Wednesday, June 27, 2012

ggrty

The Basic Strategy Of Rapid Language Learning

Learning a language can seem daunting, here is an overview of the general strategy, before we get into the specifics.
Here is the breakdown. We’ll go more in depth into each of these later on.
1. Get the right resources for learning: A grammar book, memorization software, and films/books.
2. Get a private tutor. You want one for at least a month. I recommend four hours/day.
3. Attempt to speak and think only in the new language. Every time you can’t remember a word, put that word into your memorization software. Practice your vocabulary daily.
4. Find friends, language partners, and other speakers of the language. Once you can have basic conversations with your private tutor, you need to find other partners. If you haven’t already, think about moving to the country where the language is spoken. Consider a group class. Practice continuously. Stop speaking English.
That’s the basic strategy. Again, this strategy is intensive, because learning a language in three months is a difficult task. If you’d prefer to learn the language more slowly or you don’t have the ability to move to a new country and practice 4-8 hours a day, then you can modify the plan. It is extremely important that you practice every day, however—20 minutes a day is much better than once or twice a week.
Some of these concepts are hard to understand through the written word, so I created a video series, just for Zen Habits readers, that teaches the steps to learn a language. Get the Hack The System Language Learning Videos here.
The Resources You Need To Learn A Language
In order to learn a language, you’ll need some items that you can practice with. Here are the resources I always use.
The Necessary Resources
A good grammar book. This is essential if you want to learn a language. I recommend Dover’s Essential Grammar series: the books are very cheap, concise, and thorough. When I lived in Italy, the Dover Essential Italian Grammar book became my bible. I read it everywhere, slept with it, and even memorized it.
A phrase book. This is similar to a dictionary, but for phrases. You can start memorizing full sentences and phrases, and you’ll naturally learn the individual words. I’ll talk more about memorization tactics shortly.
An online dictionary. For most romance langauges, I recommend http://wordreference.com. For German, try http://dict.cc. Google Translate can be useful, but it easily becomes a crutch. Use it sparingly.
A memorization app. You have to memorize vocabulary. I always put new words in my app, and practice them every night.
If you’re on a Mac, check out the app Genius. This genius app (pun intended) uses time-spacing techniques to test our knowledge. You’ll randomly be quizzed on words or phrases you are trying to learn, and the more often you make a mistake, the more often you’ll be tested. I recommend you put English on the left column and your desired language on the right, so that you’ll learn to speak in a new language, not translate from it. If you’re on a PC, I’ve heard good things about Anki.
Resources to learn from
A Private Tutor. I highly recommend getting an in-person private tutor through Craigslist or a nearby language school. However, if you can’t find anyone in your area or they are too expensive, check out Edufire.com. Edufire is a website that allows you to take private and group classes online over the Internet. Again, remember, private lessons are essential, so skip the group classes.
Free language partners and tutors. The Mixxer is an incredible resource. It’s a site that allows you to connect, via Skype, with language partners all over the world. Just choose your native language, and what you are trying to learn, and The Mixxer will find partners with opposite needs (who speak your target language and want to learn your native language).
At the beginning, online partners are a big help. Why? First, because chatting is much easier than speaking, so you get a chance to practice your language. Second, chat gives you a log of what you’ve been saying—and it makes it easier for your partner to correct you.
I use Couchsurfing.org and Meetup.com to find language partners and language meetups, no matter where I live. Check out Benny’s article to learn about finding language partners through Couchsurfing.
I don’t recommend Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is incredibly slow. In Level 1, which takes 1-2 months to complete, you’ll only be familiar with the present tense. This is not a good use of your time.
Pimsleur tapes, on the other hand, can be beneficial because they help you practice pronunciation in the context of conversations. However, they are still quite slow. To test this, I started training with the German Pimsleur tapes two weeks before beginning my German classes. I felt like I was making huge progress by finishing 1/2 of the German 1 tapes—until I had surpassed that knowledge in fewer than two days with an actual teacher.
The 90 Day Plan to Learning a Language
It’s possible to achieve fluency, or at least a high speaking level, in just 90 days, but it requires intense focus. The biggest shift was in mindset: I had to change my self conception from ‘Maneesh: a blogger who wants to learn Italian’ to ‘Maneesh: Italian learner (who blogs in his extra time).
If you don’t have the freedom to focus fulltime on learning a language, that’s okay, but the process will take longer than 90 days. Just make sure that you continue to practice every day, or else you’ll lose your knowledge rapidly.
Days 1-30
