Editor’s Note: How to learn mandarin fast in one year, complete three years of computer courses at MIT in one year, and learn to draw a self-portrait in one month… “God of Learning” Scott Yang in “Speed Learning” The book shares tips for quick learning, hoping to inspire you. This article is translated from Medium, author Erik Hamre, the original title is Ultralearning — A Proven Method to Drastically Improve Your Skill Learning.
You might enjoy playing the piano and guitar, and after a while you become interested in Spanish, and a few months later, you learn to cook and surf, while also trying to become a good chess player. It is also a good thing to have a wide range of hobbies, but if you want to make real progress in a certain field, you can’t just “dabble widely”. There is a more targeted approach to learning called “Speed Learning,” a method defined by Scott H. Young, who I highly recommend reading “Speed Learning” (Ultralearning) this book.
Scott himself learned four new languages in one year using this method: Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin and Korean. He also used the method in a project called the MIT Challenge, teaching himself a three-year MIT computer science course in just one year. He’s also used the method to complete shorter challenges, such as learning how to draw a self-portrait in a month. Hyperlearning is a proactive, self-directed learning strategy. The goal is to learn something specific and make rapid progress. Focusing on a results-driven approach allows you to improve yourself quickly.
This type of learning is more intensive and requires more effort on your part. How to learn mandarin fast means you are in control of everything.
Some basic elements of superlearning include: blocking out distractions, learning the hardest parts first, focusing on your weaknesses, devoting lots of practice time and using resources creatively.
If you’ve done one or a few speed-learning projects, you’ll find that learning any skill has a lot in common, and once understood, you can master the secret to learning anything fast. The opposite of “speed learning” is “dabbling”, which is when you take a moment to participate in an activity from time to time, but you don’t want to go deeper. You do this activity mainly to have fun and make friends. This is perfectly fine, but if you want to make progress just by “dabbling”, it’s unlikely.
By starting broad, you can find your interests and determine if you want to start a speed-learning program. You can try everything and see if you like the skill. If not, you move on to the next thing. Dabbling is fun and easy, doesn’t require much effort, but doesn’t lead to impressive results either.
“In a superspeed learning program, you don’t just try it out, you immerse yourself in it.” – Scott Young
Before deciding whether to embark on a speed-learning project, you should ask yourself one question: Is this something I really want to accomplish and invest a lot of time and energy into? Or am I just doing it for fun and I don’t care if I improve? If you’re after relaxation and socializing, then “Dabble” might be a better choice. Why speed study? Your happiest moments come not from doing simple things, but from discovering your potential and breaking through your limitations.
Superlearning gets you through the frustrating stages of being a beginner faster and quickly reaches an intermediate level where learning will be enjoyable and fun. Everything is difficult in the beginning, when we start to learn a new skill, we usually feel terrible, and the speed learning method can let you quickly reach the intermediate level in a very short time. After you have mastered some skills, subsequent learning becomes more interesting.
In this rapidly changing world, it becomes increasingly valuable to learn how to learn a new skill quickly. Once you’ve learned how to learn something quickly, you can replicate that approach and apply it to learning other skills.
You can decide what you want to study, how you want to study, and create a plan for what you need to do. Both success and failure are your own, and you must make your own decisions, not follow what others tell you, so that you will have a deeper understanding of the learning process. The Core Principles of SuperSpeed Learning In the book “Speed Learning”, Scott Young lists 9 basic principles to improve learning efficiency.
1)Meta-learning: Meta-learning is learning “how to learn“, drawing a map before starting to learn. By knowing which learning methods work best, you can get to your destination faster and less likely to get lost along the way. By discovering what works best for others, you can improve your own skills faster.
2) Concentration: How to stay focused and avoid procrastination is crucial to improving your studies. If you’re the type who can’t sit still for a minute, try sitting for half a minute. Half a minute quickly turned into 1 minute, then 2 minutes, then 30 minutes. You need to gradually improve your ability to do something, it’s like building a muscle. If you can’t do a single push-up right now, you can’t suddenly force yourself to do 10. 3) Straightforward: Take the shortest path. If you want to learn a foreign language, chat with people in the new language, not some fun app. If you want to be a programmer, design an app yourself. Don’t do something else just because it’s more convenient or comfortable to do it.
