Q: Hello everyone and welcome to Podcast Italiano. Today's is a very special video because we have Erika after I don't know how long in a video that is not a vlog. E: Yes, that's right. Hello to all. Q: And do you want to explain the reason for your appearance, your return here on the YouTube channel? E: Yes, in a few days, exactly the… D: The 22nd of September, so maybe it has already passed for you who are watching this video. It is OK. It will be the birthday of Podcast Italiano, 5 years after the podcast's opening . And so to celebrate this anniversary - in any case five years is a long time - Davide decided to… do a Q&A, questions and answers, with your questions obviously, curiosity about the project more than anything else and he needed someone to read the questions. D: Exactly. We already made a video like that two years ago, if you remember. E: I remember a video in which we lit a candle on an improvised dessert. D: Yes, even today we should do something like this. It is OK. But before moving on to the questions I want to thank today's sponsor, which is NordVPN. A very special sponsor for Podcast Italiano because it has supported the project in the past months. If you didn't know what a VPN is, it's a service that allows you to encrypt your internet traffic , making it both more secure and anonymous. This is important if you use public wifi , for example , in hotels, restaurants, cafes. But a VPN has many advantages for language learners like you, because by changing your location, choosing a server in another country of the world you will immediately have access to the entire catalog of entertainment services such as Netflix, Rai Play, Disney +. Then you will be unlocked in front of your eyes films, TV series, contents, which were previously completely blocked. I myself recently to listen to a song by my favorite band, which was released first in Australia and New Zealand for time zone reasons, I used NordVPN from my phone and I got to hear it in advance on Spotify; this was very very nice. And by the way, you can also use NordVPN from your phone, you can connect up to six devices at the same time, and they will all go at lightning speed . Follow my link and use the PODITA code when purchasing and you will get 73% discount and 4 months free. Thanks to Nord for the support in these months and let's start with the questions. D: I have not seen them, I have not read them, Erika in the past 10 minutes has done a job of selection, grouping, so I'm all ears. E: I wanted to make a premise before asking you the first question and that is that you have not seen them but I have read the messages a bit and there are many people who have not asked you questions but have complimented you, they thanked you for your work, for all the things they have learned from your videos. So it seemed only right to mention them. D: And it seems only right to thank all the positive comments you have made now, on this occasion, or that you always do. It is a stereotypical phrase but without the support of an audience such a project could not exist, so thanks to you who watch videos, listen to podcasts and support me in any way. E: Okay, so now we can start. D: Let's go. E: I'll ask you the first question which, let's say, is also the most suitable to start with because, in fact, let's start from the beginning, right? In fact, a lot of people have asked you why you decided to start with this project, right? I mention someone ... maricesar03, olgakedziora_ I think you pronounce it, sorry if I'm wrong to say your names. D: We're going to cripple them, [E: Right.] So excuse us in advance. E: Carlos Ss. And I know that someone on the Telegram group also had this question, so… Q: Telegram group of the Podcast Italiano Club, by the way. I myself was a podcast user like mine and I liked using podcasts as material to learn the languages ​​I was learning and at the time I was much more passionate about foreign languages ​​in the sense that I learned them much more actively than today [E: Yes .] and… and so I decided to do something similar simply. E: Well ... D: And I also said it in a recent video with Alberto Arrighini, I told him, he inspired me a bit because I saw that there was already a project similar to what I wanted to do. it was his and I saw it even had a Patreon page, so I had already had some dreams like [E: Yes.] “I could do a similar thing too”, so… so thanks Alberto if you're watching this video! E: But then you had this idea of ​​being able ... that is, more than an idea maybe this dream of being able to live there or was it born more as a hobby? D: Mmm. There was a bit of that dream, in the sense… I would have liked it. Don't ... E: But maybe you didn't want to say it out loud, did you? Out of luck, I don't know. D: Yeah, how to say… not… I realized that it was possible. As if to say, today I realize that you can live by opening an online project. In my field then I have seen many people doing it, I know people who have much bigger projects than mine who started doing something like mine and who have companies with 10-15 employees. E: Yes, in this regard, Anton was asking you on the Telegram group if it was something, let's say, premeditated, that you had been thinking for a long time or if it was a thing of the moment. Q: I've been thinking about it for a while, I don't remember if weeks or months maybe, I guess a few months before… how to say, find the courage to… do it. But if I can give some advice: if you have ideas like "I would like to carry out a project" of any kind