Language Nerds Unite: My First Time on YouTube Live

Say Yes to Everything

One of the best pieces of advice I got as a 15 year old exchange student about to embark on a year long exchange program to Germany was to say yes to everything. 

I was about to go through a roller coaster of experiences that would change my life profoundly and the program I was on was extremely well equipped to prepare teenagers for all of the feelings that we'd be feeling.

It was exactly what I needed to know before going on my exchange year.

This year abroad helped me uncover my greatest passion, made me fluent in German, and left a massive impression on me.

I knew I wanted to live in Europe again.

I knew I loved learning about (and being immersed in) another culture.

And I knew I felt proud of myself for going on so many adventures, never resisting the unfamiliar, and learning both German and Bavarian (and so much more).

I frequently remember this advice of saying yes to everything and have passed it along to many students. I always advise young people to go for it and take the class, start the club, go to the meet up - if you're invited to something, go, and have a good time!

Practice What You Preach

This week, I totally practiced what I preach because I was invited to be a guest on Azren the Language Nerd's YouTube Channel for a 5 Minute Language Chat!

We scheduled it super quickly and somehow (even after watching a few of his videos), I didn't catch that it was going to be done live. I didn't realize it would be live until about 30 minutes before we were set to meet.

I had never done a YouTube Live before. Needless to say, I learned a lot about how to be a guest on YouTube Live.

Namely:

1. Instagram is an amazing way to connect with people who have the same interests as you! Being able to connect with and follow along other polyglots is so much fun. Before the Internet, we didn't know that other people existed who loved languages as much as we do. Connect with people in your industry & say yes to being on YouTube :)
   
   
2. YouTube Live is best accessed via Google Hangout on Google Chrome on a laptop/computer. 
   
   
3. If you have technical difficulties - persevere. Have plenty of devices on hand and try multiple devices, if necessary.
   
   
4. Nerves are normal! Your first time is NOT going to be perfect. Everyone's first time at anything is NOT good. But it's so much better to take the opportunity and do something, rather than do nothing at all!
   
   
5. It's really fun and also nerve wracking to go live. Tell your friends/fam that you're going on Live so they can try to watch. It's so amazing to get the support, especially when you feel like you're being super awkward.

Live Language Exchange

Next week, Azren and I are going to do a live language exchange! It's incredible that between the dozen languages we both speak, the only one that overlaps is English.

We're going to do a live YouTube stream next week where we teach each other a different language (in just a few minutes).

I'm sure more of my language nerdiness will come out :)

​​Have you ever done YouTube/Facebook/Instagram Live before? 

Do you get nervous speaking in public?