Episode 247: Sion Dayson on voice acting, language learning, and discovering new cultures

I met Sion through the networking for language professionals sessions that I run with Rita Prazeres Gonçalves. I thought it would be good to talk with Sion about her work and her experiences of moving from the US to France and then later to Spain, where she now lives and works.Sion Dayson is an American voice actor based in Valencia, Spain. She works in many genres of voiceover, and specializes in eLearning, corporate narration, audio description, and materials for English-language learners. She’s voiced projects for clients including LG, Pearson, Business Spotlight, the National Academy of Sports Medicine, Iberian Media, among many others.She’s also narrated more than 130 titles for Blinkist, an app that summarizes the key takeaways from bestselling books. Her Blinkist credits include titles by Michelle Obama, Brene Brown, Robin Sharma, and many more.In addition to her six years in Spain, Sion’s experience with different languages includes studying in Mexico and Ghana, and ten years living in Paris, where she acquired French nationality.We talked about:🗣 Sion’s work as a voice actor and her story in relation to learning other languages.🗣 How the lockdown became a turning point in Sion’s career.🗣 Some cultural differences when comparing life in the US, France, and Spain.🗣 Things that have helped Sion to improve her Spanish while living in Spain.🗣 How speaking an additional language can facilitate better communication with clients, even when the service you provide is in English.Find out more on the show notes page:https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode247