Language Community -

November

November has gone by exceptionally fast. It was dominated by a heavy workload, a hurried trip to the Polyglot Conference in Taipei, and the immediate rush back to fulfill life’s essential obligations: childcare and work. If those obligations hadn’t been waiting, I definitely would have stayed longer.

The Taipei trip was exhausting but totally worth it. I met so many language enthusiasts and enjoyed listening to different presentations delivered in a variety of languages. For the first time, I genuinely felt I had found a community where I belonged.

I made an effort to speak as much German as I could. I was so grateful that not a single person gave me the crushing advice to “give it a rest, you’re really not very good at it.” The native German speakers listened to me patiently, and I felt a deep sense of acceptance and encouragement.

All the presentations were excellent, even the few that faced technical difficulties. I might write more about those experiences later.

November 2025 turned out to be one of those months that moved too quickly for deep reflection. I haven’t had much time to write, which is a shame. I wish things could slow down a bit, but I suppose that blend of intense experience and necessary hurry is just life right now. It was a month that gave me a sense of belonging in Taiwan, only to throw me straight back into the isolation of the daily grind.

Searching for My People

Day 479 of German

I’m about to embark on a long flight to meet people who share my intense interest in language learning. I know I’ll be surrounded by individuals who speak far more languages than I do. In a way, this entire trip feels like a search for my own people—a community that understands this unique passion.

For this journey, I’ve packed two very intentional items: my Internet Phone Book and the bilingual German-English edition of Hermann Hesse’s Demian.

Bringing the Internet Phone Book, a collection of sites that make up the “poetic web”—places where people share their genuine feelings without seeking likes or retweets—is important. Somehow, having photos of this book in Taiwan, at the language conference I’m attending, feels like the right juxtaposition. It’s a contrast between the silent, personal web and the physical space where people gather to share their passion for languages aloud.

I really don’t have much time to read fiction, and the little I’ve read of Demian so far is quite nice. I feel like I’m cheating a bit by relying on the bilingual version, and honestly, I plan on reading the English text more than the German during the flight.

Despite the self-imposed academic pressure, I think this will ultimately be a trip filled with rich feelings—the quiet solitude of the flight, the connection with new people, and the beautiful sounds of many different languages.