4) Repeated practice: hit your biggest weakness and practice your weakest point repeatedly. Many people don’t like to practice something they’re not good at, which prevents them from getting better. The most important element of a skill is what’s called breaking the bottleneck, which is a critical aspect of a skill, but you’re not good at it yet, so practice it.
5) Retrieve memory: Use tests to learn, and testing yourself is one of the best ways to tell if you’ve really learned something. We often have the illusion that we have learned everything, but when we are tested, we know nothing. After learning, first write down what you have just learned, and the output is helpful for further input. The test will also show which skills you lack, and which you need to improve.
6)Feedback: Get your learning feedback as soon as possible. Feedback can feel harsh and uncomfortable at times, but it’s the only way to know if you’re making progress. 7) Preserve memory: This one is about how not to forget, and how to learn something that you won’t forget. Rather than constantly trying to fill a leaky bucket, sometimes it might be better to fill in the holes so you can remember what you’ve already learned. 7) 8)8) Develop intuition: Intuition is a deep understanding of how things work. One way to test this is to see if you can simply explain something to someone else. If you can’t do this yet, your understanding may not be as deep as you think it is. 9) 10)9) Dare to experiment: Explore things outside your comfort zone. True mastery of a skill comes not only from following the path others have walked, but also from exploring possibilities they never imagined. Keys to Speed Learning Success Learn one thing at a time and focus on one project at a time. Trying to improve your French, guitar playing and cooking all at the same time will only lead you into confusion and often fail.
Active learning, learning by doing, not just on paper.
Hit the weak spot, directly practice what you want to improve, and if your goal is to learn Spanish, talk to people in Spanish.
Get feedback as soon as possible to see if you’re doing it right, and then make adjustments accordingly.
Be curious about the How to learn mandarin fast process and spend some time practicing to get results.
Instead of saying “I’ll do it when I have time,” put specific times for projects you’ll be working on.
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Many Hong Kong students love to read extracurricular books since Primary 4 Chinese tuition. Why are their Chinese scores low?
My child is now in the fourth grade of elementary school. In order to prepare for the middle school entrance examination, I have started to send him to a large-scale entrance education class.
However, he failed in the Chinese language test in the cram school exam, and his grades were at the bottom of the class. I was also taken aback when I saw the questions in the Mandarin test. The child was in the third grade of elementary school when he took the exam, and at this age, he had to read such a long article in a short period of time…
I have been “reading storybooks to my child” since I was a child. Let him get close to books, and he can read storybooks himself. I thought it would be no problem, but it didn’t improve my Mandarin ability. I was very worried about what to do in the future.
If there is any good way, please feel free to guide me.
Not many people know that reading alone will not improve Mandarin skills. And that’s exactly what Ms. Iwata’s problem is. So, let me illustrate this point.
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I heard some mothers whose children got high marks in Mandarin said that although it may not be the case, these children have something in common since they were young. It is the behavior of “parents read storybooks to their children” → “go to the library”.
Whether you are willing to get close to books may be an inherent trait, but the environment in your family will have a great impact when you were a child.
However, at Primary 4 Chinese tuition, there will be such doubts, just like Ms. Iwata, “My family has read story books to the children since they were young, and the children can read at ordinary times, but they are not good at Chinese.”
Listen to it for the child, but he has a good score in Mandarin and was admitted to a well-known private middle school.”
This is true. Since there is no such thing as “one hundred percent can be achieved by doing this”, of course there will be various situations. However, it is also true that there are certain tendencies.
The following content is based on the facts I learned from the mothers who participated in the face-to-face surveys conducted by the students I have directly supervised in the past and the students of Tokyo University, and the mothers who participated in the reading club held at the Mommy Cafe across the country.
Generally speaking, there are two patterns of children who like to read. 1. The type of reading is only the story type; 2. The mode gradually extends from novels and stories to expository essays and essays.
National language questions have been divided into two categories: story type and expository type in the middle school entrance examination stage. This system will also extend to high school exams and university exams.
Although I loved reading since I was a child, I only read stories and did not extend to expository texts later. When I grew up, I became addicted to mystery novels.
And said in unison: “I like reading very much, but I just can’t do well in the Mandarin test.” If you ask him: “What kind of books do you read?” The answer is “stories, novels”. Of course, this is not bad, this is also a kind of reading. However, it will not help you get a high score in Mandarin.
