With the help of the thesaurus, I found "linguistician", which immediately clicked for me, I just liked the sound of it in my head. Polyglot, in my opinion, always sounded rough to me. However, I soon found that "linguistician" brings a bit of controversy with it. I read a little about the debate, but I do not want to partake. I'll take a little artistic license on this one since I honestly do not care if a linguist likes it or not; I do.
Next I found the word "vagrancy". Obviously this is a commonly used word, usually with a pejorative sense to it. However, it does also carry a certain mysterious traveler connotation and this is particularly what attracted me to the word. The wandering samurai has always been a favorite character of mine when growing up; a humble traveler who sees the world on his own terms. He is always quiet and reserved, but secretly possesses amazing skills that he would use for good in times of need. This word strongly reminds me of that childhood hero I always admired.
Vagrancy also alludes to my future goals and ideas about language learning. My dream is to travel to different countries and truly experience different cultures. However, learning about a new culture requires time to make friends, to learn the language, and to explore the country. A two week vacation would be shallow and unfulfilling. Do not get me wrong however, if such an opportunity comes along, I would take it in a heartbeat. Nevertheless, I would prefer to plan ahead so I can travel for prolonged periods of time in each country.
The way I plan on achieving international travel is by becoming a polyglot. In doing so, I give myself a highly desirable skill that would create various employment opportunities anywhere in the world. Until C-3PO actually becomes real, the world will need multilingual people. That's where I come in. I could then stay at different countries for one or two years at a time. Hence, the "vagrancy" concept.
Some interesting comparisons can be drawn between my foreign language learning theories and the concept of a vagrant. A vagrant is usually someone who is dirty, unwanted, and an outcast of society. When learning a foreign language at a university, you have to deal with the pretentious bullshit that is learning the standard sociolect. When I try to learn the more familiar or popular version of a language, it is usually frowned upon by uptight elitist people. I believe a person must know every register possible in order to truly claim he is a "Superior" speaker in the language. Along the way, you will make some mistakes mixing up registers, this is a fact. I know, I've done it enough times to know it's going to happen. When I do, it is usually met with some surprise and, dare I say, disgust. This idea of learning that unwanted language, that outcast sociolect, reminds me of what that wandering samurai goes through. Always judged on his appearance, never on what he can actually do...
So I finally came to "A Linguistician's Vagrancy." A rather interesting title if I may say so. Hopefully this will be the start of a good blog and it will serve as a learning experience for myself. Maybe I will pick up a reader or two along the way...
Looks like you got a lot of work to do!!!! Goood job!!!! R
Good luck Joseph!!! Keep on talking to me to improve your GERMAN! :-D
:)