Hey howdy, everyone! It's the beginning of a new birth year, a new semester, and a (re)newification of goals and projects. But I'll keep this short for now: My dear friend/evil nemesis Rick Dearman and I have teamed up and created The Lollygagging Podcast, wherein we talk about language learning from our personal perspectives. We'll be up and running on larger platforms down the line, but for now, you can access all 'casts as they're posted at http://www.polyglotsanonymous.com/lollygagging.html In other news, I've posted my language goals for the next 16 months on the Language Learner's Forum--you'll need to register to... Continue reading

Dear Diary, The last few weeks have been so busy! I submitted my application for grad school at UVa. My partner and I moved into our new house and we’re almost done unpacking. (I finally got most of my language books on the shelves!) And although I’m not an official student (yet, fingers crossed!), I’ve been invited to participate in a few classes. I’m “on grounds” (as they say) five days a week, and while that keeps me busy, I love being on a college campus again. So much energy and possibility! I’ve got the life I had when I... Continue reading

It’s only the second week of 2017 and already a lot is going on. There are the usual day-to-day activities that take up the better portion of my day. There are unique circumstances (moving to a new house, applying for grad school) that have been intense but will be wrapping up in the next few weeks. There are the language-related projects (reaching out the local and global community to see how I can get more involved) that excite me but take up time. And then there are the 7000 languages I want to study. But with a new year comes... Continue reading

Happy New Year, everyone! Another year has passed, and a new year offers promise of a clean start, new opportunities, and yet another chance to define and realize goals. A chance to better oneself, to learn and grow, to correct the mistakes of the past year...if only to fail 3 weeks later and go back to eating donuts every day for breakfast. And lunch. Eons ago, when I started Polyglots Anonymous, I wanted to create an outlet for my passion for languages. I wanted to share stories, review products, connect with polyglot communities, and most of all, study as many... Continue reading

Hi Everyone!! First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who commented, posted, suggested, complimented, and/or just plain supported my last post. It’s great to have so much feedback on what I’m doing, and it really forces me to be... Continue reading

I want to change the world I want to make it well How can I change the world If I can’t change myself? ~Todd Rundgren This is one of my favorite quotes, not only because it comes from a catchy... Continue reading

Happy New Year! OK, that was 30 days ago! Anyway, now it’s (mostly) a new year, some language projects are wrapping up as other ones are beginning, travel plans and language conferences are on the horizon, and I’m now beginning to ramp up my networking, advocacy, reviews, videos, and updates! Plus, more languages in 2015! So without further ado, here’s what’s going on so far: New Languages! January’s language (lucky #13!!) happens to be CHEROKEE And #14 (theoretically beginning tomorrow) will be MAORI News on old languages (Aren’t all languages pretty old? Hmm….) First up, as of the end of... Continue reading

Happy December! I can't believe I'm almost at the 1-year mark with Project ALOT! Yipes! I'm wrapping up with Navajo with some posts in the works starting January 1st, as well as a few changes with everything to make things a little clearer and more organized (for me, at least). In the meantime, I need to get caught up on the languages for the last two months for 2014! I've decided to make things a little easier (?) on me so I can play catch-up. Both languages are ones I've dabbled in a little. (Don't worry, I'll make up for... Continue reading

Happy October! Looks like after doing a little traveling around the first of the month, I never officially announced September's language (which was only finally settled on yesterday after several weeks of thought): INUKTITUT (South Qikiqtaaluk dialect) And while I'm here (and it's October 1st), I'll fill you in on this month's language: LAKOTA Of course, there's a bit of catching up to do with the other languages, and it seems more likely that I'll be able to report more on each language after a year's worth of study (with Navajo wrapping up in a few months...YIKES!). But I'll see... Continue reading

Hi Everyone, I'm still recovering from my trip to Europe where I tried to practice some Manx and Welsh (as well as learn about how each language is being revitalized), and I'm excited to be working on a few ideas for posts (and possible articles elsewhere) BUT........it's time to introduce August's language before September gets here. This month, I'll start working on.... EUCHEE / YUCHI I've heard about this language a while ago and I've been wanting to get in touch with the people working to keep this language going, but now that they've lost two elders in a span... Continue reading

Hi everyone! Even though I posted the information on July 1st, I wanted to make good on my promise (to myself) to post a video. I had the footage, and I needed the experience with editing footage anyway, so here you go! Check out Languages Around The Globe (www.latg.org) to learn about their Esperanto Challenge (www.latg.org/2014/07/Esperantoprojectbegun.html) while there's still time! Hasta! Continue reading

Hey, everyone! I have some slightly sad news: I had hoped to post a video today, but due to technical difficulties (which I won't deny might involve user error), I was unable to upload any footage today. I must say you all are really missing out. There were some amazing special effects, a car chase, Ewoks, lasers, Hugh Grant...I really outdid myself with this one. I hope to be up and running by week's end, because I really want to get more videos up! In the meantime, I'll have to update you guys the way our ancestors did: a plain... Continue reading

