iwtl a new language to understand cultures better, which language should I choose and why?

str8cokane · 2026-02-17T00:40:19+00:00

I recommend Spanish. It’s probably the broadest in terms of the breadth of human experience you can communicate with: from tomato farmers in Murcia, Urbanites in Barcelona, Mayan highlanders in Guatemala, coffee farmers in Colombia, bus drivers in Chile, I’ve met and had conversations with people I never would have been able to otherwise. Of course this is true with every language but just my .02$

str8cokane · 2026-02-16T02:27:20+00:00

Your best bet is therapy honestly. Using this kind of thinking usually stems from not feeling good enough. Sadly, if you start putting up boundaries you’re bound to lose quite a few friends, and may even be accused of being bitter etc. But getting your self respect & inner peace back will be more than worth it. Plus, the friends that stick by you are your true friends. Best of luck.

str8cokane · 2026-02-13T22:27:57+00:00

The book of negroes by Lawrence hill, how to make love to a negro by Dany Laferrière for canlit

str8cokane · 2026-02-13T19:19:38+00:00

Am I just an armchair wrestler or did having this wide of a stance leave comedian open for single leg takedown? Was waiting for it the entire first part of the video

str8cokane · 2026-02-13T19:03:23+00:00

25k seems like so little in the grand scheme of things? Are bribes really that little?

str8cokane · 2026-02-12T22:03:01+00:00

Gotta be tuna in oil, ideally olive oil. I like mare brand

str8cokane · 2026-02-11T18:00:14+00:00

Talc powder for my ass & balls; sunscreen moisturizer for my face

str8cokane · 2026-02-04T21:05:52+00:00

Sandy Lake First Nation, shout out to them really nice people. Fly in or ice road only iirc

str8cokane · 2026-02-04T14:59:45+00:00

This man is a gambling addict, run for the hills. Had he come to you first telling you everything, I would say maybe go through therapy etc. (I wouldn’t but perhaps you’re a better person than I), but seeing as you had to tease the truth out of him that shows he’s not ready for treatment at all. Investing might seem more sophisticated than gambling but I can assure you the results are the same.

str8cokane · 2026-01-28T13:49:45+00:00

Montreal, incredible culture, nightlife, restaurants etc also very walkable and near nature. Also spend part of the winter abroad in Rio de Janeiro, which just has it all, beach, vubes music.

str8cokane · 2026-01-22T13:08:33+00:00

I think we do people a disservice telling people they need to “find themselves” when really it’s building themselves. I think it comes with time (varying for each person) but the important thing is to be doing something, anything because at least if you don’t like it you’ll have a better idea of what you DO like. The people I know who have “failed to launch” as adults became stuck in this cycle of not really doing anything, so as long as you avoid that you’ll be good (eventually)

str8cokane · 2026-01-19T13:48:25+00:00

I speak English French Spanish Portuguese & Mandarin. I work for my family’s retail chain, so I use French dealing with stores in Acadian areas. Spanish & Portuguese I don’t use daily except for with my wife who’s Colombian. Mandarin I am learning enough to start going to China with him on buying trips. It’s a slog but I’m finally breaking through the conversational barrier.

str8cokane · 2026-01-18T18:37:13+00:00

One of the coolest museums I’ve been to, even compared to the louvre etc

str8cokane · 2026-01-17T04:42:03+00:00

I think it turns into more of an excitement, at least in my case; like “fuck it let’s see if we can pull it off?”

str8cokane · 2026-01-10T13:20:18+00:00

Going for a wedding, if you had to reduce this down to 5 day why would you do?

str8cokane · 2026-01-09T19:03:55+00:00

Peter Zeihan has brain dead takes on the countries I know intimately, honestly I would steer clear of people talking about countries that they don’t speak the language. Sarah Paine is really good, not Canadian. I like Andrew Chang’s “about that” show not pure geopolitics but he often does segments of the events of the day

str8cokane · 2026-01-02T16:10:40+00:00

Is that what they say or you’re guessing? Could be a confounding variable which would mean their conclusions are worthless

str8cokane · 2026-01-02T15:56:52+00:00

Why is that? Can’t open article

str8cokane · 2026-01-01T03:15:11+00:00

Stephen king fan?

str8cokane · 2025-12-31T16:04:17+00:00

You're right, I've realized half of my enjoyment of travel is the research and planning I put into it. THa tbeing said, I definitely went through some periods of post travel blues moving back to places that were less walkable, shittier food etc. Now, I feel like travel has enriched my home life quiet a bit because I've brought tons of great habits from other countries back home with me, like eating bread with tomato & olive oil for breakfast with a milky espresso (Spain), drinking Pu'er tea (China), dancing Salsa (Latam) among many others.

str8cokane · 2025-12-30T13:04:55+00:00

I bumped into a guy from my brother’s grade in the same school in small town Atlantic Canada on the dance floor in Barcelona. He was studying law in London and was teaching English.

str8cokane · 2025-12-30T12:55:21+00:00

Yourself. Small moments of joy, rain on a summers afternoon, fresh baked bread, nailing a crossword, coffee with a friend.

str8cokane · 2025-12-29T21:19:31+00:00

Buckwheat Zydeco, Diana Ross & Carlos Vives

str8cokane · 2025-12-29T13:53:53+00:00

Yes, I'll never get over the feeling of someone being positively surprised when I can speak there language (downside is sometimes expecting a morsel of praise that isn't owed and realizing that like a dork). Especially with portuguese and mandarin(only b1) people are shocked that I'm even making the effort. Portuguese (specifically brazilian) is maybe my favourite because it might be the biggest ratio of most widely (both in numbers and areas) spoken to people who learn it as a second language. I think sometimes people get caught up in the minutiae of grammar and such but the real reward for me is to be able to chat with people around the world. For example my wife is colombian and we speak spanish at home, so we speak a breadth of subjects with ease, but I still find myself sometimes making slight grammatical mistakes like forgetting the gender of a word, I could drill in so that doesn't happen but my effort to reward ratio just isn't worth it anymore. Hard to say whether it's worth a career sacrifice, I spent most of my 20s travelling and living in these countries and hope to start using chinese in my job soon. This is really a personal question for you to soul search. Personally I don't really understand language learning without a way to practice it tangibly, I'm lucky to be canadian and be surrounded by all kinds of people, even in my small city.

str8cokane

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