Speaking two or more languages comes with a whole host of benefits. A growing body of research has focused on the psychological, economic, and health benefits of being bilingual. Here are ten practical benefits of bilingualism.

Bilingualism is beneficial

Studies found those who are bilingual find it much easier to learn a third or fourth language. Even discounting other factors, like differences in IQ, reading abilities or other cognitive aspects, bilingualism is a causal factor in increasing the chances of being able to learn a new language quickly.

It makes learning languages easier

Bilinguals have to constantly multitask linguistically. When they have to function in a world outside their first or native language, they have to switch, shift, and process different languages in real-time. However, a study found that bilinguals are better at non-linguistic multitasking too.

Bilingualism makes you better at multitasking

Empathy is the ability to relate to someone else and to see things from their perspective. A major research review concludes that acquiring "two languages helps Theory of Mind development, meaning you have the ability to attribute mental states to other people and to predict and explain other people’s behaviour on the basis of those attributed mental states. Entering into a different linguistic system makes it easier to enter another’s mind.

It makes you more empathetic

If you are more empathetic, you'll be more likeable too because the Theory of Mind helps develop prosocial behaviours. Children who develop an advanced Theory of Mind are better at conversations, more socially mature, and often rated as popular in class.

You’ll be more popular

The language you speak helps determine how you interpret actions. You can flip-flop between focusing on the act (such as walking) or the goal of the act (why someone is walking). Bilinguals interpret aspects of the world according to whichever language they are speaking.

Bilingualism helps you see things differently

Bilinguals are likelier to get paid more over the course of their life. An article in The Economist showed that being bilingual would increase your salary by two per cent over 40 years. The effects are more marked depending on what language you can speak. German can boost earnings by 3.8%, and Arabic speakers in the UK have salaries 74% higher, on average.

It can make you richer

The more a local area, state, or country can speak another language, the greater its economic output. <ul><li>Economists from the University of Geneva estimate one-tenth of Switzerland’s GDP is due to its multilingualism.</li><li>Research by the Rand Corporation argues that learning a second language in the UK could boost the economy from between £9 billion (for Spanish) to £12 billion (for Mandarin).</li></ul>

It can make your country richer, too

According to a huge meta-analysis of studies on the topic, speaking multiple languages<ul><li>Reduces the chances of getting dementia.</li><li>If you get dementia, it slows its onset and lessens the symptoms.</li></ul>

Bilingualism reduces the chances of Alzheimer’s

Bilinguals are better at certain executive functions, such as moving between different types of brain activation. For example, in the "Stroop test", you have to read words for colours (like "red" or "orange") that are written in the same or different colours.

It improves certain executive functions

Being able to speak another language is sexy. It's exotic, mysterious, and intelligent. Research shows that the most attractive languages are Italian, Portuguese and French. The least attractive were Dutch, German, and Japanese.

It makes you more attractive

People who are bilingual often will be richer and sexier and have improved cognitive functions. Why not try it?

education

Learning & Education

10 benefits of bilingualism, according to science

This tutor is designed to describe enough of the commands that you will be able to easily use Vim as an all-purpose editor.    	 It is important to remember that this tutor is set up to teach by use. That means that you need to execute the commands to learn them properly. If you only read the text, you will forget the commands!

VIMTUTOR ver 1.7

1. The cursor is moved using either the arrow keys or the hjkl keys.   h (left)   j (down)      k (up)      l (right)2. To start Vim from the shell prompt type: vim FILENAME

Lesson 1 SUMMARY

3. To exit Vim type:       :q!    to trash all changes. OR type:       :wq    to save the changes.4. To delete the character at the cursor type: x5. To insert or append text type:   i  type inserted text        insert before the cursor   A  type appended text          append after the lineNOTE: Pressing will place you in Normal mode or will cancel an unwanted and partially completed command.

1. To delete from the cursor up to the next word type:    dw2. To delete from the cursor up to the end of the word type:  de3. To delete from the cursor to the end of a line type:    d$4. To delete a whole line type:   dd5. To repeat a motion prepend it with a number:  2w6. The format for a change command is: operator  [number]  motionwhere:      operator - is what to do, such as d for delete      [number] - is an optional count to repeat the motion      motion  - moves over the text to operate on, such as w (word), e (end of word), $ (end of the line), etc.

