6 ms·

Learning how to learn, Barbara Oakley, Coursera. By far and away the best learning course I've taken in my life as well, I wish it had been available before I

Learning how to learn, Barbara Oakley, Coursera. By far and away the best learning course I've taken in my life as well, I wish it had been available before I had completed my formal education.

OldSchoolJohnny 8y ago
Everyone who wants to learn anything in life should take this course first, I can't endorse it enough.
- ahjushi 8y ago
  Would you say this course would help learn languages? I'm currently self-studying Japanese, so adding another "class" would be difficult time-wise. But if this Coursera course would help, it might be worth the time for me. Thanks!
  - komali2 8y ago
    100%, YES. Self-taught Japanese, Chinese, etc. Course changed me. Wouldn't be a programmer without it. Sidenote, there's no PM function here, but my email's in my profile. Shoot me a note if you want any tips on Japanese etc. Got decks of anki flashcards for daaaays.
    - komali2 8y ago
      Too late to edit, so, summary of what I sent OP in my email: 1. Taking the coursera course probably a valuable use of time, alongside more general "meta-learning" about personal psychology. Books such as "How to Win friends..." "Power of Habit..." "Wherever you go, there you are..." etc 2. Use "anki" or "ankidroid" depending on platform. Get public decks "Hiragana with stroke diagrams and audio," "Kana (katakana)," "Core 2k/6k optimized Japanese vocabulary," and use following youtube video to then create forward/backwards cards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnbKwHEQ1mA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnbKwHEQ1mA 3. Use this resource for japanese grammar and complete exercises: http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar 4. Use this to practice listening skills: http://www.nhk.or.jp/radionews/ http://www.nhk.or.jp/radionews/ 5. Create and write down a clear reason for learning Japanese, and potentially book a flight (well ahead of time, and if economically viable) to set a concrete timeline for learning. EDIT: By the way, the "Core 2k..." cards have example phrases for every word. I don't recommend trying to memorize these, but I do recommend reading the sentence out loud for every card. Muscle memory, further familiarity with grammar, helping sort whether a given verb is a ru- or non-ru verb, etc.
    - Fnoord 8y ago
      Anki is a lovely piece of FOSS, but its best to create your own deck(s). The process of making them, allows you to learn the content, and you're immediately familiar with the content as well. Pretty much like reading a book for studies the first time.
binaryanomaly 8y ago
I second that, really a good, to recommend course that gives you insights how our brains work and learn. Although a bit lengthy for my taste.
wainstead 8y ago
And if you've never taken any MOOC before this is a great one to start with because: it's only four weeks long and it's free.
- csdrane 8y ago
  Also it looks like the most recent offering of the class started just yesterday, in case anyone else is looking to take it.
  - bhasi 8y ago
    Thanks for the heads-up. I'm signing up.
libdjml 8y ago
Has anyone read her book and can comment on the differences? I own the book and have half-read it twice, it’s very underwhelming. At no point am I thinking “that’s going to change my way of doing X”
- dyukqu 8y ago
  I haven't read the book but looked through it (hastily though). It was pretty the same - like a slide version of the course. You shouldn't expect some direct instructions about "how to do/achieve X" in this course/book, I would say. It's more like Brain 101 - A layman's guide on how to use it efficiently. I say "layman", because as you go through the course you realize how little you know about your own brain. It teaches you how to treat the brain, basically - it was the case for me at least (e.g. the real need for sleep, for one). It's not a some kind of deceptive self-help book (course), after all. Besides, Barbara Oakley is not the only instructor of the course. Terrence Sejnowski[0] is also involved, who is an important figure in his field - Computational Neuroscience. He appears in some videos. Last but not least, maybe following the video lectures would be more fun for you too. Barbara Oakley, such a lively and nice lady. I wrote her a "thank you" e-mail stating my appreciation for the course and not surprisingly, she replied kindly. I'd like to meet and have a conversation with her some day - but I'm thousands of kilometers (0.621 miles:) away. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Sejnowski https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Sejnowski My two cents.
  - libdjml 8y ago
    Thanks, really appreciate the writeup. I might give the course a crack, given the positive reviews it’s getting in this thread.
- eeZah7Ux 8y ago
  I'm halfway through the course and it's really basic and underwhelming. Most of the "techniques" are stuff you pick up in middle school. Also I find the teaching style, with those cute cartoons and sounds, extremely patronizing.
  - 8y ago

Learning how to learn, Barbara Oakley, Coursera. By far and away the best learning course I've taken in my life as well, I wish it had been available before I had completed my formal education.

