I’ve spent the last month traveling through Europe, specifically England, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Belgium. Articles continued to appear, twice per week, because I published them before I left. However, this is actually my first time sitting down to write in over a month. I won’t go into too much detail of my trip. I […]
Update on My Goal to Learn French
It’s been close to two months since I started my quest to become bilingual. Over two months ago, I asked the readers for advice in learning a foreign language. That brief post now has over 60 public comments, and I’ve received many private emails with advice as well. I’m not an expert on language learning. […]
Escape the Bad Learning Habits You Picked Up at School
The formal education system teaches us poor learning habits. Instead of promoting deeper understanding, it forces students to memorize. Instead of creativity, it promotes rule-following. The skills of collaboration that are crucial in the outside world are labeled cheating or academic dishonesty. Unfortunately, I don’t feel universities will change much. But the advantage is that […]
Ask the Readers: Advice for Learning a Foreign Language
I recently got accepted into an international exchange program through my university. It seems I’ll be living in Montpellier, France, for one year starting in early September. There’s only one problem: I don’t speak French. I’ve taken some basic classes, but I’m far from fluent. I understand many of my readers are multilingual, so I […]
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.