This is a post about books in translation, and about a question that doesn’t really need an answer: why is it important to read lots of translated books? I’m giving you eight answers – useful for foreign language learners and for literature geeks alike.
A TED talk I watched the other day made me realize something great: I am not alone in coming up with improvised solutions every day. In fact, all around the world companies, governments and individuals are learning to do more with less. Are you ready to learn about your attitude to improvising?
Not everyone enjoys impromptu solutions or thinking on the spot. This is also a valuable lesson to learn about yourself. Just because a term is popular – or because everyone else around you seems to enjoy doing it – it doesn’t mean that you have to pick it up as well.
I have prepared a BRAVE Academy worksheet to help you think deeper about the role of plans, improvisation and spontaneity in your life. This kind of thing takes a while, and your attitude may change – so take a few days to really think about how you complete it.
One of the most important lessons from the TED talk – don’t just rely on getting bigger, more specialized, solving a problem with a narrow set of solutions. What else is there? Who else did this before? How can the problem be seen by others? In order to improvise, these questions should be sought, and actively asked – they may not offer ready answers, but the trick here is to keep searching and thinking until a new, creative perspective opens up.
Working on something “on the side” helps you feel better about yourself. It increases your productivity. And when it comes to fixing, improvising and coming up with stuff on the spot, it becomes an enjoyable, low-stakes environment in which to try things.
I’ve been blogging and running websites since 2011. It is a fantastic way to learn about how web pages work (and, more often, how they DON’T) – and although it frustrates me sometimes, it’s still not my job – so anything I come up with is my own, and not hugely important.
Another TED talk to help you here: thinking about the power of “yet.” Whenever something breaks down or is in need of a fix, it’s more helpful to think of it as a situation that’s “not working yet,” or a problem that “hasn’t been solved yet.” This underscores the journey you took to reach this place – and the potential for you to take it further. Much healthier, in many cases, than emphasising the fact that “it’s broken,” or “I can’t fix this.”
If you think you’re good at learning and nurturing creative fixes, let us know. BRAVE now rocks on Twitter and Facebook – it would be good to see you there.
Overview: bell hooks writes about her true passions in this bold, honest book: learning and liberating. Written well before the 21st-century EdTech boom, this book advises every teacher, learner, coach and reader to return to the basics. Through engaged and fair dialogue, critical questioning, and recognising own voices, privileges, experiences and limitations, bell hooks paints a picture of a classroom where education can transgress, evolve and transform those who learn and those who teach.
The main models of learning things (it doesn’t need to be a formal schooling: a meeting, an online course or a work training all count) described by hooks are pitted against each other. The first one – she calls it the “banking” model of education – involves making sure information sits in learners’ minds, for easy retrieval whenever needed. Against this, she promotes another model of education – based on engaged pedagogy, it helps learners question, become vocal, and recognise their place in the learning conversation.
Hooks writes of a late-1990s world, and of her upbringing in an America which was just beginning to overcome a long history of segregation. As such, her story does not fully encompass the digitally enabled/distorted learning in the 21st century. But this does not blunt the force of the analysis: hooks is at her most powerful when she illustrates – using women’s and racial minorities’ positions – the bias, imbalance and power struggle present in most classrooms, boardrooms and therapy rooms even today.
The most memorable chapter of the book is hooks’ dialogue with a fellow educator – which works, because that is usually the way her class would be structured. Curiosity, self-criticism and openness to other perspectives were crucial for her approach to education, and for the whole engaged pedagogy in general. These three approaches – and conscious applications of them in every learning opportunity – would be the three starting points for action.
Paulo Freire is cited as a big influence in several places of the book, and his work is definitely worth considering. For a transition into a “wired” vision of education – and a critique of its shortcomings – Neil Postman’s books would be a good introduction. For a recent cricital work on pedagogy and education, Seth Godin’s “Stop Stealing Dreams” (FREE) is a good, if bitter voice.
It’s theory-heavy, so “Teaching to Transgress” is likely to overwhelm you if you’re not used to a lot of theorising with your learning. But if you read carefully, both the book and the works around it (see above), you’re likely to emerge refreshed. Recognising your own power in every learning opportunity – alongside your privilege, your weaknesses and your “blind spots” – these are the outcomes bell hooks would probably aim for.
