I used to have over 30 RSS subscriptions in Google Reader. I think reading blogs is one of the best ways to gain knowledge on a topic because of the dynamic and consistent flow of articles. While following all your favorite blogs can easily become an addiction, too much is too much.
Having 30 blogs on my list kept me pretty busy—to say the least. Having those blogs on the list was convenient when I just wanted to relax and enjoy reading stuff because I could choose from a large selection of posts. But on most days I was frustrated by the never-ending stream of posts. When I opened Google Reader in the morning, I was welcomed by 30-45 posts. And you can guess how much time it takes to go through every post if you don’t want to resort to skimming through most of the content.
In the end, I just couldn’t take it anymore. Following 30 blogs was too much. I didn’t want to stop reading those blogs but I didn’t want to continue like that either. But I finally made the decision, about six months ago, to drop two-thirds of the RSS subscriptions. And it felt great.
June 20, 2010 by Eric Nishio
Book Recommendations + Future Reports & eBooks
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Announcements, Books
I’ve started a new book-related project here at Self-Learner called Bibliotheca (which you can from now on access from the top menu). I’m going to be building a list of books (in text and in audio format) that I’ve personally gained a lot of insight and influence from.
The chief aim is to present at least one solid benefit per book that can be gained from reading the respective title. For example, if you’re planning to take the path of an online entrepreneur, reading Career Renegade will teach you how to put things into motion by introducing a rich array of online tools and techniques along with theories on how to approach entrepreneurship that you can start using right away.
June 15, 2010 by Eric Nishio
Completely Free Online Courses at iTunes U
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Courses, Learning Methods
We all know that iTunes Store has huge libraries full of songs, movies, TV shows, and audio books that you can buy. But there’s also a special section mysteriously named iTunes U (I believe the U stands for university). This part of the store, however, can be freely used, meaning that you don’t have to pay anything for the downloads you get from there. iTunes U opened in 2007, and it houses over 75,000 freely downloadable files related to courses taught at institutions such as Stanford, Cambridge, and MIT.
June 10, 2010 by Eric Nishio
Easily the Fastest Way to Become Fluent in a Language
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Languages, Learning Methods, Success Story
How long does it usually take to learn how to have conversations in a new language? As you probably know, I am someone who tends to dislike “Learn _____ in 7 Days” methods, because most of the time these approaches just let you barely scratch the surface—in other words, they fail to provide any substantial value to you. This time, however, I want to present to you an approach to quick language learning because I have first-hand evidence of the successful results.
And, by the way, I’m not trying to sell anything here. I just hope this would introduce you to the simple method by which you can learn a new language in the shortest time possible. But if you want to succeed at it, you have to make sure that you follow the core idea given in this post, because without the effort you’ll just be keeping the results on hold. First, though, I’m going to tell you how my girlfriend (for anonymity’s sake, I will henceforth call her T) went from speaking no English to becoming fluent in just one month.
June 6, 2010 by Eric Nishio
The Will to Study Must Often Be Acquired
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Positive Thinking, Self-Motivation
Studying at school and studying by yourself are like the yin and yang of education (terrible cliché, I know). The government takes you to school, and makes you learn a bunch of things, mostly related to subjects that are of no interest to you. But this raises a huge problem. Many of us didn’t like studying in school, especially in junior high school, and that impression about education has developed into a mess of negative emotions that flare up whenever we face the need to learn something new.
Your boss might tell you to get an additional certificate, and for this, you need to invest your free time in studying the materials for the exam. Or you might be thinking about going to college because it will bring you more job opportunities, but a bachelor’s degree is quite difficult to earn without studying. When we are forced to study, it naturally makes us resent studying.
Self-Learner is a blog that guides people to become self-educated
individuals who can achieve success in life.