Interview: Marko Theodore Mravunac
Today, we have the privilege of sitting down with Marko Theodore, a remarkable polyglot and skilled translator who has dedicated his life to the art of language. With a profound passion for words and an unparalleled ability to bridge cultures through translation, Marko is here to share his fascinating journey, insights into the world of multilingualism, cultural tips and the power of communication nowadays.
Photo: Marko Theodore Mravunac
Hello Marko, describe yourself in a few sentences for the Online Language Learning platform , please? Who is Marko Theodore Mravunac?
Hi there! I am a thirty-something translator from Zagreb, Croatia with an MA in English and Portuguese who spends all his money on books, plane tickets, and dog toys, not necessarily in that order. For most of my career so far, my focus has been on audio-visual translation (i.e. creating subtitles for TV shows and movies) and due to the flexibility of the job, I am able to work from anywhere – something I take advantage of it heavily. As of quite recently, I have enrolled into a postgraduate specialist course in conference interpreting (A: Croatian, B: English, C: Spanish).
You speak a decent number of languages. What was your first contact with language learning?
Owing to my family circumstances, I was in a way raised bilingually (English and Croatian), so language played an important part in my life from the very beginning. Because of this, I realised early on the advantages of speaking more than one language, the different ways languages enable us to express ideas, feelings, and thoughts. I also, obnoxiously, loved – and still love – mixing up different languages, words and phrases when I speak. All of this makes up who I am, I can express different parts of me in different languages. This specific situation sparked the love for languages that has turned into a full-on fire, so to speak, in the meantime.
What’s the secret to becoming a polyglot?
I don’t know if there’s a secret and I don’t know if I could be considered a polyglot, but it helps not to quit, it is important to be consistent and have the motivation to continue and not to be discouraged when it gets difficult, which it will. If you’re learning a language, I would assume you are interested in the culture as well, so try immersing yourself, read books, listen to the music in your target language, watch movies, and travel, of course, if you can. If not, there are plenty of online resources and language exchange options so you can still get the real experience. Of course, try setting realistic goals, you won’t become fluent overnight (or maybe ever), but that’s okay, as long as you stick with it. Another factor that might come in handy is maybe dedicating your time and energy to languages that are similar and related because then you already have a certain base and these languages and knowledge build off of each other. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, they’re just opportunities for improvement. And not to get sappy or anything, but the main thing is to love learning and love languages.
Photo: Athens, Marko Theodore Mravunac
In your experience, have you met many Croatian people speaking foreign languages?
Speaking from my personal experience and from what I’ve seen over the years, I would say that the Croats I met do have a certain knack for languages. The reason for this could be, among other things, that being a relatively small country with an "insignificant" official language in the grand scheme of things, we understand that we need to learn other, more prevalent languages for purposes like jobs and career advancement. Being a touristy country, many Croats work with travellers and tourists coming from all over the world and need to be able to communicate with them. Linguistically speaking, and I’m really pulling this out from somewhere deep inside my brain, it's been years since I’ve taken a class, I think that speakers of Croatian have a certain phonetic ability to imitate, for lack of a better word, different tones and accents and can thus better grasp, master, and feel comfortable speaking foreign languages. I will always say that you need a certain “feel” for foreign languages, no matter how banal that might sound, which you either have or you don’t, and I think Croats, overall, have it.
Which languages do you speak and which is the hardest one? And, the easiest?
