CRAFT

In this section you will find examples of long- and short-term projects that I have developed and executed in order to hone the craft of writing, translation, effective use of language and other skills. These projects are, in true nerd fashion, simply what I consider to be free time well spent, allowing me to level up my skills in different languages as I work towards personal, academic, and professional goals. 

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Goal setting and the art of language learning, as you can imagine, frequently crop up in conversation in the language learning classroom. As a foreign language teacher, polyglot and autodidactic learner, my students are often curious about what I do differently, how rigorously I study and where I find the time and energy to learn. First and foremost, I use the languages I am learning as a tool to explore other subjects I am interested in, so that my active waking hours are multilingual, whether I'm learning about history or consuming media from various outlets. As for effort, I neither crank out exercises round the clock nor sleep with one ear open to the sound of grammatical rules on a low-frequency loop. But when I do study intensively, I usually focus two or three overarching themes in all of my languages, which in 2020 included the narrative tenses, the Middle Ages and heroes of epic literature. Where time and energy are concerned I can assure you: I am most often profoundly tired, but still opt to further my studies when my schedule is free.

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I hope that these pages will help to guide autodidactic learners in developing their own projects, language students in planning to level up their own skills outside the classroom, and language professionals in continuing their education through creative works. Last but not least, I hope that those of you who are learning the same target languages as I am will be able to use these materials to pass the time and have fun while learning.