Do you want to create your own language? A coded language that only you and a few other people can understand? Or do you just want an interesting hobby? If you answered yes to any of the questions above then it is high time you considered conlanging: inventing your own language for private use. You can invent it on your own or you can get other people to help you. In most instances, it is the inventor only who has a working knowledge of the language. You do not have to be a linguist to be a conlanger. Anyone who is interested can invent their own language.
To create your own language you have to start from the bottom and work your way up. The first thing you need to do is to come up with a name for your language. Then come up with various sounds that the language will have. This will help you compile your an alphabet for your language. Come up with symbols which represent letters. You can opt to use pictographs instead just like Chinese uses pictographs to represent the spoken language. The other option would be to use an alphabet that already exists. This will make your work easier as all you will have to do is come up with new words. You can choose to add some letters or do away with some letters in the alphabet if you opt to use an existing alphabet. The next thing you should do is come up with words. These will form the vocabulary of your language. Start with common words that will be used on a regular basis. You can even borrow words from other languages.
To make your language self sustaining you need to do a number of things. Come up with grammar rules that describe how sentences are formed. You also need to come up with a dictionary to help you remember different vocabularies and what they mean. Practice the language until you have mastered it then try it out with other people. Teach as many people as you want your new language. Learning the language will be just the same as learning other foreign languages.
