5 random suggestions for language learning

Beyond being fun and allowing one to speak with more people on our planet, learning languages has been shown to boost economic growth and stave of dementia. But there are so many tricks and tips to learning languages. What actually works?

To put in my two cents I made this list, non-exhaustive, in no particular order:

• Traditional Books actually work. Many people will say that it is beneficial to use alternative methods and to try immersive tactics, etc, etc. Of course, supplementing academic-style language learning books is useful and something I would recommend, but supplementation is not replacement. It may be tempting to avoid the dryer, more potentially boring prospect of picking up a book and doing the exercises and listening to the conversations. But in the end, nothing can replace reading the grammar and slowly learning things in a pedagogical way.
• Consistency is key. I think that language learning is best done in shorter sessions, for example something like 45 minutes at a time might be optimum (for me). But on the other hand, to progress one has to have a lot of sustained contact and use with the language. For this reason, studying every day is recommended, in whatever fashion. And of course if every day isn't possible, then being as consistent as possible is a must.
• Don't postpone learning. I think many people put off learning today because they think they will have more time on the next day, or because they can somehow optimize the learning experience further (or buy another book, or download another podcast, etc, etc). Doing whatever you can today is always better then nothing, and the worst case is that you postpone learning so long that you have to re-learn something.
• You will make mistakes. Imagine anyone you know in your everyday life that is not a native speaker of your language. Store clerk, professor, doctor. Do they make mistakes? The answer is definitely yes. This should put it in perspective: everyone makes mistakes at every level of language learning, so the prospect of making mistakes should not scare you from speaking.
• It never ends. Related to the last point, the language learning journey never ends. Even if you are at the level where you need to be practically, you will still learn new words and new idioms that will push you even further. Combined with the fact that we all need refreshers to recall specific grammar points, we should be in the mindset that learning a foreign language (or more than one) is a continuous lifetime task (and that is a good thing, not bad!).

Light Holiday Reading

I got back at the end of August from a three-week, relaxing holiday in Croatia. But on that holiday I made the choice to read and watch material that was completely devastating and opposite to my idyllic surrounding. Not necessarily a choice I recommend, but I have some thoughts in any case.

I read King Leopold's Ghost, a damning and detailed description of the unspeakable acts committed by agents of Belgium's King Leopold II leading to an estimated decrease in the Congolese population by 10 million. This is a story that “hits home” for me because I have spent a lot of time in Brussels, specifically in the originally Congolese neighborhood of Matonge (named after a neighborhod in Khinshasha, formerly Leopoldville). But also because I met people there still studying the Congolese culture in Belguim and the inability of the Belgians to properly deal with their history. And because I saw many of the monuments that were financed by the prosperous and blood-financed rubber period. There is even a park still holding the King’s name.

I read Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, the epic story of the Joad's journey from Oklahoma to California and the utter powerlessness they had against destitution and the lack of compassion of their fellow Americans. I don’t know how this story escaped me during my school times, but despite the glaring pro-communism argument, the story also hit home. I saw the depictions of the Californians selfish of their stability and afraid of the Okeys moving in to their space, and I saw a similarity to some of us Americans today.

I watched the recent Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary miniseries The Vietnam War, about a war that I always knew made little sense. It has taught me that not only did it make little sense, it was a tragedy motivated only by a misguided and misinformed policy and ultimately the political greed and untrustworthiness of a line of American presidents and cabinet members. This viewing experience did not hit home in contrast to the others; unlike many other people my age I did not have a father, uncle, or family friend that was affected by Vietnam. But this documentary rather challenged my view of all of the people involved. The American leaders, the American soldiers, and also the Vietnamese on all sides. Despite being 17 hours in total I recommend it to anyone, especially lovers of Ken Burns.

