How to Learn A Foreign Language

    Spend the time!

    By far the most important factor（因素） is how much time you spend in learning the language. The more time you spend with the language, the faster you will learn.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Focus on words and phrases!

    To build up your vocabulary, you'll need lots.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Learn these words and phrases through your listening and reading. Read online, using online dictionaries, and make your own vocabulary lists for review. Gradually（渐渐地）you will be able to use them.

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    Listen wherever you are on your MP3 player. Read what you are listening to. Listen to and read things that you like, things that you can mostly understand. If you keep listening and reading, you will get used to the language.

    Take responsibility for your own learning!

    If you do want to learn the language, take control. Choose content of interest that you want to listen to and read. Seek out（找出）the words and phrases that you need to understand in your listening and reading.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Discover the language by yourself. Talk when you feel like it. Write when you feel like it.

    Relax and enjoy yourself!

    Do not worry about what you cannot remember, or cannot yet understand, or cannot yet say. It does not matter.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}The language will gradually become clearer in your brain, but this will happen on a schedule（计划）that you cannot control. Just make sure you spend enough time with the language.

A. Listen and read every day!

B. You are learning and improving.

C. That is the greatest guarantee（保证）of success.

D. Do not wait for someone else to show you the language.

E. Start to notice words and how they come together as phrases.

F. Soon you will run into your new words and phrases elsewhere.

G. This means spending time enjoyably connected to the language you are learning.

How to Turn Your Goals into Habits

    First we make our habits, then our habits make us. It's such a simple concept, yet it's something we don't always do.

    I believe that having ONE goal to focus on is much more powerful than having many goals. By putting the belief into practice, I have achieved a lot of personal goals over time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. My answer takes a little explaining. I try to turn my goals into habits, and in doing so! I put my goals on autopilot (自动化). Turning a goal into a habit means really focusing on it for at least a month. The more you can focus, the more it'll be on autopilot.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. You'll still do it, but you only have to use minimal force to maintain it, and you can focus on your next goal or habit.

    Take my marathon goal as an example. I was just starting running and had the brilliant idea to run a marathon within a year. So that was my goal.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. First, I had to make running a daily habit. Second, I had to report to people in order to have accountability (负责) so that I could not quit easily. I focused on the daily running habit for about a month, and didn't have any other goals or habits. When the running habit stuck, I started reporting to people I knew and blogging about my running every day.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. I could focus on new goals without having to worry about the marathon. I still had to do the running, of course, but it didn't require constant focus. And eventually, I ran the first marathon in my life. I was able to achieve this because, all year long, I had daily running and accountability habits.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, so instead of struggling with it daily for an entire year, I focused on it for one month and was able to accomplish it while focusing on new habits and goals.

A. I put my marathon goal on autopilot

B. At the beginning, it was very difficult for me to achieve this goal

C. But in order to achieve it, I broke it down into two habits

D. With this accountability, there's no way I could stop running

E. Once you put it on autopilot, you don't have to focus on it much

F. My readers asked me how I was able to achieve them while working on different projects

G. Once those two habits were established, my marathon goal was pretty much on autopilot

    A lack of sleep causes many medical conditions that greatly affect the quality of life. While no one knows why we sleep, it is a universal biological need.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    How much sleep do I actually need?

    A study in Finland found that the amount of sleep that relates to the fewest sick days was 7.63 hours a night for women and 7.76 hours for men.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}When we get sleep fewer than seven hours or our sleep often falls below six hours, we are at an increased risk of health problems.

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    Today, some people practice “polyphasic (一昼夜活动和休息多次的)sleep”,based on the idea that by dividing your sleep into parts, you can get away with less of it .Professor Dinges concludes it's possible to train oneself to need less sleep in short periods.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}And he notes that even for those who can function well on less sleep, we still don't know how the practice might be affecting chemical processes, mood, and other factors.

    I can't sleep. Is my phone really keeping me up?

    When light enters your eye, it hits your retina to send signals to the hypothalamus (下丘脑),which controls sleep cycles. When your retina takes in less light, your hypothalamus assumes it's time to sleep and it'll signal the pineal gland (松果腺)to make you sleepy. And when the hypothalamus senses light, it tells the pineal gland to stop its work.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Some research suggests that the light from phones and tablets are especially influential in human sleep cycles.

