More Spanish learning
Recently YouTube decided to show me video tips on acquiring a language. I ended up watching one of them, where the guy was recommending getting off Duolingo, as it was useless. I was skeptical of that advice at first, but I started watching more Spanish education videos. It made me realise how little of the language mechanics Duolingo was explaining. He was right in saying that Duolingo is ‘useless’, outside of being a reinforcement tool.
Unfortunately, 9 months of unscrambling Spanish words into sentences didn’t amount much. I know some words well enough, but they never had any sensible groupings. The lack of the basics, such as the alphabet and guidance on pronunciations didn’t help either.
I won’t be giving up on my Duolingo habit yet, as I’m trying to get my badge for completing a year-long streak. At the least I will keep going till then, given it is something that kept me engaged with the language. In the meantime, I will be incorporating podcasts and videos to aid my learning.
Halloween
It’s that time of the year again. The kids here go around being arsonists and disturbing the peace. As usual, I had no decorations on, and yet the doorbell does not stop ringing. Not to mention it is a rainy day. Nothing could have deterred them.
Also, I thought that Brexit would have taken care of most of the contraband fireworks, but no. The sound of explosions hasn’t stopped for hours and will not until some mad hours into the night. Can’t wait to read about how people got lobbed with firecrackers by some feral kids in the news tomorrow.
Call it what it is. In Dublin city, Halloween is a festival of pestilence, bringing out some of the awful elements of living in Dublin. While the Irish invented Halloween, the version perfected by Americans is certainly better.
Socials
On the bright side, we can have dance parties again! After almost 2 years of lockdown, it was the first event I had gone to for a while. Was good to see all the familiar faces, as well as many new ones. I was a little hesitant with dancing again, both from the lack of practice, and with socialising. The pandemic has entrained me to be cautious with social contact. I suppose it will be a while before I would be at ease again.
Have to admit that I’m a little rusty. But otherwise, the motor skills of basic dance steps never went away. Still, it made for a fun night, even though I hadn’t danced as much as I had before.
In any case, I had gotten interested in adjacent genres of dancing. Was learning a bit of electro and shuffling, which will make for an interesting mix. I’ll be branded as a ‘heretic’, with some rolling their eyeballs with disapproval for sure. These new genres look ‘cooler’ for solo dancing, and it helps keep me motivated dancing on my own.
Exercise
As with dancing, I’m rather pleased with getting my bicycle fixed and cycling around again. All around, I have increased my activity levels, from cycling, to doing more exercises at home. But I have stopped skipping; it was hard for me to want to head out in the cold for aerobic exercises somehow. I have at least replaced that with doing burpees indoors. It’s surprising how winded I get from doing just a few.
You win some, you lose some. Hope it evens out with time anyhow.
