Hi all, my apologies I’m posting this 4 days late. I’ve had a pretty interesting week. I decided to let go of the IT job I started back in October to pursue my language studies as more than a hobby. I want to improve my multilingual abilities while researching and considering ways I can use these abilities for a career.

So I’ve been doing 4 things concurrently this past week.

Firstly, I’ve been compiling a list of all the languages I want to learn. Some of them I already know to varying degrees. Some of them I might just want to learn the basics. And some of them I could see myself pursuing them to an advanced level or eventual fluency. I may cull the list to initially start with less languages and then add more. My planned approach is to go through the list from beginning to end, spending a set amount of time on each language. And when I finish the list, start from the top again.

I know that many believe it makes more sense to focus on one or a select few languages, especially if you want to use it in your career. But I believe you have to follow your heart. If you are passionate about only one or two languages, then I say pursue them as far as you can. Or if you are passionate about working with a particular people group or in a specific country, then again pursue the language(s) that will help you most achieve your goals. But if, like me, you love language in general, and all language catches your attention, then I say learn all that’s in your heart to learn.

The second thing I started doing was sorting through all my language learning bookmarks. Over the past 4-5 years I’ve come across a lot of online sites and online resources that I saved. But at the time I never sorted them by language, for I saved them with the belief that one day I would use the resource and start learning that language. So now I want to organize all those bookmarks by language. Then as I go through my list, I could use a book I have, an online site like Duolingo or Mango Languages, or one of my saved bookmarks.

The last two things I’ve done this week involve figuring out how to use my passion and talents for a career. I’ve been looking at options for going back to school – what areas I could feasibly study, where, etc. And I’ve been looking at the different type of jobs that primarily involve utilizing multiple languages. For now it may be a good idea to volunteer with some of these companies or in these areas.

I’m both hugely excited and scared as I do this. I’m scared because for so much of my life I held onto IT believing it was what others – especially my family – wanted of me. So I never listened to myself that doing IT makes me completely unhappy. I’m excited because I’m now pursuing more what I actually love.

DH