Trans.Lingual

With my career shift, 2026 is providing me with opportunities to follow some whimsy and study what I want simply because I can. So, I’m returning to the Deccan and the Western Coast to explore Kannada (and some more Malayalam) this year.
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I bought myself a little belated birthday present… 🤭

I’m in the process of a career change, and in that (along with some deep therapy) I’ve been working on separating languages (my primary passion in life) from my career and my identity. (It’s a long story- I can explain privately to people who care to ask.) One of the results of this is the desire and push to study languages FOR FUN again, like when I was in high school and college, and not let my job and career goals dictate what languages I prioritize.

During a long conversation with the other week, the question “if I died tomorrow, what languages would I regret not having studied more extensively?” came out of my mouth. And my response was immediately “Mandarin and Japanese.” So, after 20 years of language learning, and after having studied over 100 languages living and dead, I’m finally letting myself pursue Japanese seriously, while also studying Mandarin Chinese “for fun,” and not “for work.”

So, here’s to my new adventure. I hope y’all will stay for the ride with me. 頑張ります！
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#日本語 #普通话 #中文 #汉语

But the best part of my August language journey was getting to meet (and her lovely daughter) on my birthday!

I met Suzanne online in 2020. We had followed each other for some months, or maybe a couple years, but during the pandemic started this group of women language learners that would get on Zoom almost every day, check in on each other, and study our separate languages in parallel. While all the women I met in that group are all amazing and badass in their own way, Suzanne and I really clicked, having a lot in common in our personal lives and in some of our languages of interest. Even as people’s lives went back to “normal” and our little pandemic study group petered off, Suzanne and I kept texting and meeting to study and supporting each other through various stages of our lives, multiple moves, a marriage and divorce on my part, and more. Since 2020, we’ve gone from living on opposite sides of the country to both living in the middle, ~6 hours from each other; so, we finally got to meet in person!

We spent the day talking language (and boring Suzanne’s taught, I’m study) while exploring the Tibetan, Chinese, gemstone, and Egypt exhibits at , some of which made me nostalgic for different parts of my past (studying Chinese in high school and college and wanting so desperately to visit there; practicing Tibetan Buddhism and studying Tibetan). Then we finished the night with some delicious Korean friend chicken (양념 치킨), tteokboki (떡볶이), and vegetarian kimchi fried rice (김치볶음밥) for Suzanne.

Last weekend was the best birthday I’ve had in a very long time, and getting to spend the day with Suzanne made it even better! Thank you for years of friendship, and here’s to many more!

August was a pretty productive month. I definitely feel like I’m getting back on track with Hebrew, Mandarin Chinese, and Russian. I told myself I was going to start reading in Arabic and improving my Persian but… well, we see how much of that I did. Maybe in September…

2024 has been a hard year for me. I’ve let go a lot of things in my life and I’m definitely on a personal, emotional and spiritual journey. Through it all, languages have always been a guide post, offering me something to focus on when things have been hard. I’ve studied several languages this year, spending the first 5 months of 2024 really leaning into Southeast Asia. Then I moved in June and I started a new adventure. Things are still hard and I’m still growing, but languages still somehow sit at the center of it all for me.

So, here’s a little peak into what I’ve been doing this year. What I did Jan-May, and what I’ve been doing since. I’m trying to focus again on the joy of learning a language, and be less stressed about the “use” or “usefulness” of a particular language. Let’s see what’s to come in the rest of 2024.
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I might have bought some books… 🙈
A friend suggest I try my hand at some Hebrew young adult fiction. recommended the first two, and then I got excited by the titles of the others… so here’s to 2024, the year of the Israeli and Hebrew-language novel.
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קניתי אולי כמה ספרים… 🙈
חבר הנציע לי לנסות לקרוא ספרות לנוער. ומיקה המליצה שני הספרים הראשונים, ואז התרגשתי מהשמות של האחרים. אז… לחי 2024, שנת הרומן הישראלי והעברי
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I spent much of January traveling, being sick, and moving. I have studied, but I didn’t get to post my 2023 language study totals. So, here they are. 239 hours! I’m quite proud of myself, and certainly not surprised at some of these results.

I have a lot of plans (not all of which are public yet) for 2024, including new-ish languages, weekly study time goals, and lots of iTalki lessons, and hopefully some travel. So, let’s go!
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November was a very productive month!
I started a major new project that involves multiple new languages and the return to a couple of previously-studied languages. For now, they remain a secret… but I’m very excited to see where this all goes!
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October has been a hard month mentally and emotionally; so, I’m proud of how much studying I still managed to get done. And obviously, we see where my priority has been.
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September was a busy month for me. I chanted Torah and co-led multiple services during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I also started teaching at our synagogue’s religious school again. So, there was a lot of meetings, rehearsals, and general prep throughout the month that kept me from studying. In spite of that, I’m very happy with the work I did get done (and the notable focus on Hebrew).

Here’s to a better New (Jewish) Year and lots more studying (and prep for rabbinical school next year 😉)!
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