The Real Reason I Care About Fast Language Learning

Learning is a (reasonably long) journey

I've clashed with certain teachers who say "learning is a journey" - because sometimes it feels like a way to justify wasted time and inefficiencies. That’s my obsession.

My obsession with speed isn't for the sake of clickbait or deceitful advertising. It's probably the thing I care most about in my relationship with students.

I don't want results at all costs. I simply want learning to be enjoyable, but without taking more time than actually necessary. And there's a very specific reason for this.

Seneca

When I was a teenager, during Latin classes - basically the only useful thing from those five years of Italian high school - I had to read Seneca.

(check out this video if you don’t know him - it’s not made by me)

He made me develop an obsession with how I use my time.

His letters kept coming back to the same idea: we act as if we have all the time in the world, but we don't. We waste it on things that don't matter, and then we're shocked when it runs out.

That doesn’t mean I’m perfect at using it well. I try my best. But that sensitivity stayed with me.

I’m sensitive to how I use my own time, but I also cannot feel indifferent at seeing how other people use their own time. I shouldn’t be so nosy probably, but I feel that minding about other lives as much as it can make sense in my life is part of my duty as human on this planet for the time-span I have the chance to spend here.

The speed of time we get in our lives is the same for everybody. Fighting against that speed and trying to do what makes us happy without being dragged away by the flow is the same challenge for any of us. What changes are the starting conditions around us, but ultimately the obstacle itself is the same.

I can't fix the conditions for people who start in war zones, in families that don't support education, in families with problems - that's out of my reach. But for what I can do, I want you to make the most out of your life too.

I love living. I have so many things I want to do. And the more I move forward, the more I realize how little time we actually have. There's also something that feels like a huge injustice to me:

Time passes slowly when we're suffering, and flies when we're happy. My life until 2021-2022 was incredibly slower than the years after. Unfortunately

Languages as Life

Languages have changed my life. Countless times. And always in positive ways - but they could have the impact I wanted only when I could speak them, and especially I could speak them well.

• English allowed me to have a social life online when I felt lonely in my hometown

• Good English allowed me to give a preferential treatment by certain people on a study holiday whereas all the others didn’t give a f about the “study” part of the holiday - and of course were jealous of a loser like me

• Persian allowed me to get my first job experiences with no help from family or job centre working with Iranian companies on a couple of trade fairs

• Decent Russian allowed me to have beautiful experiences when I was an intern at the Italian Embassy in Moscow whereas other interns felt that the environment wasn’t so welcoming - also, it let me not freak out during random passport controls by the police because I could follow what they said

• Good English allowed me to land a job in Brussels

• Good French and Dutch make Belgians treat me definitely in a warmer way while a ton of foreigners complain that they feel isolated…

That’s why it hurts so much to see so many people lose opportunities because they don’t know other languages. Or worse: seeing people spend years taking courses, and the results just aren’t there.

The main part of the satisfaction in my work comes from seeing other people's results. From being able to improve people's lives. And especially from not making them waste time the way I did.

I spent years in classrooms playing unrealistic conversational role-play games. Years listening to audio files designed to test my listening skills, not to actually connect with people. The turning point was when I realized that daily practice - messy, imperfect, but consistent - did more in three months than those courses did in three years.

Nobody is giving me back those 3 years.

My obsession with learning quickly comes from this. I want to see your results along with you, and I want to do it in this life - not the next one.

I don’t want you to learn quickly to put unnecessary pressure on yourself.

I want you to have more time to live. More time to do the things that languages allow you to do. The conversations you could have, the places you could belong, the life you could build - they’re waiting. And time isn’t.

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If it rings a bell, post something in the Frequency Circle at least 2 times a week for 4 weeks and join 2 meetings. If you’re not happy I’ll refund you the cost of the subscription. Check it out, it’s free to browse