10,000 hours to Mastery

[monster]

It isn't always a bad thing to work on stuff that isn't "right". I Figure Skate. I've always wanted to, I've been taking classes for 10 years now. After a while I realized that it worked better for me to do stuff "wrong" and get familiar with that then correct it, than to keep trying to do it the right way and be too scared so it never got done.

I'm a mental math and word master.

figure skating will come. I can do more than most....

[casimendocina]

Originally Posted by monster

It isn't always a bad thing to work on stuff that isn't "right"....After a while I realized that it worked better for me to do stuff "wrong" and get familiar with that then correct it, than to keep trying to do it the right way and be too scared so it never got done.

I'm with Monster on this one. I have spent my life learning languages and being obsessed with getting it right (at least language wise) and am able to pay the rent with those skills (in various forms) but when I went to Japan 14 years ago, I'd spent so long being at the bottom of the 3rd year uni class that I was afraid to speak unless I got it right so consequently didn't and didn't get half as much out of my time in Japan as I could have as mostly I just avoided any situation where I would be out of my depth language wise.

This time with being in a new language environment (which is albeit an Australian enclave) and learning a completely new language almost from scratch, I've just thought bugger it...who cares if I can speak or understand or not, how many mistakes I make and how long it takes me to learn.

I haven't been able to take any Indonesian classes yet as the last beginner class was full and I can't commit to any non-work activities until my timetable stabilises in mid-April so at the moment I'm learning with the security guards at work. They are obviously bored out of their skulls so every time I walk past them, they ask me a question and explain it with their limited English (which is better than my Indonesian) and little by little (like in miniscule increments), I'm adding to what I can say. Yesterday, I managed a conversation with one of the cleaning staff which consisted of "What time are you going home?" and my answer to the same question "I'm going home in an hour" and was very pleased with myself. The staff member in question humoured me by smiling and everyone felt good and I'll keep on trying out my bad grammar and non-existent vocabulary and gradually get better.