Blog
Thoughts and explorations in language learning and fluency.
Adults should learn faster (but don't)
Adults have every advantage. They just apply them to the wrong things.
January 10, 2026 · 4 min read
Language is the easiest hard thing
You don't need talent. You need input, time, and to stop fighting the process.
January 9, 2026 · 4 min read
Every language is the same language
You're not learning a new system. You're learning a new interface to the same system.
January 8, 2026 · 5 min read
What Singlish tells us about how languages work
Singlish isn't broken English. It's a system with its own rules, built from collision.
January 7, 2026 · 5 min read
Why language learning isn't like learning math
Study, understand, apply. That works for some things. Language isn't one of them.
January 7, 2026 · 6 min read
Nobody designed English
There was no committee. No blueprint. English accumulated through accidents and collisions.
January 5, 2026 · 5 min read
Language is messier than you think
Strong tea but not powerful tea. Native speakers can't explain why.
January 4, 2026 · 6 min read
You've heard "hello" ten thousand times
That new phrase you learned? Maybe three reps. "Hello" has ten thousand. That's the gap.
January 3, 2026 · 4 min read
You don't need a conversation partner
The learning happens alone. A partner makes it enjoyable, but they're not the mechanism.
December 18, 2025 · 3 min read
Pronunciation is a hearing problem (and how to fix it)
Your brain learned to ignore the sounds you need. That's why you can't make them.
December 11, 2025 · 3 min read
The boring, inevitable path to fluency
There's no hack. One to two years of consistent, unglamorous work.
December 4, 2025 · 4 min read
Why popular methods don't work (and why they're everywhere)
Apps, courses, textbooks, tutors. They feel like progress but don't produce fluency.
November 27, 2025 · 5 min read
You know the grammar, you know the words, so why can't you speak?
You can conjugate verbs and pass tests. But real conversation leaves you frozen.
November 20, 2025 · 4 min read
What research actually says about language learning
Heritage speakers understand everything but can't speak. Input and output are different systems.
November 13, 2025 · 9 min read
Why fluency is worth the work
The world has been talking this whole time. You just couldn't hear it.
November 6, 2025 · 4 min read