 Lesson 2 SUMMARY

7. To move to the start of the line use a zero: 08. To undo previous actions, type:          u (lowercase u)    To undo all the changes on a line, type: U (capital U)    To undo the undo's, type:                CTRL-R

1. To put back text that has just been deleted, type p. This puts the deleted text AFTER the cursor (if a line was deleted it will go on the line below the cursor).2. To replace the character under the cursor, type  r  and then the character you want to have there.3. The change operator allows you to change from the cursor to where the motion takes you. eg. Type ce to change from the cursor to the end of the word, c$ to change to the end of a line.4. The format for change is:	 c  [number]  motion

Lesson 3 SUMMARY

1. CTRL-G displays your location in the file and the file status.G moves to the end of the file.number G moves to that line number.gg moves to the first line.2. Typing  /   followed by a phrase searches FORWARD for the phrase.Typing  ?   followed by a phrase searches BACKWARD for the phrase.After a search type n to find the next occurrence in the same directionor N to search in the opposite direction.CTRL-O takes you back to older positions, CTRL-I to newer positions.

Lesson 4 SUMMARY

3. Typing  %   while the cursor is on a (,),[,],{, or } goes to its match.4. To substitute new for the first old in a line type   :s/old/newTo substitute new for all 'old's on a line type     :s/old/new/gTo substitute phrases between two line #'s type     :#,#s/old/new/gTo substitute all occurrences in the file type     :%s/old/new/gTo ask for confirmation each time add 'c'        :%s/old/new/gc

1. :!command executes an external command.Some useful examples are:   (Windows)     (Unix)    :!dir        	 :!ls        - shows a directory listing.    :!del FILENAME  :!rm FILENAME  - removes file FILENAME.2. :w FILENAME writes the current Vim file to disk with name FILENAME.3. v motion :w FILENAME saves the Visually selected lines in file FILENAME.4. :r FILENAME retrieves disk file FILENAME and puts it below the cursor position.5. :r !dir reads the output of the dir command and puts it below the cursor position.

Lesson 5 SUMMARY

1. Type o to open a line BELOW the cursor and start Insert mode.Type O to open a line ABOVE the cursor.2. Type a to insert text AFTER the cursor.Type A to insert text after the end of the line.3. The e command moves to the end of a word.4. The y operator yanks (copies) text, p puts (pastes) it.5. Typing a capital R enters Replace mode until  is pressed.

Lesson 6 SUMMARY

6. Typing ":set xxx" sets the option "xxx". Some options are:'ic' 'ignorecase'   ignore upper/lower case when searching'is' 'incsearch'   show partial matches for a search phrase'hls' 'hlsearch'   highlight all matching phrasesYou can either use the long or the short option name.7. Prepend "no" to switch an option off:  :set noic

1. Type :help or press or  to open a help window.2. Type :help cmd to find help on cmd .3. Type CTRL-W CTRL-W to jump to another window.4. Type :q to close the help window.5. Create a vimrc startup script to keep your preferred settings.6. When typing a : command, press CTRL-D to see possible completions.    Press to use one completion.

Lesson 7 SUMMARY

ViM is a blessing. Learn it and you will be spoiled forever.

computerscience

Computer Science

ViM Tutor

It is a set of three lists used to classify educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. They concentrate specifically on learning objectives in the cognitive domain (knowledge-based), affective (emotion-based) and psychomotor domains (action-based).
These three models were named after Benjamin Bloom, the author of Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals.

Bloom’s taxonomy of learning

<ul>
<li>Knowledge-based objectives. Instead of just memorizing facts, the goal of this area is to be capable to remember, understand, apply, analyze, create, and evaluate our knowledge.</li>
<li>Emotion-based objectives. This domain measures how much you care about what you are studying: passive attention (the lowest level), active participation, valuation, organization, and characterization (the highest level, where you care enough to generate your own take on the knowledge). </li>
<li>Action-based objectives. This domain measures your ability to actually manipulate relevant tools.</li>
</ul>

Bloom’s taxonomy: learning objectives

DOVE stands for: Deferral of judgment; Off-beat ideas; Vast quantities of ideas; Elaboration/expansion of ideas.
The ROPE method of brainstorming stands for:
<ul>
<li>Record all ideas</li>
<li>Original ideas are encouraged (no stupid ideas)</li>
<li>Put off evaluation (judgment can be done later)</li>
<li>Expand on other’s ideas.</li>
</ul>

The DOVE & ROPE rules of brainstorming

<ul>
<li>What are the consequences of believing this?</li>
<li>How consistent is the information?</li>
<li>What assumptions have been made here?</li>
<li>How accurate is the data or information?</li>
<li>What is the meaning of this?</li>
<li>What are the main points?</li>
<li>What prejudice is being shown here?</li>
<li>What other points of view could be expressed?</li>
<li>What evidence is there to support the position or claims?</li>
<li>What examples are there to back-up the position or claims?</li>
<li>How relevant is the position or claims?</li>
<li>How reliable is the information?</li>
</ul>

CAMPER questions for critical thinking

By repeating the question “why?” five times in a row, you explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem; the primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a problem.

