Reading is key to writing, thinking, and solving problems

Reading is key to writing, thinking, and solving problems Why is everyone always bugging us to read? Because becoming a powerful reader is the best way to become a powerful writer, thinker, and problem solver. When we read, we reach into the author’s mindâ€"not to suck out her brain like a zombieâ€"but to learn how she thinks. Only then can we compare her thinking to our own. Only then can we learn from it. Only then can we argue with it, be persuaded by it, and enjoy it. So, how do we do it? How do we become powerful readers? Dig in How? When you come across a word that you don’t know, look it up. I ran into pleonasm yesterday. The point is gobble down its meaning and rush back to the text. The point is to spend time understanding the word and why it was chosen. Trace its etymologyâ€"its roots. Why? So you’ll be empowered to understand any word that shares those roots. See? Getting more powerful already after just one step. Mark up Now define the new addition to your vocabulary in your own words. Write it down in your text. Yes, I’m telling you to mark up your text by writing in the margins and in between the lines. Annotate your text. Make it your own. Why? Your annotations might lead to a whole new language. Did you know that monks annotating Latin texts created the written form of the languages now used in Europe? So, yes, it’s very cool. Do it. Picture I’m sitting outside on my porch as I write this. Picture my porch. What does it look like? What vista does it look out on? If I tell you there are three trees poking up through the wooden floor of my porchâ€"and they’re really areâ€"what impact does that have on your picture? Think Think about what you’re reading. Does it make sense? No, it doesn’t matter what it’s about. Even vampires and zombies have their own kind of logic. Feel If a vampire suddenly starts sucking brains instead of blood, how would that make you feel? Disappointed? Shocked? Cheated? Read with your whole selfâ€"that includes your feelings. Argue And if you don’t like what you’ve read, argue with itâ€"not just in your head. Write it down. Dear Vampire Authorâ€"Vampires suck blood, not brainsâ€"Your truly, Me. Pretend the author is your best friend and you do not agree with him. Find the fault in his argument and point that fault out to him. Arguing with the author keeps you engaged. It’s what makes reading funâ€"and it’s how reading makes us more powerful thinkers. Ponder Love’s not time’s fool. Really? Is that true? What does it mean? When you know all the words, but still aren’t sure of the meaning, that’s the time to ponder. Get some friends together. Expand your two-person argument between you and the author into a full-blown debate. See how you’re going to solve problems? See how you’re going to get inside the writer’s mind and find out how he thinks? Like Do you really like something you’ve just read? Don’t just like it, write it down. Break it apart. What makes it cool? Here’s part of Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare that I likeâ€"if you need one to start with: Love’s not Time’s fool though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks But bears it out even to the edge of doom. The image of Time as the Grim Reaper is cool, like a Zombieâ€"only cooler. Question Question what you read. Just because the author wrote it down doesn’t make it true. I used to play in the NBA. See that? Read any book from over ten years ago. You will be sure to find things to question. It is harder is to see how books being written right now include things that you should question, tooâ€"but they are in there, I promise you. Predict That’s right. You get to make up your own story. Stop at the end of one chapter. Write the next chapter on your own. But, remember writers try to surprise us to keep us engaged. What happens next must come from what happened before, but that doesn’t mean it should be boring. Read what? Fiction, okay. You’ll do that on your own, but read non-fiction, too. History. Biographies. No sports stars or celebrities. Sorry. But you could ask, how did Viola Davis make history by winning an Emmy? Try something local or one of your parents’ heroes. My dad loved Quanah Parker, but I fell in love with story of his mother Cynthia Ann Parker. Why? Maybe because it starts with a heart-breaking kidnap. Practice This is the only way to get better at anything. Read every dayâ€"and not just one thing, everything that we’ve talked about here. Find friends and read books together. Then check in your power. Are you writing, thinking, and solving problems more easily? We’ll talk more about how that works next time!

italki receives Series A funding!

