What I've been doing since finishing six Duolingo courses

My Duolingo subscription has ended, and I won't be renewing it. At first when I finished six courses a few months ago, I was doing the German refresh exercises. Then I realized I was tired of playing that game, so I started reading more foreign-language sources and watching Easy German, Easy French, and Easy Spanish. 

I also spend time practically every day looking at headlines on Twitter and translating the ones that I understand or am interested in. News in other languages is really hard, even just the headlines. Sometimes I will look at a German headline, for instance, and will perhaps understand the first couple of words, then it will all break down as I continue. I keep reading German like I would read a Romance language. But German puts their infinitives at the end or they split them, and they also don't use prepositions and possessives like the Romance languages do. So as my eye follows along, my mind gets stuck. But yesterday, I managed to translate some German, in addition to Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese tweets.

I also finished writing a draft of a novella. I started on June 1 and finished it on July 11. I was ready to start revising it right away, but then stepped back, realizing that I should restructure the story, so I'm currently doing that. 

I'm continuing to take a French class at the Alliance Française; I started last year, and it is fantastic. The teacher is highly trained and is a native French and English speaker who was born here but grew up in France, so we learn the language as well as the culture. I've realized that it's very important to not only learn the correct words and grammar, but to learn about the country as well. It makes the class more interesting and I'm motivated to find out more about France, where I've never been. Sometimes I look at my brother's old French college textbook to brush up on grammar and language structure, and of course, I have a long way to go. I think I'm going to try to go to France next year to study for a couple of weeks and travel, which I'm doing next month in Germany via Easy German. 

Unfortunately, my book-reading is down; I made the mistake of reading a few books at once, and each is very long, so I haven't finished any of them yet. So I'm concentrating on finishing one before my Germany trip. I've also been watching documentaries and British shows, watching NHK shows, and enjoying life outside of Duolingo. 

Duolingo got me back into intense language-learning, and I haven't stopped. I feel like I'm where I was years ago in the early days of this blog, when my life was more language-focused. This is probably one of the best years of my life.

p.s. the e-book version of my debut novel is still at Amazon, and the price for the print version has been reduced: buy at the Eckhartz Press site.

Work-life balance as a screener

A while ago, I applied for a job that I was totally qualified for. But the first part of the online application had a list of words and phrases that we had to click. The question was: "What words describe you, and what's important to you?" This was their way of screening, like lawyers trying to choose a jury. Who knows what that organization was searching for; I felt like whatever I answered would be wrong, and I didn't make it past that initial online application anyway.

The phrase that stuck out to me was "work-life balance is important." By clicking that and some other related words, it would paint a picture, and the decision-makers could decide if they want to talk to the applicant. I felt like clicking incongruous words to confuse them, but I predictably clicked certain words that probably gave my intensity away. Maybe it signaled my age or something else, like I was too serious, not ready to laugh at a silly joke at the water cooler.

All the phrases seemed trite, like the organization was trying to put people into categories and slots based on their answers: "Oh, this applicant clicked these words; that means they're such-and-such age, they'll aware, they're sensitive, they need meaning," etc. 

I walk by that organization often (I live nearby, and thought that would be a selling point, but they didn't care), and sometimes I want to ask someone coming out of there what the deal is. Did they hire someone for the role? What kinds of people are they looking for? Why do they ask such questions? Do applicants have to create a brand in order to be accepted, then have to maintain it once they're hired? What if they understand the organization's game, play it well, then get in and feel stressed that they have to keep pretending?

Since work-life balance has been a trend in recent years, maybe that organization is screening people based on that, determining that if anyone clicks that phrase, they're "current" and "modern." The organization has lots of buzzwords on their website, so it seems like it's trying to appear hip.

Here's my work-life balance: I want work that is honest, in a place that is healthy and drama-free. Then my life will be more balanced.

p.s. the e-book version of my debut novel is still at Amazon, and the price for the print version has been reduced: buy at the Eckhartz Press site.

Real Artists Ship

Now that I have more time to write and maintain this blog after not deleting it for 20 years, I've been thinking about what it means to create something when no one is waiting. It's July 1st, and I no longer have to write to deadlines nor for anyone anymore. Maybe I'll go back to professional writing, and I wouldn't mind it, but this is the first time in many years that I'm not in it. 

So now I've been wondering what's motivating me. I've been so used to external validation or expectations or just being part of a team, that I was motivated by some kind of structure. But without that established structure, what is left?

I've been thinking a lot, questioning, and came upon this fantastic quote from Steve Jobs: "Real artists ship." Since I'm not creating anything for consumers, I have nothing to ship. So the shipping becomes posting. Real writers post, even when there's no one waiting for it.

p.s. the e-book version of my debut novel is still at Amazon, and the price for the print version has been reduced: buy at the Eckhartz Press site.