Rain. Rain. Rain.
What a bore.
I’m spending a few weeks in Montenegro, working and exploring a new country.
When my plane landed, it was so warm I took off my coat.
Now winter has found me.
But last Saturday, the sun finally came out and off I went into the mountains surrounding Kotor Bay.
It was me and two other guys who are renting rooms in the same house: Jeff from the US and Jordy from Holland.
We had barely begun the long, steep hike when something caught my eye.
It was a piece of metal lying on the trail.
I picked it up.
It was a bullet shell.
I looked at the back and found a date.
1912!
I’m not good at math, but I think that’s old.
Later, when we finally arrived at the top of the mountain, we found an old, abandoned fortress.
The sign in front of the fort said it was built in 1866.
my 100+ year-old bullet shell
And that’s my bullet! The same as in the picture!
Pretty cool…
Your fearless teacher exploring the ruins of an Austro-Hungarian fortress overlooking The Bay of Kotor
Idiom Of The Week
Kill two birds with one stone
That’s one of my favorite idioms.
It means you accomplish two goals with one task.
For example…
You need to clean your bathroom. And your girlfriend is complaining that you don’t spend enough time with her.
What do you do?
You invite her over for a bathroom-cleaning party.
Wow!
You’ve just killed two birds with one stone!
Here’s how I’m going to kill my birds…
My New Book
One of the biggest problems with learning is complication.
Experts are smart.
Experts like to feel smart.
And experts want you to know how smart they are.
So they complicate things.
Good for them; bad for you.
I see my job as to simplify.
And one of my favorite simplifiers is from polyglot Steve Kaufman.
Steve says there are only three parts to learning a language:
1. the time you spend
2. the methods you use
3. and your attitude
Nice and simple.
And that’s going to be the structure for the new book I’m writing.
There will be three chapters.
Chapter One, Time, I’ve already started writing, and I’ll share it, and following chapters, with you in these Vitamin V emails.
That means…
I’ll be killing two birds with one stone…
You’ll get to read my book before anyone else…
And if you give me feedback, you’ll be helping me write it and when it’s done I’ll send you a finished copy for free.
Look for Chapter One in your inbox next week!