Daily Lessons / blog posts

Information is worthless.

(Thank you, Mr. Internet.)

It’s everywhere. It’s free. There’s too much. And it’s getting worse. Read More >

Just got back from Dublin yesterday.

I’ve got a friend who lives there and thought I’d stop by for a few days on my way back to Prague.

When we were walking around the city he told me a lot about Irish history. Read More >

New Orleans, Louisiana.

You know it’s hot when you’re still sweating an hour after sunset.

That’s why we were walking at the speed of melting ice cream. Read More >

Do you ever check your credit card statements?

You know, to make sure your card didn’t go shopping at the Louis Vitton in Nigeria?

I do. Read More >

Last week I told you about my student, Pavla.

Many years after her first English lesson, she was still not fluent.

She thought it was her fault. Read More >

Last week I told you about Pavla.

She thought her problems with English were her fault.

(if you missed that lesson you can read it here) Read More >

Pavla sat down on my couch and looked at the floor.

Her hands were in her lap. The left hand held onto the right.

She didn’t smile. Read More >

How many people are on Facebook now?

Something like the population of India + China + a few billion more?

Anyway, of all the people on the site, I’m the only Ryan Viguerie. Read More >

Greetings from this place:

Amazing! Right?

It’s called Puycelsi. Read More >

“One of the main reasons why people despair of studying a language is that it makes them feel stupid.”

– Dr. Paul Pimsleur, “How To Learn A Foreign Language. Let me tell you a story.
A long time ago, there were three brothers.

They lived in a small village in the mountains and had a peaceful 
life.

But one day, the king said, come with me and fight in my army.

The brothers thought about it. 

And thought about it.

And thought about it.

And finally said, “Eh. No thanks.”

But it wasn’t really a choice.

And it wasn’t really a question.

So to avoid prison (or worse) they got on a ship and sailed to America. 

One brother went to Colorado and married an Indian woman.

One brother (I forgot. Not important. On to the third brother.) 

And one brother went to New Orleans and became a successful business man.

His name was Viguerie.

And so is mine. 

And I’m telling you this story to tell you another story…

Next week my dad and I are travelling to France to visit the village where the Viguerie brothers came from. 

And because it’s in France, and because they speak French in France, and because I lived in Paris a long time ago and spoke OK French, I thought, well, it might be a good idea to, as we say in English, brush up. 

So for the past month and a half I’ve been using the Mr. Vig method (I get a good discount) to improve my French.

And part of that includes daily conversation. 

I  found a friendly French woman online. Her name is Fleur. She used to work in a laboratory in San Francisco but now she teaches African dance in Portugal. She’s not a “real” teacher. But that’s fine, because the last thing I want is a confusing lesson on the difference between the passé simple and the imparfait. So we just chat. She writes down new words and when I make a mistake she writes down the correct sentence. Then later, I review it all. 

And let me tell you. It’s not easy. 

Every day I feel stupid. 

Every day there’s something else I’d rather do. 

But every day I do it. 

And let me tell you another thing, I’m getting better.

So on one hand, I feel stupid and it’s hard and I don’t want to do it.

But on the other hand, I feel good because I’m improving and I’m achieving a goal I set.

And here’s how that works out in numbers.

Feeling stupid: 60 minutes

Feeling satisfied with myself: all day, every day 

I can highly recommend both to you.

Here’s the link to my other website, Teacher Creature, where you can find your own friendly, native speaker to chat with. And feel good and stupid at the same time.