Let the cope begin

Language immersion and a Bluesky diversion.

Photo by Corey Agopian on Unsplash

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The four-year clock of the second Trump presidency doesn’t start for another two months, and yet we are already aflame in outrage and argument about the nature of his cabinet picks. Is he being serious? Is he playing four-dimensional chess? Is he trolling the world? Is he trying to destroy the republic? Nobody knows, but there is plenty of stress.

I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, I feel like it’s a civic duty to stay informed about what’s going on. To say it delicately, Trump’s instincts do not always align with his oath of office. His victory did not magically heal his character flaws. 

On the other hand, I would very much like to unplug from the national news and pretend like nothing is happening, nothing at all. Don’t bother me, I’ll be watching basketball and reading novels for the next four years. 

As we begin the “dark MAGA” phase of U.S. history, I’m realizing I will probably do both: I will follow politics, but I will also need some diversions. 

So here we go. 

Two items will be discussed in this issue of Cholla Express. First, an update on my sporadic efforts to learn the Spanish language. Second, my thoughts on Bluesky, the social media platform that has grown to become the most popular alternative to Twitter/X.

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Thinking in a different language, or trying to. 

Learning a new language is like weightlifting. You need to pump iron to get stronger. Dabbling doesn’t really work. 

For the past decade or so, I’ve been dabbling in the hobby of learning Spanish. I’m not fluent because I have not done the heavy lifting necessary to reach a high level. 

I did overcome a learning curve this summer, though, using a method called “comprehensible input.”

The comprehensible input theory says that, when learning a second language, you should avoid boring stuff like grammar exercises and flashcards. These exercises will not stick in your long-term memory, and they are boring, so your motivation won’t sustain it. There’s a better way to spend your time. 

The theory says you should read and listen to a bunch of content in your target language. The difficulty level should be low enough that you can understand the basic idea, but high enough that you can’t understand everything word for word. Like lifting weights — you need to push your limits to get stronger.

That’s what I did this past summer. I listened to podcasts, watched Netflix shows, and read short stories. I consumed a boatload of entertainment, and I didn’t feel guilty about it because it was in Spanish.

The idea is that your mind gets trained to think in the target language. Spanish has its own internal logic, and if you immerse your mind in Spanish, you will absorb the grammar. The details — like when to use ‘por’ vs. ‘para’ — will become instinctual with repetition. The same for vocabulary. If you consume enough content, you will encounter the same words again, and your mind will internalize the meaning at some point.

If you are starting from scratch in a second language, I think it would be necessary to do some foundational work before moving into comprehensible input. But the advocates of the theory tell you to dive in because it’s the natural way to learn a language. 

I think it’s a good theory. I noticeably improved my Spanish by the end of the summer, reaching a level I hadn’t reached before. 

Obviously, input isn’t enough if the goal is conversational fluency. At some point you will need to speak and write, and with sustained practice.

The good news is that in our digital world, you can replicate language immersion without traveling to a different country. It’s a good hobby if you’re looking to use up brain space that might otherwise be spent doomscrolling online. 

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Bluesky emerges as a major social platform. Don't call it an echo chamber.

Something interesting happened a couple weeks ago in the world of social media. Bluesky emerged as the leading alternative to X. 

Twitter was once the go-to platform for news and politics. When Elon Musk bought Twitter, his stated goal was to protect free speech principles that had gone awry under previous management. But instead of acting as a neutral caretaker, Musk put on a MAGA hat and turned Twitter into X. 

For a couple years now, people have been leaving X for a variety of alternative platforms. Some went to Mastodon, others went to Threads, others went to Bluesky. I made a few attempts to promote Substack Notes. 

The dam seems to have broken in favor of Bluesky. Millions of people have been joining every week. Phoenix Suns Twitter has flocked there. Journalists are popping up there. Normal people are talking about hobbies there. Some accounts are comparing it to how Twitter felt when it first became important.

One of the debates about Bluesky is whether it is becoming an echo chamber for liberals.

A few thoughts.

First, progressives were already talking to themselves on Twitter. One of the common critiques used to be that progressives were in a bubble because they thought Twitter was real life. Activists would attack people on Twitter for saying the wrong thing, forcing their subjects to apologize and promise to toe the line. 

Twitter was never a place for healthy bipartisan dialogue. If you lean left and enjoy social media, why not join Bluesky and converse on a platform that isn’t owned by your political opponent, and where you won’t be constantly fighting bots and right-wing trolls?

My other thought is that non-MAGA conservatives will start gravitating to Bluesky, too.

X is not a free speech platform anymore. The owner is an erratic individual who is now an official partner of the Trump administration. 

When Musk tried and failed to buy Substack, he responded by temporarily blocking Substack links from being posted on Twitter. Still today, X embeds are blocked for Substack articles, and Substack links posted on X don’t appear with image previews the way other articles do. Not quite free speech absolutism. 

The X algorithm was probably juiced in favor of pro-Trump content leading up to the election. It would be foolish to trust X to be neutral moving forward.

My favorite line about the new decentralization of social media platforms was from Noah Smith who said, “None of them matters, and now thoughtful stuff is just posted on blogs again.”

Maybe it’s a good thing the internet is splintering into pieces. That’s how it used to be. Find your own garden.

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