The 5 Whys

This method means using a thinking buddy to debug a problem together, then share back what you found with the team.
<ul>
<li>Think: each person thinks about the problem and writes down their thoughts.</li>
<li>Pair: consolidate individual thoughts together.</li>
<li> Share: share back with the rest of the team.</li>
</ul>

Think-Pair-Share

Bloom's taxonomy, DOVE brainstorming... Add these five thinking tools borrowed from education to your metacognitive toolbox.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

strategy

Strategy

problemsolving

Problem Solving

communication

Communication

5 Thinking Tools to Add to Your Metacognitive Toolbox

It’s easier to take notes when we’re listening to content because our hands are free. But when reading a book, taking notes interrupts our reading flow. 
There is a balance between taking too many notes - and reading too slowly- and too few notes which prevent us from capturing enough knowledge from the book.

Taking notes requires a balance

Before you start taking notes, ask yourself what your goal is.
<ul>
<li>Paper versus digital. If your goal is to study the content of a book, paper is better. But if your goal is to be able to reference certain parts of the book easily, an ebook may be better suited.</li>
<li>Serendipity versus control. When you want to take notes to read them for pleasure afterwards, highlighting and marginalia could be more suited. But if rediscovery is your desire, a structured system, such as an index of the key ideas, may be better.</li>
<li>Learning versus creating. If you want to learn from a book, your notes will be factual, but if you're going to create your own content, your notes will be more original.</li>
</ul>

Consider why you want to take notes

Taking notes should not become a tedious process, but it should be made as seamless as possible.
<ul>
<li>If you are reading a physical book, write down main ideas or questions in the margins. Try to keep it very short. If you are reading an ebook, highlight the essential parts and write a few words to add contextual information.</li>
<li>If your goal is to learn or reference your notes in the future, you may want to stop at the end of each chapter and collate the ideas separately from the text. This can be done on the inside cover of the book, or on a separate index card, where you rewrite the key ideas with the corresponding page numbers.</li>
</ul>

Capture key ideas without interrupting your reading flow

An optional step is to import your highlights and marginalia into your note-taking system. 
Importing these ideas into a note-taking system is a way to create a dialogue between the authors whose work you have read while encouraging the interlinking of ideas.

Import your ideas in your note-taking system

When reading a book, taking notes interrupts our reading flow. There is a fine balance between taking too many notes and taking too few notes.

writing

Reading & Writing

How to take notes while reading a book

Metacognition means “thinking about thinking” or “knowing about knowing.” The word “metacognition” means “above cognition”.
It’s translate into being aware of your own awareness so you can choose the right learning and problem-solving techniques, as well as when to use them.

Metacognition

<ul>
<li>Metacognitive knowledge: What you know about yourself and others in terms of thinking and learning processes.</li>
<li>Metacognitive regulation: The methods you use to control your learning.</li>
<li>Metacognitive experiences: The thoughts and feelings you have during your learning process.</li>
</ul>

Components that make up metacognition

<ul>
<li>Declarative knowledge: the knowledge you have about your learning style and about what the factors that influence you.</li>
<li>Procedural knowledge: what you know about learning in general - strategies you found or that you have already applied.</li>
<li>Conditional knowledge: it refers to knowing when and why you should use declarative and procedural knowledge.</li>
</ul>

Metacognitive knowledge categories

You need to master these skills:
<ul>
<li>Planning: think about the right learning methods you will use for learning something new and the way you will manage your time and energy.</li>
<li>Monitoring: be aware of your progress while learning; don't be passive and always question everything.</li>
<li>Evaluating: when you finish a chunk, consider your performance and assess the strategies you used.</li>
</ul>

Improve your metacognition

Metacognition: how to think about thinking - Ness Labs

<ul>
<li>Speed reading promises to help anyone read at speeds of above 1000 words per minute with full comprehension. </li>
<li>The average college-level reader read at the speed of 200-400 words per minute. </li>
<li>In 1959, Evelyn Wood launched Reading Dynamics, said to increase a reader's speed by a factor of three to ten times while improving comprehension. The business was a success and eventually spread worldwide.</li>
</ul>

Speed reading

Speed reading uses methods such as chunking, scanning, reducing subvocalization, and using meta guiding. For example, reading the first sentence of each paragraph can indicate if it's worth reading more or to move on. Or guiding your eye by using your finger.
Some researchers looked into speed reading and found there is a trade-off between speed and accuracy.

