Learn a new language to conversational level.

“At the beginning of May this year, I flew into Spain for the first time. A few days later I had settled into an apartment in the small city of Burgos, about two hours north of Madrid. I knew a ridiculously small amount of Spanish back then, having just started learning some vocab and listening to podcasts a few weeks before. The word hola still felt weird for me to say out loud. I was very self-conscious about using the language, and entirely hopeless at understanding anyone speaking Spanish to me. Fast forward to early-August and I was able to go shopping for jeans and tell the sales clerks exactly what I wanted, conversing entirely in Spanish. A few days later I was able to draw laughs from friends with a joke about Irish weddings, translating it quickly in my head from English. And, perhaps most important of all, I was able to talk my way out of trouble with la policía who at first didn't take too kindly to me hitchhiking near the highway in Vitoria.”

“I practice journaling. Early on in my new language, just a few weeks into my learning, I was prompted to relate some of the events recorded in my daily journal to my language partner. He asked the simple question, “What did you do yesterday?” That’s a powerful conversation starter. We sometimes just have to be forced to respond. I improvised. I simplified. I made mistakes. And that’s just the point. This was a good place to generate, to create, and to work through what I wanted to say with the simple language I had. My partner was there for me, to help me clean up my mistakes, and to help me work on my expression until it made sense, until I got it, one familiar description at a time.”