Apart from Croatian, which is my mother tongue and English, which I basically learned alongside it, I can say that I fluently speak – and work with – two more languages, Portuguese and Spanish. When it comes to other foreign languages, I spent eight years of my life learning German, which I completely lost, at least when it comes to the active usage of it and I learned Italian for three years in high school, forever ago. I also have an on-and-off relationship with French, but things are kind of complicated, we don’t talk about that. I don’t think we can talk about languages in terms of “hard/difficult” and “easy,” since there are so many different factors that this would depend on, like the languages you already speak and which might help you pick up another, similar language more easily. This being said, out of the languages that I speak or interact with, I would say French is definitely the hardest. None of the other languages have ever given me such a hard time as French, its pronunciation is an absolute nightmare – even when I think I know all the rules, there’s always a word, an expression, a liaison I’m unsure about that leaves my mouth feeling dumb, to put it like that. Also, much like with German, I don’t like having to remember the noun gender, I like being able to see what it is from the noun itself. There are also too many tenses, it’s just a complete nightmare, but at the same time, French is, in my opinion, the most beautiful language there is. Another language that is similarly difficult, at least when it comes to pronunciation, reading, and spelling, would be Portuguese. Speaking of “easy” languages, to me that would be English and Spanish. However, it’s unfair to say this because for many people in the world English is dreadful with its weird spelling (you can thank French and The Great Vowel Shift for that), similar looking words, weird, almost intuition-based article usage and so on. It’s easy from my perspective because I started learning it early on in my life. Similarly, and to really oversimplify things, I have to preface this, Spanish is “just” an easier and “simpler” version of Portuguese (sorry!) and having learned Portuguese sooner, I found it relatively easy to learn Spanish really well in a short time (having the best instructor in the world also helped). However, another learner coming from a completely different language background and with different experience than me might say the exact opposite. We don’t even have to go that far, just have a Spanish speaker try learning Portuguese.
Photo: Paris, Marko Theodore Mravunac
Do you have any future language goals?
I have two different sets of future languages goals. One is realistic and practical, while the other one is based on pure love for languages. My realistic goal would be to master Italian and French as they are both languages that I learned or am learning. Also, like Portuguese and Spanish, that I already speak, they are Romance languages as well and it would be easier for me to become fluent enough to be able to work with them in the future. This goal would go hand in hand with my plan to delve more into the world of conference interpreting. Since languages are my job, and not just something I’m passionate about, I have to think practically and pragmatically. As far as the other set of goals goes, I would love to learn Dutch and modern Greek one day. Dutch was a language I wanted to study instead of Portuguese at the university but couldn’t for reasons absolutely out of my control and I have simply never gotten over it. I also love its quirky spelling and pronunciation. As far as Greek goes, I love vacationing in Greece and being able to communicate, at least in some capacity, with the locals is always pleasant. Plus, I just love the way it sounds. I also love when languages use different alphabets, so that’s a bonus. Ironically, at least at the moment, for whatever reason, I have no great interest in learning more far-off languages (from my perspective) like Korean, Chinese, Japanese, or Arabic, Farsi, and Swahili, I am still rather oriented towards European languages, but maybe it’s just fear of the unknown (or the known fact of how hard those languages really are) and I just need to take the leap? Maybe when I retire one day and have more time…
Do you have a favourite language-learning quote or joke?
I’m not big on jokes, I actually can’t stand people telling jokes at gatherings but here’s a Portuguese one: “Diz um peixe para o outro: ‘O que faz o teu pai? -Nada.’” Don’t know what this means? Better learn some Portuguese then.
Photo: Andros, Marko Theodore Mravunac
Do you have any good advice for Erasmus students coming to Croatia? What to expect?
I think anyone embarking on an Erasmus-related adventure is already a spirited individual ready for just about anything. In Croatia, you can expect a relatively favourable climate, small enough cities that are walkable with plenty (but not too many) activities, depending on the time of the year. Coming as a student, you’ll find a great community of students, both international and local, ready to help you out and give you tips on what to do, where to go, what to eat, which places to visit and so on… And there’s also a great expat community with tips of their own (I believe they have a Facebook group as well) that can help you out if needed. Plus, you can always learn at least the basics of Croatian and have that be that one random fun fact about you for the rest of your life.
Did you have an Erasmus experience? If so, what was it like? If not, do you regret it?
