Languages
I've been learning languages for over 25 years. Throughout my studies and travels, my approach to acquiring them has changed, but the intent is the same:
to connect with people who are not like me in an authentic manner
Today we have tons of tech to take care of translation for us. But if you're reading this, something is calling you to go deeper.
Maybe it's to communicate with someone special, move abroad, or gain citizenship. Whatever the reason, learning a language is important for you.
If that's the case, I've got you covered.
On this page I'll provide strategies and explorations into various language, to inspire and encourage you on your journey to confident mastery.
My Method - "Write to Language"
What's the best way to learn a language?
I've asked myself this question many times over the years. There have been different answers.
Classes, books, movies, study abroad, online lessons, apps, YouTube, full immersion, flashcards, AI chatbots - have all been THE THING to get me to fluency.
But alone they were never enough.
The key to language proficiency for me has always been through words.
If I can write it I can see it. If I can see it I can say it.
But in the past writing in a foreign language was very hard. Bringing together the means to write, understand, and get feedback was a multi-step, multi-tool, often expensive endeavor.
Times have changed and so has technology.
With the advent of multi-modal AI chatbots and highly accurate (but admittedly imperfect) text-to-speech software, the dream of discovering and mastering nearly any language without breaking the bank has become a reality.
Enter my "Write to Language" methodology.
What is it?
It's language learning through storytelling.
But not by reading someone else's tales. These are stories you'll cook up from your own imagination and experience.
Most language learning materials aimed at beginners start with basic dialogues.
"Hello, my name is Keith."
"How are you?"
"Nice to meet you."
"Have a nice day."
You know the type. The problem with these simple introductory conversations is few are very memorable. Hell, outside of the universal pleasantries, they aren't even useful beyond the context of the learning method you got them from.
Used in isolation, they won't get you to stick with the language for very long. Like 80% of learner's you'll quit before lesson 10.
So what works?
Focusing on what is "immediately interesting" to you.
In the past this was difficult to do in the context of language learning.
Do you know how hard it is to find language learning resources at an upper intermediate level for a Black American fiction novelist and US military veteran living in Japan?
Impossible.
At least it was before.
Now with "Write to Language" you'll have a framework for creating infinite amounts of "immediately interesting" materials tailored to your unique interests.
Why did I make this?
I'm a novelist. That means I write stories A LOT.
But I'm also very interested in technology. I taught myself to code via the 100 days of Code challenge in 2021. That expanded my interest in tech in general.
From there it was through the sewers and back alleys of Web3, crypto, blockchain, and NFTs. That eventually led me to AI technology during the hype bubble of 2023.
Throughout all my time reading, experimenting, and creating with tech, two questions remained top of mind:
1) How can I use this technology to tell stories in a way that retains a human touch?
2) How can I use this technology to learn languages more efficiently and in a way that is more fun?
"Write to Language" is my a synthesis of my answer to both questions.
As I mentioned at the top of this page, I've been learning various languages for a long time. Even though I've been fortunate to have experienced language learning during one of the greatest technological booms humanity has ever seen, it's still been a grind.
In 2004 I took my first Japanese class. At my school it was a mandatory requirement.
From there it was 3 years of high quality academic instruction, a summer study abroad program, 5 years LIVING in Japan, and another 3 or 4 years of hot and cold independent study. To get to my current level of proficiency (I can read, write, and speak a high amount of the language) took at least 12 years of concentrated effort spread out over two decades. That's lengthy commitment.
How would you like to save a decade of your life learning a language?
If you could, would you do it?
Knowing what I know now and armed with current technology, I would.
Many see AI as the death of language learning. Visions of the legendary "Babel fish" –instant universal translation on demand– have many asking: why bother learning a language?
My answer: language makes us human.
It is one of our most defining traits as a species. And now, one other than English is more accessible to you than ever before. You just need some structure to guide you there.
"Write to Language" is that blueprint. The vehicle for it's delivery is "The Tower of Babbling."
What is the "Tower of Babbling"?
It's the name of my language learning series. It was my first book, meant to capture everything I understood about how to learn languages up to that point in time.
Back in 2016, fresh out of the US Air Force, I decided to learn Spanish full tilt.
My goal was to become a Spanish court interpreter. Two years later, after noticing the writing on the wall with the dying demand of the field (largely due to increasingly automated translation options) I gave up the dream. But following two years of struggle, I was fluent and very literate in Spanish.
I decided to write a long list detailing the methods I used to learn Spanish and the ones I'd absorbed learning Japanese in college. That collection became The Tower of Babbling. It was published in April 2019.
