia since September 2015. I studied Business Management in Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences in Latvia, and after graduating I decided to take a challenge and do an Erasmus+ internship to improve my skills, and maybe even change my life.
Why Portugal? Why Lisbon?
It all started 2 years ago when two of my friends went to Lisbon for their Erasmus internship during summertime. Meanwhile I took mine in Spain, on a wild and beautiful island called Menorca. Guess who had a better time and experience? Of course my friends did, those who came to Lisbon, and that’s the reason why I am here, and so far I have loved Lisbon and SPEAK. And as everyone else here I could also say that I’m in love with this city, the weather, the people and the Pastel de Nata as well.
I found SPEAK via “Placement in Portugal”, which helps students and graduates find a suitable internship in Portugal. I started to look for the internship in July 2015, and 2 months later, I was already here – in sunny Lisbon working together with the best team I have ever had and helping migrants and refugees integrate into Portuguese society. I found SPEAK so interesting because it is all about helping people learn different languages and cultures.
Probably some
of you know that a typical Latvian is dissatisfied about everything, no smile on his or her face, always complaining, being shy, etc., and that was me – here in Lisbon, not smiling, being sad and shy all the time. However, believe me, SPEAK has changed my life. After the first months here my personality has completely changed, and I can give a big thanks to my super SPEAK team and the people I have met during the project and at SPEAK events. I have met different people of different nationalities and cultures, with so many different life stories. SPEAK has the power to bring all those people together and build new friendship ties, break language barriers, have fun at the SPEAK events, and that’s why I love SPEAK so much and I am so passionate about this project!
In SPEAK I work as an Ambassador manager – the link and contact person between the SPEAK team and the community. I help SPEAK Ambassadors organise events, I keep in touch with them and I assist in every way I can so that they don’t feel alone in the community. Simultaneously I have to check if everything is going smoothly in the SPEAK communities and I am pretty sure that everybody will like the things I am involved into. Overall, basically, it’s all about being a friend to a SPEAK Ambassador.
If now you are serious about the Ambassadors Program, give a quick look here and find out more about the tasks and benefits of being a SPEAK Ambassador.
My SPEAK experience has been not only about working here but also about learning new languages. Last trimester I attended Portuguese and Japanese classes, and there are only positive things that I can say about the language courses themselves, the teachers, the classmates and the cultural events as well.
So far, this has been the best period of my life. I have learned so many things not only in the work environment but in life as well.
Join our team and SHARE YOUR WORLD.
