YouTube‘s algorithm is strong. I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of videos. But it made me realize that I want to be a polyglot.
In high school, I studied French. I continued during my freshman year of college, but stopped after that. I regret not going further in my formal French studies. But it was not helping my already fragile GPA and I decided to cut my losses. I reached an intermediate level and really could have done much more with it.
Anyway, life happened and it wasn’t a priority. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed the season of my life changing and want to expand my language skills again. But my language focus has been Korean. The spring before last, I found a free online course with Coursera called First Step Korean.
The first week or so of the class seemed doable. But then it seemed like I was supposed to have already learned Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, within three weeks! Ha! No.
The timing was also not in my favor. I was in the process of organizing and clearing out my mom’s house to put it on the market. I didn’t have time for the class and decided to focus on selling the house and getting my mom moved. That process took most of my time and energy last year.
This year had its ups and downs, but things have settled down a bit. I decided to try a Korean class again, but realized that I needed a more solid foundation with Hangeul. So I found a class called The Korean Alphabet: An Introduction to Hangeul. I may need to take this class twice, but it’s a start. It’s not like I have a deadline or need to worry about my GPA.
I’ve also wanted to improve my French skills and truly become fluent. It could help with increased work opportunities and I would just like to be fluent for myself. But is it possible to study two languages at once? Especially such different languages. Is that a thing?
From watching dozens of YouTube videos, I’ve discovered that being a polyglot is a huge thing and yes, I can do it! There is a huge polyglot culture with people learning multiple languages at once and becoming fluent in all of them within just a few years.
So I’ve decided to jump in! Years fly by so quickly. It took almost a decade between when I first toyed with the idea of law school to quitting my job and doing it. I may take a long time deciding on something. But once I do, I persevere.
For French, I’ve started using Duolingo to help refresh my basic skills and get in the habit of practicing. There are three months left in the year, so by January I should feel more solid with my French. I may take an advanced online French class and/or possibly hire a tutor as well. I’m excited to see where this language journey brings me!
I’ve also decided to try again with a plant that I could never keep alive and eventually gave up on — African violets. I was over a friend’s house and she had two gorgeous ones. They are so lovely and I do so well with most plants. Surely I can grow these now! It’s been about 20 years, so maybe it’s a new season.
