If you’re not up for spending a month in Mexico, learning simple Spanish stories by heart may be the next best thing.

Could memorizing poetry be better than vocabulary flashcards for learning a language?

In the light of my first new language, a new world blossoms around me.

I’m learning Spanish by Christmas, and the first step is learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). First for English, then for Spanish. The best way to learn the IPA? Anki decks.

Last month, I announced my goal to learn Spanish by Christmas. Over the last few weeks, I’ve ordered books and CDs, and downloaded decks and audio files. Find out what it actually looks like to start studying a language on your own.

I’ve been talking my whole life, but never been aware of how my mouth actually makes these sounds. Now, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is revealing the hidden, intricate precision of how my mouth constructs thousands of sounds per day.