No One Can Have a Perfect Life!

 

(Image: Irasutoya)

A few weeks ago, I went to the Apple Store on Orchard Road and bought a new MacBook Air. This replaces my previous laptop, a MacBook Pro bought in 2018, which was having some battery problems. According to the sales staff who inspected my old device, the batteries were an old model that was no longer manufactured, and as such, could not be replaced. Given the situation, I bought a new device on the spot.

Nevertheless, as my previous laptop was still in working condition as long as it was plugged in for power with a charging cable, I continued using it for more than a month. Since I bought my new laptop, I’ve been busy with my work and studies, and couldn’t be bothered with installing it for the longest time. This afternoon, I finally succeeded in resisting my inertia and got my new MacBook Air set up in my living room.

Right off the bat, I had a bit of a problem on my new computer trying to access an Excel spreadsheet I had saved on iCloud Drive from my old MacBook Pro. Much as I tried to refresh the data on iCloud, the new machine wouldn’t display my existing files.

Feeling a bit exasperated, I turned to ChatGPT for help. Thanks to this excellent AI chatbot, I learned that the issue was caused by the discrepancy between the Apple IDs used on the two devices—my old machine was logged in with a Singapore-based ID, whereas my new one was logged in with a US-based ID. As soon as I used the same login profile on both laptops, I was able to access my previous files on iCloud Drive immediately.

I wouldn’t characterise myself as technophobic, but my IT literacy isn’t that spectacular, either. Until today, I didn’t know the difference between Apple’s iCloud Drive and Microsoft’s OneDrive, as I only use Google Drive and Dropbox as far as cloud services go. I’m a reasonably proficient user of Microsoft Excel, but I don’t know how to code.

Recently, I had to move my Anki flashcard decks for my French studies from my laptop to an external drive due to the lack of storage space, and I had to rely entirely on ChatGPT for the steps necessary to carry out the move. Because I have no knowledge in coding, I didn’t understand the script generated by ChatGPT, and had to go through hours of trial and error before finally gaining access to my flashcards from the new location on my external drive.

I’ve felt the need to study basic coding skills for at least a few years, but I’ve always put it off due to my other priorities, notably my English and French studies. As English is my primary language of communication in my career, I can never relinquish my learning activities, especially my writing practice.

That leaves me with only my French studies available to be discontinued if necessary, but the problem is that I don’t want to give them up now, not due to the sunk-cost fallacy on my part, but because I genuinely enjoy learning this beautiful language. Knowing myself, I’m sure there will come a time when I will finally relinquish studying French, either because I get bored or because the temptation to study something else—such as coding, or even some other language—grows stronger than my interest in the language of Rousseau.

Either way, I’m acutely aware that I only have so much time available in a day to pursue my personal interests. I need to stay focused only on things I truly enjoy, even at the expense of something that appears highly relevant and important for me. No one can have a perfect life, and as painful as it may be, we need to accept compromises and sacrifices from time to time.

Keep Barreling Ahead in 2026!

(Image: いらすとや)

Happy New Year!

About four months ago, I started taking lessons online with Lucas, my French teacher. Up until now, I’ve already taken 14 lessons with him, with each one lasting an hour. Even though it’s supposed to be a “lesson,” we don’t follow any specific structure to strengthen my pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary—we just talk randomly in French about whatever topics that come to mind, such as what has happened recently in my private life, what books I have read, and the latest international news.

One might think that having random chats is unsustainable for a conversation practice, as the student can quickly run out of topics to talk about, thereby putting a substantial strain on the teacher to keep the conversation going and avoid awkward silences. But luckily for Lucas and me, this hasn’t become an issue yet, as we always have a plethora of things to talk about.

It also helps that Lucas is fluent in English: although throughout the lesson he doesn’t speak a word of English, he does allow me to switch back to English whenever I have difficulty expressing a complicated idea in French. In such instances, I would verbalize an idea first in English and try to rephrase it in French using words I already know, whereupon Lucas would point out and correct my errors. 

What’s more, I don’t have to make any preparations before the lesson or be burdened with homework afterward, making each session a relaxing and enjoyable event rather than a strenuous and draining grind. The point of having these conversation lessons is so that I can get used to speaking French with a native speaker—something I never get to do otherwise in Singapore.

The other aspects of French proficiency—including vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar—can be largely learned through self-study, so I shouldn’t waste my precious talk time with Lucas trying specifically to improve those areas. Through these lessons, I’ve recognized that my grammar is still relatively weak, so I plan to reinforce this area by completing a few grammar drills in the near future.

Besides having conversations with Lucas, I’ve recently implemented a major change in my study of French. As I commute to and from the office every weekday by foot, spending 25 minutes each way, I began saying out loud some of the French sentences I’ve memorized during the past few weeks, without relying on my flashcards and based solely on my memory.

I memorize about 75 sentences containing new words during the week using flashcards, adding up to around 300 over a month. During my walk to and from the office I recite in random order whatever sentences I can recall. Although I don’t have a photographic memory, I can still come up with enough successive sentences to last me throughout my 25-minute journey.

I’ve been practicing this active recall method since December 15 of last year, and can feel that it greatly helps me consolidate my memory of the words I’ve newly learned. As forgetfulness is one of the biggest factors that hampers the progress of a language learner, I believe that this method can boost my efficiency in a meaningful way.

It’s been more than two full years since I began learning French vocabulary in earnest with a dictionary. Even though I still have a long way to go before I can read French novels without needing a dictionary, there’s no doubt that my overall French proficiency has grown immensely. As persistence is key to success in language acquisition, I will keep barreling ahead in my French studies in 2026.