On the other hand, those who start with stories and then increase their reading to expository texts usually have a high deviation in Mandarin and can be admitted to top schools in the middle school entrance examination.
As I said earlier, there are indeed a lot of essays on the national language questions in the middle school entrance examination. And for schools that are difficult to get into, most of the problems will make people jump.
At the stage of primary four, it is necessary to read articles with a very large number of words to answer questions. For children who have not been exposed to expository texts, it is hell.
Of course, for those who are accustomed to reading explanatory texts, the level of articles in the Mandarin test is not a big deal, and the level of vocabulary and thinking has also skipped a grade, so this has caused a gap in Mandarin scores.
Therefore, as in the case of Ms. Iwata, it is advisable to gradually change the type of reading for children from stories to expository texts in the future. Another way is to use the library.
Libraries are treasure troves of knowledge. There are many expository-type books that can hold a child’s interest. However, there are a few things that must be noted:
Let the child “choose” the explanatory books he is interested in, and he will borrow any book he gets home to read. Although it can also guide him or create a learning atmosphere, forcing reading will only fail.
● Borrowing books to go home but find the contents are boring and don’t want to read them. Obsessively reading will only make reading more annoying.
● The point is that parents should intentionally go to the library. Even if parents do not have the habit of reading, go to the library to create an environment that stimulates children’s interest.
There are many other methods, but the nearby library is free to use, so you should take advantage of it. We must create an environment where children can absorb Primary 4 Chinese tuition happily.
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Like many “little sea turtles” who returned to live in Hong Kong from the United States, our 7-year-old son Dongdong entered the “Singapore International School [Hong Kong]”. Speaking of which, Primary 4 Chinese tuition is a bit hasty. We don’t know much about the teaching style of this school. We only know that this is a school established by the Ministry of Education of Singapore in Hong Kong. Quite a good reputation. We guessed that the child has stayed in the United States for a long time and is not very adaptable to the local traditional school model in Hong Kong, so we hope that the child can have a relaxed environment after entering the “international school”. When one semester was about to end, at four o’clock in the afternoon, my husband and I came to the classroom on time according to the agreed time to attend the parent meeting at the end of the semester. The classroom is quiet and tidy, and there is no more noise from the children on weekdays; outside the classroom, parents are waiting for their seats in a quiet and orderly manner. The three main teachers lined up and greeted the parents with smiles on their faces. On the table was Dongdong’s report card. “This is the highest score in the grade, this is the lowest score in the grade, and this is the average score. Also, your child’s score.” The head teacher, any teacher, first handed over a small note full of numbers. Before I had time to greet politely, my brain immediately entered the state of mathematical calculations, and quickly judged the ranking of my son’s grades. The meeting with the teacher was only 15 minutes long. But when we came out of the classroom, sweat oozed from the foreheads of our husband and wife. This scene is no stranger to students and parents in Singapore. But for us who have just returned from the United States, we are still a little unprepared. The grades we got from school touched our nerves. I never imagined that an international school would also have test scores. What is the difference between this kind of invisible fierce competition and traditional local schools? For those who don’t know much about Singapore’s education, it is obviously too simple to cover its educational philosophy with just the word “international school”. When it comes to successful education in Singapore, we have to start with PISA. The full name of PISA is Program for International Student Assessment, which is managed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquartered in Paris. By measuring and comparing the language, mathematics and science levels of 15-year-old students in more than 70 countries and regions, this project reflects the knowledge and skills that students in different countries will have in their future life, and also reflects the different countries. Participation in education. The project is implemented every three years. According to the latest report provided by the OECD in 2009, Singaporean students ranked third, second and third in the three tests of reading, mathematics and science respectively. In order to achieve their ideal academic performance, most Singaporean students inevitably have to sacrifice their personal freedom at the expense of their personal freedom. They start to face competition with their parents at an early age. “I have already enrolled my son in 5 training classes, even though he is only 2 and a half years old.” When I heard the words of any teacher, the class leader, I couldn’t help being shocked. “There is no way. I know that the first few students in my Primary 4 Chinese tuition class have spent money and effort to fight this way. It is because I know this too well that I have to do