Ich heiße Amanda

For as long as I can remember, I have usually had my head stuck in a book, and though my mother has told me that she used to have to force me to read, I cannot remember this. Instead, I remember unsuccessfully trying to smuggle books into church by sticking them up my sleeve. At a time when most kids my age were getting in trouble for not reading, I would repeatedly get in trouble for reading when I was supposed to be doing other things. As I grew older, I also developed an interest in both writing and learning foreign language.

I've been a language nerd for a long time now, but have never fully embraced it until recently. Even though I majored in German while in college, I saw this merely as a fondness for foreign language, and after graduating, had narrowed my job search to German related jobs. Not too surprisingly there was nothing to be found. Convinced I needed a more specific set of skills, I went back to school for computers. That lasted about half a semester. It was at this time that I realized I had a passion for language, and a desire to devote my professional life to it. The language nerd in me was finally beginning to surface.

I have since applied for graduate school for teaching English as a second language, enrolled in an introduction to linguistics course, and begun to volunteer for a local ESL program. I have come to realize just how important language is in our lives, whether we love language or hate it, and this blog is my way of trying to share my passion with the world. I've assembled fellow language nerds, and urged them to share with you their adventures in and with language.