I intended the original book to be a general resource. With it, anyone learning any language could use the strategies within to become proficient or fluent in any target language.
At the time I thought the universality of the book catering to students learning ANY LANGUAGE would be appealing. I've since learned that's not the case. In business and in life, specificity wins.
That's what you see here.
Each instance of the Tower of Babbling is unique to each language. I'm not picking random languages either.
These are languages that for some reason or another I've found a use for in my life.
I've traveled to the country, picked up a book and wanted to read it, or decided to write a character in one of my many stories who has a certain cultural background and speaks the language. Whatever the case - the language is here for practical reasons.
Another lesson-learned guides each instance of the Tower of Babbling.
The modern language learner's issue is not lack of information, it's an overabundance of it.
This was not the case when I took my very first foreign language (French) as a high school elective back in 1999.
French materials in my hometown in Southern Texas were rare. Finding a competent authority to lead you through them, even more so.
Today the opposite is true.
Pull out your phone, hundreds of thousands of videos, apps, blogs, and chatbots claw at your attention. Separating the gold from the gaff is a chore no one has time for.
I've waded through the sea of mediocrity long enough to understand that having someone who has experience learning the language provide informed curation in our modern times is an invaluable resource. It will become even more important in the future.
That's what I've done here.
Each day you spend in the language tower of your choice will focus on a single language unit, tool or tactic to push you one step closer to your language acquisition goal.
My intent is not only to dramatically reduce the number of language options, but also to direct your focus toward only the most effective tools based on my decades of experience while providing you with a record of how I am studying (or have studied) the language.
I've also engineered each day's activities to be acheiveable in as little as 15 minutes a day.
Like you, I'm a busy adult who can hardly afford to spend hours studying a foreign language everyday. That's why each day's activities are so compact.
This isn't just for working adults.
If you are currently a student, you'll find each respective "Tower of Babbling" to be a worthy supplement to your current studies.
I also made each day practical.
Some days are rest days to encourage balance, but all are designed to be immediately useful, leading to tangible improvement in your language ability.
There's no "How I learned Japanese and How you can too" bullshit here. This class of motivational "story time" video popularized online has wasted countless hours of my life. I won't do that to you here. It's necessary or it's not here, simple as that.
Once inside as an Active Language Learner, you'll have access to all languages on this page. You also get:
- Original stories I write in each language (I'm a novelist so don't worry they'll be good)
- Grammar breakdowns for certain sentences
- Notes based on my learnings in each language
- Highly curated language resource recommendations from a lifelong language learner
- A day-by-day plan you can follow to become fluent or proficient in any language available.
- Access to the original "Tower of Babbling" book
If you've been learning languages for a while and you're searching for structure, the best resources, and a highly effective system for finally becoming fluent (or literate!) in any language on this page welcome home.
Enter the Tower of Babbling and become an Active Language Learner today!
30-Day Challenge to Practical Japanese!
Fijian (Devangari) - Hindi
(Learning since May 2024) - Current Daily Lesson Count: 7
Begin your storyEncountered Language Log - 21 languages
- English - Native Speaker
- (2004 - Present) Japanese - Fluent, Emerging Literacy
- (2018 - Present) Mandarin Chinese - Can understand some, 4 dozen plus Chinese dramas watched (does that count?)
- (Jan 2025 - Present) Tetun (Language of East Timor) - Beginner
- (Nov 2024) Khmer (Language of Cambodia) - Dabbled for a few days, know a few words
- (Jun 2024 - Aug 2025) Latin - Beginner
- (May 2024 - Aug 2025) Fijian (Latin) - Beginner
- (May 2024 - Aug 2025) Fijian (Hindi) - Beginner
- (2024) Ainu (Endangered indigenous language spoken in northern Japan) - Got book, but don't know any
- (2024) Dounan (Rare language in far west Japan - Yonaguni Island) - Got a book, but don't know any
- (2023) Mongolian - Dabbled, but will go deeper later
- (2023) Dhivehi (Language of the Maldives) - Bought a book, but don't know any
- (2022) Italian - Know some words, not much
- (2022) Slovenian - Got a book, but don't know any
- (2022) Indonesian - Dabbled, don't remember any
- (2018) - Burmese (Language of Myanmar) - Dabbled, don't remember much
- (2018) - Tamil - Dabbled, don't remember any
- (2016 - 2019) Spanish - Highly Proficient, Very rusty
- (2015) German - Can say one or two words, don't remember much
- (2014) Korean - Can read some Hangul, don't remember much
- (1999 - 2002) French - Barely remember any, will go back to it someday
COMING SOON
Spanish
(Learning since Jul 2016) - Current Daily Lesson Count: 0