Teona Sima, a third-year student at AUBG, also known as The Language Blondie was awarded “Influencer Star” in North Macedonia for the impact she had in 2023 with her social media account. Through this account on Instagram and TikTok, Teona is teaching people to speak different languages and be open for other cultures while sharing insights about them.
Macedonian. Bulgarian. Greek. English. Serbian. Turkish. French. Spanish.
Explore the story of The Language Blondie who will impress you with her sense of humor and inspire you to explore the cultures around you in all of these languages.
Majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication and Psychology, Teona is a vibrant and outgoing individual who thrives on connecting with others. Her passion for sports, love of learning new languages, and a zest for trying new things define her at the core. She started her AUBG life as a member of Olympics and TEDxAUBG student clubs. Later on, she became a Skapto 2 resident assistant and the host of the AUBG Office Hours podcast where she interviews professors.
Teona and AUBG
Teona’s journey at AUBG has been nothing short of fulfilling. From the moment she enrolled, she committed to seizing every opportunity for personal and intellectual growth. Engaging in events like the Olympics and TEDxAUBG, she also took on roles as an R.A. and podcast host, shaping a holistic experience that she cherishes. AUBG’s diverse campus played a pivotal role in Teona’s journey, providing a unique environment with numerous nationalities and languages, contributing to her success.
“I just wanted to use everything that this place has to give me and see what it makes of me. And so far, I’m happy with what it has made of me.”
In her second year of studies, Teona joined the newly-created AUBG Office Hours Podcast where she talked to her professors about the life inside and outside of the classroom.
In one of her interviews she actually practiced her accents with professor Karpouzanov.
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Teona: The Language Blondie
Teona’s journey into becoming “The Language Blondie” began when she met a Turkish referee named Sinem during a basketball championship in the summer of 2022. Impressed by Teona’s proficiency in Turkish and multiple languages, Sinem encouraged her to share this unique talent. During the academic year, Teona thought of ways in turning this into reality, and finally, in June 2023, she created the account. Six months later, The Language Blondie has over 700,000 followers, fostering a global community where Teona offers language lessons, advice, and cultural insights.
Teona recalls the genesis of her TikTok account, saying, “I thought to myself ‘you know what? Maybe I will try’. Maybe I’ll create an account in which I will post videos with every single language and I will learn phrases that way. And I would teach people phrases that way and I would give advice. That was the plan. So I sat down and I thought of the name. I created the logo. Today there are more than a million followers on both platforms – Instagram and TikTok, which is just insane and overwhelming and beautiful and lovely.”
This success brought her the award “Influencer Star” in North Macedonia during the fifth U&Z Influencer Awards, organized by the Beauty and Health magazine.
She emphasizes the impact of AUBG’s diversity on her content creation.
“The diversity on campus definitely was a plus. I’m so blessed to be at AUBG and have the opportunity to talk to so many different people in so many different languages. It’s a luxury that not many people have, not even many universities have.”
Coming back on campus after the break, Teona got inspired to do a quick challenge of quickly switching between languages. The video reached over 45 millions views on both platforms:
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Future plans
Reflecting on her rapid success, Teona acknowledges the impact she has as an influencer. While she humbly attributes the platform’s growth to faith, she embraces the responsibility that comes with influencing others. With her videos, she not only teaches people how to cover language basics, but also she also leads with compassion while promoting understanding towards different cultures.
Teona is looking forward to creating more content and expanding the variety of topics she works on. “In the future, I would definitely make sure to give more advice and and make people learn new phrases in all the languages that I speak. And I will learn new languages. Like this, The Language Blondie will not only make the Language Blondie’s followers learn languages, but it will also challenge me to learn new languages.”
“So all of us grow with my account. All of us learn new things and learn new things about ourselves.”
“I hope I continue that way, and in the future, I plan to be way more active and do some fun, crazy stuff like imitating celebrities and including languages that I haven’t before. We have a long way to go. I haven’t even started with all the content that I plan to make. So stay tuned for more!”
@thelanguageblondie
