I used to do this all the time as a kid! I was way more interested in the scifi/fantasy aspect and the social sciences aspect, and I really didn't want to get i

I used to do this all the time as a kid! I was way more interested in the scifi/fantasy aspect and the social sciences aspect, and I really didn't want to get into tech at all. Either way, the sad truth is that for most of us language nuts it will always be a hobby. The real linguistics related careers are more about analyzing current active languages, or social sciencey things about language. I guess the only lucrative thing I can think of would be marketing, but getting high enough on the marketing ladder to be in charge of naming stuff and making choices about how to describe products is a career nightmare imo. I agree with the potential for programming research stuff, but if he's like me he probably won't really feel like learning enough programming to make it useful until he's like 30. I think a big thing for me was thinking about all the different interests I have, and the fact that my biggest interests aren't going to be my career... and then learning that my career is only part of my identity, and it's actually ok to identify more strongly with your hobbies (I'm a guitarist/writer/conlanger) than your career. Growing up academically gifted and then putting so much into college really pushes people into making their career their whole personality, and I think that's something that stresses a lot of people in education and entry-level situations.