gibberish · travel

Creative Ways to Learn a New Language

Have you tried every app, book, site or workshop out there, and still feel like you’re butchering your target language whenever you speak? I’ve been there, feeling like I should apologize to every native speaker for forcing them to listen to my atrocious interpretation of their own tongue, even after months of taking classes.

So you’ve hit a plateau. This might actually be where things get interesting. If the old formulas no longer work, then it may be time to set your sights on the unconventional, to take approaches you’ve never tried before. Reframing your mindset might just be what you need to send the gears whirring again, to rewire your brain to finally make that new language stick. I’ve got a few ideas — shall we start rewiring?  Continue reading “Creative Ways to Learn a New Language”

gibberish

5 Tricks to Re-Simplify Your Life

When Facebook set ‘It’s complicated’ as a valid status, no one really batted an eyelash. Whether it’s about relationships or something else bigger, we all get it. We’ve all been there — that point where we wonder when life started to be one big mess, when we all just wish that we could conjure a big wind that would whoosh us away to the simplicity of childhood.

While there is no magic formula that will instantly wipe out all inevitable complexities of life, there are some tips and tricks that you will stumble on along the way to help you regain your peace of mind. Here are some of the ‘hacks’ that have worked like a charm for me; hopefully, you guys will find them useful too.

1. Actively de-clutter.

Start with your mail, then raid your closets, your drawers, and the junk underneath your bed. This is effective for two reasons: (1) de-cluttering with active use of your hands does wonders for the mind, and (2) seeing something that used to be in shambles now as clear as a canvas, gives you some space to relax and to be creative. One adage has stuck and has incessantly fed my motivation to de-clutter through the years — if I can fix my room, I can fix my life. Continue reading “5 Tricks to Re-Simplify Your Life”