What did I learn from this very poorly chosen vacation reading? I guess if I were to say only one thing it would be that nodoby should trust the version of history they were told. The past was a very different place and even those who are held up as heroes, or even just as honourable, could be not so disimilar to those today we would hold in contempt, both personally and as a society. Events are always complex to understand, especially as they unfold, but with the sharp lens of history we can learn something, and we must actively seek this in order to properly assess and deal with the past.

Language and Personality

There is an effect when speaking a foreign language that I think isn't talked about as much as it should be. The fact that, when speaking in another language, one takes on a slightly different personality than when speaking in their native tongue. I've noticed the effect of this in many different contexts.

I'm a native English speaker, and I've studied many languages to varying levels. But with the German language I got to the highest level and I can understand most conversations. I noticed eventually that I acted differently when speaking German, but I also noticed the converse. I worked with mostly German colleagues, but the working language was English. So my colleagues were used to the fact that usually when they were speaking English it was about work and therefore more serious. Conversely, when at work they would sometimes speak German with each other when a non-German speaker wasn't involved. Since I could understand what they were saying, I routinely noticed that they were more casual with each other. This is surely partly because they can just speak more freely in their native tongue, but I also got the sense that it was psychological, meaning in German they could access a larger range of their personality.

Being now in a multi-lingual marriage, I am interested in how multiple languages effect the raising of children. Without citing anything, I have read that children develop fine with up to three languages, but having four or more at a very young age can slow development. An example scenario with three languages is two parents each speaking to the child in their native tongue, and one more being learned and used at school. It also supposedly helps if one parent always speaks a consistent language with the children. I would guess that one of the reasons that this method is preferred is that the child can consistently develop their intelligence and personality in each language without getting them confused.

One last phenomenon I can propose has to do with language learning for adults. If one has a different personality when speaking different languages, then it also must be that they have to develop this separate personality when learning a new language. I have gotten the sense when watching others try to speak a foreign language that they are apprehensive to take on this new personality, and it hurts their ability to speak well. The most simple way to explain this is putting on a thick French accent when trying to speak French, rather than just saying French words as they would be said in American English. Of course as one would learn French more and more the accent would become more natural, but in the beginning stages the accent is more like playing a role, and I think that some people hesitate to take on that role. The extension for an advanced speaker would be using more phrases and colloquialisms in the foreign language. Sometimes they don't make sense when directly translated, and are a result of different cultural forces, but from just a language point of view they are useful for better communication.

In any case, I think some people would not even agree with the basic premise that when speaking a different language we take on a slightly different personality. But I have seen it and experienced it myself, and I think it actually can explain some aspects of language learning and use.

A Grand Canyon - Bryce Canyon - Zion Itinerary

We just went on a great hiking trip for 5 days out West. Our itinerary worked out so nicely that I though it worth writing down.


Day 0:
10pm - arrive to Vegas, pickup rental car

Day 1:
8am - pickup rented tent and stove
9am - drive 4 hours to Grand Canyon NP, stop at historic Route 66 along the way
3pm - hike 1.5 miles down and then back up on Bright Angel Trail (~2.5 hours)
7pm - Ride shuttle to see sunset at Hermit's Rest
9pm - dinner at campsite

Day 2:
5am - wake up, see sunrise at Mather Point
6am - hike 1.5 miles down and back up on South Kaibab Trail (~3 hours)
10am - Drive 3 hours to Lake Powell
1pm - Boat tour on Lake Powell (2.5 hours)
6pm - swim a bit at the Lake Powell beach
9pm - dinner at campsite

Day 3:
10am - take some time to drive slowly to Bryce Canyon, take scenic route
3pm - hike 6 mile figure-eight Trail (~3 hours) starting at Sunset Point

Day 4:
6am - wake up, see sunrise at Sunrise Point
6:30am - hike 8 mile Fairyland Loop Trail counterclockwise (3.5 hours)
10am - Second breakfast and nap
11am - drive 2 hours to Zion NP
1pm - rent gear for the Narrows hike
3pm - Enter Zion NP, take shuttle to Narrows
4pm - Hike the narrows to Wall street and back (~2.5 hours)
9pm - dinner