in mind, better (if you can do it, it depends on the project), better ... better start now and do it, do n't ... don't think too much about it because one learns a lot doing things and not, how to say ... E: Meditating. D: Planning ahead. E: Yes. D: So yes. E: More or less on this topic Atallia.n asks: "Was it difficult to create the podcast, design the site and find the first listeners?" So just a little more on a practical level. D: Well yes, there are some things that one has to learn to do, like ... like making a site, managing, what do I know, the more technical aspects, but it's not that difficult, in the sense, the information is there, so today then it's easier than ever. If you want to make a podcast you can do it with platforms that simplify the process a lot [E: Yes.], So ... E: Yes, well, even creating the sites is not [D: Yes sure.] As difficult as it could have been maybe all 'Start. D: You learn, that's why I say: you have to do these things to her, put yourself on and… and learn all these more boring aspects, but perhaps they are fundamental. E: In fact cuadernodeandre asks you: what is the impact, the biggest change that Podcast Italiano has given you? Q: Oh well, have a salary? [Laughs]. I have already said this in the past too: I have never worked in the sense of having a steady job, that is, I did a little bit while studying, but not very ... not very serious things, so this is my first real serious job. And so this is the biggest change. After university, I already had this ... this project was already underway, and so I was able to continue doing it. That's a change, to have some money. E: Well, I would say. Q: So thank you for financing my house and food. E: Daniel Scarchilli, I think I am right, asks: "What would you have liked to know that you really didn't know before starting on this path?" D: Maybe what I said before: I would have liked to have a greater awareness of the feasibility, of the feasibility of such a project, but it is something you discover along the way. So I would have liked to have had this awareness more, maybe I would have taken this type of activity more seriously from the beginning. E: From before. D: Yes, like, now I see people who have very new projects and ... they approach it with a more serious ... different seriousness, a seriousness, a more entrepreneurial mentality right from the start. It is clear that one must always have patience, if one thinks overnight of… no? Getting ... creating a salary is wrong, probably wrong. E: Well, I'll ask you a question that is perhaps my favorite from Portuguese with Leo. D: Speaking of ... Speaking of people who have started a project with a very entrepreneurial mentality: there is Leo, subscribe to his channel, he has been starting his project a few months ago, less than a year and it has almost my subscribers, in short, it is doing things very very well, so a great example. E: So yes, he actually asks you two questions. The first and most important is: "How do you get so much style?" Q: It's the power of foreign languages, isn't it? The more you learn, the more style you acquire. You see Luca Lampariello, right? E: Ah, I understand. The second question is: "How do you ..." He wrote: "Now seriously". D: Ah so it wasn't serious. It's right. Maybe he wasn't serious. Q: Now I am very offended with Leo. E: Asks, "How do you make sure you don't lack video and episode ideas?" Q: Why who said I don't lack ideas? Like pretty much all content creators, I guess, I have a list with lots of ideas. Then some ideas are more easily achievable, others… others less so. E: Maybe others have been on this list since you started, I sometimes see that they are always there, never realized. D: Yes exactly, it also depends on the periods then. There are times when you feel more creative and you get more ideas, other times when you are less. Sure reading helps. E: Yes, in fact I was going to say… Q: So if one makes videos in my case on Italian or even on Italian as, in short, curiosity about the language, clearly reading helps, it gives me a lot of ideas. E: There Bressan: "What would you do different from what you have done up to here?" I mean, is there something you may regret that you would do differently anyway? Q: Maybe I would have opened first the page on Patreon, my club, which I thank, I thank all the people who are on the club because they are fundamental, their support is fundamental. I think I should have started earlier because, speaking of thinking too much about some choices and planning too much, here, for me Patreon was like that. One thing that I would have done differently, that I would have made ... made fewer commitments regarding Patreon, because I do a lot of things on Patreon which is what makes it work in my opinion, because there are 800 people today, but it also takes me a lot time and therefore I cannot do other things that I would like to do or in any case it is more difficult. And I still don't learn from… from that because I keep doing new things for the club on Patreon, the book club, it looks like I'm sponsoring now and actually doing it. E: Any excuse is good for sponsoring the Patreon. Then… he asks, "Is there anyone you wish you had on the podcast," I guess as a guest means, "but you haven't had yet?" D: For example, Alessandro Barbero, whom you may know, is a very famous historian in Italy, also very famous among those who learn the language and I contacted him a few months ago to talk about his latest book and he answered me. I thought he wouldn't answer me why, right ? I saw him as an unattainable celebrity. He replied after twenty minutes, however, refusing in a very very polite way, saying that he really didn't have time and couldn't, so ... E: Come on, but he's a gentleman anyway ... D: A gentleman, yes. It is OK. Then there are a few people who miss the podcast a bit. In fact, Timothy asks: “Why did you stop updating the podcast? I really miss". And Atallia of which we have read, I believe, a question already asks you before: “Will the episodes of Reflections be released again without transcriptions?”