Work + Fun

Work + Fun

By 王渊源John

When learning something as an adult, it’s helpful to keep a balance between work and fun. If all of our learning is work, it will be hard for us to persist(pərˈsist), and we’re unlikely to put in the necessary time to learn effectively. If we only focus on what we find fun, though, we’re unlikely to build the strong foundation that we need to learn well.

Let’s take learning English as an example. Often people feel that in order to learn English they need to first master all of the sounds, lots of words, and all of the rules of grammar(ˈɡramər). This takes a lot of hard work and practice. This work is important, but most people find it so boring that they give up. Perhaps these learners would be more likely to persist if they included more fun in their English practice. Spending some time each day watching English movies or TV shows would be a great way to break the monotony(məˈnätnē) of focused practice, and it also provides an opportunity to use the words, sounds and grammar that they have been learning.

Other learners might focus only on the “fun” part, focusing almost exclusively(ikˈsklo͞osəvlē) on English shows, movies and songs. For some people this can end up being an effective strategy, but their progress is likely to be slowed by a weak foundation in the basics, and they often remain dependent on Chinese subtitles and translations. These learners would gain a lot from increasing their focus on basic training of pronunciation(prəˌnənsēˈāSH(ə)n), vocabulary(vōˈkabyəˌlerē) and grammar.

This is not just true for English, of course. Someone learning to play the piano who focused only on scales(skāl) would also be likely to give up, and so students also learn to play simple, familiar(fəˈmilyər) songs from the start of their learning. Other adult learners might focus only on playing the songs that they want to learn. They may see some success, but they would likely do better if they spent some times practicing scales as well.

So if you’re planning to develop a new skill, think about how to balance work and fun.