My wife and I spent fifteen months living in Nazaré, Portugal. We sold our house, sold our car, gave away our furniture, handed off our dog to our younger son, and embarked on what we are now describing as our “senior year abroad.” It was indeed an excellent adventure.
One of the principal reasons it became an adventure rather than a permanent relocation was my inability to acquire any meaningful facility with the Portuguese language nor demonstrate any likelihood of ever doing so.
I did study French in high school and, for a short while, in college. I never developed any real conversational facility there either. I thought I understood why that hadn’t worked well and I thought I was ready to do the necessary work to make a better run at Portuguese.
What I got instead was yet one more lesson that motivation is not the only relevant component in learning. For one, I don’t have a particularly good ear for language. I struggled to hear the distinctions my teachers and tutors were pointing out. I struggled even more to reproduce them. For another, my environment didn’t provide suitable forcing functions to block falling back on my English.
What I wished were true wasn’t enough. An essential reminder as I contemplate ways to improve my writing practice. I won’t solve the problem of better rhythm and cadence in my practice simply by wishing it so.
I need to design solutions that call for the least effort and least motivation possible. I need to be thinking in terms of designing paths of least resistance.