A month ago, I started learning my wife’s native language, Macedonian. To do that, we’re only speaking Macedonian at home with each other. Here’s a brief video with subtitles sharing the progress I’ve made so far: I also recorded a longer lesson with my tutor, Jovan, to show what a typical lesson looks like for […]

In my previous essay, I argued that much of success boils down to a simple maxim: do the real thing and stop doing fake alternatives. Always start by asking yourself: “How would I do this, if doing it well were all that mattered?” Now, you might object: You don’t have enough time. You have a […]

Nearly a month ago, I decided to embark on a project to learn my wife’s native language, Macedonian. To do this, we’re not speaking English to each other at home. This is a brief update on how that project is going in the third week. Last week I had mentioned some hiccups. I found juggling […]

Success largely boils down to a simple distinction. It’s glaringly obvious once you see it, but also easy to find ingenious ways of ignoring it: do the real thing and stop doing fake alternatives. Consider one person who wrote to me saying she turned down a job working in French. She didn’t feel her French […]