How speed reading works

Speed reading can help you skim to content, which is useful at times. However, speed reading cannot help you read faster and retain more information.
<ul>
<li>Our eyes are designed only to see a tiny portion of our visual field with the precision needed to recognise a letter in a 10 to 12 point font. Everything outside that small area is blurry. The idea promoted by speed reading that we can use our peripheral vision to see whole sentences is biologically impossible.</li>
<li>While we spend most of our time reading forward, our eyes often go back to reread some text. This is the way our brain links content together. Speed reading attempts to help you read faster by showing one word at a time. This has a bad impact on overall comprehension.</li>
</ul>

Speed reading and information retention

<ul>
<li>Mental reading is when you sound out each word in your head. This is the slowest form of reading.</li>
<li>Auditory reading is when you listen to an audiobook. This reading is almost twice as fast as mental reading, at about 450 words per minute.</li>
<li>Visual reading is when you understand the meaning of the words without sounding them out or hearing them, with a reading speed of 700 words per minute.</li>
</ul>

Three types of reading

Instead of aiming for speed, we should optimise for comprehension and retention.
<ul>
<li>Slow reading has a positive impact on your anxiety levels.</li>
<li>It may help you read more, as you can take the time to enjoy what you read.</li>
<li>It will improve your learning. Your brain can make useful connections between current and previous content.</li>
</ul>

The case for slow reading

Speed reading promises to help anyone read at speeds of above 1000 words per minute. Sounds fantastic. The problem? It’s completely bogus.

The speed reading fallacy: the case for slow reading

During the Pandemic, my-then-three-year old had trouble falling asleep in his bed. So we started taking walks every night in his stroller to put him to sleep.One night he asked me about a portrait of Nelson Mandela that we have on our wall. I told him it belonged to his grandmother, who like Nelson, fought against a terrible thing called "Apartheid" in South Africa.Then he said, "tell me the story of Nelson Mandela," and we made it up as we walked. He asked me to recite this story every night after that for more than a year.This book is the result.(Now we just need an artist.)

Introduction: Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela by Mike Mintz 

Nelson Mandela lived in a landWhere people with different skin color Couldn’t hold hands

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (1 & 2)

Or go to the same schoolsOr swim in the same poolsOr do other stuff together That would have been cool

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (3 & 4)

A terrible rule they called “Apartheid”Put people of color on the very far sideOf anything good or anything rightAnd it made it scary to get through the night

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (5 & 6)

But Nelson Mandela stood up and said “NO”!This terrible Apartheid and separation must go.People are people of any color skinWhat makes a person is what is within

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (7 & 8)

Be the change in the world that you want to seeAnd together we can help all people be free

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (9 & 10)

So he fought and he foughtBut then he got caughtThey put him in jailBut he couldn’t be bought

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (11 & 12)

He hooted, he hollered, he kept on fightin’Eventually the world saw Apartheid needed rightin’

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (13 & 14)

So they got behind Nelson and heeded the callAnd he united the country with freedom for all

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (15 & 16)

That’s how it happenedAnd that’s how it wentThat Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (17 & 18)

He lived to the ripe old age of 95And died a hero who touched so many lives.

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (19 & 20)

My son looked at me with pride in his eyesAnd said “I am black people” which made me surprisedFor his skin was not black (it was whiter than mine)I went to correct him, but then realizedHis innocent words were really quite wise

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (21 & 22)

Nelson Mandela fought to end ApartheidSo the color of skin would no long divideAnd it's up to each of us to decideThat what really matters is what is inside.

Tell Me the Story of Nelson Mandela (23 & 24)

This children's book started as just a story/poem I told my 3-year old every night for 1-year on our bedtime walks during the Pandemic. We now want to find an artist to work with and publish it. Here's the story that came from trying to teach my kid about racism, while learning how easily bad ideas can spread.

How Can Parents Teach Kids About Racism Without Being Racist?