I spent my last ever semester before graduating in Porto (Portugal) at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FLUP – Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto) and it was an unforgettable experience. It was six months of making friends, learning Portuguese (although, ironically, Porto is where I mastered Spanish, oops), travelling all over Portugal (and Europe), hosting friends and family and showing them around amazing Portuguese towns, working on my MA theses, taking classes I couldn’t take at home, networking, eating Portuguese custard pies (better known as pastel de nata) all day every day, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s no better way of becoming fluent than having to explain to your landlord why the TV is broken (avariado, not quebrado), why the electricity bill is so high and how come your bedroom is flooded. I would recommend everyone who has the chance and the means to apply and take advantage of this opportunity, especially if you’re a foreign language major, because you will lose nothing and gain everything.
Photo: Santorini, Marko Theodore Mravunac
You are a passionate traveller; can you share with us your favourite European destinations?
It would be easier to tell you which aren’t. Europe has the privilege of being small enough that everything is a two-hour flight away, but also diverse enough that there’s something for everyone. Some of my favourite European cities in no particular order are Paris, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Belgrade, the whole of Italy is stunning, island hopping in Greece will leave you breathless, Malta is such a gem, especially for language lovers, Belgium with its picture-perfect cities and towns like Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent should not be missed. I mean, I could go on forever! You might notice I am not mentioning Scandinavian and Slavic countries like Czechia and Poland, but that’s just because those parts are still unknown to me! However, I am sure that wherever you go in Europe, you won’t regret it, I promise.
If you didn’t live in Croatia, in which European country would you live and why?
While I was in high-school, I was obsessed with the UK, London in particular, and dreamed of my future life there, but while the love is still there, having travelled quite a bit, I’ve fallen in love with one too many places. You all know the “Should I move here?” meme! Nowadays, if I were to move to another European country, the choice would probably come to Portugal and Belgium. As a Portuguese major, I adore all things Portuguese and would love to speak the language every day, have more Portuguese friends and just feel like one the locals. I do plan on moving to Portugal one day, but not just yet. Belgium is every polyglot’s dream come true, I think, with its multiculturalism and three official languages and pretty much the entire EU in Brussels. And I can’t forget frites and waffles.
Photo: Bruxelles, Marko Theodore Mravunac
What is your favourite European dish? And spot?
This is a tough one, but, so as not to repeat myself, I will say it’s the Portuguese pão de deus, quite literally the bread of God. It is a type of sweet bread, a soft brioche with a coconut topping. You can eat it for breakfast, but I just eat it all the time. If you’d rather have something savoury, no problem, just put some cheese and ham in it and you’re good to go. It might not sound like it, but I promise it’s quite tasty, and the best place to get them is A Padaria Portuguesa. As for my favourite spot, let’s say Piazza Bellini in Naples. There’s a café at the far north side of the square. Give me an interesting book and I’m good. Or sitting inside La Terrasse de Madame in Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris on a rainy November day with chocolate chaud (and a good book). Oh, and the Ka Kantun café in Split, Croatia with great coffee and tasty croissants. Or just getting a dozen pastéis de nata at the Manteigaria in Lisbon and continuing up to the Santa Katarina viewpoint for a nice glass of red wine. I should stop now; I can’t give away all my favourite spots.
When did you know you would work in the language field? Tell us a little bit about what you do.
For most of my career my primary focus has been audio-visual translation. I regularly work on translating movies and TV shows and my work includes both creating timed subtitles or templates as well as providing the actual translations. The work is challenging as you are constantly constricted in terms of number of characters per line and subtitle duration, meaning you can almost never translate things as they are, but you have to think of ways to say it in fewer characters, while not losing any of the message that is trying to be conveyed and keeping to grammar and language standards of your target language. Don’t even get me started on translating puns and jokes! I will often come across criticism from people watching subtitled materials saying translators do a poor job and are sloppy, but the thing is, with our working conditions, in terms of what is expected from us in a single working day in relation to what the financial compensation is, cut us some slack. We’re not sloppy, we’re not uneducated, we’re overworked and underpaid, and we are definitely not “just watching TV all day long”. Apart from AV translation, I also dabble in literary translation (something I would love to do more of) and do a lot of translations for various NGOs and just causes important to me in general. In the (very) near future, I am hoping to get into simultaneous and conference translating more seriously.
