Adam Wik's Blog, page 14
July 15, 2012
Our First Experience with Couchsurfing
I've always been a big fan of Couchsurfing as a language learning resource for finding native speakers of your target language without having to leave your own city. A few weeks ago though we finally got to use it for its original intended purpose - travel - and for anyone who hasn't heard of it yet I wanted to introduce you to it and share a bit about out own experience.
July 12, 2012
Learn Languages Better with Short Study Sessions
Now that doesn't mean I have to be productive 24/7, I consider having fun or relaxing valuable uses of my time in most cases - I just hate working hard toward a goal and feeling like I have nothing to show for it.
When it comes to language learning that trait used to make me a huge perfectionist. If I was going to spend a few hours on Anki trying to learn 30 new words for the day I needed to really know them at the end of it or I would feel like all that time doing SRS reps was a waste. To be...
June 24, 2012
6 Excellent Reasons Why We Don’t Own a TV
When meeting new people most aren't that surprised by our desire to travel the world, few are daunted by our outspoken rejection of the broken corporate lifestyle and most aren't put off by the fact that we eat like cavemen - but there is one thing about us that consistently shocks people.
We don't own a TV.
I guess it's telling of the hold that television has on us culturally that, of all the ways in which we lead our lives down the path of non-conformity, it's the absence of a flashing adve...
June 21, 2012
How to Memorize Phrases and Vocabulary Instantly Using Music
There are a lot of things that can seem daunting for the new language learner, but few things have a reputation for being so tedious and time consuming as learning vocab.
While I've talked in the past about some of the things you can do to learn words from your environment, easily memorize new words, or even quickly memorize a whole list in order, I want to share one more method I like for memorizing whole sentences in just a few seconds - singing.
June 17, 2012
Meditation 101: Meditation for Beginners
There are few disciplines that have as numerous and as far reaching benefits as meditation. Beyond the psychological benefits of promoting a sense of centeredness, well-being and clarity of thought it also has numerous physiological benefits - relaxation, lowered blood pressure, reduced stress hormone release and a lowered heart rate just to name a few. In addition, no one has ever shown meditation to have any negative side-effects.
For all of the proven benefits of meditation, most of them a...
June 8, 2012
Learning Languages with Duolingo
We recently were invited to give Duolingo - a new online language learning system - a try during their trial period before they're open to everyone (their official launch will be on June 19th, 2012). After using it for a while, here's what we think.
Duolingo first caught our attention because of its unique concept. The site's goal isn't just to teach people languages, but to crowdsource the translation of the Internet into as many languages as possible. By having language learners learn and p...
June 2, 2012
How Mario Kart 64 Taught Me the Key to Success
For me growing up there were three games that formed the Holy Trinity of the Nintendo 64: Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, & Mario Kart 64.
Ok, so Starfox 64 and Super Smash Bros. 64 also deserve honorable mention, but Holy Quinary just sounds like a shrine to Sliders so we'll stick with the Trinity.
Out of all those games, Mario Kart 64 easily had the biggest impression on me.
Why?
Because it taught me the secret to leading a happy, successful life.
May 31, 2012
How To Recover Faster By Freezing Your A** Off
It's not unusual to hear me from the hallway squealing in the shower after a hard workout. Not just once, but multiple times. It's something I do out of a desire to reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and recover faster so I can go as hard as I can on my next workout. After reading this article, maybe you'll start squealing in the shower too.
Thankfully it's not necessary every day as it's most effective right after a strenuous strength session, so your masochistic efforts to have mor...
May 29, 2012
A Life Lesson From A Kid’s Show
"Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving… You will come to a better place." - Uncle Iroh, Avatar.
I know - it's super cheesy to use a quote from the kid's show Avatar - but this piece of wisdom from Uncle Iroh to Aang as they were digging a tunnel is a somewhat profound life lesson neatly wrapped into ten seconds and is so easy to understand that a child could get it. Unfortunately somehow this lesson is los...
May 23, 2012
3 Must-Have Fitness Apps
There are a lot of fitness apps out there. A whole lot. It's not surprising given the wide proliferation of smart phones, but with so many options to choose from both paid and free, how do you know which fitness apps are really worth it?
We've narrowed the list down to three must-have apps. Unlike most fitness app reviewers, we don't just look at whether the app does what it says it will or has boatloads of features. Instead we think the things that make a really fantastic fitness app are all...
