The Wrong Globe is a place for people who live between worlds, culturally and linguistically and geographically. And for those who are disillusioned by the current state of humanity, but still secretly hope that curiosity can make the world a slightly less horrible place.

Why “The Wrong Globe”?

There’s an old Russian Jewish joke that goes like this: Moishe spins a globe, choosing where to emigrate. But country by country, he discovers there is antisemitism everywhere—or it’s a distant island too far from civilization. And of course, Israel is always at war. After running out of options, he exclaims, “Give me another globe!”

“The Wrong Globe” isn’t just about the Jewish experience. It captures something I think many people feel over the course of their lives — and certainly these days: that sense of “What the fuck am I even doing here?” Where “here” might mean the country you live in, your general life situation, or the planet as a whole.

This newsletter started as “Friends with Words” shortly after October 7th, when I decided to learn 12 languages in 12 months as a way to cope. But even then, it was never really about grammar or language tips. It was about connection—about reaching across linguistic and cultural divides when everything in me wanted to shut down.

The language project ended, but the newsletter evolved into what it was always meant to be: a space to process life at the intersection of languages, cultures, and impossible situations.

We’re all stuck here on this totally wrong planet—might as well try to understand each other.

All subscribers get:

One weekly essay, Mondays at 8:37 pm GMT (23:37 Israel time). These include:

Personal essays about navigating life between languages and cultures

Stories and observations on life from one of the most complicated places on Earth

Occasional insights into how we learn and relate to languages

Reflections on how languages work and what they reveal about the people who speak them

And an occasional story about wearing a crocodile tail in public

About me

I'm Tanya 👋

I'm an essayist, a linguist, and a single mom to two trilingual kids and three trilingual animals.

I was born in Russia, have lived in Canada, the US, and the UK, and am now based in Israel. I speak three languages in my daily life: Russian (my native language), Hebrew, and English.

You can read more of my work here.