Hello! My name is Marissa and my family and I joined LinguaBLOX to study Spanish. We're a homeschooling family of 7. A few days ago we tried LinguaBLOX method and found it really fun and useful.

If the shape of a language could be expressed mathematically (and it can), it would look like this (and it does). That image is called the Mandelbrot set. It's generated by an astonishingly simple mathematical equation discovered by Benoit Mandelbrot. No matter where you look, you see the same shape. The overall thing looks like a snowman, and when you zoom in infinitely, all you see is snowmen. We see this recursive pattern everywhere in nature, including in language. Leaves are the same shape as the overall tree. Zoom in on a Google map and you'll see that patterns of streets look the same on the country level, state level, city level, and neighborhood level. And they look like veins in the human body, which is also a fractal. In language, no matter where you look, you'll see that there are things containing other things. Questions contain answers, verbs contain vocabulary. Topics contain questions. Benoit Mandelbrot's TED talk when I watched it in 2014 was the Genesis for what I now call the Matrix Method. I learned that the fractal shape is the most efficient way for energy to spread out in nature. For example, when buffalo disperse, they make a fractal shape. When a windshield cracks, it makes a fractal shape. The energy that is dispersing that creates the shape of language are the thoughts we are attempting to express. The process of expressing thoughts is what creates the shape of language.

What happens when two complete beginners compete to see who can learn more Brazilian Portuguese in 5 days?

Hear me out. Two complete beginners of Brazilian Portuguese get one private lesson a day for 5 days, and on the sixth day, each takes the same OPI (has to answer a list of questions -- and they know what those questions are going in). Whoever does best on the OPI wins that challenge. Say @Tony Marsh and @Fabio D'Oliveira each took a student for 5 days, as a challenge for both teachers and learners. Everyone wins, but also, someone legit wins. Could this be a reality show in the near future? It would definitely be an episode on YouTube. Thoughts?