Typical Learning

Prolific Learning

A typical learner thinks I’ve taken 4 years of a foreign language in school and can’t use it much at all. I’m not sure I have the talent for language learning. I need to take more years of classes and spend much more time laboring at it. It’s going to take me years of hard work before I can start to use the language and even enjoy using it.

I’m not sure this is worth the effort.

A prolific learner thinks it takes me about 6 months to start internalizing a language so that I can use it to some degree. At that point, I can enjoy making it a part of my life by actually using it and slowly getting better at it.

Over the next decade, I plan on learning to use 3 different languages.

It sounds like fun!

A typical learner thinks I’m not very good at using computers. I’ve taken a few classes for different programs, but that was a lot of frustrating work. I hate it whenever a new version comes out because it means I have to learn everything from scratch again. If I don’t use it for awhile, I forget everything I knew how to do.

It seems like all I do is spend my time trying to figure why things don’t work right.

A prolific learner thinks that it’s fun learning new programs and software. I don’t understand why people would ever take a class to learn a new program when it’s so easy to just sit down and start playing with it. I like to get new versions of software because they usually have some cool new features.

The only frustrating thing is that so many people keep bothering me to ask questions.

A typical learner thinks I have no artistic talent whatsoever. It looks like fun, but my art class projects in school were awful. I’ve tried a few things, but they don’t turn out anything like what I was hoping. It would take so much work to ever be able to do anything that I don’t think it’s even worth trying.

I’m kind of envious of people who have artistic talent and can do such cool things.

A prolific learner thinks that it’s fun dabbling in different types of arts and crafts. It’s enjoyable being able to create things with my own hands. Last year, I made Christmas presents for friends and family that they are actually using and have sitting around in their house.

I have a few new things in mind that I think I am going to try out.

A typical learner thinks I always wished I’d stuck with piano lessons, but I just didn’t have much musical talent. I played an instrument in band in school but wasn’t that good at it. I always kind of wished I could play guitar or sing in a band, but I was never any good at music. I don’t know how in the world people can play so many songs without having the music in front of them to play from.

I enjoy listening to music, but I just don’t have the talent to be a musician myself.

A prolific learner thinks it’s fun playing piano and guitar. I’ve been enjoying playing in a garage band and church for the past few years. I’ve even been able to perform a few songs I’ve written. Last year, our church needed a bass player so I took a couple weeks to learn how to play enough to get by. That was fun.

This next year, I’ve always wanted to play blues style piano so I think I’m going start learning to do that.

Most of us have been limited to “typical” learning. It’s what we’ve been able to accomplish (or not) in formal education. We’ve come to think of these methods and what can be accomplished as normal. We’ve come to accept these limitations as something we cannot overcome.

We’ve come to think of ourselves as either having the talent and brains to do something, or not having the talent and brains to do something. We’ve taken limitations and made them our own fault. We’ve never considered that maybe the methods of learning we are using is holding us back.

You know those “super talented” people? The ones who know 3 or 4 foreign languages? Can play just about any musical instrument by ear? The computer guru who knows several programs and how to do just about anything? Those people who just seem to be able to do things that ordinary people cannot?

Chances are that much of their success is because of the methods of learning they are using. They have been using methods of learning that give very good results. Years upon years of using good learning methods have helped them simply become used to that level of achievement and progress.

If you started using similar methods of learning, you could start down the road to seeing similar achievements. It will take time and effort, but it is possible for you to start moving from typical learning to prolific learning.