“…for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength” [Mosiah 4] goo.gl/oDRXko Japanese doesn’t require us to be superhuman. She only wants us to show up. We don’t have to know everything about her, just the next thing. Learning is nothing but a process of connecting what you don’t…
If Your SRSing Is Boring, Then You’re Doing It Wrong
by khatzumoto
If your SRSing is boring, then you’re doing it wrong. And there are three general classes of possible causes: Card Content: The subject matter of your cards sucks — you’re not into it. Card Structure: Your cards are too long (or, in some cases, too short). Other than for learning elements of a writing system,…
You’d Be Speaking German Right Now If…
by khatzumoto
This entry is part 1 of 17 in the series The Art of War of Learning Baal, give me strength. German is a beautiful language. What is so wrong with German that the thought that we’d be speaking it (if the wrong public school thug had been Prime Minister of Britain) is a threat? Fundamentally, English…
The Ancestors (And How to Be Better One to Yourself And Others)
by khatzumoto
Like many Western and Westernized (or, perhaps more accurately, American and Americanized) people around the world of my generation, I grew up steeped in the ideas of Sigmund Freud. A part of me would like to take this opportunity to slide down my pants and take an intellectual dump on the man, but that would…
The Myth of Invincible (Asian) Languages
by khatzumoto
This entry is part 7 of 17 in the series The Art of War of LearningInvincible opponents only exist in our nightmares. They are the stuff of imagination. No real opponent is invincible. And so that means that for any opponent to defeat you, not only must they do significant things right, but you must…
Don’t Beat Yourself Up: It Doesn’t Matter
by khatzumoto
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston “The Slightly Better of Two Very Bad Options” Churchill It doesn’t matter, said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Wyclef Jean that one time in that one song in the rapidly fading twilight of the 20th century. Don’t beat…