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I have always been fascinated
by languages, their
sounds, their structures. At various times throughout
my life, I've started "learning" several different
languages, but I've never had the perseverence
to stick with them until I reach a useful level of
competence. So, the novelty wears off, and then,
so does the bit I have learned. Oh well; it's always
fun to taste a new language, even if doesn't
end up being the most useful activity.
There's one major exception
to that trend of
losing interest before I get anywhere -- Esperanto.
Esperanto is unique because I was able to learn
it on my own to the level of fluency. But more
on that in my section on Esperanto.
My interest in language lead
me to other activities
besides language learning. I have also spent a lot
of time playing with my own secret codes and
languages. I believe my first project was initiated
back in Grade 2. In combination with an interest
in political geography, I used to carefully plan out
imaginary countries, empires, and worlds with
their own languages and cultures. I remember
spending hours in my bedroom, laying on the floor,
hovering over a map (real or my own) with just
a pen, a notebook, and my imagination.
When it came time to choose
a major in university,
I picked Linguistics, despite the impression that
it may not be the most fruitful choice in terms of
a career path. That's what I was interested in,
and one really should follow one's interests when
choosing a path of study. Of course, at the time,
I had no idea about the specifics of this discipline.
Now, towards the end of my degree, I have to say
that I've learned some very interesting things
about how languages work. Language is one of
those things that we really take for granted, but
it's one of the true miracles of humanity. Its
complexity is astounding. Linguistics as a science
is very young and still has a long way to go before
its theories reach the kind of stability that we're
used to in more established, more concrete
disciplines such as chemistry or biology.
I think I've had my fill of
Linguistics, though. I know
that I don't want to pursue it as a career. My interest
in language, however, is still very alive, and it has
given rise to a very significant interest in its own right,
i.e. my interest in the International Language,
Esperanto.
