Jack, wake up. I heard something at the front door. — It’s three in the morning. It’s probably just a raccoon. No, it’s someone! — Are you sure? No. — No? So why did you wake me up? Because we don’t

I’ll skip the introduction 🚀 : Think of your proficiency in your target language as a not-so-full salt shaker. You do everything you can to fill it up, but it just feels impossible. Now, imagine

The next day, I flew back to the garden. As soon as I set paw down, I couldn’t help but chuckle. She had hung a cross-eyed fake snake on a tree and placed a scarecrow right next to the tomato plants

Now it's my turn to tell the story. I could plead the Fifth instead —I'm aware of my rights— but that won't be necessary. I'm not guilty of anything, unless being a blackbird is a crime. Yes, I'm a

The bird is gone! I can't believe it. It feels like a miracle. Yeah, sure. Why are you looking at me like that? How do you know it's gone? Well, it's been two days and the garden is still tidy. What

Day 4 I won’t say I woke up this morning to a Dantesque spectacle — that would be a stretch — but it was chaotic. Yesterday, I didn’t bother to put all the scattered soil back in place or replant the

Day 3 The enmity between farmers and birds is nothing new. The nightmare of pests ruining crops and wild animals destroying entire harvests is as old as farming itself. The old proverb, "If you can't

Day 2 In chapter two of my battle against my feathered nemesis, I feel completely beaten. I’ve got a doppelgänger of the serpent Kaa hanging above my crops, a scarecrow made of old clothes that

Day 1 I feel as if I'm starring in the sequel to the movie Starlings in my own house these days. Ever since a blackbird chick appeared dead in the fireplace, an adult blackbird—probably its

Not long ago, I had a conversation with some friends about artificial intelligence. We mostly talked about our experiences with it. Some of them said that they had used it for problem-solving, some

Listening to Luca Lampariello speak Spanish, you think, “It’s true! It is possible for non-natives to sound 99.9% native-like!” But then the other half of your brain goes, “Well, duh — he’s a

Get real — you're getting old. Why, because I’ve got a few gray hairs? No, because you got a birdbath. You’ve got to be kidding. Seriously, what’s gotten into you? You used to hate birds. I don’t

Playing with language can be risky, but it can also be fun. The word "couch potatoism" occurred to me this morning. It's not listed in any dictionary, so today I’m going to learn some of its synonyms

France is one of the Spain's neighboring countries. Beautiful country, by the way. My parents, Pam and Jack live there. They say that living surrounded by vineyards is a luxurious experience, but

This wistful paragraph contains a few examples of gray areas in English grammar. Whether you're a stickler for the rules or someone who likes to break them for style, you'll probably have an opinion.

"I said no." "But why?" "Because I say so." "That's not an answer, Mom. It's my hair. Why do you care?" "Because you're my daughter, so technically, your hair is mine too." "Well, by that rule of

This conversation isn’t over. I haven’t even talked about my feelings yet. —Okay, I’m all ears. What’s eating at you? Me? Nothing. —Really? I can feel your bittersweet inner feelings. Can you? I’ve

Let’s talk about feelings. Feeeelings… oh, oh, oh, feeeelings… I’ve got mixed feelings right now. Should I get poetic and go on about my deep feelings —like my limerence for chocolate— or explain why

If you wake up on a Sunday, make your coffee half-asleep, and then someone sends you a short video like this, you end up feeling kind of stupid. Spiders aren’t exactly my passion, not by a long shot

She wasn't a hopeless case, but she did have a nasty habit of getting into trouble, however ordinary the situation she was in. The hard knocks of life had almost, but not entirely, eliminated it. But