I knew that as soon as I finished my pharmacy tech coursework and national exam, the time vacuum created from no longer having to study would be filled with something else, especially things I’d put on hold to prep for my upcoming trip to Ghana. The way I saw it, if I was going to drop that much money for a two-week experience, I was going to get the most out of it.
Once again, the nerd in me came out to play. I found free online Twi lessons. The first course was a highly technical Linguistics 101 course with antiquated drill and kill teaching methods. I did that for two days before I went in a completely different direction.
I absolutely LOVED the colorful, fun Twi lessons geared toward kids. Half the lessons were set to music with the narrator singing vocabulary words.
Eventually, I’ll get a library card since the digital Austin public library I have access to has very few books on Ghana and absolutely nothing on the language. My hope is that I can find a few books on the history of the country, so I can put the few vocabulary words that I encounter in context. That’s one of the best ways to learn a foreign language.
My expectation isn’t fluency. I’ll probably not be able to speak Twi passably. I’ll just learn as much as I can merely to add another layer to my visit. At this point, I’m learning nouns and perhaps with more lessons, I’ll be able to say simple greetings and ask basic questions.
Even so, I’m resisting rewatching videos. I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole. So far, different video lessons repeat vocabulary. I want to be mindful of the joy of learning rather than the grind. After all, there won’t be any quizzes or exams. Just the quality of my experience, visiting another country.