There are some people that are so gifted and talented at learning languages. Pronunciations, conjugations, and vocabulary dont seem to be difficult for them; meanwhile, it is torture for me. "I'm just not good at it." Have you ever said that before?
Then what can we, the less-talented, do?
In his book “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000 hour rule. Basically, intense practice is the biggest contributor to a successful outcome. What does that mean for you?
Its good news!! A person with less talent can make up for it with about 10,000 hours of focused practice (hard work). The greatest part about that is that it’s applicable in any field/area/industry.
-Bill Gates had access to a computer and logged 10,000 hours of programming time.
-The Beatles played 1200 1-hour live shows to small audiences. This prepared them for stadium concerts and super stardom.
Of course, both of these cases involve people that are talented, but they were able to take whatever talent they had and supported it with hard work.
Stephen King said, "What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
Whether you’re struggling to get started, or motivating yourself to keep going:
1) it doesnt matter where you are, get started
2) stop making excuses
3) do the work
-Emerson Kim, English Department Director