If there’s one thing Polyglots are great at doing (besides being willing to tackle any language know to man), it’s forming a strong sense of community. I had the privilege of attending the Polyglot Conference in New York City last October and I can say that it was easily one of the best weekends of my life. I’m not, by nature, a super social person. My anxiety ramps up even more when speaking my L2 comes into play. But for the first time I was surrounded by people who were just like me. They had the same kinds of goals and ambitions, and they had the same passion for language. To be honest, it was surreal at first. For the longest time, I thought I was just some kind of freak of nature.
Right around the same time, I discovered the Polyglot Conference I also discovered Polyglot Gathering Berlin. It was way too late to take part for 2015 (and let’s be real, I didn’t have enough money anyway), but from looking through the program and watching videos of the event from last year, I knew right away that it was something I had to be a part of. That desire only grew to even more ridiculously crazy levels after being at PCNYC.
So what is Polyglot Gathering Berlin? In short, hundreds of language enthusiasts from all over the world converge on Berlin for four straight days of some serious language geekery. And it’s AWESOME. Well, at least I assume it’ll be. This will be my first time attending but I’m so ready and you can’t convince me it will be anything other than epic. I don’t care, fight me.
Naturally, I plan on both blogging and making videos about the experience. They haven’t released the 2016 Program yet but as soon as they do I’ll get to work on making my tentative itinerary. Flight and hotel are already booked. I’m ready! Well, mostly. I have to get my German into tip top shape so I don’t embarrass myself my first time back in 10 years.
If you can’t make it this time around but are curious to know more about Polyglot Gathering Berlin, you can check them out on their Twitter and Facebook as well.
Is anyone else planning on being there?