Funny story about this TEDx. We had decided, as you’ll see from the video, to open with a question to the audience. We wanted to know how many people had put effort into learning a language, but they still can’t hold conversations in it. We were expecting about half the room to raise their hand. […]
Be Bold, Presumptuous and Stop Caring About What Others Think
A reader recently referred me to this project to break into the top 250 table tennis players in the UK in one year. What happened? He failed. In his own words: “The challenge ended a week ago and I am still nowhere near the top 250. I wasn’t even good enough to get an official […]
Watch us Speak all Four Languages in Three Minutes
As a wrap-up to our Year Without English project, Vat and I had a quick conversation in all four languages we learned during the trip (Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese and Korean). You can now watch all our videos on our YouTube channel, including all four mini-documentaries and the longer interviews we held in each language. […]
Watch Me Rap in Korean
Oh the things I agree to do… Five months ago, while Vat and I were in Korea, wrapping up the last stop in our year without English, Vat told me he had a different idea for our final video. I was happy with the other three, so I told him he could do whatever he […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.