I was lucky enough to have two teachers who made a big impact on my life. Both were languages teachers at Bishop Ullathorne School in Coventry. Mrs Symons taught me from the ages of 14 to 16. I remember her standing in front of the class and saying: “There are 10 people who are going to get A grades in French.”

We looked at each other in disbelief, but having someone who had that belief in us was exciting and emboldening.

She was a Francophile. She had worked in France and regaled us with stories of living in Paris and also took us there on a school trip. She exemplified a person who was independent and had used languages to work abroad. This opened up the possibility for me to do the same and later in life I worked in Brussels for five years, where I wrote a magazine in four languages.