Hey Language Learners, I'm super excited to be having this amazing conversation with Niyah about the many languages she has learned and continues to learn. Niyah discusses when she began her language journey, what keeps her motivated to continue her journey and the best method for her to continue learning! She also mentions the HSK levels and its meanings. You will hear her get personal and share her story about her little brother. And of course she gets into her insecurities about language.
Niyah, from Philadelphia, PA, USA. Currently a senior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Linguistics with a minor in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies. She is planning to pursue a career in law following her undergraduate studies. She’s been exposed to languages her entire life, her mom introduced Spanish and ASL to her as a baby and proceeded to use the fundamentals of these languages throughout her childhood. She later began learning German after developing a connection with her German family. Around this time, she began learning French in school and her interest in languages grew stronger. The majority of her language studies have been self-taught and reinforced through language courses or vice versa. When the covid-19 pandemic hit, she used languages as a way to handle grief and to manage stress. Doing so not only involved diving into her own language studies but wanting to share all of her language learning skills and knowledge with others. She began hosting language conversation practice in groups and one-on-one, tutoring in various languages, acting as a language coach in order to help others on their language journey, and to connect even further with the language learning community. She created an Instagram account (@language. studygram) to share tips, methods, inspirations, and personal goals with others. Niyah has began another cool journey that deals with languages on YouTube called "Study With Niyah", you can find the link in her bio on Instagram.
Make sure to support this podcast by following and leaving a review/ rating wherever you listen to your podcast. You can follow on Instagram at Insecurities about Language and say Hi! You can send me a message if you are interest in being a guest to talk about your language learning journey or the death of language(s) within your family. I look forward to hearing from ya'll!