<ul><li>Things are never as bad (or as good) as they seem at the time.</li><li>Success is feeling good about the work you do throughout the long, unheralded journey.</li><li>Fear comes from not knowing what to expect and not feeling you have any control over what’s about to happen. When you feel helpless, you’re far more afraid than you would be if you knew the facts. If you’re not sure what to be alarmed about, everything is alarming.</li></ul>

Key Points From The Book

<ul><li>In order to stay calm in a high-stress, high-stakes situation, all you really need is knowledge.</li><li>Feeling ready to do something doesn’t mean feeling certain you’ll succeed. Truly being ready means understanding what could go wrong as well.</li><li>Optimism and confidence comes not from visualizing victory, but from visualizing defeat and figuring out how to prevent it.</li><li>If you’re striving for excellence—whether it’s in playing the guitar or flying a jet—there’s no such thing as over-preparation.</li></ul>

The Five Big Ideas

It takes years of serious, sustained effort to become an astronaut, because you need to build a new knowledge base, develop your physical capabilities and dramatically expand your technical skill set. But the most important thing you need to change - is your mind. You need to learn to think like an astronaut.

Being An Astronaut

<ul><li>Success is feeling good about the work you do throughout the long, unheralded journey that may or may not wind up at the launch pad.</li><li>You shouldn't determine whether you arrive at the desired professional destinations. Too many variables are out of your control. </li><li>There is just one thing in our control: your attitude during the journey. This is what should keep you feeling steady and stable and heading in the right direction. Losing attitude is worse than not achieving your goal.</li></ul>

Having An Attitude

Fear comes from not knowing what to expect and not feeling like you have control with what's about to happen. You may feel helpless, more afraid than you would be if you knew the facts. if you're not sure what to be alarmed about, everything is alarming.Life is just a lot better if you feel you’re having 10 wins a day rather than a win every 10 years or so.

The Power of Negative Thinking

If you're striving for excellence whether playing guitar or flying a jet - there is no such thing as over-preparation. It's your best chance of improving your odds.This skill isn’t just useful for going to space though. It helps to be ready for any obstacle that suddenly shows up. When I lost my job last year, for example, some of my preparations made that a lot easier.

Sweat the Small Stuff

<ul><li>Living in space requires a lot of preparation, which is a key component to having a good life on Earth no matter what you do.</li><li>If you want to survive as a space explorer, you’ve got to learn how to take criticism, which is a skill we can all learn to be happier.</li><li>Coming back to Earth after being in outer space is difficult, but also gives astronauts a new outlook and sense of appreciation.</li></ul>

Living In Space

If you want to become truly exceptional, you’ve got to try so you learn how not to do whatever you’re working toward. That means you have to welcome any feedback, including negative, if you want to improve.Taking correction well is especially vital if you’re on a team like astronauts are. When serious problems arise the group only has each other to rely on. And if you can’t roll with the punches of criticism from your teammates, it will be hard to work together in life or death scenarios.

Learning From Failure

If you think the trip to space is hard, wait until you hear about the way back. The Russian Soyuz spacecraft is the only way to and from the International Space Station. And the hour-long landings are notably turbulent. It’s also hard to adjust to normal life after getting home from a space mission. In zero gravity, your body’s muscles deteriorate. But when you return, the weight of being on earth is difficult to manage. Even sitting down isn’t comfortable because your body isn’t used to carrying its own weight.

Getting Back To Earth

An astronaut is someone who’s able to make good decisions quickly, with incomplete information, when the consequences really matter

Anticipating problems and figuring out how to solve them is actually the opposite of worrying: it’s productive

If you start thinking that only your biggest and shiniest moments count, you’re setting yourself up to feel like a failure most of the time.

An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth teaches you how to live better by taking lessons from the rigorous requirements of going to outer space and applying them to everyday life.

Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst-and enjoy every moment of it. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement-and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff. You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth-especially your own.

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

books

Books

Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst-and enjoy every moment of it. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement-and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff. You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth-especially your own.

Chris Hadfield

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

Beginning a new learning journey can be exciting. Beginnings are full of hope and possibilities. Starting something new can give us a glimpse of what could be if we stick with something long enough to see it through.Becoming aware of the following five learning stages and knowing that what you’re going through is completely normal may help you push through the sticking points of the learning process and keep going, even when you might have otherwise given up hope and quit.

The Five Learning Stages

The first stage of learning is called unconscious incompetence. In this stage of learning, we don’t know what we don’t know.For most people, whether you’re trying to learn a new language, play a new instrument, or learn complicated jiu-jitsu moves, this first stage of learning starts as fun and exciting. In the beginning, any flashes of success feel monumental.

