When I studied alone, I spent hours perfecting one word or syllable and having imaginary conversations that never bore witness because of my trepidation. My friends were often available to help me out, but the threat of embarrassment made me too anxious to take them up on it. When you don’t know something - when I don’t know something - the error is inescapable. There’s always a period of confusion when starting something new, but I’m usually able to fake my way through it, pretending to have the skills for long enough to actually pick them up. Part of my anxiety comes from the vulnerability I feel when testing out a new language. Duolingo seemed like a good way to break out of that trap and get comfortable with the language itself. In my courses, I was forced to adapt to the timelines of a semester, and even when I did perform up to par, it felt like it was more about grades than actual knowledge. The warp speed of university life often left me with little to no time on my hands, and languages had never been my strong suit.
I was drawn to Duolingo as a way to improve my Spanish, which had never quite clicked during college. Next Gen Favorites is a series of personal essays from young writers about the tech that’s shaping their lives: