The other day, I found myself up to my eyes in a terrifyingly complex technical task in the back room of our Virtual Learning Environment. Called upon to configure some obscure settings, I really did feel out of my depth. In that moment, all I could think was: “I’m not an IT technician; I’ll never achieve this. I’m a language teacher; I should be writing course content or teaching the future tense”. And much to my colleague’s horror I burst in to song. No, really. My brain immediately served up High School Musical’s “Stick to the Status Quo.” You remember the scene – the one where everyone suddenly confesses their secret passions (the basketball player who bakes, the nerd who loves hip hop), and their friends react with shock and horror as the chorus kicks in: “No, no, no! Stick to the stuff you know!”
That was me – feeling like I had dared to step outside the role the world (or maybe I) had written for myself.
Yet despite my feelings of insecurity and inadequacy, I did it. It took time, sweat, Googling, reassurance from co-workers, but I achieved it. That day, I realized how quick we are to put ourselves in boxes. “I’m not technical.” “I’m too old to learn new things.” We stick to the stuff we know because it’s comfortable, and because we think our identities are fixed. But they’re not.
You can be more than one thing.
You can be technical and creative. You can be fluent in code and in French conversation. You can be the person who solves backend bugs and teaches the subjunctive with flair. And yes – you can absolutely learn a new language, even later in life, even if you’ve never done anything like that before.
At Language for Fun, it’s never too late to explore new sides of yourself. Learning a new language isn’t just about grammar and vocabulary – it’s about expanding who you are and what you’re capable of.
So if you’ve been telling yourself “I’m not a language person” or “It’s too late for me,” take it from someone who once panicked over some technical settings and came out stronger:
You don’t have to stick to the stuff you know.
Come and learn with us – and find out what else you’re made of.