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Category: Learning (Page 12 of 25)

4 reasons to learn a new language

11/01/2017 /

English is fast becoming the world’s universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year. So why bother learning a foreign language?

In this TED talk, Linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four alluring benefits of learning an unfamiliar tongue, which can be summarised as:

  1. If you want to imbibe a culture, if you want to drink it in, if you want to become part of it, then you have to control to some degree the language that the culture happens to be conducted in. There’s no other way.
  2. It’s been shown that if you speak two languages, dementia is less likely to set in, and that you are probably a better multitasker. Bilingualism is healthy.
  3. Languages are just lot of fun.
  4. We live in an era when it’s never been easier to teach yourself another language.

 

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Image source: Flickr – Jurek d. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Leading a team like an alpha wolf

04/12/2016 /

Great leaders recognize that, like it or not, humans are animals. This is why to be great leaders we can learn a lot from the alpha wolf.

In this article by Eric Shiffer there are listed five main abilities we can learn from alpha wolves:

  1. Be a master communicator. Like wolves use their howl to keep their pack synced, leaders must be good communicators in order to become great leaders;
  2. Buil the pack to mass. Like in a wolf pack, attracting more talented members who embrace your mission and values will make everyone want to contribute more for the group;
  3. Go predator on them. In a wolf pack you work as one to hunt food. Equally a great leader must show his team that by working together to hunt your prey you can survive another day;
  4. Track down your beta. In a wolf pack beta wolf reminds all that alpha is the king. A great leader needs a great number two;
  5. Value your omegas. In a wolf pack lowest-ranking wolves have an important role as safety valve and in absorbing the stress of the pack. Front-line employees play the same role. This is why a great leader must trust and support them.

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Image source: Gray Wolf Maya – Wikimedia Commons

Keep Your ‘Good demons’ Awake

08/09/2016 /

How to make your life ‘flourish’, living up to your potential? Here are three good tips in Aristotelian thought, developed 2.300 years ago:

1. Having to do with our conduct, this is a matter of ethics and you have to cultivate Eudaimonia, which may be translated as ‘having good demons’. This indicates the capacity to raise all the functional, concrete aspects of life of humans as rational creatures who live in societies.

2. What enables you to flourish is also virtue: this essentially means knowing to what extent traits of human personality should be used and exploited on each occasion to achieve an optimal result.

3. You can become more virtuous through education, looking at accomplished, flourished people and through good habits you may develop, which help you flourish.

For more details have a look at this article: The 3 Key Ideas from Aristotle That Will Help You Flourish by Charlie Gilkey

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Image source: Flickr – Jon Wallach  (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Problem solving: analytical and creative thinking

06/09/2016 /

We usually have to face obstacles in our daily life and we must be ready to deal with such challenges in the best and the most effective way.

But which skills are required to be a good and effective problem solver?
According to the article “The skills of problem solving”, both analytical and creative mental skills are required.
 The analytical approach provides a logical framework that allows you to identify the most appropriate solution from those available.
On the contrary, the creative approach  is related to feelings and is more about intuition, invention and innovation. Creativity helps you develop new and uncommon ideas, which probably do not have a logical connection with the problem but are likely to lead you to a solution.
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Image source:  Flickr– Duncan C (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Upgrading your reading skills

25/08/2016 /

Time constraints are constantly limiting our ability and efficiency in reading books and, above all, retaining what we have read in the long run.

Upgrading our reading skills would certainly help us in optimizing the time and effort we put into it, bringing positive benefits in our daily life and work.

In this article from blinkist.com, Caitlin Schiller lists 6 science based tips aimed at improving our reading method:

  1. Find a personal angle
  2. Get a bird’s eye view
  3. Drum up curiosity
  4. Create your own structure
  5. Record key insights
  6. Review your notes

Click here to read the full article.

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Image source: Pixabay – CC0 Public Domain

The musicianʼs relationship to time

11/08/2016 /

In his book “Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life“, the great music educator Wynton Marsalis explains how swinging can alter how we experience change.
The musicianʼs relationship to time can be of ultimate assistance to us in:

1) adjusting to changes without losing your equilibrium;
2) mastering moments of crisis with clear thinking;
3) living in the moment and accepting reality instead of trying to force everyone to do things your way;
4) concentrating on a collective goal even when your conception of the collective doesnʼt dominate;
5) knowing how and when to expend your individual energy.

Wynton Marsalis, “Moving to higher ground: How jazz can change your life”

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Image source: Flickr – music2020 – (CC BY 2.0

Boost your memory and sharpen your time

28/07/2016 /

Just as time management is vital to the effectiveness of managers, so the management of memory is vital for their productivity and success. Organizing our thoughts is as important as organizing our desk. Our multitasking reality puts a strain on our memory since we have to manage at the same time different information and deadlines belonging to different duties and tasks.

In this free book “Boost your memory and sharpen your time” , Harold. L. Taylor explains how to train and increase our memory using it in our everyday job.

 

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