191 karma · joined January 16, 2019
At an old job I read a fiction series based on a suggestion from my manager but that's because we liked the same type of books, absolutely was not expected to be read to join the "in" crowd. If anything, we were the "out" crowd!
1099 in EU may not be so bad, you would most likely still need to pay for access to national healthcare but it would be cheaper than US insurance. You will need to report your taxes with both the US and your country of residence, but there is a foreign income exclusion available that would make it so you didn't actually pay any taxes to the US besides what your employer owes. Again, not an expert, you might look into this further with your own research or consult a CPA that has experience working with Digital Nomads or citizen contractors working abroad.
I agree that a balance needs to be struck and something needs to be done, but I'd favor a healthy cadence for my team than have them burn out and quit, leaving me holding the bag.
It seems many newer language apps are starting to focus on the "comprehensible input" method touted by language learning influencers like Steve Kauffmann, and at least for me it's definitely working. Comprehensible input (video content, books) along with weekly practice on iTalki has absolutely skyrocketed my language learning progress and really I only put in ~5hrs a week. Lots of money in the post-covid market for language learning as it was a hobby a lot of people picked up in quarantine.
EDIT: removed the extra "comparison"
My belief is that it would be the same case if today one switched from programming to medicine, or any other specialized field - some years of catching up and then one day, that person is qualified to practice their craft like anyone else in that field who is qualified.