This paper is the author’s farewell address as a university lecturer and it offers a detailed look at her training and her career. Born in 1947 and trained in the world of language and language learning (Catalan, Spanish, French, English, etc.), the author reflects upon moments in her intellectual and personal life when she was guided by a plurilingual vocation and a desire to improve language teaching, among other things. Her first-hand account, which ranges from the second half of the past century to the early years of the present one, highlights the impact of modern linguistics in the development of the teaching and learning of languages.