In November 2020, the usual dark wet of fall settled into Seattle--and with the pandemic raging and outdoor gatherings less appealing, my social life took a nosedive. To fill my evenings, I decided to take on those things I always said I'd do if only I had more time, like practicing my Chinese. While I grew up speaking Mandarin, I'd never mastered reading or writing characters, so I fired up my long-neglected Duolingo account and committed to doing at least a lesson a day. Whether you've already got some language proficiency under your belt or are starting out as a complete beginner, Duolingo doesn't teach languages the way you might have learned them in school, with lists of vocabulary and verb conjugations. Instead, it makes you jump right in and start matching words with their meanings or translating sentences.