A language lesson can reverse who is the expert at the dinner table.

When a child teaches a parent a language, or anyone teaches an elder something they know better, the usual order of the room inverts. The person who normally explains has to be corrected, and the person who is usually corrected gets to be right. That reversal is uncomfortable and often very good for everyone.

Put yourself in the learner’s seat with someone who normally defers to you. Let them be genuinely better than you at something and let them see you struggle. It changes what they think is possible, and it changes what you think you know about them.