. D: Well, one came out a few days ago. Yes, I miss the podcast too. As you have seen, I have been focusing on YouTube for the past few months for various reasons. I do not know. Because… how to say, YouTube makes it easier for you to reach new audiences. Second thing: because ... because my time is limited and therefore ... I would do everything, but having to concentrate I ... I focused on YouTube. I also really like the interaction on YouTube, the fact that there are comments and all of that. Podcasts are more like… my feeling is: I do one thing, produce an episode and then throw it into the void. There is very little… very little feedback, to use an Anglicism that everyone uses [E: Acknowledgment.] A lot… But actually yes, it's more a matter of… of time and not being able to do it all alone. And there were other questions too, I don't know if you wanted to stay on this topic, of people, for example, if I'm not mistaken it was Lazlo on the club's Telegram chat asking if I have plans to create a team or a group, how to say ... hire people and… Yes, in the future I would definitely like to, why not? Today, as if to say, I realize that it can be done, many have done it. E: Yes. Q: Oh, by the way, Vera also always on the club chat said the same thing: “If in the future, the club specifically, becomes too busy, would you hire someone to… to help you? What would be your doubts or… or risks if Podcast Italiano became a company with employees? What would you do to keep the essence as it is today? " I don't really worry too much about… about this thing, that if I hired Podcast Italiano people it would lose its essence. I don't believe it, I don't frankly fear it, I think ... that is, many do. And… how to say… yes, it becomes a more professional thing, maybe. E: So you wouldn't be, let's say, jealous of the project, like of… I don't know, sharing your creature, your child. D: I don't know, I should see but I don't think so. I honestly do not believe, on the contrary, I believe that the advantages would be much much greater, in the sense, the fact of not having to kill me, do everything myself. Then I think I'd kill myself anyway because in the end if you don't do some things you can always do others [E: Yes.] And then… E: You can always find a way to fill every moment. D: Yes. E: Then I kept the most interesting question a little pending . In fact, many have asked for it. I don't even know if I'll be able to read all the names because it's a super popular question. Everyone wants to know things like if you've ever thought about quitting the project, if you've had a hard time, what your difficulties were. Q: Well, surely in the beginning there were a few months when I didn't upload anything. The first few years when I didn't do it professionally there was certainly some moment of defeat ... No, not discouragement because in any case I wasn't even so tied (to the project) [E: Yes.] And therefore, how to say, not I published nothing for months and I didn't care. Since I have been doing it professionally and it's my job, so since ... the end of 2019, let's say, surely there have been times when I was in a darker mood, I saw things more negatively, but I think it's normal in any job. For me, 2020 actually went very well, even though the world was totally crazy [E: Yes.] And there was pandemic pandemonium. This year, 2021 has been more difficult for me, it has been more difficult to keep motivation high, make a video a week or so, find topics to talk about, as Leo said. It wasn't actually as easy as it might seem. The lockdown then, always working here at home all the time, even that is something that sooner or later I will have to change because I am too sedentary. I live in this room that… in this apartment which is too small to do everything, work, live, etc., so… E: But I don't think you ever thought of leaving everything. D: Quitting doesn't, because in the end it becomes… it becomes your job, doesn't it? And this is my job, this is my… my life now. Abandoning it would mean having another life. E: Yes, really radically change. Q: And since I don't… I wouldn't know what to do but this, I wouldn't… I wouldn't want to change, I don't have a real reason to do it. Sure. D: Is it true that being something a bit special you ask yourself if it makes sense, does such a project make sense , in ten years it will still make sense, in fifteen years, in twenty years I will still make videos on YouTube? I will podc… what will I do in twenty years? It's a question that scares me if I think about it for too long, but I think it's a question everyone asks, I guess. E: Yes, indeed. D: So, that is ... E: Well, but then it's a question that in fact no one has an answer to because, I don't know, now one has desires, has aspirations, thinks he wants things that then maybe even just five years from now he won't want or want different things anymore, so I don't even know if it makes sense to make such long- term plans . Maria… Gonzalez asks: "Do you