Stage One: Unconscious Incompetence

This is the rude awakening you get when you realize all you don’t know. For many people, if they didn’t already quit in the blissful beginner stage, this second stage — or the suck — does them in.The suck is where it slowly dawns on you just how much you don’t know. You start learning the rules of the game. You start trying to apply those rules, and as you do, get more in your head. You start to force things and can no longer get into flow. Even if you are making progress, you may feel like you’re going backwards because you’re now aware of all you’re doing wrong.

Stage two: Conscious Incompetence

During the conscious competence learning stage, you know how to reach your goal but have to concentrate hard on your task. Nothing is automatic.In this stage, your new learnings are still fragile and not yet cemented in your neural circuits — meaning you haven’t committed your new learning to your long-term memory. Because of this, you have to practice diligently and often or risk forgetting what you’ve learned.

Stage Three: Conscious Competence

Stage four of learning is when you fully internalize all that you’ve learned. You can execute your new skills automatically and without having to think beforehand. This is the stage of learning when you’re most likely to regularly get into the zone because you can stop thinking so much. Instead, you just let your body or mind take over and do what you already know how to do.Whatever your new skill, this is when things feel less like a struggle and more flowy. Reaching this stage starts to feel fun and rewarding — like all your hard work has finally paid off.

Stage Four: Unconscious Competence

The last stage of learning is when you can teach what you do unconsciously to others. It requires a deep understanding of what you’ve learned and an ability to communicate it to beginners.Many people never get here, and the reality is that the younger you learned, the less likely you will be able to teach well. This is why high-level athletes that have been training since they were young are not always the best teachers. They have so deeply internalized all they’ve learned that they’re not always sure how to teach it to others.

Stage Five: Conscious Unconscious Competence

Beginning a new learning journey can be exciting. Beginnings are full of hope and possibilities. Starting something new can give us a glimpse of what could be if we stick with something long enough…

career

Career

The Five Stages of Learning and How to Apply Them to Any Skill

Mastering any physical skill, such as playing an instrument or throwing a baseball, takes practice. Practice is repeating an action with the goal of improvement.

Mastering a skill

Our brains have two kinds of neural tissue:<ul><li>Grey matter processes information in the brain</li><li>White matter is mostly fatty tissue and nerve fibres.</li></ul> For our bodies to move, information needs to travel from the grey matter down the spinal cord through a chain of nerve fibres (axons) to our muscles. The axons in the white matter are wrapped with myelin. This myelin covering seems to change with practice. Added layers insulate the axons, eventually becoming a superhighway for information connecting your brain to your muscles.

Myelin during practice

Mastery is not just about the hours of practice. It's also the quality and effectiveness of that practice that plays a role.Effective practice is <ol><li>consistent</li><li>intensely focused</li><li>targets content or weaknesses</li></ol>

Effective practice

<ul><li>Focus on the task at hand.</li><li>Minimise distraction. Turn off the TV and put your cellphone out of reach. Studies show that the interference of laptops and smartphones caused students to stay on task for only six minutes at a time.</li><li>Start out slowly. Coordination is built with repetitions, whether correct or incorrect.</li><li>Frequent repetitions with allotted breaks. Studies show that many top athletes, musicians, and dancers divide their time used for effective practice into multiple daily practice sessions.</li><li>Mentally practise with vivid detail. </li></ul>

How to get the most out of our practice time

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-practice-effectively-for-just-about-anything-annie-bosler-and-don-greene Mastering any physical skill takes practice. Practice is the repetition of an action with the goal of improvement, and it helps us perform with more ease, speed, and confidence. But what does practice actually do to make us better at things? Annie Bosler and Don Greene explain how practice affects the inner workings of our brains. Lesson by Annie Bosler and Don Greene, animation by Martina Meštrović.

videos

Videos

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-practice-effectively-for-just-about-anything-annie-bosler-and-don-greene

Mastering any physical skill takes practice. Practice is the repetition of an action with the goal of improvement, and it helps us perform with more ease, speed, and confidence. But what does practice actually do to make us better at things? Annie Bosler and Don Greene explain how practice affects the inner workings of our brains.

Lesson by Annie Bosler and Don Greene, animation by Martina Meštrović.

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TED-Ed

How to practice effectively...for just about anything - Annie Bosler and Don Greene

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