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These guys went to Russia for the weirdest reason you can think of
Simon Forbes
May 16, 2025
In today’s newsletter:
🔸 Why you keep making mistakes in your target language
🔸 Funky grammar
🔸 3 guys visit Russia
Hey Reader. I’ve just wrapped up a holiday in Spain, and took the chance to refresh my somewhat rusty Spanish, a both fun and humbling experience. One experience in particular drove home just how variable “fluency” can be depending on context. While chatting with a Galician in the hostel I stayed at, I quite comfortably spoke Spanish throughout; yet one interaction with an older lady running a small restaurant had me floundering as she listed their dishes at (what felt like) near supersonic speed. While I managed to order for our group, it wasn’t without difficulty! It’s a good reminder of how important it is to move out of your comfort zone if you want to grow.
Simon
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Notice: Due to an upcoming holiday, there will likely be a gap between now and the next newsletter.
Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon!
Mondecast Feature 💡: Why You Keep Making Mistakes In Your Target Language
I’m on a bit of a language learning run on my blog these days, but this one was actually released a while back. In this week’s feature, I discuss why adults struggle to sound like native speakers while children seem to attain fluency without effort.
Spotlight 🔦: Sentences that break your brain
Ever heard a sentence that sounds completely correct but makes no sense? Escher sentences are a type of sentence that sounds grammatical but actually isn’t. The typical example for this is “More people have been to Russia than I have”. At first glance it sounds right, but take a time to figure out what this sentence actually means and you might struggle!
From around the web 🌐
People
These three guys travelled to Russia and offered to cook people dinner in their homes.
Languages
Where does the alphabetic order come from, and how do languages decide on their order?
Language Learning
Refold published an interesting article on copywork for language learning, which is basically reading then writing down what you just read by hand. The theory goes that this forces you to pay attention to the language more carefully. The article also recommends you don’t overdo it, which I agree with. 10 minutes a day would be plenty. The only thing I would add is that it’s still possible to not pay attention to the language when copying. To counter this, try read and remember several words at once before writing them all down without looking back - this will force you to think more carefully about the language.
This Reddit thread on someone’s roadmap from zero to C2 in Italian in 8 months, has some great advice.
Mondecast is a bi-weekly newsletter about people: their lives, their languages, and their cultures
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