Susan is learning Mandarin! The idea is to feel what it is like to be a learner. How do the tools, like speak up, language mats and spaced repetition feel like as a learner? I also noticed another technique that I use, silent alone practice. I thought I’d call it ‘silo’ practice. Thinking about what I could say using Mandarin 10 or more times in a day. It’s just a choice to make that what I think about while I am doing something else. I might look like I’m digging in the garden, but actually I’m counting in Mandarin, or commenting on the pretty flower in Mandarin.