this.” Teacher He also looked helpless. Facing Dongdong’s report card again, the child’s father and I seemed to understand a lot. Our children are normal and intelligent. And that series of sighing grade-level rankings can only show that other people’s children are too advanced, and the parents of those children are too advanced. Since that parent meeting, the number of times Dongdong appeared in the community playground after school has decreased significantly. In order to make my son’s academic performance reach a “reasonable” level in the class, Dongdong also participated in math and English remedial classes after school, and I did extra Chinese exercises at home by myself. As for the school’s swimming class, there is also an extra “additional meal”, because last semester, Dongdong only got a C in swimming class. This grade seems to make Dongdong doubt her athletic ability. Remedial, remedial. This is the content of life that students in local schools in Hong Kong are accustomed to. From kindergarten to high school, without exception. What we didn’t expect was that our own children had to join this team when they were in an international school. We have to admit that we need to re-understand this international school, or in other words, re-understand the Singapore-style modern basic education it represents. Most parents believe that the teaching environment of international schools is relaxed, without the competitive pressure of examinations and rankings, and parents and students will not work too hard. In fact, they are both international schools, some are free and open, while others are traditional and rigorous. Among the international schools in Hong Kong, the British “English School Foundation”, the American “Hong Kong International School” and the “Canadian International School” are typical Western styles. The “German Swiss International School” and the “Hong Kong Singapore International School” are traditional and rigorous. Take the local primary schools in Singapore as an example, the schooling period is six years, and the first four years are the basic education stage. English, mother tongue (such as Chinese), mathematics and science are the main subjects. Starting from the fourth grade, students are divided into classes based on subjects (such as Chinese and mathematics), that is, Chinese fast class or math fast class. Mathematics and science are core subjects throughout primary and secondary school. Upon graduating from primary school, all students take graduation examinations and are admitted to secondary schools of different levels according to their test scores. It can be said that Primary 4 Chinese tuition test scores are basically dominated by parents and students. Pick up a Singapore elementary school mathematics textbook, and you will find that the content of the book, and even the thickness of the book, are not much different from other ordinary mathematics textbooks. Although the mathematics material used by Singaporean teachers is not extensive, it is deep and flexible. Just looking at the sixth-grade mathematics test in Singapore, the difficulty is about two years higher than that of most American schools.
There is competition when there are exams, and pressure when there are rankings. In such a teaching environment, children’s academic performance is generally outstanding. “After my daughter graduated from primary school in Hong Kong Singapore International School, she was able to successfully enter another well-known international school ‘Chinese International School’ (Chinese International School) for secondary school, relying on solid basic skills. Can take exams and answer questions Strong, it is still very practical.” Nan Nan’s mother is very glad that she made the right choice for her daughter a few years ago. As for why the middle school had to be transferred, “the pressure is still too great,” Nan Nan’s mother said, “It is said that Singaporeans are afraid of losing, and they can’t lose. We Hong Kong people are similar. In such a competitive atmosphere, I don’t know how adults and children How long can it last?” With its solid elite education, Hong Kong Singapore International School has increasingly become the new favorite of the “elite” class in Hong Kong. Its expensive tuition fees are beyond the reach of ordinary working families. In 2013, the school’s kindergarten half-day class tuition fee was 78,000 Hong Kong dollars/year, the primary school’s full-day class tuition fee was 102,000 Hong Kong dollars/year, and the middle school tuition fee was 120,000 Hong Kong dollars/year. The children of Singaporeans naturally have the priority to enter the school, accounting for about 1/3 of the total number of students, and enjoy the tuition subsidy of the Singapore government (16,100 Hong Kong dollars/year). The remaining 2/3 places are contested by mainlanders in Hong Kong (especially overseas returnees stationed in Hong Kong from Europe and the United States) and local Hong Kong people. “Unless your child is particularly outstanding, it is difficult to enter the threshold of this school. Even if you are lucky enough to be a member of it, you dare not relax in the slightest. Many mothers who work full-time have to quit their jobs or stay at home part-time.” Nan Nan’s mother sighed. Kevin is a playmate that Dongdong met in the playground downstairs, and he is also a little returnee who speaks Mandarin. He studied Primary 4 Chinese tuition at the Canadian International School, without any exams and pressure, so he always had a lot of time wandering around in the playground. As time passed, he had a group of loyal friends around him.
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