Language Skills & Learning the Land: Catching Up with Mia
We hope we find you thriving as we reach autumn’s half-way mark. At the time of writing, we’ve swapped last weekend’s unseasonable cold for a week of unseasonable warmth. A northward kink in the jetstream has meant that we’ve traded North Atlantic for Mediterranean weather. Wednesday’s temperature range was 18C-13C and this is forecast to fall only slightly to 16C-10C over the weekend. South-eastern counties of England saw daytime highs above 22C while parts of France had overnight lows above 20C. Higher temperatures mean more airborne moisture and the possibility of significant rainfall so keep an eye on your weather app.
This week, we’re hearing from a new member of the South Ormsby Estate team, Mia Bojen-Taylor. Mia joined the graduate programme in September and is one of the talented young people carrying our vision of sustainable rural commerce into the future.
“I’m really enjoying it,” said Mia. “I’m the newbie and I’m learning quite a lot. I’m from North Lincolnshire, born and bred, and I have German and Danish ancestry. I’m originally from Keelby and I currently live in Louth. I studied French and Spanish at the University of Warwick and I speak those languages fluently plus German and English. Speaking four romance languages to a high level also means I can understand other languages like Dutch, Flemish and Italian.
“Living in the West Midlands for university was definitely an experience. I went from near the Lincolnshire coast to one of the most landlocked parts of the UK. It was well connected to everywhere though, and Stratford does have good coffee shops. I definitely like coffee more than Shakespeare! When I originally started enjoying languages in my younger years, I had my mind set on MI5. But once I got to uni, I saw how many other options there were and how many more things I could do.
“I have been working since I was 14. I had jobs all the way through my studies. During the holidays, I worked at Kenwick Park near Louth as part of the reception team. I met people from all ends of the earth and, surprisingly, I used all my languages. In my final year at uni, I worked at an escape room and did events with them. On one occasion, I went to Manchester to play the part of a secret agent for a corporate group, and I had to stay in character for three hours.
