Iโm always blown away by how good ไธญๅญฆ็ are at Japanese when I help at the Japanese supplementary school. It might sound obvious but like theyโre way better than you think they are. From a gaijin learner POV, If you ever think โI might be ไธญๅญฆ็ levelโ, no youโre not.
โDonโt despair of standard dull textbooks. Just close the book once in a while and think what they just said in your own terms as a revelation of the spirit and wonder of nature. The books give you facts but your imagination can supply life. My father taught me how to do that when I was a little boy on his knee, and he read the ๐๐ฏ๐ค๐บ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข to me!โ
โ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐. ๐๐ฆ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ
Letter to Rodney C. Lewis, August 1981 [๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ (pp. 332โ333)]
Did you know you can actually drop zeros in an IP address and it still works.
For example:
10.20.0.2 โ 10.20.2
10.0.0.68 โ 10.68
Both reach the same host.
Itโs one of those neat little IP quirks I use in labs , saves me a few keystrokes every time ๐
This guy studied 450 million games from lichess and tried to answer the question, "Does playing more games make you better at chess?"
The answer: Not necessarily. The best strategy for improvement turned out to be playing a moderate amount, a few games a day.
If you can learn math to a high level, then you can almost certainly develop serious coding chops through independent practice.
But people who come in with math expertise often underestimate the amount of practice and the degree to which it's necessary to work with large-scale projects before one is able to produce decent code.
The ego / know-it-all / "my brainpower should be spent on the theory, not the implementation" nature often gets in the way.
Math chops are highly transferrable into developing coding chops, but not in the sense that you get the coding chops for free.
You just get them more quickly. You get more bang for buck out of each coding rep.
But make no mistake, you still have to put in the reps. If you're too lazy or have too big an ego to put in the work, then guess what, no coding chops for you.
When Shohei Ohtani was a high school freshman, he created a detailed "dream sheet" with one central goal: to be the #1 draft pick for 8 NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) teams.
It was a 64-cell roadmap based on a framework called the Harada Method.
Here's exactly what Shohei did ๐
1. First, some history.... The Harada Method was created by Takashi Harada, a Japanese junior high track coach. He took a team ranked last out of 380 schools and, using his system, turned them into the #1 team in the region within 3 years. They held that top spot for the next 6 years.
2. You start by placing your main goal in the center of an 8x8 grid. For Ohtani, this was "be the #1 draft pick."
3. Next, you identify 8 critical supporting pillars needed to achieve that goal. These surround the main goal.
Ohtani's 8 pillars were:
โข Body
โข Control
โข Sharpness
โข Speed
โข Pitch Variance
โข Personality
โข Karma/Luck
โข Mental Toughness
4. You then break down each of those 8 pillars into 8 smaller, actionable tasks or daily routines.
This fills out the entire 64-cell grid, turning a massive dream into a concrete, daily action plan.
To improve his karma, he listed tangible actions like:
โข Showing Respect to Umpires
โข Picking up trash
โข Being positive
โข Being someone people want to support
5. The method goes far deeper than just technical skills. It forces you to analyze your weaknesses and build confidence. It also has a highlight on service to others, emphasizing that humility and contributing to your community are essential for personal success.
6. The key to the system is daily execution and accountability. Once the 64-cell chart is complete, you turn the tasks and habits into a daily diary and a "Routine Check Sheet." Itโs designed to transform abstract intentions into a measurable, daily practice.
Want to get better at chess?
Ramesh RB - The greatest trainer in India says:
Place the live game on your chess board and think for each opponentโs move.
No engine.
Try to calculate like them.
Try to find their next move each time. Check with Engine at the end.
Itโs gruelling, especially when the position is hard to play (which at this level often are)