In the previous weeks, I’ve talked much about ‘linguists’, and how they’ve helped change the world by recording and reviving these dying languages. However, I never quite broke down exactly what they do. It’s quite simple actually:

The job of a linguist is an interesting one; constantly traveling around the world, recording and writing down as much information as they can about a particular language that they may or may not have heard about before, they really do have an interesting task at hand. Though not simply just a polyglot, these men and women work tremendously hard at their mission of saving all of the world’s endangered languages.

Many men and women have embarked on this mission and have earned recognition for their work. One man that has inspired me to learn more about different languages, how they function, and how people are able to learn multiple languages is Benny Lewis. As a well-versed polyglot and super-personable guy, Benny Lewis has made it his mission to encourage all of the people around the world to learn new languages, and has shown how easy it can be by sharing his own personal experiences with the world.

Benny Lewis, as well as all linguists, are referred to as a ‘polyglot’. That is, these men and women are able to speak, read and write in multiple different languages, and are still acquiring new information on other languages. This is most impressive because by obtaining the self-awarded title of ‘polyglot’, you have admitted to yourself that you have worked hard enough to learn and understand multiple different languages–and sometimes, cultures–and have chosen to continue your work by traveling around the world to record and work towards reviving other endangered languages.

This, of course, sounds most impressive to me, as it must to most of the experienced polyglots of the world, but it might sound to be a bit of a large task to most. While I’m not stating that this is not a hard job, I am implying to everyone who cares to read into polyglotism and linguistics that your passion for your job will allow you to work much more efficiently than someone who feels forced into the field.

All in all, as I stated before, the job is what a person makes of it. Once you learn to love language, you’ll never turn away from it.