Celebrating 3 Years of Switching Languages

On January 16th, 2016, I made the bold move to create a language blog called Switching Languages. Though I had been contemplating about whether or not I would go through with this idea, I convinced myself that it was something that I wanted to do. It has now been 3 years since then and I have no regrets. In fact, I am beyond blessed by all of the love and support that I have received over the years to keep up with this blog. I truly believe that blogging is an art-form that can unite us despite any differences we have. 

The main purpose of this post is to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Those of you who have been reading this post have stuck with me, even when I doubted myself, or lost inspiration to write more for you. Though I was not very active on this blog from 2017-2018, I have taken time to reflect about my purpose and what makes me happiest in life over our long Winter Break. I knew that something was missing in my heart, so after some reflecting, I realized that it was this very blog that could fill the void in my heart.

As you can see, I am back healthier, stronger, and happier than ever before. Of course, this does not mean that my health is at its very best, but I do know that this year will be my year, as it can and will be yours, too. I have so much exciting content ready for you in the upcoming months, but I am also always willing to take suggestions from you: anything from a language question that has been on your mind for a while to a blog post idea that you would like to see from me this year.

As a preview, this year, I will be writing language book reviews, documentary and film reviews, app and podcast reviews, and will be sharing some of my personal experiences about the benefits of majoring and minoring in languages in college, of the beauty of having a bicultural identity, and about why I love to travel around the world. These are just some of the many ideas that I have ready in store, so make sure to stay tune for them!

I will also be traveling extensively this year. In March, I will be going on my graduation trip to Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden. I will also be studying abroad in Moscow, Russia for 5 weeks during the summer, which means that I will be sharing some of the highlights of my experience with Russian and Russian culture after taking Russian for 4 years in college. Aside from that, I will also be auditing a Portuguese 200-level course during the Spring 2019 semester, because, as you already know, I could not resist working on my 7th language.

Again, thank you for all of your kind messages and for all of the conversations that we have had about the impact that this blog has had on you. I hope that you have gained some knowledge about languages along the way and that you have gotten some inspiration to make languages an integral part of your life. If that has not been the case up until now, then, no worries, 2019 will be filled with many surprises!

I am hoping to post every Saturday, so that I post more regularly this year. This semester seems to be looking up for me compared to last semester, so I should have plenty of time to share my passion for languages with all of you. Stay tuned for a language book review this coming Saturday! I am looking forward to growing our Switching Languages community and to seeing what 2019 has in store.

Thank you very much for everything! // Muchas gracias por todo! // Merci beaucoup pour tout! // Vielen Dank für alles! // Grazie mille di tutto! // Большое спасибо за всё! // Muito obrigado por tudo!!

Nos vemos pronto,

Laura

Switching Languages- What Does it Mean to Switch Languages?

Hello, everyone and welcome to my blog! I have to admit that it has been too many months since I last posted on here, but I promise that I will be posting more regularly in the upcoming year. I wanted to get back on track by posting about what started this blog in the first place: the concept of switching languages.

Why did I decide to name this blog Switching Languages and what does switching languages even mean? Three years ago, I sat on our living room couch and had a conversation with both of my parents. I remember telling them that I had the idea of creating a blog about the relevance and importance of spreading my love for language learning, but had no idea what I wanted to call my blog. After some reflecting, my dad suggested to call it Switching Languages, because he knew that I had to switch from one language to another on a daily-basis without even thinking twice.

For me personally, switching languages is the ability to speak multiple languages without confusing them, or hesitating when speaking more than one language. You know that you can successfully do so when you hear your parents ask: “Niñas, están listas?” and then immediately talk to your friend and say: “My parents are asking me if we’re ready to leave.” I think of it like a puzzle, or a game. For bilingual or multilingual individuals, this ability is innate. We don’t have to stop and think about every single word we’re going to say before saying it. We simply formulate our thoughts in our head and then say them. It’s really that simple.

A lot of people ask me: “How do you not get confused when speaking 7 different languages?” and “Don’t they get mixed up in your head?” Just like any other human being, I’m not perfect, so there are times in which I forget how to say a word that is rather simple in x language that I have known for years, but, aside from those instances, the answer to both of those questions is no. All of the years of training and changing personas has led me to where I am today.

In other words, languages are not just subjects that I choose to take at university and they are also not just a hobby that I choose to do whenever I have a little bit of free time. They are much more than that. In fact, they have been incorporated into my daily routine for years. The friendships I have made and the people I have met live anywhere from Pennsylvania to Japan, so it is not unusual for me to send messages to my friends in their native languages to ask them how they are doing.

Similarly, all of the notifications that pop up on my feed on my social media are about dozens of countries in more languages than I can recognize, or speak. My family is bilingual, so calling them automatically ensures that I will have spoken, or written in at least 2 languages on that given day. Furthermore, I listen to music and watch videos and movies from around the world. Now that is what I call the power and beauty of switching languages.

If you liked this post and want to keep up with my travel and languages adventures domestically and abroad, feel free to subscribe to my blog by hitting the “subscribe” button on the upper right-hand corner of this blog. I’m looking forward to the third year since the launch of Switching Languages. Espero que tengan un buen fin de semana!

Lindsay Does Languages: YouTube Channel and Website Review

Hello, everyone! I hope that you have all had a great week so far. For this week’s blog post, I wanted to talk to you about one of my favorite language YouTube channels: Lindsay Does Languages. Lindsay Williams is a British YouTuber and a full-time language blogger who has delved into language-learning for many years now. She has recently started a YouTube series called “Language Stories” and “Languages in Action” where she takes you on a journey to New York and its subway system, Havana, Montreal, el Salvador, and Mexico to show us many of the mysterious, yet innovative ways in which languages have been revived and preserved despite globalization and other factors that could do just the opposite—completely erase cultures and the knowledge, customs, and traditions that are associated with them.

Aside from these series, she also has many videos called “9 Reasons to learn (name of language.” I believe that these are some of her most popular videos, as she makes sure to talk with linguists and language experts before convincing us about the benefits of learning particular languages. I particularly love to watch these videos to learn some fun facts and to have a short history and cultural lesson along the way.

As she says on her website, “Lindsay Does Languages was born in 2012 as a local company in the heart of little old England offering private language tuition…Since then, Lindsay Does Languages has evolved to offering coaching packages and online courses both for language learners and online language tutors.” Her website is also an excellent language-learning resource for those who want to know about what they can do when they feel stuck in their progress, do not want where to start, or do not know what to do next.

She, along with Steve Leveene (mentioned in last week’s blog post about the podcast America the Bilingual), also grew up monolingually, but has become very fascinated by the ways that languages and cultures go hand in hand. She teaches, learns, and breathes everything related to languages. However, it is also important to keep in mind that she recognizes her own faults, as well as those of others, in this lifelong learning process. For those of you who can relate with them more-so than with me, since I grew up bilingually, I highly recommend that you check out both Lindsay’s YouTube channel and website. Let’s help spread the word about the ethnographic, linguistic, and cultural research and insights that she is giving to the world through podcast, videos, and documentary-type YouTube videos that deserve more views.

Link to her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LindsayDoesLanguages/videos

Link to her website: http://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/all-about/about-lindsay-does-languages/