Find someone to learn with you. It is much easier when you are learning with someone. You are much less likely to loose motivation and can focus.
If you can not find someone in your friends then you can use https://colearn.xyz to find someone to learn with you.
Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
61–70 of 92 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#62For your language learning once you get to the point of "I can write sentences reasonably well and can fill most gaps using a dictionary" I'd recommend keeping a little blog or diary and writing to it every other day. It would be even better if you had a Japanese friend who could do a little spelling/grammar checking for you. I've been doing this for a while over email/text with Czech, but have started putting it on a blog - im only three posts in but it's already very satisfying to look back at what I've got. And they can be SUPER mundane and simple too, mine look like they could be written by a child (without the alcohol) - http://czech.mclemon.io
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#63Maybe just throwing it out there as an additional resource: Coursera has a "learning how to learn" course, which includes lots of references about the theory of learning but many hands-on tips too. It's not too time consuming and doesn't cost anything, so probably can't hurt to look at it. I liked it and try to apply some of the ideas when learning. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/
Can somebody who has finished academic education still learn from this course?
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#64From my experience it's amazing to spend at least 20 minutes every (I mean every) single day on the thing you're learning. Whether it's playing an instrument or learning language, there are days when you seem to not have time for that - but 20 minutes is easily found, and it really, really, really helps. I think I've seen some research regarding that, but I might be remembering wrong. What I know for sure is that it both helped me learn more efficiently, but also helped me through weeks of lesser motivation
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#65I've decided to learn many, many things over the years: programming languages, human languages, musical instruments, drawing/painting/art, sports, math, chess, etc... What it comes down to is spending time getting your hands dirty making things (or getting real practice), even if your output sucks for a long time. (And it will.) Favorite personal example: One day, when I was around 19, I decided that I wanted to be a…
So,are you working as an artist now?
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#66Maybe just throwing it out there as an additional resource: Coursera has a "learning how to learn" course, which includes lots of references about the theory of learning but many hands-on tips too. It's not too time consuming and doesn't cost anything, so probably can't hurt to look at it. I liked it and try to apply some of the ideas when learning. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/
Can somebody who has finished academic education still learn from this course?
Yes, absolutely, I took it this year and it helps me a lot.
There is also the book "A mind for number"[1] by Barbara Oakley the course author with a little more content if you prefer.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra-...
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#67Wow! I feel like we're kindred spirits! Drawing on the left side of the brain is an incredible book that did it for me. I've been writing about language learning all over for years, but this interview with Gabriel Wyner is a great spot to start: http://lingsprout.com/en/experts/gabriel-wyner-making-your-o... He was in the process of studying Japanese at the time of the interview and had some specific comments about i…
You mean Drawing on the right side of the brain? http://drawright.com/ I was wondering if there was another school of thought that I missed out completely till now! :)
Yeah, that's the one. Guess all the upside drawing confused my left and right :D
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#68I've observed a couple of things about the way I learn and I think that these are pretty general a.) Print is a lot better than digital. b.) You shouldn't read books linearly. I generally jump around a lot and read a particular book several times. The first pass might take just an hour or two, I generally try to understand the structure of the book, create a scaffolding of sorts, I might get 15%. During the second pa…
Regarding point b) there even is a book, aptly titled "How to Read a Book" which pretty much explains the similar approach. Although it does recommend to read linearly at first.
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#69You could try this technique; MAP training: combining meditation and aerobic exercise reduces depression and rumination while enhancing synchronized brain activity
Re: Ask HN: How to learn new things better?
#70To draw nice quick just focus on fundamental - perspective, creating 3d illusion on 2d, look up coil technique drawing on utube, it really makes even ur stick figures look pro