Photo: Thessaloniki, Marko Theodore Mravunac
If somebody wants to learn Croatian, what are your recommendations?
Honestly, good luck! As a native Croatian speaker, I have no idea how other people learn this complicated language with seven cases, declensions, three genders, verb conjugations, the added letters of the alphabet (and the corresponding sounds), and what not. I am sure that the same could be said for any other language, but having acquired Croatian naturally, it just seems to me that all other languages I speak just make more sense, to put it bluntly, but I am also looking at them from the learner’s point of view, as opposed to my perspective on Croatian. However, I am sure there are some really good instructors that will sort you out in no time and, unlike me, actually know how to guide you.
You are a passionate book-lover. Can you recommend us some must-reads? Any Croatian author an Erasmus students should know about?
As an English major and a devoted reader, I have read a lot of good books, but I will use this opportunity to mention some of the newer releases and some of the writers I like to read nowadays, both foreign and Croatian because I am sure we’re all aware of the classics. Off the top of my head, I can mention Louis Édouard, a wonderful young French writer, Hanya Yanagihara, an American writer known for her masterpiece “A Little Life” (but do check the trigger warnings), Pajtim Statovci (“Bolla”), a Kosovo-born writer living in Finland and writing in Finnish, Rebecca F. Kuang and Ottesa Moshfegh, both wonderfully “crazy” each in their own way. Kuangs novel “Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution” is every translator’s dream come true. As for Croatian authors, I can whole-heartedly recommend Dino Pešut, an amazing young writer from Sisak with his two novels “Poderana koljena” and “Tatin Sin” (the latter should be available in English soon as “Daddy Issues,” if I’m not mistaken). Kristian Novak is another great author to keep an eye for with three successful novels and a new one coming very soon (one of his novels, “Črna mati zemla” has been translated into English as “Dark Mother Earth” and is already available). A very prolific author with relatable novels is Marina Vujčić, whose works have been translated into many European languages and who keeps receiving praise (I adored “Fifty Cigarettes for Elena”). For some poetry, if you’re done with novels, I can recommend the brilliant young poet Lara Mitraković with her personal and prose-like poems that manage to catch that je ne sais quoi and pull you in immediately.
Photo: Rio de Janeiro, Marko Theodore Mravunac
We know you love cool urban spots. Which are your favourites, what not to miss in Zagreb?
In the last few years Zagreb has improved when it comes to cool spots around the city, whether you want to have a bite to eat, grab some coffee and do some work or hang out with friends and have some drinks. At any point you can find me in Luta, a specialty coffee shop and café ran by a really good team, Filteraj, another café that is based on zero waste and sustainability with divine vegan deserts. Salo, Bread Club, Korica and Boogie Lab are all amazing (craft) bakeries and bistros for any time of day and with various tasty food options. For cool cocktails and drinks with a great view go to A’e (just bear in mind it’s a bit of a hike to get there). On your way there, you can stop at Melt for one of the best ice creams in Zagreb. Cogito cafés that can be found around town are perfect for doing some work. I also have to mention Botaničar and Café U Dvorištu, good for both working and hanging out, and really close to the Zagreb Botanical Garden. In the summer months, there are various festivals going on and you can always catch a movie at the outdoor cinema in Tuškanac, it’s an amazing experience. Just bring a jacket or a blanket, it gets quite cold at night.
What’s the best place you would absolutely recommend to Erasmus students in Croatia to visit and why?
My friends will laugh at me, but I’m not even sorry – it’s Split, Croatia’s 2nd largest city situated on the Adriatic coast. It would be easy to go with one of the national parks (like Plitvice Lakes) or a specific island (Mljet), a quaint little town in Istria (Grožnjan), but in my opinion, Split simply has everything you might need and will want to see: ancient ruins, cool restaurants and cafés, beautiful beaches, several islands on your disposal, some might say the most beautiful Croatia has to offer, with boats and ships running around the clock. Split’s biggest advantage is Marjan, a hill attached to the city’s oldest neighbourhood, with dense Mediterranean pine forest, walking paths and hidden and not-so-hidden beaches, bays and alcoves. Split is my go-to destination for summers I spend in Croatia.
