Different Without Being Strangers
“How can we come close to one another without becoming the same?” Reflecting on the “standard” versions of the languages I learn and the quiet erasure of the dialects and …
Stitching Italian into the Gaps
Can a language be learned in the “dead time” of a busy day? I’m setting my knitting aside …
Unfinished Japanese
Every time I come across a mention of the Japanese language, a sense of guilt swells up. It …
December’s Stitches
Léttlopi wool and the beginnings of the Douglas Cardi. December came and went. While I’d promised myself a …
Day 503 of German | Day 1 of Italian: The Path of Least Resistance
Today marks day 503 of my German journey and, perhaps foolishly, day 1 of my Italian. The decision …
November
November has gone by exceptionally fast. It was dominated by a heavy workload, a hurried trip to the …
Searching for My People
Day 479 of German I’m about to embark on a long flight to meet people who share my …
Day 471 of German: Forgetting Myself
It feels like a joke, but a few days ago, on Halloween, I finished Duolingo’s German course. The …
The Serendipity of the Railway Tie
Day 470 of German It was a typical German study day. I watched the Tagesschau (the evening news) …
Day 469 of German: The Ordinary Chore of Enlightenment
I finally have two days off work, and absolutely nothing is planned. In fact, one of those days …
Skip the Reviews: The Wisdom of Direct Experience
Day 466 of German (October 26, 2025) Thanks to my father, I gained an early appreciation for Buddhist …
Bridging the Gap: The Listening Challenge
Day 465 of German Despite the metrics in my LingQ app showing that only about 5% of the …
The Buddha on the Ledge: Between Practice and Philosophy
Day 464 of German Just a block from my home, on a busy street, is a small, unassuming …
Antifragile German: Learning from Humiliating Errors
Day 463 of German In yesterday’s post, my loose quote of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s ideas bothered me, so …
The Protective Filter: News and Detachment in a Second Language
I woke up to the news that the Japanese parliament just elected its first female prime minister, Sanae …
Back to Momo: My “Far-Tube” Moment
Day 461 of German My friend, M, recommended Momo by Michael Ende a few weeks ago. I was …
The Hin und Her of Learning
Day 460 of German It took me three days to work through the transcript of the Tagesschau broadcast …
Evie’s Warmth: Tracing the Yarn’s Origin
I missed a recent farm and studio event hosted by Fibre & Forge, a local sheep farm in …
From Heart Sutra to “How to Sit”: The Tools We Pass Down
I almost always have a digital copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s How to Sit open on my laptop …
The Grammar of Friendship
A work conversation today reminded me of a distant friend in Ontario whom I hadn’t heard from in …
