In a couple of days, I will be speaking at a TESOL conference at Towson University.
The topic – Building Supportive Spaces for Multilingual Learners.
How did I get here? How did I get to speak to professors and educators at a university?
I have no formal teaching certificate and yet, I have made a career out of teaching two languages and cultures.
Turn your skill into dollars
Are you bilingual and have a talent and interest in languages?
How do you translate it into a career?
How do you take your multiskilled self and make your life worth living out of the box?
How do you not suffocate in the drudgery of the daily 9-5?
How do you take your everyday words and make a career out of it?
In order to show you how – let me tell you a story…
Once Upon a Time
I quit a lucrative job with Saudi Arabian Airlines to check out a Bible College, way back in the early nineties.
I know! Other people thought I was crazy too. You are not alone.
I have always been interested in words and language.
Also, I liked the idea of missions and wanted my life to have a purpose.
Not just to make money, acquire wealth, and then die.
My father’s mantra of ‘not being able to take it with you’ rang in my ears.
So off to Bible College, I went.
However, I did not want to live off others’ hard-earned money as a missionary.
I also wanted to have the flexibility to travel between Mumbai and Baltimore at least once a year.
And time to learn the Bible in its original languages at the two colleges based in Mumbai and Baltimore respectively.
Put your skill to work
I liked sewing and designing.
So, I started a small home furnishings business in Mumbai. And attached it to a family-owned company of architects who are family to me.
I picked out the fabric and designed whatever it was – quilts, curtains, pillowcases, etc and then had a team of seamstresses sew it (my sewing is not perfect).
The work came in.
I designed and furnished these designs for residences, guest houses, etc.
I did this for about 3 years – going back and forth between Mumbai and Baltimore.
I forgot to add this role to my post on the various roles I have played these last 30 years.
Testing American Waters
Then one day I decided to bring a full suitcase of lovely handmade soft furnishings to America.
I chose to put the items in a fancy Quilt Studio in Ellicott City, Maryland.
I figured I would test American waters. And support my transition to Bible College.
I sold every piece I had designed and created.
It filled a small need of providing myself with the extra things besides food and lodging that I needed during my college days.
The food and lodging were initially provided by some high-caliber Christians whom I like to call my friends till today.
Not bad for a start.
To Tutor or Not
After college, I started a paid volunteer position at a local church. The head pastor needed a liaison for the Indian churches and I was it.
(I had to shelve the soft furnishings business temporarily as I had no time or money to go back and forth to India anymore).
It was a fun job! I got to meet all sorts of mission-oriented people, students, pastors, celebrities, etc.
The money was paltry since I worked for a non-profit missions organization. But it provided and for that I am thankful.
Fill the need
At the same time, there were missionary students who wanted to go to India.
They needed to learn Hindi and here I was – a Bandra catholic/Christian girl who was again – it. Unless you are from India you will not get this cultural nuance on why it is strange.
It is quite rare to find a Catholic or Christian who is able to speak and teach Hindi well. It is just not in the DNA. For some reason in those days, Hindi was not cool. English was.
And my community was happy to absorb the Western culture, English, and all the trappings while summarily dismissing Hindi, the language’s seemingly poor relative.
I will explain it in detail in another post.
Anyhow, I bravely rose to the challenge and figured I would teach my rudimentary Hindi to these unsuspecting students.
I ended up re-learning the language myself in the bargain and found myself teaching a class once a week at the college.
Don’t ignore humble but important beginnings.
Little did I know that this would become a staple source of income for me in the coming years.
Wetting My Feet in Federal Waters
One day about 7 years later, a student approached me with an opportunity.
He had heard about a need for a Hindi tutor at a company about 45 minutes away.
And, they would pay $25/hour.
Needless to say, I jumped at it – I was making $7/hour at that time at the church.
I could fill that need and in doing so fill mine to make a little more money.
I interviewed and got the job.
Little did I know at that time I was required to bring two students who were government employees from 0 level of Hindi to a level in which they could understand a news report.
Even if it seems unreal and you feel inadequate, take on the opportunity to at least interview.
Yikes!
Be Eager to Learn First in Order to Teach
I went out and bought every available Hindi language teaching book from Barnes and Noble.
And for that first year, I meticulously created my first Hindi language course. Teaching myself first.
I was amazed at how easy it was to re-learn Hindi from proper textbooks and resources.
I am sorry but the teachers I had at school in India did not know how to teach the language.
I failed Hindi classes in school until I got myself a private tutor who bless her heart just had us memorize entire passages for the finals.
She figured it would not really go into our brains to learn the elements of the language.
So her strategy was to have us just memorize and spit it out onto the exam paper.
Which we did at that time. And we passed! Thank you to my precious tutor, Mrs. Savant.
Learn and re-learn another language at any time in your life. It is never too late.
By the way, there are some amazing Hindi language textbooks written by Usha Jain, Rupert Snell, Ian Mcgregor, and Kavita Kumar.
Teach at Every Opportunity
My husband and I moved to Seattle a couple of years later.
I needed to find work but the new city was intimidating.
Especially figuring it out with a new baby.
And I liked the idea of teaching and working for myself, so I signed up on a language platform that connected students and teachers.
Soon, I had 6 students a week.
My Hindi was getting better every day!
I would teach at a local Starbucks and then online for Berlitz.
Then one day I received a request from that same site.
Would I be interested in a project involving Hindi? They needed to organize a team of Hindi linguists to develop courses for an online site.
Yes! Of course!
Take the opportunity as it comes. You will learn new skills.
The interview was at Fort Lewis in Washington State.
And that is how I learned how to develop a curriculum that would help our military learn language and culture as they operated in different areas of the world.
Who knew that I would be doing this? Certainly not me. Not in a million years.
Not listening to self-doubt can take you places.
This prestigious project lasted almost 10 years.
During that time I was given the opportunity to teach software, develop a curriculum in Hindi, mentor others, and lead a team.
I created a small LLC to handle my finances.
I was now officially a government contractor.
Focus on filling the need and your basket gets full!
From that time on there were many other opportunities to participate in different contracts, filling in needs for cultural knowledge, language instruction, and consulting as well as analysis.
Since 2006 I have been involved in projects with Special Ops from the Navy Seals, Marine Corps, and Air Force Special Ops.
Being open to working outside your industry can have some beneficial side effects.
It has been an interesting road, to say the least. I have met some amazingly skilled people.
Hung out with fellow linguists, social scientists, anthropologists, and other professionals.
I have picked up skills in technical writing, blogging in two languages, podcasting, and coaching.
Never pass up the opportunity to learn a new skill no matter how old you are.
I have one suggestion: seize the opportunities as they come in. Seize them even if you feel unqualified.
I do believe you hone your skills along the learning curve of each project.
Do you think filling in a need can open doors for a career? Let me know in the comments.
