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 usually appear often on quiet Sunday mornings, and since curiosity doesn’t always run on a schedule, subscribing is the easiest way to catch new posts when they pop up.
I'm Shea, an Angeleno turned Japanese elementary school educator with a long-standing love for language learning. When I’m not teaching or studying Japanese, I pour my curiosity into writing and designing infographics—projects that eventually became PenPenPenguin and The Language Ladder. 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.
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The Language Ladder: Research-backed posts on effective learning techniques, second-language acquisition studies, and useful linguistic ideas.
Waddling: My personal journey toward sustainable, balanced Japanese study: resources, routines, and honest updates.
Journal Entries: Bilingual, prompt-based entries from my digital language journal, reviewed by native Japanese speakers for accuracy.
Downloads: Direct links to downloadable resources I’ve created.
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As a teacher, I aim to keep learning accessible despite the high cost of academic materials. If you’d like to support my work,consider treating me to a rice cracker or becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers get new digital resources sent by email as soon as they’re released; free and paid articles remain the same so everyone receives the same core content. Your feedback helps shape this newsletter — tell me what you want to read next. 💛