So where were we? Oh yes. When last we spoke, I was slowly coming out of a distraction-induced coma. I’ve been true to my word and studying the languages I’ve mentioned (Navajo, Manx, Tuvan, Noongar, Quechua, and Nuuchahnulth so far), but I haven’t been doing much about talking about them or about what I’ve learned. I’ll admit that external circumstances have left me in a bit of a funk, but I feel like I’m coming out of that, and ready to work on the next phase of Project ALOT! So what can you expect in the next few weeks (and... Continue reading

Alrighty! Time for a little catch-up and moving forward! I have two languages to announce—one for May and one for June. As some of you might have guessed, May’s language has been inspired by a Kickstarter campaign that was successfully funded in April. So thanks to the Living Quechua documentary, the endangered language for May is (predictably enough): QUECHUA I’ve had my eye on this language for a while, but armed with only a Lonely Planet phrasebook, I had little else to go on. But one of the perks of the campaign is a trilingual book (English/Spanish/Quechua) with a CD... Continue reading

What am I doing? I ask myself that constantly. I’ve been studying five endangered languages since January 1st. But what of it? I haven’t posted much about any of it. In fact, I never even posted May’s language, and June 1st is right around the corner. So what gives? What’s been going on? It’s been a long and hectic five months. Life has been a mix of chaos and distraction. Work has been busy and stressful. I’ve had a few side gigs that have eaten up some free time. I’ve been sick (more often than usual). I’ve traveled (less often... Continue reading

Hi Everyone, Where are my manners? I meant to post the real Endangered Language #4 for April shortly after my April Fool's prank post. (Yes, it was a joke. No, I'm not learning Klingon. Yet. Although here's a fun fact: there are more speakers of Klingon than there are of 135 other languages in the world.) Anyway, I was also on the fence about which language to work on next. There are so many good ones, and so many good language causes out there I'd love to get connected with (like this fundraiser for Living Quechua). There seems to be... Continue reading

Hi Everyone, Can you believe it's already April? Where does the time go? Why do fools fall in love? Anyway, that means we're on Endangered Language #4 already. After spending hours with a North American language, a European language, and an Asian language, I decided I wanted to mix things up a little bit. So I'm choosing a language from a different region, and one that has a structured yet accessible grammar, weird phonetics, and a nutty orthography. (Luckily, in addition to the script, this language has a lovely romanized transliteration.) While the number of speakers fluctuates, I'm certain that... Continue reading

Hi Everyone, OK, it's been a little quiet on the language front lately. I'll have a post up about that later this week, along with some follow-up for Navajo and Manx. But....since it's a new month (and 3 days in alrady!), I'd better announce the next language I'm studying! TUVAN! I've been wanting to study this one for ages, and now's my chance! I'll get to tell you about some resources and introduce you to some of the big names in Tuvan. (Yes, there are a few and not just throat singers.) In the meantime, watch for an update about... Continue reading

Hi Everyone, Wow, I can't believe it's already February 1st! I've barely scratched the surface with Navajo and now I'm onto a 2nd language. I'll have a video & post covering some Navajo resources and vocabulary but for now, I'm announcing Project ALOT's endangered language #2, which is... MANX! I've been wanting to study a few words in Manx for a while now (mainly due to one resource), and now I get my chance. So I'll check in soon with more info! Continue reading

Hi there, Language Fans, Navajo Learners-To-Be, Dying Language Savers, and anyone who came to this site accidentally—we don’t discriminate! At last, another video! Here I discuss why I’ve chosen the Navajo language as Project ALOT’s first language. (And no, the person in the video is not a computer-generated character. He’s an actual person. Really.) Here are some of my favorite links on the Navajo Star Wars project. There's a ton of stuff out there on this project, but here are just a few of my favorites. Here's the original announcement that Star Wars was being dubbed into Navajo (with info... Continue reading

Hi everyone! So far it's only been a few days since my first post announcing Project ALOT from a reader who writes: May I first wish you success. Would it not be better learning say two languages fluently rather than bits of 24 languages? Will you be learning these languages through translation through English thus creating an English/minority hybrid language rather than from within the language itself? ~F. Hi, F. (Not sure if you want me to keep your identity hidden, even though you mentioned your name in the original comment. Actually, I'm just too lazy to type it out.)... Continue reading

Hi Everyone, Here's a quick post for now. I'm excited that I've gotten a great deal of feedback, so thanks to everyone for spreading the word and checking out this blog. I've gotten a few comments and messages, so I'll be responding to those soon. I'm currently preparing to travel soon, and it looks like I might have a delayed flight at some point, so I might be away from the computer for a longer period of time than I prefer. Gotta love these Chicago winters... But I had to let you know that the first endangered language on my... Continue reading

Great news! Polyglots Anonymous is back, and Project ALOT is born! More on this in a bit. In the meantime, enjoy the intro video. And Happy New Year! Continue reading

Just so you know, it's International Mother Language Day! Why they only focus on languages our mothers speak is beyond me.... But seriously....check out the UN's web page. Continue reading

As most of you know, I’ve been a language fanatic for ages. All my studies and travels have now led me to learning about language documentation and revitalization which involves recording undocumented languages and as well finding ways to save dying languages. You can read a little more about that on my Dave Prine blog post. Anyway, this is an area I’m excited about, and I’m working on becoming more active in the whole field of study. I came across a website of a documentary in the making called “Lost Words” about the imminent extinction of several Native American languages... Continue reading