One thing you love about Croatia is…?
Is saying its location and proximity to major European cities the wrong answer? It is big enough that you don’t feel cramped and there are plenty of beautiful nature sights to see, but it’s also small enough that most locations are never too far away, which is ideal for day trips and visiting friends that might live in other parts of the country. The people are also known for pulling through when something bad happens.
Photo: Zagreb, Marko Theodore Mravunac
What's your favourite Croatian song? And dish?
I’m not huge on Croatian performers and music (or music in general, for that matter), so I could never commit to a “favourite Croatian song” but I like music by Massimo Savić, who sadly passed away last year, I like the band Hladno Pivo, TBF, Vojko V, Psihomodo Pop, Azra, and Petar Grašo (sorry not sorry). I’m sure there’s all these hip kids nowadays making great music, but I can’t help you with it, unfortunately. As for the dish, on the other hand, there’s plenty to choose from. I like all things sea food, savoury foods, desserts, but to be specific, I could point out two things, the first would be “soparnik”, a pie-like (pizza-like?) dish with a filling of Swiss chard, garlic, salt, and olive oil sandwiched between two sheets of very thinly rolled dough. Regarding desserts, I love “knedle sa šljivama” (plum dumplings) made from potato dough and filled with sweet plums, cooked and rolled in breadcrumbs and served with sugar. I’d rather die than eat the plum though.
And book shop?
My favourite bookstore in Zagreb is the former Algoritam, now Znanje, near the main square, as they have the largest selection of books (and stationary) in general and specialise in books in foreign languages (mostly English). I don’t know who gets to decide which books to order, but they are doing a good job, let me tell you. Another cool spot is Fraktura with its wall to wall and floor to ceiling bookshelves perfect for your Instagram feed! As a publishing house, they also publish most Croatian authors and publish some of the most popular books in Croatian translation, so if you’re a hopeful learner of Croatian and are looking for a book you could read, that’s a good place to go. Unfortunately, that is more or less it, in my opinion of course. Unlike other major European (and world cities), Zagreb is seriously lacking when it comes to (indie) bookstores, quirky spaces and cool bookish hangout spots, something I would love to change in the future with a bookstore of my own. I will cheekily use this opportunity to mention some of my favourite bookstores that I urge you to visit if you’re ever nearby: Livraria Lello in Porto (especially for Harry Potter lovers, but also just in general), Livraria Bertrand in Lisbon (the oldest in the world?), Librairie Galignani in Paris (I won’t mention the most obvious answer but go there as well, of course!), Gay’s the Word in London (for those LGBTQAIP+ recs), Atlantis Books in Oia, on Santorini, Greece and for good measure, even though it’s nowhere near Europe, El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, your wildest bookish dreams will come true, trust me.
Photo: Zagreb, Marko Theodore Mravunac
And for the end, your favorite Croatian word, expression or phrase?
There’s a lot of juicy ones, but I’ll try to keep it PG. Something characteristic for Zagreb, where I was born and where I live is “fakat” meaning “really” or “that’s right,” just stick it anywhere in the sentence. Another one-word phrase more characteristic for the coastal area of Croatia is “pomalo” meaning “take it easy”, “don’t fret about it”, “why the rush?” It’s a state of mind that I would love to achieve. And I’ll finish with a phrase zoomers might say is cringe-y,, it’s: “Tko to more platit’?”, literally translated as “Who can pay for this?”. It’s a rhetorical question, of course, used in situations when one is moved by the experience. Who can pay for this? No one, happiness cannot be bought, this thing you’re feeling, it’s not for sale, even if it’s just watching the sunset while having an overpriced drink that you’re definitely paying for.
Thank you for your time, Marko. Puno hvala i sretno! :)
Loreta, OLS Community Manager – Croatian