Thursday, December 23, 2010
Great sale on GreatCourses!!
I think I'll check out Thinking Like an Economist: A Guide to Rational Decision Making first.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Why should you care about an education revolution?
- You might not be able to afford to go to school-No, really. Our average student loan load is cracking $25K, and I'm not just talking Americans. We're seeing riots in England and the rest of Europe over tuition fees and the economy. Not every degree is worth the job it gets you to (I'm not just talking financially), and even if it is, you may not be able to get your hands on the money or the move or the time.
- Fun-New approaches to learning are more fun. Online classes, dummies books, continuing education, private tutoring...whatever it is, you get more control over what you learn and when and how. It transforms the entire learning process.
- Education isn't a one-stop-shop-This includes high school on down. You just can't learn everything you need for life in school and the gap between the two is getting wider. I studied hospitals in undergrad. Business in grad school. I help hospitals with their business processes. I work in an industry that's constantly changing and I'm expected to innovate and solve the new problems that come up. Very little I learned in school nine years ago is still applicable. I'm guessing I'll be able to say the same about the MBA in a few years too.
- It allows customization of your life-Maybe you're like me and like being able to make your own schedule. Maybe you have kids or are taking care of an aging parent or someone that can't live on their own and flexibility is key. Regardless, if you want to learn, you need wiggle room.
- Schools might not provide what you want, or even need-I studied international business in graduate school. I think language education should be a core part of any globally focused program. My university didn't offer those options as part of the degree and wasn't willing to work them in as electives, so I learned on my own. Sometimes you have to work on your own to create your target education.
- It can be a good way to deal with stress-My first job out of undergrad was so bad I was losing hair. I just wasn't cut out for advertising. I started taking cake decorating classes to give myself something positive to look forward to in the week. I didn't study entirely on my own, but a lot of the course was self-guided and I definitely didn't get any marketable paperwork in return. The happy spots in my week alone were worth it...not the mention the fact that I can now pipe roses on demand.
- Jobs, they are a changin'-Think jobs being sent overseas just means that there are fewer jobs here? Nope. It also means the jobs that remain here will expect deeper thought and broader skill sets from their employees.
- Schools might not know what's up-Some schools do a great job of staying in contact with what's going on on the "outside". Business and medical schools are especially good at this. Some other fields? You'll be lucky if anyone's set foot out of academia in the last 20 years.
- It can be cheaper/more effective-You're likely not covering a dean's salary, classroom light bills, the perks of somebody's tenure package (I'll definitely be writing more on this later).
- You'll learn about yourself-The farther away you get away from traditional, ed-in-a-box, the more opportunity (and necessity) there is to mold goals and learning processes to who you are. You'll begin to see yourself in the subject matter and vice versa.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
MIT Open Courseware
Of all the things I do...
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Language acquisition and Myers-Briggs (Introversion vs. Extroversion)
I like getting my energy from active involvement in events and having a lot of different activities. I’m excited when I’m around people and I like to energize other people. I like moving into action and making things happen. I generally feel at home in the world. I often understand a problem better when I can talk out loud about it and hear what others have to say.
I like getting my energy from dealing with the ideas, pictures, memories, and reactions that are inside my head, in my inner world. I often prefer doing things alone or with one or two people I feel comfortable with. I take time to reflect so that I have a clear idea of what I’ll be doing when I decide to act. Ideas are almost solid things for me. Sometimes I like the idea of something better than the real thing.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Chinese History and Culture (中文和Español)
我这个周某要抄写我新的书的第一讲。。。
中国是一个地方大,人口多,出场丰富,历史长久的国家。中国问题非常值得研究,研究起来也非常有意思。开始研究中国问题第一件我们想要知道的是就是中国人是从哪里来的。关于这个问题的说法很多最的可卡的说法是跟住1929年在中国北部发现的北京人,和后来有在中国中部跟南部发现的很多Paleolithic Age跟Neolithic Age 有下来的东西。这些东西可以证明很早以前在这些地方就有人勒。很多学者认为这些人就是现代中国人的祖先。
Después de leer este libro sobre el travesía de aprender lenguas por todo una vida, decidí comprar el libro "Veinte Lecturas sobre la Cultura China". Es el libro mas difícil que tengo yo, pero después del ejercicio previo, creo que vale la pena. Este semana, cambie un poquito el plan, y en lugar de escribir mis ideas en Chino, copie parte de mi lección. Al principio, pensé que seria más fácil…pero no…no de ninguna manera. Escribir chino no es algo fácil...ni siquiera por computadora. Es posible usar una palabra, que se pronuncia exactamente como otra, y si no entiendes bien el carácter, es fácil decidir algo completamente diferente que tu quieras. Si se usa programa en que puedes entrar los tonos, es mas fácil (lo quiero una), pero todavía hay muchas oportunidades para confusión.
A pesar de todo eso, era muy útil copiar. A mi nivel, todavía no puedo formar oraciones usando lógico Chino…todavía hablo como yo hablo en Ingles. Creo que se requiere año tras año de estudia (ya no lo hago en Español), pero es importante exponerse lo antes posible. Que aprendí? Ciertos caracteres como 年,书, 代 ya son menos extranjeros. Entiendo mejor el uso de frases como 有下来y起来, y por supuesto, he aprendido un poquito sobre la historia China. Me gusta mucho este libroJ
Sunday, April 4, 2010
这个周某(Este fin de semana)
Well, it's time for me to start using my Mandarin a bit more, so I'm going to be making basic entries, in Chinese characters, to practice. I'm also including commentary in Spanish as a workout in that area. Wish me luck!
我跟朋友们每一个周某会和学中文。我们昨天练习语汇和语法。我觉得帮我很多忙说中文。我不知道为什么太喜欢中文和中国和中国文化。童年往事我想学语可是觉得我不可以。学西班牙语以后,开始学中文。去过中国和香港。在美国我想接着念。
Chino es una lengua muy especial. He estado estudiándola por…casi tres años. Aprendí (y aprendo) Español por escuchar la radio, mirar televisión y hablar con hispanoparlantes. Cuando empecé estudiar Chino, creí que seria posible hacer lo mismo. Si, por lo mejor, los métodos que son útiles in aprender una lengua romántica también son útiles en aprender Chino. Pero recientemente, he empezado estudiar escribir y leer, y como Chino tiene sistema pictográfica, he tendio que cambiar mis métodos. Es por eso, voy a escribir un poquito cada semana (o quizás mas frequentamente) para aprender escribir sin cambiar mis esfuerzos en hablar el asombrosa lengua Chino.