Learning a new (non-gendered) language

My brain is tired. It’s tired in a way that feels familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Then I realize — It feels like the exhaustion of language immersion.

I have felt weary in this way before. Once as an exchange student living in Germany. Again as a Peace Corps Volunteer living in a remote village in Panama. In both cases, I was steeped in learning a new language and culture 24/7. Although my current situation involves only a handful of mono syllabic words, all of them in the third person, the sensation is recognizable. These are language muscles I’m…