italki receives Series A funding! Thank you, readers and followers. Today we are very proud to announce some big news. italki is announcing its Series A funding, with Chinas leader in online education, Hujiang, having invested $3 Million USD on June 21, 2016. We are very excited about developing new features, expanding our reach to mobile customers, and helping many more people become fluent in any language. Thank you all for your continued support. Please find the press release below: italki, a marketplace for online language teachers, announced a $3 million USD Series A funding from Hujiang, Chinas largest e-learning platform. The funding will be used to expand italkis marketplace, which connects learners with online language teachers for 1-on-1 language lessons. The company states it has over 3000 active language teachers, and thousands of paid online lessons take place daily. Hujiang has been expanding internationally, and has made partnerships with the worlds largest education companies, including McGraw-Hill, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and HarperCollins. Hujiangs latest funding was for $157 million USD, and its investor list includes China Minsheng Investment, and Chinese tech giant Baidu. The investment by Hujiang highlights the growth potential in education technology, which is estimated as over $20 billion USD in China alone. It also shows Hujiang’s interest in expanding into markets outside of China; notably, italki’s largest markets are the U.S., Western Europe, Russia, and Brazil. Both companies plan to expand their services in China, where Hujiang already has over 100 million users. About italki Drawing on his own personal experiences learning French and Chinese, Kevin Chen, co-founded italki with Yongyue Jiang in order to help people learn a foreign language by connecting them to native speakers. “When I studied Chinese in Shanghai, my progress was a lot faster than when I learned French in high school. It wasn’t because the textbooks or teachers were better. The difference was that I had many opportunities to meet native speakers and to use the language for real communication. Were trying to give learners everywhere that same opportunity by connecting them to native teachers online,” said Kevin Chen. Finding online language teachers and language partners is becoming a popular way to learn a language. Many “polyglots” or language hackers like Tim Ferriss, Benny Lewis, Richard Simcott, and Olly Richards, believe that communication with native speakers is the key to language acquisition. Teachers on italki set their own prices, and italki generates a 15% commission from the lessons transacted on the platform. The average price for an hour of personal lessons on italki is $10-15 per hour, which can be significantly more affordable than traditional language schools and tutoring. italki started in 2007 as a social network for language exchange, and in 2009, it launched its teacher marketplace. italki has grown to over 3000 active teachers giving language lessons in over 70 languages. The most popular language to learn is English, which accounts for roughly 50% of the lessons transacted on the site, followed by Spanish, French, Chinese, and Japanese. The site even offers endangered languages such as Native American Blackfoot, and South African Xhosa. About Hujiang Hujiang is Chinas largest e-learning platform, aiming to provide users with convenient, high quality and comprehensive online learning products and services. Since its establishment, Hujiang has built four business units: learning news, learning community, learning tools and learning platforms, covering various content including higher-education entrance examinations, examinations for studying abroad, languages, careers and hobbies. In recent years, Hujiang has strongly supported start-ups in online education and actively built an online education ecosystem to achieve a win-win situation. In the meantime, Hujiang has collaborated with traditional schools to narrow the educational gap and promote the educational equity, bringing high quality educational resources to every corner in the world through Internet. Now, as the leader in online education, Hujiang has over 100 million users and has influenced 200 million learners. italki receives Series A funding! Thank you, readers and followers. Today we are very proud to announce some big news. italki is announcing its Series A funding, with Chinas leader in online education, Hujiang, having invested $3 Million USD on June 21, 2016. We are very excited about developing new features, expanding our reach to mobile customers, and helping many more people become fluent in any language. Thank you all for your continued support. Please find the press release below: italki, a marketplace for online language teachers, announced a $3 million USD Series A funding from Hujiang, Chinas largest e-learning platform. The funding will be used to expand italkis marketplace, which connects learners with online language teachers for 1-on-1 language lessons. The company states it has over 3000 active language teachers, and thousands of paid online lessons take place daily. Hujiang has been expanding internationally, and has made partnerships with the worlds largest education companies, including McGraw-Hill, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and HarperCollins. Hujiangs latest funding was for $157 million USD, and its investor list includes China Minsheng Investment, and Chinese tech giant Baidu. The investment by Hujiang highlights the growth potential in education technology, which is estimated as over $20 billion USD in China alone. It also shows Hujiang’s interest in expanding into markets outside of China; notably, italki’s largest markets are the U.S., Western Europe, Russia, and Brazil. Both companies plan to expand their services in China, where Hujiang already has over 100 million users. About italki Drawing on his own personal experiences learning French and Chinese, Kevin Chen, co-founded italki with Yongyue Jiang in order to help people learn a foreign language by connecting them to native speakers. “When I studied Chinese in Shanghai, my progress was a lot faster than when I learned French in high school. It wasn’t because the textbooks or teachers were better. The difference was that I had many opportunities to meet native speakers and to use the language for real communication. Were trying to give learners everywhere that same opportunity by connecting them to native teachers online,” said Kevin Chen. Finding online language teachers and language partners is becoming a popular way to learn a language. Many “polyglots” or language hackers like Tim Ferriss, Benny Lewis, Richard Simcott, and Olly Richards, believe that communication with native speakers is the key to language acquisition. Teachers on italki set their own prices, and italki generates a 15% commission from the lessons transacted on the platform. The average price for an hour of personal lessons on italki is $10-15 per hour, which can be significantly more affordable than traditional language schools and tutoring. italki started in 2007 as a social network for language exchange, and in 2009, it launched its teacher marketplace. italki has grown to over 3000 active teachers giving language lessons in over 70 languages. The most popular language to learn is English, which accounts for roughly 50% of the lessons transacted on the site, followed by Spanish, French, Chinese, and Japanese. The site even offers endangered languages such as Native American Blackfoot, and South African Xhosa. About Hujiang Hujiang is Chinas largest e-learning platform, aiming to provide users with convenient, high quality and comprehensive online learning products and services. Since its establishment, Hujiang has built four business units: learning news, learning community, learning tools and learning platforms, covering various content including higher-education entrance examinations, examinations for studying abroad, languages, careers and hobbies. In recent years, Hujiang has strongly supported start-ups in online education and actively built an online education ecosystem to achieve a win-win situation. In the meantime, Hujiang has collaborated with traditional schools to narrow the educational gap and promote the educational equity, bringing high quality educational resources to every corner in the world through Internet. Now, as the leader in online education, Hujiang has over 100 million users and has influenced 200 million learners.