I am the owner of the Calgary Language Nerds. My team and I create self-study resources and teach a variety of languages to people of all ages. Click here if you’re interested in learning more.
I am based in Calgary, Canada, but my team and I work with people from all over the planet. This is my full-time job and has been since late 2016.
I’ve accumulated over 15 000 hours of experience learning and teaching languages. I’ve worked with hundreds of students over the years and successfully learned five languages myself: English, French, Spanish, Gujarati, and Mandarin. I would like to learn at least three more languages in my lifetime. Languages are my passion and I love what I do for work 🙂
I share my language learning journey as well as useful tips for language learners on most major social networks. Follow me @polyglotazren if you’re interested.
How it All Started
Let’s go all the way back to the beginning. I was born & raised by a single mother in Calgary, a city on the west side of Canada close to the Rocky Mountains. I love this city and still live here to this day. Â
Languages and teaching have always been a significant part of my life. My mom is a teacher and almost every job I’ve ever had has involved teaching, coaching, and/or facilitation. In terms of languages, my mother tongue is English since Calgary is an anglophone city. However, I have also spoken French from a young age because I attended French immersion schools from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Another language I grew up speaking is Gujarati since my family is originally from Gujarat, India.
That said, my passion for languages wasn’t born until I was 15 years old when my mom signed me up for a three-month exchange trip to a small village in France (see the photo below).
I initially didn’t want to participate because I was afraid of being away from home for such an extended period of time. However, in the end I am glad that my mom forced me to go. It was such a great experience! After that trip, I dove head-first into languages. For example, I:
• Majored in French & Spanish at university
• Studied & traveled abroad for 3 months in Peru & Chile to practice Spanish
• Studied & traveled for an additional 2.5 months in France to further my knowledge
• Began learning Mandarin after graduating university. I was immersed for 5 months in Beijing & Taipei as well to gain hands-on experience with the language. I also went back to university to study a second bachelor’s degree in East Asian Language Studies with a concentration in Mandarin.
• Focused on deepening my Gujarati knowledge by taking private lessons, doing some self-study, and taking intensive lessons in Gujarat, India
• Learned about and implemented many different language learning and teaching methods such as: TPRS, shadowing, spaced repetition, comprehensible input, and moreÂ
Here's Where Things Get Weird
Even though I have loved languages for a long time, I didn’t immediately choose to work in that field. As a matter of fact, for 5.5 years I ran a window cleaning business. From 2011 to 2014, I owned a residential window cleaning franchise while being a full time university student. Upon graduating, I worked full-time for the same franchise as a General Manager where I operated central Canada. Teaching, training, coaching, and facilitating were significant parts of my job. Theses are also skills I transfer to teaching languages.
2016: A Pivotal Year
In September of 2016, I stumbled across a video called Teen Speaks Over 20 Languages, leading me to find a vibrant online community of language learning enthusiasts. I was so excited! I had always thought that I was alone in my passion for languages.
About one week later, I decided to make content on social networks to share my passion with the world. You can find me @polyglotazren on all major social networks as well as on my podcast, The Language Learning Show. I also stopped running the window cleaning business around this time.
As much fun as I was having making content online, I was not earning any money. Therefore, I decided that I wanted to teach English, French, and Spanish. Using the skills I learned while operating the window cleaning business, I started looking for students. It was quite scary at first because I didn’t know if I would be successful. That being said, I was gradually able to find enough students to have a full-time teaching schedule. This is how the Calgary Language Nerds was born.
Fast Forward to Today
Over time, the Calgary Language Nerds has grown into a business that employs over 20 people and offers lessons for over 10 languages.
My role has also changed since 2016 when this all started. While I still teach about 20 hours a week, the rest of my time is spent running what has become a medium-sized language tutoring business. I’m excited to see what the future holds!
I hope to meet you one day soon 🙂
Azren the Language Nerd
Owner of the Calgary Language Nerds
