Can you count to a hundred in German? Or Italian? How about Latin? Ingrid Heidelberger can do it in all three! Join us today on Home School Heartbeat as this just-graduated homeschooler tells host Mike Smith about her passion: languages!
Mike Smith:
Today our guest is Ingrid Heidelberger, homeschool graduate who will be starting at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall to study linguistics. Ingrid, welcome to the program today!
Ingrid Heidelberger:
Hi, thank you so much for inviting me to Home School Heartbeat.
Mike:
Well, you’re welcome. Ingrid, it’s unusual to hear of someone studying just languages. As a homeschool student, when did you discover your passion for languages? And what do you plan to do with your knowledge of all of these languages you have?
Ingrid:
I actually became interested in languages after I began studying Latin in 4th grade. And at first, I was a really unwilling student, but as I began to learn more vocabulary and grammar and understand more of the language, I began to have a lot of fun with it. It was kind of like a puzzle, and the reward for solving it was just the ability to understand the thoughts of people from a foreign culture. So after a few years of Latin I became interested in modern languages like German, Italian, Spanish. I was just eager to have more puzzles to solve, I guess. I still don’t really have a clear idea of how I’m going to use these languages. Many people have suggested mission work, and I know that foreign languages would be useful for that, but I just don’t know right now. So currently I’m just studying, practicing, and waiting to find out what’s going to happen.
Mike:
Well, Ingrid, that’s very exciting! We definitely wish you the best! And listeners, please turn in next time to hear Ingrid talk about learning some Indian languages. And until then, I’m Mike Smith.