OldSchoolJohnny 8y ago

Everyone who wants to learn anything in life should take this course first, I can't endorse it enough.

ahjushi 8y ago
Would you say this course would help learn languages? I'm currently self-studying Japanese, so adding another "class" would be difficult time-wise. But if this Coursera course would help, it might be worth the time for me. Thanks!
- komali2 8y ago
  100%, YES. Self-taught Japanese, Chinese, etc. Course changed me. Wouldn't be a programmer without it. Sidenote, there's no PM function here, but my email's in my profile. Shoot me a note if you want any tips on Japanese etc. Got decks of anki flashcards for daaaays.
  - komali2 8y ago
    Too late to edit, so, summary of what I sent OP in my email: 1. Taking the coursera course probably a valuable use of time, alongside more general "meta-learning" about personal psychology. Books such as "How to Win friends..." "Power of Habit..." "Wherever you go, there you are..." etc 2. Use "anki" or "ankidroid" depending on platform. Get public decks "Hiragana with stroke diagrams and audio," "Kana (katakana)," "Core 2k/6k optimized Japanese vocabulary," and use following youtube video to then create forward/backwards cards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnbKwHEQ1mA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnbKwHEQ1mA 3. Use this resource for japanese grammar and complete exercises: http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar 4. Use this to practice listening skills: http://www.nhk.or.jp/radionews/ http://www.nhk.or.jp/radionews/ 5. Create and write down a clear reason for learning Japanese, and potentially book a flight (well ahead of time, and if economically viable) to set a concrete timeline for learning. EDIT: By the way, the "Core 2k..." cards have example phrases for every word. I don't recommend trying to memorize these, but I do recommend reading the sentence out loud for every card. Muscle memory, further familiarity with grammar, helping sort whether a given verb is a ru- or non-ru verb, etc.
  - Fnoord 8y ago
    Anki is a lovely piece of FOSS, but its best to create your own deck(s). The process of making them, allows you to learn the content, and you're immediately familiar with the content as well. Pretty much like reading a book for studies the first time.

binaryanomaly 8y ago

I second that, really a good, to recommend course that gives you insights how our brains work and learn. Although a bit lengthy for my taste.

wainstead 8y ago

And if you've never taken any MOOC before this is a great one to start with because: it's only four weeks long and it's free.

csdrane 8y ago
Also it looks like the most recent offering of the class started just yesterday, in case anyone else is looking to take it.
- bhasi 8y ago
  Thanks for the heads-up. I'm signing up.

libdjml 8y ago

Has anyone read her book and can comment on the differences? I own the book and have half-read it twice, it’s very underwhelming. At no point am I thinking “that’s going to change my way of doing X”

dyukqu 8y ago
I haven't read the book but looked through it (hastily though). It was pretty the same - like a slide version of the course. You shouldn't expect some direct instructions about "how to do/achieve X" in this course/book, I would say. It's more like Brain 101 - A layman's guide on how to use it efficiently. I say "layman", because as you go through the course you realize how little you know about your own brain. It teaches you how to treat the brain, basically - it was the case for me at least (e.g. the real need for sleep, for one). It's not a some kind of deceptive self-help book (course), after all. Besides, Barbara Oakley is not the only instructor of the course. Terrence Sejnowski[0] is also involved, who is an important figure in his field - Computational Neuroscience. He appears in some videos. Last but not least, maybe following the video lectures would be more fun for you too. Barbara Oakley, such a lively and nice lady. I wrote her a "thank you" e-mail stating my appreciation for the course and not surprisingly, she replied kindly. I'd like to meet and have a conversation with her some day - but I'm thousands of kilometers (0.621 miles:) away. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Sejnowski https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Sejnowski My two cents.
- libdjml 8y ago
  Thanks, really appreciate the writeup. I might give the course a crack, given the positive reviews it’s getting in this thread.
eeZah7Ux 8y ago
I'm halfway through the course and it's really basic and underwhelming. Most of the "techniques" are stuff you pick up in middle school. Also I find the teaching style, with those cute cartoons and sounds, extremely patronizing.
- 8y ago