Springboard for Reflections and Predictions

In a six-minute TED Talk, The Psychology of Your Future Self (March 2014), Dan Gilbert, a research psychologist, suggested:

Most of us can remember who we were 10 years ago, but we find it hard to imagine who we're going to be ... [10 years from now]. Only when we look backwards do we realize how much change happens in a decade" (Interactive Transcript, ¶¶ 7-8, via Blog this).

As a step towards the next essay assignment, language learning stories, please watch that TED Talk, keeping your own language skills in mind. The next step will be to create a free-writing post in which you:

1. Describe ... your language skills ten years ago,
2. Describe your language skills at present, and
3. Predict your language skills ten years from now.

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Tech tips from David Pogue

Here are a few tips to make working with technology easier and quicker.

   

Which tips do you find memorable and useful? What others do you suggest? You can let us know in comments.

If you find Pogue's delivery speed a bit challenging, subtitles and a complete transcript are available on the TED site: David Pogue: 10 top time-saving tech tips (Filmed Feb. 2013, Posted April 2013).

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"If You Don't Try, You Never Know" (Ding Ding).

Talk about inspiration for additional language learners: "Growing up in China, all I did was study, study, study. I'd never done anything so outrageous, yet so rewarding" (TEDxTalks, If You Don't Try..., published Mar 5, 2013; 5:14+). Look at her now!

Ding Ding at TEDxSiliconAlley ([n.d.])

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Bruno's Little Dancers

Check 'em out!

TED Talks are among my favorites sources of inspiration. Not that this particular video has much of a transcript, but if you watch other videos on the TED website, you can read along, jump ahead, and review, all with the help of complete and interactive transcripts in various languages there.

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