Practice makes perfect
For those of you who have read the “Outliers” by Michael Gladwell and/or my 30-second review on it, here is a marvellous infographic that shows what exactly 10,000 hours of practice look like.
Enjoy 🙂
I read and review – Outliers by Michael Gladwell
Today is the launch of my new column I read and review where I will be giving you my 30sec. opinion on my last readings.
Your feedback on contents of the review and its visual formatting is important and what is more, interesting to me, so please, feel free and encouraged to share it in the comments below. 🙂
Without further due, my first guest, Michael Gladwell:
(click to enlarge)
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A “Siri” conversation: What can I help you with?
My faithful Personal Assistant, Mr. Siri.
He is British and although we had some initial issues with our accents (my pronunciation of “Maria” is “Midea” to him), we are mates now 🙂
With some inspiration from: http://siri-jokes.com/, there we had a nice conversation (mhm, yep, the window was open. Now my neighbours assume I have a bit slow Englishman at home (not that far from the truth)):
Ok, ok, I’ll get some sleep (for I most certainly need it),
What is wrong with John Grisham…?
…or is it just me?
I am giving him a second chance to impress me and captivate me in a similar way The Hunger Games series, to entertain me like Douglas Adams’es or P.G.Wodehouse’s works, to teach me things about myself like Ray Bradbury, to enrich my vocabulary like J.K.Rowling did or… to do anything to withhold me from regretting I lost precious hours of my life trying to find why is he so famous of his writings.
It does not work as he does nothing for me. I am somehow not buying the style, the whole package – the “insight” in the world of law, lawyers, solicitors, attorneys, barristers, judges and who-not-among-them; the cheesy American dream, the working 80 hours a week rookie that will eventually become a partner and on his way to the top will meet vile-tempered people but will fight them with his impeccable moral code and will always remain the good boy, the hero who will leave the scene and begin a brand new lawyer’s life in some other firm (already waiting for him). Mhm. Too everything-is-on-the-surface. Too over-the top.
My first John Grisham novel was “The Associate”. A true bore. Back in my senior year at the university I had to translate it for one of my exams. It took me good three months of struggle and I got the feeling some nevrons might have died in the battle.
I hated all Grisham-related talks ever since up until very recently when I decided to give him a second chance. This time with “The Firm”. 25% now (Kiki-reading) and nothing thrilling happened. Yes, the guy met with an FBI agent. So what? I am pondering over should I lose time for the next 75% or I should call it a day (in this case a novel) and go back to the readings I enjoy…?
What is your Grisham experience?
Have I taken a wrong turn or is he just the male version of the chick-lit without its humour and lightheartedness?
Still wondering is it him or is it me,
I don’t believe in tests…
anymore.
A couple of days ago I posted an interesting online based vocabulary test and my result of 17.000.
Yesterday I got back to it and did the test once again (as you may have expected, I know the same set of words), BUT this time I checked different post-vocabulary fileds. Instead of “All of my subjects were in English” (or sth of the kind) I checked that I no more learn English and that I stopped about an year ago (true fact). On the additional questions (this time there were much more – I checked that I read, speak, and write a lot: with one word communicate a lot in English (the truth). Guess what, this time my result was not 17.000 but 23.500.
So, I decided to take another test and to see what would my n:
Found this one: http://dynamo.dictionary.com/placement/level
Result: 50.052
Pff, what should that mean?
For one it surely means that the tests are lost on me. The lot of them and all the pals, mates, and peers they might have.
I remembered how we once had that perfect candidate for the place of attorney in our office. He got 100/100 on each and every test but turned to be a weird psycho bloke post-hiring. He did know the matter but had no clue how to use it.
So, I’ll stop with tests and will continue with reading, speaking and writing a lot and…
come what may.
Your remaining-untested-in-the-future,
AWARDS
Just English 