. What actually happened was that I couldn't stop reading random discussion threads. It's hard to say that any one person inspired me, because almost every post I read made me feel excited about language learning and I began to believe that I could easily learn many languages myself. This led me to a few conclusions: - 1. There really are a few people who seem to believe that language learning is life and everything else is just minor details.
- 2. I was probably not going to spend my life that way, but I could certainly learn way more than two languages.
- 3. I should start a log and write about my language learning thoughts and activities.
- 4. The sometimes academic debates and discussions were often intriguing, informative and entertaining; but I was about halfway through a bachelors degree in psychology, (which I still have yet to finish) not linguistics. So I would post mostly in logs but otherwise I would do more reading than commenting (and I still think this is a good idea for me).
Thinking back now, I believe that I joined during a transition period where there was still mostly the more formal academic discussion phase at first. Next came what I will call the "polyglot moment" phase (with YouTube polyglots and the Conferences and Gatherings) and finally to the more practical communal discussions phase that continues here. It seems to me that the rise in activity on HTLAL was due to it being one of the first major meeting places for polyglots on the internet (along with Unilang, Lingq forum, YouTube videos, a few popular blogs and other places) and helped lead to the media attention and organizing the Conferences and Gatherings. After many polyglots met in person I wonder if they decided they stopped needing the forums to discuss language learning.
I do sometimes miss the academic debates of old but I really enjoy this forum too, and the people I've met.
Edited a couple of times because the one downside to me becoming a wannabe polyglot is making many typos in my first language.
