Everyday Hustlin'

I've recently decided to put my Spanish on hold to launch a new, more ambitious pursuit: learning Mandarin. I'll be pursuing my MBA next year through an international school, INSEAD, where you are required to learn "proficiency" in a new language as a graduation requirement. This could've easily been achieved with either Italian or French, with which I have prior experience, or continuing my amazingly successful Spanish strategy outlined earlier. Instead, I decided to "go for it" and learn Mandarin. This could be one of the more stress-inducing decisions I've ever made,  but I feel if achieved, will be far more beneficial professionally. Moreover, there is just nothing in this world like someone of non-Asian descent speaking Chinese. It just warms the heart.

As this task was far more difficult than a foray into yet another romance language, I decided the Tim Ferriss strategy would not suffice. I had to get serious, and how else does one get serious than to go on craigslist. I arranged a purchase of Rosetta Stone's Mandarin level 1 via the site. I'm sure in a completely legal fashion, I met a guy named Tariq at a Starbucks near me. He pulled out a massive external HD, plugged it into my computer, and gave me the goods. After using the product all week, and realizing how much better a learning system it is than traditional language education, realized I should probably get Levels 2 and 3 for the longer term (each level I assume will take close to a few weeks). Again, I went to craigslist, and this time met Jose at Bryant Park. Rather than an external HD, Jose gave me a series of CDs to install the software with.

I will get more into how Rosetta Stone works, which I'm still amazed by, but first I need to address Jose and Tariq. The amazing part of these interactions was their absurdly sketchy nature. Tariq brought in the first hit, but once I needed the more potent version, in came Jose. What's more ridiculous, is that I tried sparking up conversations with both of them about learning languages. Tariq indicated he had dabbled with Level 1 in order to "learn to holla at the mami's", while Jose said "I speak Spanish, but nah, havent touched it".  It was a good reminder, that Jose and Tariq weren't involved in the game out of a deep drive to democratize language education for the masses and bring the joy of multiculturalism and global understanding to people everywhere. It was just another hustle.  

Which makes me wonder, how does a hustler choose educational software as his game? Is it just a question of profit margins? Do they slang other software (perhaps gaming, or the hardest of the hard, office productivity software)? Would Rick Ross approve of such a hustle, and has he himself, ever been involved in the nerdier side of the hustling world? Finally, is there a hierarchy of hustlers, and while spending an evening at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club (naturally), do the drug and arms dealers bully the software and pirated DVD dealers?