4 Brilliant Ways to Shake up Your Life when You Need a Change ...

This is one of the best ways to shake up your life. Language is important for many reasons but, have you ever thought about taking your language learning into your own hands?

There are so many free apps that help with language learning. It is not as hard as it used to be to learn a language. You no longer have to spend hundreds of dollars and you no longer have to enroll in a class at school to learn one either.

My favorite language app is "Duolingo". There are a lot of languages to choose from and more are being added over time. For example, Korean wasn't an option a few years ago.

A good app for learning Mandarin Chinese is "Chineasy Cards". I started it a few days ago and it has been the most effective at helping with memorization. The higher levels are not free but it's a great way to test the waters to see if you are really invested.

There are many more but those are the ones I am using at the moment.

If an app isn't your style, then there are also YouTube channels and websites dedicated to teaching you your desired language.

This is my goal for 2018.

Having a pen pal can help you learn about a different country. It can cultivate that language you started learning in step one (wink wink). But it can also be something more local. Your pen pal doesn't have to be in a different country. They could be in a different state.

They can be an escape for whatever is going on with you. It can be even more of a surprise if you use snail mail.

This is so much fun because usually you only have a vague idea of what's in the box.

I signed up for a box from Japan and every month, they sent me products that were popular at the time. It was a small peek into what you'd find walking around in stores in Tokyo. It featured brand names, which is pretty cool as well. It is called Yume Twins.

There are so many subscriptions to choose from. All you have to do is start by searching "monthly subscription boxes" and specify from there based on what you're interested in. There are makeup boxes, anime boxes, kawaii (cute) boxes, etc.

This option isn't free and the prices vary but I love the feeling of coming home and having a box on my doorstep.

Volunteering is a great way to help people and make new connections at the same time. It feels good to help others, no matter the scale. It could be organizing books for a book drive at the library or it could be feeding the homeless.

My family has been creating little care packages that we leave in the car and give to the people holding signs, asking for help, throughout our city. It can be that simple but it will become a light in your life.

If helping people is not reason enough to get out, then you can go to meet people. You can meet some pretty interesting people volunteering. You might find friends you will have forever.

Volunteering is not something you do for the dot on your resume. It can shake up your life in ways you can't imagine.