Normally I share my learning experiences after the fact. I’ve written before about tackling MIT’s calculus, Spanish, linear algebra, finance and other non-academic learning tasks. This time, however, I wanted to do things a little differently. I want to share my thinking process before going to learn Chinese. Then, once we land and the three […]
Things Worth Knowing, Even Poorly
I recently came upon this quote by Kató Lomb: We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly. If someone knows how to play the violin only a little, he will find that the painful minutes he causes are not in proportion to the possible joy he gains from his […]
Chicken Hearts and Glass Explosions: A First Week in Brazil
Sometimes the best part of travel is when it all goes horribly wrong. Getting to Brazil was definitely an example of that. For the last three months, Vat and I had been living in Spain, not speaking English as a way to learn Spanish. I had put in about fifty hours of work in on […]
My Spanish After Three Months
A little less than three months ago today, I arrived with my friend Vat with very limited Spanish, with the goal of not speaking English for our entire stay. The challenge was an experiment: would it be possible to get by with no English even though our Spanish was rudimentary? And more, how much could […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.