The movie industry has finally done it: they came up with a film which may make me hate jazz for the rest of my life. And in the process, they managed to make me think about rewards and criticisms. How do these function in what you do?
I’m not going to spoil the story for you – the trailer for the movie is available to watch here (and, it being a jazz movie, “Whiplash” has a remarkable soundtrack too). The main thing you need to know is this: JK Simmons plays a music teacher from hell. For this guy, the two most harmful words in the English language are “good job.”
Speaking in a recent interview, the actor mentioned “a kind of numbness, a sameness, a lack of motivation” that pervades a culture which distributes praise too easily. Against this devalued, meaningless praise his character offers something quite nightmarish and bordering on sadistic. Punishment is not a good enough word for it: abuse, humiliation and violence would probably be close enough.
I’m not going to watch “Whiplash” for several reasons (the love I have for jazz is one of them). But I did watch the trailer, and I followed the argument presented above quite carefully. One thing I want to make clear: there is absolutely no way to justify anything that is done on screen by Terrence Fletcher, Simmons’ character. But his absurd methods and actions made me notice the absurdity behind empty praise – and the shock one may feel at being mistreated by unjust cricitism or abuse is, in “Whiplash,” contrasted with the disappointment and emptiness you feel when hearing an empty “good job” thrown your way.
So here’s a question for you: how does praise and criticism play out in your life? How do you do them – when you need to resort to some encouragement or critique? How do you react to them – when you’re on the receiving end of such words or actions?
I prepared a worksheet which helps develop this kind of thinking in a coaching or self-coaching process. It helps you look at patterns, phrases and emotions associated with praising or criticising in your life. The worksheet is available for BRAVE Academy learners. If you’re not a BRAVE client yet, head over and find out how to become one.
And if you’re just interested in thinking about it some more, here’s a project: spend the next 14 days actively noticing how you, and the people around you, work with praise and criticism. Is there something you’d change once the two weeks are over? Share this with me on Facebook or Twitter.
Several political opinions I read this week made me think about this post, but one politician’s statement led me to a decision: I’m posting this today. This is a voice in a discussion around two questions: is it better to live in multilingual or monolingual countries? And – how to find out whether your country will encourage your language learning? Read on to find out more.
This is not a new topic on this blog. In the past, I wrote about the little miracles (such as Luxembourg) and big language influences (such as Portuguese). My opinion is simple: multilingual beats monolingual anytime. This is partly because I grew up in a largely monolingual, monocultural country – and enjoyed it, but there was always a lot of opportunity missing for me. Partly, as well, it’s because as a language learner I also got to cope with curiosity, unpredictability and shock – so now I’m “immune” and can react more positively to every new culture and language I discover.
I’m not alone in thinking that: recently New York Times wrote a piece on bilingual nationhood. The pattern for US to follow, apparently, is Canada – where multilingualism is encouraged.
This was possibly the only thing Mr Nigel Farage got right in his recent statement: he insisted that doctors in the UK should speak good English. This is crucial, since there are some basic services (health, security, official business) where an agreed set of languages helps.
Everything else about Farage’s thinking just got my blood boiling – starting from the fact that he blatantly ignored Welsh as another officialy recognized language in the country he claims to represent, and finishing with his assumption that we would all “want to live in a country where we speak the same language.”
It’s true that multilingual countries can be perceived as more chaotic, unpredictable, less organised. But to insist that this is a recurrent, present and actual danger is a gross overstatement. There must be a certain set of basic procedures which will be followed in a certain language (just like the official language of air traffic is English) – but anything else is not dangerous at all.
The list is meant to be expanded by you, dear readers. Feel free to add to it and treat it as an exercise in lifestyle research. If you don’t like what you find about your country – what can you do about it?
I think it started as I ran out of bookshelf space: that quiet, nagging feeling that I should be doing something. Books, ebooks, useful articles and clippings all clogged up the spaces I designed for them.
“I don’t read as much as I used to,” I told my friend. She got worried.
“No, don’t do it to me. Not you. Make time, somehow!”
So here’s how I’m planning to do this. Your tools will vary: I’m leaving you with a handful of good questions that fit any setting.