The first thirty days are critical to learning a new language. You need to immerse yourself as fully as possible.
I highly recommend moving to a country where the language is spoken if you want to learn a language in 90 days. This will help you get into the language learning mindset, and will allow you to surround yourself with the new language. If you are able to move to a new country, try to live with a host family. You’ll learn a lot by eating meals with a family that hosts you.
In any case, during the first month, work one on one with a private tutor—not group classes. Group classes allow you to sit back and be lazy, while a private tutor forces you to learn.
This is important: you must be an active learner. Most people allow themselves to be taught to, but you have to take an active role in asking questions. The best way to understand this process is via video—part of the video series I made to supplement this post includes a sample of a class I took while studying Swedish, with explanations of the questions I ask during private training. Check out the language learning videos I’ve made for this post here.
You’re going to start encountering a lot of words and phrases that you don’t know, both with your private tutor, and when you practice languages on your own. Enter these words in your memorization software.
You want to start memorizing 30 words and phrases per day. Why 30? Because in 90 days, you’ll have learned 80% of the language.
This great article talks about the number of words in the Russian language.
the 75 most common words make up 40% of occurrences
the 200 most common words make up 50% of occurrences
the 524 most common words make up 60% of occurrences
the 1257 most common words make up 70% of occurrences
the 2925 most common words make up 80% of occurrences
the 7444 most common words make up 90% of occurrences
the 13374 most common words make up 95% of occurrences
the 25508 most common words make up 99% of occurrences
As you can see, you need to learn around 3000 to hit 80% of the words … probably enough before you can start learning words easily by context. At 30 words/day, you’ll have learned almost 3000 in 90 days.
Use mnemonics to help memorize words.
Days 31-60
After your first month, it’s time to focus on exposing yourself to the language as much as possible. After a month of private tutoring, you’ll have the ability to have basic conversations.
If your private tutor is getting expensive, you might consider doing advanced group classes at this point—it’ll save you money and give you access to other friends who are learning the language. Just be careful of speaking only in English. Try to make it a rule to speak in the new language as much as possible. Continue with your private tutor, if possible.
If at all possible, find a boyfriend or girlfriend who is a native speaker. Learning a language is much easier when you’re dating someone who speaks that language. I once met a man who spoke fluent Russian, and when I asked him how long it took to learn, he answered, ‘two wives.’ The best advice I can give you for finding a significant other is something my Italian friend once told me: “Couchsurfing isn’t a dating site … but it helps.”
Now is the time to start finding language partners. Check out the Resources section above and use The Mixxer and Couchsurfing to find people who speak the language you want to learn. Attempt to spend a few hours everyday practicing your language. At this point, because you have a basic grasp of the language, it shouldn’t be a chore—you are basically spending time socializing with new friends.
Try reading simple books in your target language and underlining words that you don’t know. You can add these to your memorization app.
You should start trying to think in the new language. Every time you try to express a thought to yourself, but can’t remember the word, write it down in your memorization software. Continue learning 30 words and phrases per day.
Days 61-90
By day 60, you should be in a good position to speak the language. You just simply need to keep practicing. Have deeper conversations with your language partners. Try to go out with them as much as possible—I’ve even found that a moderate amount of alcohol helps significantly with language practice.
Continue studying 30 words a day and practicing the ones you’ve already learned, and you’ll be approaching the 3000 word mark—enough to speak a language close to fluently.
By now, you can start watching TV and reading books in your target language. Rent some DVDs in the foreign language and try to follow along. If you need to, turn on the subtitles. Don’t worry if you have trouble, because understanding film is a lot more difficult than having a one-on-one conversation.
Keep on working on the language for several hours per day, and by the end of the month, you’ll find that you have a good grasp on the language. It’s pretty amazing what you can do in just 90 days with intense focus.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You’ve done it–you’ve learned a language in just 90 days. The best part is that you’ll find it much faster to learn your next language. You’ve done the hard part–learning how to learn a language.
You’ve unlocked a new skill. Language learning is about building a new habit—the habit of thinking and speaking in a new language. And once you perfect a single language, you’ve laid the foundation for doing even more.
Imagine, the next time you meet a waiter or tourist from Italy or Mexico or Greece, you could start talking, tell a joke, and—if you can remember the punchline in time—get to experience the elation of making someone laugh in their own language.
Read More

