As a General Linguistics major at the University of Helsinki, Andrei Călin Dumitrescu didn’t disappoint when asked how many languages he could fluently speak: eight (Romanian, English, Finnish, German, Spanish, Esperanto, French and Russian) and counting. Andrei’s fascination with languages already began as a child in Romania, where he grew up learning German and English at school and was surrounded by an array of multilingual books like Astérix le Gaulois at home. With a natural curiosity for language construction and etymology, Andrei recalls writing to his aunt using an alphabet of his own invention as a young boy, and his delight at her writing back using the key he had supplied; this partially explains his intrigue with learning Esperanto, the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language in the world, which led to his current position as chairman of the Finnish Esperanto Youth Association (FEJO).
For Andrei, studying and mastering languages bring him closer to understanding how other people think, because languages, with all their complexities and richness, reflect the nuances in our differing perceptions of the world. Our thoughts are shaped by the way we use language, and like the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once said: “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Andrei, however, emphasises that it is in fact a two-way street – we are also actively moulding language. Being aware of the power we have in determining the fate of languages is in tune with his dream of one day researching and actively campaigning for the conservation of endangered languages, which according to the Endangered Languages project website, consist of 40% of all languages.
At the moment Andrei is preparing to teach a few beginners’ courses in Spanish, Romanian and Esperanto at Taidetöölö in addition to attending classes at the university. For those wondering whether it’s ever too late to pick up a new language, Andrei believes nothing is impossible, as long as you are motivated and open to plenty of reading and opportunities to sharpen your oral communication skills. For the latter he highly recommends the ‘Weekly Language Café’ at Café Mascot (Neljäs linja 2, every Monday at 7pm), where you can practice anything from Finnish to Japanese with other people in a laidback and friendly environment and where you can often find Andrei himself, no doubt fluently conversing in yet another new language.