Archive for August, 2008

Here is a list of some of my favorite sites. Not only do they have great content on various topics, but the writers are great at inspiring. I have also listed the titles of the last three posts on each so you can get a feeling for what they write about.

1. Blog of Timothy Ferris- Author of the 4 Hour Week. He writes about living an alternate lifestyle and how to do so by becoming more efficient and outsourcing (among other things).
   • The Fortune 500 4-Hour Workweek: Multiplying Output in Groups (Plus: Downloadable Checklists)
   • 4HWW Cover Story in Men’s Journal (Plus: Be in a Movie)
   • Total Immersion: How I Learned to Swim Effortlessly in 10 Days and You Can Too
2. Zen Habits- A blog focused on Personal development and and various ways to improve your life
   • Random Acts of Kindness: A Social Site I’d Love to See
   • The Zen Habits Twitterbot Challenge, Plus Two Ebooks
   • 7 Little Habits That Can Change Your Life, and How to Form Them
3. Seth’s Blog- Seth Godin has written a number of amazing marketing books. I must for anyone interested in marketing or running their own business
   • The uncanny valley
   • Why cartoons work
   • You get what you pay for
4. 43 Folders- A blog about getting organized and personal productivity
   • Deciding Whether to Read a Book: Some Wildly Reductive Heuristics
   • Ubiquity: Firefox Gets its Quicksilver On
   • Social Networks: The Case for a “Pause” Button
5. Mind Tools-All about business, management, and work skills
   • How Well Do You Delegate?
   • How Good is Your Time Management?
   • Hiring People - Questions to Ask…
6. Steve Pavlina’s Personal Blog- Personal development blog by a successful entrepreneur
   • How Bloggers Can Get My Book for Free
   • Speaking in Tampa on October 5th
   • Can Spirits Help You Win at Gambling? A Las Vegas Field Test
7. Presentation Zen- A presentation and design blog written by Garr Reynolds. An amazing presenter and an absolute inspiration.
   • Kermit learns visual thinking
   • Learning slide design from an IKEA billboard
   • Ken Burns: going inside the photograph
8. Think Simple Now- A cool blog about productivity and making your life happier and simpler
   • Dealing with Difficult People
   • Dream to Reality: How I Quit My Day Job
   • How to End a Relationship
9. Tubby Nerd- Written by internet market genius Ed Dale. This blog is a must for anyone interested in learning about improving their internet marketing skills (or learning about guitars)
   • What Happens When You Leave Your Mac unattended
   • I haven’t moved this well in Ages…
   • Unboxing The Awesomeness…
10. The Happy Rock- A blog about personal development and getting and staying out of debt
    • Paying with Cash…Does it Save Money?
    • Reader Stories - Doing What It Takes
    • Just canceled Netflix…trimming the budget fat

So that’s my list? Please let me know what you think and let me know what great blogs relating to these issues I might be missing out on. If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed.

I published an article yesterday on choosing the right materials when studying a language. The article was pretty long and focused on general language study. A friend mentioned to me that it would be very helpful if I could put together a short, easy to read list that focuses on helpful tips for learning Japanese. Here it is!

Tips for learning to speak Japanese

1. Choose materials containing updated conversation and words. Languages change and studying from books 10 years old will not be very helpful. Choose materials that have very common Japanese words and phrases. Computer programs can be quite useful because many of them offer both listening and speaking practice and contain common Japanese phrases and words.




2. Once you have chosen your Japanese study materials, get to studying. Repetition is the key. Study the words and phrases out loud this will help you speak the word and also hear the meaning. First learn from English to Japanese and then study the Japanese memorizing the English meaning. Failure to do this is why many people learn to understand , but are unable to speak.
3. Start watching TV and movies in Japanese. Japanese movies and videos are a great way to learn how things are actually said and give you more listening practice. It is the Chance to drill into your brain all the words you have been learning. I recommend watching with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
4. Use technology to your advantage. There are a number of website focused on learning Japanese as well as audio or video to download for your ipod or mp3 player. There are forums where you can meet other language people and even connect with Japanese people.
5. Make lots of mistakes. One of the biggest reasons people fail to learn to speak the language is because they are afraid to make mistakes. Making mistakes is just part of learning and actually helps you learn quicker. And of course, have fun

Tips for learning written Japanese and kanji

1. Practice, practice, Practice. One of the important parts in memorizing kanji is constant practice. You must actually take the time to put the pen on the paper over and over again. The good part is that writing the kanji will also help you memorize words and meanings.
2. Use Kanji in words. It is important to learn how to write each kanji, but the best way to really memorize them is through the use of words. Using kanji in words will also help you learn the various readings
3. Use association to create a relationship in your mind. This can be done by associating Kanji with words, their meanings, or even to how they look. Find the system that works best for you.
4. Study on the go. Kanji is something that you will forget if you don’t constantly use it. This is even more true when you are first learning. Use flash cards or digital technology (the itouch/iphone has some cool kanji programs) to study on the go.
5. Create a list of Kanji you come across that you don’t know to study later. This is even better for those living in Japan.

Learning Japanese can be difficult, but the rewards and great feelings that come along with communicating in Japanese and understanding the written language largely outweigh the hard work.

Ganbarimashou!

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Recently, I have been working on another website I created titled The Scuba Island. The Scuba Island obviously focuses on� one of my long time passions of scuba diving. If you are a diver or are interested in scuba diving, please check it out. I worked in a scuba diving industry for several years and the scuba island is designed as a way to hopefully share some of that information and continue to learn myself.

But please stay tuned. I will be posting an article on improving your Japanese shortly.