New addi(c)tion

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You know, I always thought "connecting with friends" meant, like, talking to them. But apparently, for Lil A and his crew, it means a virtual linguistic app Duolingo. Last year, they started this whole "streaks and points" obsession, and I just figured, "Hey, whatever keeps them off my lawn, right?"

Then came the fateful winter break, a mere month ago. Lil A, with the cunning of a seasoned cult leader, convinced me to join his Duolingo dominion. I, a skeptic of the highest order, figured I'd humor him. Just see what the fuss was about.

Big mistake. Huge.

I've been sucked into the green owl's vortex, people. Obsessed is an understatement. It's like finding long-lost relatives, but instead of awkward family dinners, it's me aggressively conjugating verbs in Spanish and attempting to decipher Korean honorifics. Spanish, in particular, has become my illicit lover. I was just doing it, lost in the rhythm of "hola" and "gracias," completely oblivious to scores.

And then the bombshell dropped: within a month, my Spanish score hit a staggering 12. Lil A's jaw hit the floor faster than a dropped textbook. He interrogated me like I'd uncovered the secret to perpetual motion. "How?! How did you do it so fast?!" he shrieked. Honestly, I think my brain just has a latent, rusty "core memory" of basic Spanish from eons ago. Either that, or I'm a linguistic savant in disguise.

Korean, on the other hand, is proving to be a beautifully stubborn beast. It's got more expressions and grammar rules than a K-drama has plot twists. Not as breezy as Spanish, but I'm embracing this new, slightly masochistic, linguistic addiction.

Meanwhile, Lil A is off in the land of German and French, claiming the grammar is "similar to Spanish" because they also genderize everything. Bless his optimistic heart. 

So, there you have it. The student has become the master, the Duolingo tables have turned. My next conquest on this year's resolution list? Acing the Nintendo Switch. It's been seven months, and I've collectively spent about an hour on it. My resolution was a valiant 30 minutes a day. 


Looks like Duolingo ate my gaming time. At least I can now berate my virtual enemies in perfect Spanish. ¡Olé!

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