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Bootcamp Day 7: Take Action

Hey,

As this is the last bootcamp email, I thought I’d try to cover as many remaining learning problems people brought to me as I can.

Q) How do I learn a new language, or remember foreign vocabulary words?

I’m not a language expert, so in building this section of Learning on Steroids I recruited Benny Lewis, who speaks 8 languages fluently and several more at conversational levels.

Benny has an entire audio training in the program, but his basic advice boils down to, “learn through using the language.” Benny has many tricks, but his core idea is that languages are only hard because we make them hard, being afraid to use them and speak.

I cover a specific mnemonic tactic for remembering vocabulary word (also good for anatomy majors) in Learning on Steroids. The basic idea is that you use visual association to sear a link between the definition and foreign word. It’s useful if you need to remember lots of vocabulary for tests.

Note: Benny Lewis has a complete product for learning languages which is one of the few I actively recommend. Check it out here.

Q) How can I stop procrastinating?

There’s no one universal fix for procrastination, because it seems to have many underlying causes. That said, developing a productivity system that encourages action was vital for me in avoiding procrastination.

In Learning on Steroids I teach the weekly/daily goals system for productivity. You may have heard of it already, but I go into more detail, trying to make it as easy as possible to implement.

Q) How should I learn new skills, such as programming languages?

There’s been a lot of research done on skill-acquisition, so the key to building skills is to optimize your practicing time to maximize your learning. In the program, I outline steps to build a deliberate practice schedule, which aims to minimize the time needed to become good at a skill.

Q) I’m no longer in school, but I want to keep learning, what should I do?

I have a whole resource section in Learning on Steroids, giving access to free and cheap learning materials. The key to self-education is to build a mission around what you want to learn. Without external rewards, it’s harder to stay focused on learning something difficult. I teach people to set missions, find resources and structure their schedule to find time to learn the things they want to for their professional and personal development.

Q) I have children and I want to teach them to learn better, what should I do?

I’m not a parent, but from my experience, getting people enthusiastic about learning is the biggest part. Learning can actually be a lot of fun, if you cut away all the testing, stress, comparison judgement and forced work that is in the current education system. Teaching kids how they can connect ideas and find new analogies, not as a way to pass tests, but as a way to understand the world, is important.

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Thanks so much for everyone who participated in the bootcamp! I got nearly a thousand responses to the instructions, and I genuinely enjoyed making the videos and sharing the tactics. See you in the rest of Learning on Steroids!