• Language Learning

    Tití me preguntó si tengo mucha’ novia’

    “Tití me preguntó si tengo mucha’ novia'” (Auntie asked me if I have many girlfriends) was how this year’s epic Bad Bunny Superbowl halftime performance started and this was by far the lingual highlight of my week! This year’s halftime show was the first one performed almost entirely in Spanish, and with references to Puerto Rican history and culture all over it. It starts with a historical walk-through from the beginning scene with sugar cane workers in pava hats, representing the slave-like conditions Puerto Ricans endured under U.S. corporate rule, to cultural nods like a game of dominoes and a piragua stand, to exploding power poles, indicative of Puerto Rico’s…

  • Language Learning

    Delightful and Challenging Language Learning

    This week in language learning, I continued my Pimsleur, Innovative Language, Fluent Fiction, and Duolingo, and also enjoyed watching some foreign language films in Spanish, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Watching language films while learning them is definitely a delightful and enriching experience, but for me, it’s a very humbling one to see how little I actually know at this point, especially in Japanese and Vietnamese, which I just started in the fall. But knowing that also gives me a sense of excitement that there’s so much more to unravel. The most challenging aspect so far is learning Hiragana, but I also think that the characters are so beautiful that I’d like…