find this project more interesting now than before?" I mean, do you think it got more interesting over time? Well, I hope so. D: Well, I don't know, it depends on the moments. I mean, in the beginning, just when I started in 2016 I was clearly full of enthusiasm, I was excited to start this project, so [E: Sure.] Maybe that was the height of enthusiasm. Then in the following years, how to say… it was variable. Then when I really managed to make it my job, so 2019-2020, there was also there ... there was a new wave of strong enthusiasm in my opinion, I was really excited about ... doing it as a job, not having to going to college more than I hated. Now mmm ... I don't know, it's an interesting job for sure, I talk about things I like, I do things I like in general, but it's also more, like, a routine thing, I do ... E: Yes, it has become normal . D: Yes of course, in the sense… I do interesting things in a job that has many aspects of routine. I do so many things that are always the same every week, every day [E: Yes.] And so it's not like one can be [E: Sure.] Always exalted all the time [E: No, in fact.], Always happy, too if… that is, I don't think there are jobs like that. But in general maybe ... E: Yes, and then in my opinion many things when you do them professionally also become anxious, right? In the sense that… that is, when something goes from being a hobby to being your job and it's the thing that actually feeds you and it also starts to become more of an anxiety, right ? That of having to perform, in fact, both a sportsman and perhaps a freelancer , of always having to perform to the maximum, of having to maintain a standard. Q: Yes, of course, then if you have an audience there is also the aspect of audience expectations and if you make videos for 50 people or for 90,000 it's different. E: Okay, now I ask you a question from AD, finally a nickname that I can say easily because it is AD "If you had enough money and resources what project would you like to carry out, both related to the channel and on a personal level?" Q: Enough money and resources… which are always money resources I think, right? E: Yes, I think so, I don't know. D: Ok. I don't know, something in real life, I think, is… it would be interesting. It is OK. Q: There was also someone who asked if I intend to open the Italian Podcast hotel in the chat on Telegram because it is something I talked about, I don't remember where, that is, we also talk about it every now and then, it would be nice ... well, I don't know if it makes economic sense to open an Italian Podcast Hotel… E: An “Italian Podcast Hotel”. D: But create live events or create, I don't know, summer camps or things… stuff like that, something in real life. E: Yes. D: Not… not that the Internet isn't real. E: Yes, but maybe not online. D: In person, in person here. If I had a million euros, I don't know what I would honestly do. E: But certainly not a project, but a nice vacation and away. D: Yes no, but… well, I would definitely hire people if I had more money. I know it's trivial but if you hire people you also have to pay them. E: Eh. Well, then to conclude a somewhat ritual question, however: both Zoek and Sara ask what are your plans for the future, Sara asks you just the usual interview question "Where do you see yourself in ten years?" Q: And also Lazlo on the chat on Telegram asked "plans for the future". We have already said a little. Hiring people would be nice, I would like to take a course, I said that before, it's something I should have done years ago because it makes economic sense. Then I don't know. The future… I don't know. In five years, ten years it is difficult to predict where I will be and what I will be doing, but it also takes a lot of organization and planning. I'm not good at these things, at planning things, my planning usually doesn't go beyond seven days. E: Well, come on, but maybe you managed to improve a bit in that too, right? D: Thanks to you, among other things, that you said to me: "But D. maybe if you made a content plan for a month, maybe ... maybe this thing could help you?" E: Think what an idea! Q: I've been a content creator for five years and I said: “You know that…” E: You know I've never thought about it? Q: And I want to thank you Erika because in the end you were a part ... an integral part of ... of this project, even if, how to say, sometimes you are not there for months in the podcasts, in the videos, but in the end in my opinion it is indicative of the your importance for this project is the fact that very often when people talk about this project, when they thank me they often thank you too. And so it means that… that you have been an integral and fundamental part. E: Beautiful, very beautiful. D: So thank you. E: Unfortunately yes, I would like to participate more, do more things, but unfortunately the time is limited and… Q: The truth is that he wants money and I don't pay for it. E: Yeah well, that clearly. D: Okay, enough, enough. Get the wine! Excuse is that if not what anniversary is it, what birthday is it if we don't celebrate? No but not twenty years old stuff. I wish I didn't get intoxicated. E: Well, Davide, a bottle magically appeared. Q: A blanc de blanc sparkling wine seems to me an excellent opportunity. I managed not to destroy anything. And nothing. Hear the microphone! E: It became an ASMR video. D: So what do they say in these situations, Erika? E: To yours! Q: To yours and ours and another five years of Italian Podcast. E: Cin! D: But do I close like this?