Art that Resonated in 2025
One of my goals for 2026 is to reflect more, and this includes reflecting on all the art I engage with every day. While I often value good art for that “in the moment feeling”, I’ve realized that it’s also…
Some Thoughts on Language “Fluency”
“So how many languages do you speak?” It’s a question I get quite often, and it’s one that deserves a lot more nuance than a one-word response. Having grown up as a monolingual in a household of multiple languages, I’ve…
Year of the Dragon: My 2024 New Year Language Goals
Happy Year of the Dragon! Six months in Taiwan have flown by, and I’ve done a lot of reflecting about what my 2024 new year language goals are. When it comes to language learning, I’ll be focusing on four of…
One-Month Mandarin Marathon + 3 Handy Resources
I’ve been in Taiwan for a week now, and while navigating Taipei is doable in English, one of the major reasons I came here was to become fluent in Mandarin. With one month before the semester starts, I’ve got enough…
A Beginner’s Resource Guide to Less Commonly Taught Languages
In my various attempts at learning Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs), one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced is knowing where and how to find the resources to begin. If you’re looking to learn an LCTL but don’t know where…
Starting 2023 [An Intermission]
I never really finished the year 2022. Instead of at a New Year’s Eve party, I found myself on a plane from Chicago to Paris, working on a research essay and drinking merlot. For four of those hours, I spoke…
Fieldnote #2: When a Pokémon Master knows 17th-Century French Literature
I’ve recently been playing through the French version of Pokemon Omega Ruby for Nintendo 3DS— partly for the nostalgia/escapism, but also as a means to improving my French reading. For those who aren’t familiar, there’s a place called Maison de…
Fieldnote #1: On the French verb ”arriver” + the creative life
In French, the verb arriver can describe both a physical arrival as well as a figurative one. For a long time, I’ve wanted to experience both of these feelings in my travel and creative life. “Je suis arrivé à écrire…
Linguacultural Lessons from the Jula of Odienné: Exploring Côte d’Ivoire’s Northwest
Lesson #1: I jatigi ye jɔn ye? Who is your host? There were two major reasons I traveled to the north, and neither of them involved getting stranded in a dirt field. As I looked down at my map, I…
How to Learn Nouchi like an Ivorian
On dit quoi? At first glance, Côte d’Ivoire’s colorful argot can be difficult to decipher. Some call it a dialect, some call it a creole, while others may consider it a completely different language. No matter which way you see…