Welcome to my little corner of the internet, where I nerd out over language learning, share thoughts from my ongoing Japanese study journey, and occasionally disappear down interesting rabbit holes. New posts appear on quiet Sunday mornings, and since curiosity doesn’t always run on a schedule, subscribing is the easiest way to keep up.
I’m Shea, an Angeleno turned Japanese elementary school educator with a long-standing love for language learning. I grew up bilingual, which gave me an early sense of what language could do — but learning Japanese as an adult has been a humbling reminder that acquisition looks very different when you’re no longer a child. That experience, alongside a Master’s in TESOL, shapes how I approach teaching, studying, and writing about language.
This newsletter doesn’t promise one-size-fits-all language hacks. Instead, it shares a mix of study strategies, small insights, and thoughtful experiments, all with the goal of helping you discover what actually works for you.
Subscribers have complete access to all articles. You can choose to receive emails from up to four categories:
The Language Ladder: Research-backed posts on effective learning techniques, second-language acquisition studies, and useful linguistic ideas.
Waddling: The honest, unfiltered log of someone stubbornly learning Japanese one waddle at a time.
Journal Entries: Prompt-based bilingual journal entries, native-speaker checked for accuracy you can trust.
Downloads: Things I made because I needed them myself. Downloadable resources for language learners.
Manage your subscription preferences here.
As a teacher, I believe learning should stay accessible. All posts are free to read. If you’d like to support this newsletter, you can become a paid subscriber here on Substack or treat me to a rice cracker over on Buy Me a Coffee, where you’ll also find downloadable resources I’ve made for language learners. 💛