Day 5:
6am - wake up
7am - be in line for first park shuttle
7:30 - Do full Angel's Landing hike (~2.5 hours)
11am - in Springdale, pay for showers, have coffee, eat snacks
12pm - drive to Saint George, shopping in Red Cliff's Mall
4pm - drive back to Vegas
6pm - return rented camping gear
7pm - dinner
8pm - spend two hours in Vegas, win $29
10pm - be back at airport, return rental car
11:45pm - flight back to the East Coast


The biggest thing I would add to this trip, which we didn't have time for, was actually hiking down to the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. This is something I have never done, and is on my bucket list, but would require two more days on the trip.

2017 Reading List Reflections

I made a reading list a year ago, mostly in reaction to Tr*mp entering the white house, and the implications I thought that had on the US and the world. I didn't read everything on the list, but what I did read left a lasting impression.

It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis (1935)
This was quite a surprise, both because of how similar it sounded to Tr*mp at the time I was reading it, and how realistic it seemed. Interestingly enough it is pretty closely based on a real (but short-lived) political movement of that time. Highly recommended.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (1931)
A classic that I essentially already knew about because of its presence in pop-culture. It was a great and easy read, and lived up to its popularity.

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)
Was not on the list, but fit in very well. Prose written like poetry, this work made me feel the visceral emotions that Coates felt growing up, and that he fears his son will too. Also a short read from a current talent that should be on every reading list, if not just for it's beauty, but it's ability to teach.

Hillbilly Elegy - J. D. Vance (2016) 
This was surprisingly good, a memoir from a self-described Kentucky/Ohio hillbilly about his very rough and troubled childhood. So many of the superficial facts I had seen so much growing up in others, but Vance brought me in to the experience in so much more detail. He does a great job at both critiquing those he was surrounded by, but also crying out for all of those left behind by unreasonable and nonsensical government policies.

Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue - Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz (2015)
I am a fan of Sam Harris, although he can sometimes take a too-literal, or too-academic point of view, I almost always agree with the logic of his arguments. This is a great short dialogue between Harris, an atheist writer and thinker, and Nawaz, a former Islamic fundamentalist and current reform voice in the UK. Very interesting, and it helps me understand more details about the Islamic faith, and the issues facing the modern world and the billion muslims living in it.


Globalization and Its Discontents - Joseph E. Stiglitz (2017) 
I ended up reading the new 2017 version of this book, which includes a new introduction and an extensive section on the "new discontents", which are those in developed countries. I guess this is the textbook-like complement to Hillbilly Elegy, outlining the economic reasoning behind how globalization poorly managed hurts those in the countries it is supposed to help most (developing countries) and even those in the countries with the most power and control (the US). He rallies intensely against the IMF, which can sometimes seem like cherry-picking. And although his arguments make a lot of sense to me, I wish he would also discuss how he fit in, since he also had huge influence during a lot of the time periods he speaks about.


What It Takes: The Way to the White House - Richard Ben Cramer (1992)
I must admit that I never finished this 1000+ page tome, but did get more than half way through. The point however is already strongly made. In modern times the president (in this case George Bush Sr.) need not be smart or good with the issues, but just be friends with everybody. The '88 campaign had a vast media involvement, and in the end a very dirty ad war against Dukakis sealed the deal. It does make one sentimental for the time when President's were all skilled elder-statesmen, but at the same time the media involvement has huge positives on the democratic process. In any case, running for president will take over ever facet of your life. 

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What I didn't read:  

Trump: The Art of the Deal and Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again. I couldn't bring myself to pay money for, or spend any time reading words even supposed to have been written by him. 

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States and Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil are still both on my list as nonfiction, and The Sellout in fiction. 

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 My list for this coming year includes finally finishing one of Thomas Pynchon's longer works (either V, Gravity's Rainbow, or Inherent Vice), and attempting Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I am riding a bit of a nonfiction streak, so we'll see what else falls under my view.