Mike Cawood

✖️Who am I and what is X Languages?! I'm Mike. After 10 years as a military linguist, I've watched thousands waste years on apps that don't work. 500-day streaks. Perfect scores. Zero conversations. So I built The Military Language Method - teaching the exact high-leverage techniques military linguists use to become operational fast. The Military Language Method: xlanguages.xyz/course 📫Newsletter: xlanguages.xyz

@cheedz05 Oh yes - Ronaldinho immediately comes to mind.

Saw this in Sports Direct yesterday. Loved when international teams had these kits circa 2003-2005 @mike_languages

gm ☀️

@martinrue 👀👀

There's something very fun about building an extension that augments another app. I'm building LangBot to turn X into a place where I can practise languages. And my X is now unique... nobody else's has these features. It feels like I shouldn't be able to do this.

@foxtomb232 Sent you a DM

@mike_languages Yeah I need that access

2 years in the making. I'm immensely proud of this course. Early Access available later today.

So excited to share this. 5 spots have been claimed in the first 24 hours. Only 5 left. Real tutors. Early speaking. No apps. No fluff. Early-Access closes Wednesday. Ping me a message if interested.

“I think that hate is a feeling that can only exist where there is no understanding.” -TW

@mike_languages Babbling baby... love it. This is exactly what I was getting at. We need to drop any idea that we /should/ be at some level at the start, and just roll with it, enjoy it, and follow the process that emerges from that (rather than expect it to be perfect).

Something I've realised about learning... It's never smooth. If you're learning and everything is going smoothly, if you don't feel lost, if there's no chaos... You're not learning optimally. You need a little chaos. You want to be the 1-year old painting the worst dog anybody has ever seen. You want to be the dude who started learning the language only a few days ago and that's why he speaks like Tarzan. Course, books, mentors, etc. all create this image that learning is a guided process that smoothly moves you from level 0 to level 10, and then you have the new skill. But real learning is about connecting new skills and information to what you already have, and then trying to make use of it. It's messy. It should be. That's how it becomes true knowledge that with experience can become wisdom. When I am learning something, I remind myself of this. It's also a useful heuristic to ask myself whether I'm really learning or just following a guide. My best learning has always looked, from the outside, like someone fumbling around with a clue what they're doing. Never like a smooth process of "modules" and "lessons" (though they can definitely still be part of it). I'm curious what others think about this when reflecting on their own learning.

@KevinSzabo14 Let's do it.

@mike_languages Locked on it

deploying soon.

@ChrisWillx Truly does come from being comfortable in the unknown.

Experience it all. “Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” — Rilke

@blakeaburge Might be time for another new language🤔

If you want a bigger life next year, build a bigger lens. You don’t grow by staying around people who look, think, & live exactly like you. Say yes to things that stretch you. The fastest path to a small mind is to only consume that which confirms what you already believe.

@ItsKieranDrew This is something I echo all the time and was at the heart of the Military Language Academy. Progress is meant to be messy and slow. Once you embrace that, it's only up from there. ¡Bien hecho Kieran!

Today, I met my Spanish teacher in person for the first time. We’ve been working together for 6 months. She lives in Barcelona but is from Buenos Aires, and was visiting her family. So we figured, why not do a lesson over a coffee? I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous. Because you feel much safer behind a screen haha. But it went well. We met at a cute coffee shop in Palermo and spoke for over an hour. One lesson I learned: The power of slower progress. When we began working together, I could barely string together a sentence. She would correct me constantly. But during the hour, I was telling stories, asking questions, and expressing opinions. Don’t get me wrong, I was still doing it poorly. But it made me pause and appreciate how much progress had been made. Because I’ve been frustrated by how ‘slow’ learning a language can be. But it was a big signal of ‘huh, this is actually working’. And this is precisely how learning to write has felt, too. There were long periods of no results. 13 months to hit 1,000 followers, 18 months to make one dollar. But I never missed a day. I can probably count on one hand how many I’ve missed in 5 years. It’s only been the past two years where I’ve sat back and been like: “Huh, this is actually working.” So if you are learning any skill or building your business, remember: The start is supposed to suck. Progress can feel painfully slow. There are no guarantees of success, but every day you turn up tips the odds in your favour. Gracias, Kieran

@ItsKieranDrew The meat sweats are real though. I remember an all you can eat Argentinian Steak place near Bedford being the reason behind some of the most mental dreams I've ever had.

Realised I have had too much steak. But certainly not too much meat. I love South America.

500 days on Duolingo. Still freeze when someone speaks to you. I've spent 10 years as a military linguist. I know what actually works. Launching a 16-module course next week. 10 early access spots. DM me "ACCESS" if you want in.

@martinrue Let’s not get started on the roll / cake / bap

@mike_languages Language is so fun isn't it. So much variation and meaning encoded even into little word choices in a given region!

Haha just noticed this on the wall where I’m working. I’m curious if any of these are weird to others. Most of the people I know in Manchester, including my family, literally speak like this.

@ChrisBarnes3D Funny enough - plenty of bars in there

@mike_languages would make a great spoons