I set off into a new world. I had some ideas what it would be like, but quickly learned I did not understand anyone – other than the person running at me with a sword who really looked like he wanted to cut me down. Eventually I discover the best path in this new world – pick a direction, travel as long as you wish, learn as you go &Â end up picking a new direction at some point.
The above is a description of my first month in spanish, a particular game, and how entrepreneurship generally works.
My First Month in Spanish
I have done two things consistently this year & have a couple additional ideas that I dabbled in.
The most consistent thing has been Duolingo.
Duolingo is a free system to learn another language. It starts you off with a few words & has drills. Generally it presents you with a short sentence or phrase and you either translate or write out the audio you heard.
The system is pretty neat, I went back and did an early lesson this morning & it added in new words I was learning in a more advanced leve.
Overall, from a grammar and general words perspective it’s been the system I keep going back to Duolingo day after day.
Games in Espanola
When I was looking at learning spanish this year, I knew my best strategy to learn was take things I already did or enjoyed & mix in spanish.
For me video games was one thing & I discovered that I could get games that had both full english & full spanish audio. There have basically been two that I’ve spent significant time with:
XCOM
XCOM is a turn based strategy game that is set in the near future. Aliens have invaded. You are a leader in the multinational group fighting against the invaders. You go fight, collect resources, and alien technology to build more advanced weapons & armor.
I still don’t have a clue what the people talking to me generally say. At times I break out Google Translate to help me make important decisions (like what skills to unlock), but generally I have picked up some words & are just more comfortable with the language due to hearing and seeing it.
The Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim
This is the third Elder Scrolls game I have spent any time with, I spent a lot of time in 3, then just a little in 4.
The Elder Scrolls series is a virtual world, with a main storyline, but basically you can do what you want.
In the past I have had the most fun picking a type of character to play & see what happens, like the lizard man who used magic to conjure armor & a spear. When out of battle he would look like a harmless wizard. When threatened he would look like the more armor wearing warrior & great with the spear he magically had.
When I started Skyrim, I knew some of the game mechanics, but could not understand anyone – either in text or audio.
I’ve not played in a while, but I suspect I’m still not a high enough level to really understand th people talking to me, but might understand the text a little more.
How Entrepreneurship Generally Works
I have been both starting ventures & working with business owners full-time for nearly a decade now.
It was in a point of frustration with Skyrim that I had a realization … pick a direction & go
With learning Spanish there were tons of ways I could have gone about it, but I started making progress when I set my mind to one or two tasks and just went. I try to do Duolingo every day. I try to play XCOM every few days. Having that time where I have a combination of consistent & new really helps.
Day by day, lesson by lesson … I make a little progress. Sometimes the progress is visible in the milestones. Sometimes the progress is internal & really hard to see, but I know today what Yo lee las niná come queso means, along with at least 60 other spanish words. The sentence structure is less frustrating now.
I’ve made progress.
Same can be said in the two other areas I’ve been focusing on:
– a business venture
Day by day, practice by practice. Experiment by experiment, wins & failures – all adding up to being much farther towards the world I desire to live in & person I desire to be.
To sum it all up, I have kept sailing & will continue to.