A. Adequate sleep can benefit us a lot.

B. Can I train myself to need less sleep?

C. How can I make myself sleep less?

D. No animal with a brain can survive without it.

E. This is why we're told to minimize screen time before bed.

F. And most adults function best after seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

G. But he adds it doesn't seem possible to train oneself to need less sleep per 24-hour cycle.

    The purpose of our entire life could be summed up into one accurate word—happiness. Satisfaction in life will always bring happiness. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}This article will share ways to stay happy and satisfied.

    Remind yourself of things that make you happy. For many of us, some of the things and people in our lives are what make us happy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It also could be the conversations you have with your significant friends. This makes it possible for you to look within your circle to find happiness. Reminding yourself that you have beautiful people in your life will keep you fulfilled when you're experiencing depression(抑郁).

    Keep your focus on your life goals.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Realizing that you can achieve your goals and make your dreams come true will help you stay fulfilled. Experts recommend celebrating every little win on your way to success. So take time and celebrate the small steps you've successfully completed.

    Only spend time with people that make you happy. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This means you have to cut off communications with those that constantly let you down by injecting negative emotions(情绪) into your life.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Do you often find that you criticize yourself too much? We're humans and that means we will make a couple of mistakes every now and then. Look at the fun side of it and make fun of yourself.

A. But how do you get the feeling?

B. Stop taking yourself too seriously.

C. Go out of your way to make others happy.

D. It's true that you can't make everybody happy.

E. It could be the smile on the face of a loved one.

F. People often get depressed when they stop focusing on their main goals.

G. The people you surround yourselves with can affect your emotions greatly.

    Playing a musical instrument can be a fun and rewarding hobby. It's a good way to express feelings and develop confidence in your abilities. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are a few questions to help you decide.

    What kind of music do you like?

    What you are interested in will encourage you to play. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Traditional orchestra musical instruments are what you hear in classical music. Modern music calls for modern instruments, like electric guitars.

    Where are you going to practice?

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Think about where and when you are going to practice, as well as the patience of the people you live with or near. Some instruments like the guitar give you the chance of playing in the night using earphones, while your housemates sleep in peace. Also, you may need to consider going to a school or a music center to practice.

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    This is quite a big problem. A lot of instruments can be bought in different price ranges. But this doesn't change the fact that many instruments, such as the piano, are always expensive. If you can't afford your chosen instrument, will you be able to borrow someone else's?

    Are there any physical limitations?

    If you are small and don't like lifting heavy objects, you won't want to carry around a cello (大提琴). If you don't have great lung power, think twice about the saxophone. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But remember that with the right coaching, everyone can develop the right skills.

Reversal—change your perspective and solve your problem

It's often your definition of a problem that limits you in finding a suitable solution. Creative solutions require a change of perspective. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

The reversal technique is a creative thinking technique that is based on the thought that to change your perspective, you sometimes need to change the order of the words in your problem definition.

How you change the order of the words doesn't matter much, as long as the key words are reversed. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Your challenge is "How do we make sure that fewer people take cars to their work?". Swapping the key words, you could rephrase this challenge as "How do we make sure that fewer cars take people to their work?" In this case, the first statement will make you think of alternative means of transportation, like trains or bikes, while the second statement will probably make you think of solutions like carpooling—fewer cars for the same number of people.

Not every problem statement is suitable for a reversal. Sometimes using this technique requires you to first rephrase the question altogether. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}For instance, the question "how might we sell more washing machines?" is not easily reversed—there is no key word to swap with "washing machines". Yet, when you rephrase the question to "How might we sell more washing machines to young parents?" you can easily change it to "How might we sell more young parents to washing machines? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You could interpret this last sentence as "the washing machine pays the young parents to try it out". Then, you could start communicating to potential buyers how much they will save each year when they choose your energy efficient washing machine.

As this example shows, some reversals will require a very flexible way of thinking. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, thinking about the tiny amount of time it will "cost" you to try out a reversal, you have very little to lose and, potentially, lots to gain.

A. The second problem statement is much more logical.

B. Often it helps to add one more key word to the sentence.

C. Rephrasing your challenge is to change the problem statement.

D. A great way to do this is by "reversing" your problem statement.

E. For instance, imagine you are responsible for limiting the traffic jam in your area.

F. Admittedly, it is a very unusual challenge, but it might just stimulate a creative thought.

G. Not everyone will be able to move from an unreasonable statement to a useful solution.