Monday, June 25, 2012

ggrty

"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer

"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer." ~ Nolan Bushnell
Read More
ggrty

Ask Yourself and Free Your Mind

These questions have no right or wrong answers.
Because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer.
1) How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
2) Which is worse, failing or never trying?
3) If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
4) When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
5) What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
6) If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
7) Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
8) If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
9) To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
10) Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
11) You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?
12) If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
13) Would you break the law to save a loved one?
14) Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
15) What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
16) How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
17) What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?
18) Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
19) If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
20) Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
21) Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
22) Why are you, you?
23) Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
24) Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
25) What are you most grateful for?
26) Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
27) Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
28) Has your greatest fear ever come true?
29) Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?
30) What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?
31) At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
32) If not now, then when?
33) If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
34) Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
35) Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
36) Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
37) If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
38) Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
39) Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
40) When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
41) If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
42) Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
43) What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
44) When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
45) If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
46) What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
47) When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
48) What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
49) In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?
50) Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?














































Read More

Monday, June 18, 2012

ggrty

Seven Great Tips for Finding Lasting Happiness

1. Appreciate the little things.
“That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” – Henry David Thoreau
When you take the time to appreciate the little things in life, you’ll realize just how important and pleasurable they are. Desiring expensive things seems to be normal in today’s society. Many people are so materialistic that they just seem to never stop wanting more stuff. Even when you get the newest smart phone, car and that fancy Internet-enabled television, will you be truly happy? Stuff is nice, but that is not what happiness is all about. Happiness is about having people to share smiles and laughs with on any given day. It is enjoying the summer’s sun and feeling comfort from a cool breeze. No amount of stuff is going to fill a void in your heart. Learn to find joy in life in the simple things, and appreciate those around you.
2. Do that which makes you happy.
“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Many of desire financial success, but is getting a hefty paycheck really something that alone is going to make you happy? Just having money will not bring happiness into your life. In order to be happy with what you are doing you need to be doing something that you like. When you work towards achieving goals in a field that you are passionate about, your life will seem so much richer. Even if you were wary about taking that teaching job because they don’t make as much money as you would like, if that is where your passion lies then you should deny yourself that career path. The act of helping mold the minds of our youth might be the thing that brings you the greatest joy. Making a difference in a child’s life is a great achievement after all.
3. Get up and go for it!
“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” – Benjamin Disraeli
Although sometimes actions can have negative consequences, you can’t let the fear of that keep you from doing something. In order to achieve happiness in life one needs to be able to take action towards achieving their goals. Remaining stationary in life will only serve to bring depression and restlessness to a person’s spirit. Don’t be afraid to go after something that you want. Even the act of pursuing something that you want to achieve can bring a certain level of happiness. Knowing that you are working towards something that you desire in life will bring positive emotions with it. Remember that nothing ventured is nothing gained. When you do make it to your goal the feeling of joy you will feel will be absolutely great.
4. Find people to share your life with.
“Happiness is like a kiss. You must share it to enjoy it.” – Bernard Meltzer
You will never be truly happy if you do not have people to share the joys of life with. Life is something that is richer when you have people around you to share experiences with. Just having friends to shoot the breeze with can be something that can make a person happy in and of itself. When you have great friends, great family and a romantic love of your life then you feel much more like a complete person. If you lack these people in your life, then do not fret because you can attract great friends into your life. If you have people in place then appreciate them and show them that you are grateful for their presence.
5. Appreciate what you have.
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” – Frederick Keonig
If you cannot be content with that which you already possess, then you will forever feel like you are chasing something elusive. When you have a spirit of always wanting more, it will never be satiated. You need to be grateful for that which you already possess. Realize that you have a life of abundance already, and that all the joy you need is already surrounding you. You need only embrace an attitude of gratitude to feel the happiness present in life. Don’t take what you have for granted. The people in your life and the things you are blessed with are important, so treat them as such.
6. Live in the here and now.
“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.” – James Oppenheim
Remember that you live in the present. What you do today will affect your future. You cannot just wait for the future to come to you, and hope that it will be a happy one. You must live in the present, embrace it and make it into your ideal life. Happiness is something that you create for yourself. It is not something that you wait for or should worry about not having done in the past. Your happiness exists in the here and now. Seize it with conviction.
7. Your outlook on life matters.
“Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” – Abraham Lincoln
Happiness is something that exists within the mind. If you can maintain a positive outlook on life, then you are far more likely to attain happiness. Looking at things from positive angles allows you to see the good in things. If you stay pessimistic then you will definitely feel unhappy, and like things are not how you wish them to be. Try to be a happy person. Look at your life with eyes of positivity. When you make up your mind and state clearly that you are determined to lead a happy life, then that life will be attracted towards you.




Read More