Talent Is Overrated

An excerpt from the book by Geoff Colvin.

Talent vs. Practice

One area where we often give the credit to talent to is musicians. Look at the “kid genius” Mozart, who famously composed his first piece at age 5. Well, Mozart started learning music at age 3 from a pushy composer father who loved to teach (and likely helped write many of his early works). He had been working at music for over 10 years by the time he wrote anything that was widely acknowledged to be of special quality.

In a separate study comparing music students enrolled in elite music schools with those in regular public schools, it was found that the average number of practice hours need to reach the same level of skill was the same for all students. Sure, the students in the elite group were often practicing 2 hours a day vs. only 15 minutes a day for the other kids. But no matter how you clocked those hours, quickly or slowly, nobody got there without putting in the same amount of hours.

Next, let’s look at sports and Tiger Woods. Woods was a prodigy, but he was also an only child to a army-trained teacher/father who started him playing golf at a mere 7 months old. He was playing and practicing on a real golf course by the age of two, and throughout his career was known for his intense practice habits.

The fact is, that almost every study that has looked for evidence of the sort of genetic edge that we call “talent”, has failed to find it. Instead, they find that without exception, every single top achiever has put in thousands upon thousands of hours of practice into their field. In addition, the amount of skill is almost directly proportional to the amount of hours put into it. Terms like the “10,000 hour rule” (as noted in the bookOutliers) or the similar “10-year rule” have been created to describe how long it takes before true mastery is achieved.

Deliberate Practice

But wait, lots of people do the same thing, every day, for years. Why aren’t they all awesome? Researchers have also found that “practice” is too vague of a word. Instead, what creates excellence has been termed “deliberate practice”. Deliberate practice is not just hitting through a bucket of golf balls every day.

Deliberate practice is focused attention, working specifically on those aspects that need improvement. It often involves expert feedback from skilled teachers. Instead of repeating what you can already do, you are pushing beyond what is comfortable. You’re working on your weaknesses, even if it means temporary suboptimal performance. Deliberate practice is inherently difficult, often painful, and rarely fun.

Now imagine doing this for a few hours every day, years on end. (It’s actually nearly impossible to do this for more than a few hours a day. Your body and mind need time to recover.) Tiger Woods is better than you not because of talent, but because he practices better and harder than you.

The New Generation of French Chefs

I love French food. However, it's a shame that it is unaffordable for most. Apparently, in Paris, there is a new generation of French chef/owners that are not greedy. il est possible?

Pool and Pool

Hopefully, if both of these Korean girls are successful, pool will gain more popularity in Korea.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/07/24/2010072400201.html

Three-cushion is very popular here, but the winner of the UMB World Three-cushion Championship only wins around $6,000. That's barely enough to pay for a plane ticket and a week of hotel rooms in Europe.

That's a lot less than snooker and also less than pool.

Efren Reyes (a top pool player) has won over $1.7 million in his career.

Also, you're never too young or old to start playing.

Why I'm Against Welfare (or Free Money)

According to the authors of a book about how wealth destroys families, "...70% of all lottery winners will squander their money away in a few years."

Basically, instead of teaching someone how to fish, you're giving them a cannery. However, since they do not have the skills to run a business (or manage money), they eventually lose it all.

The authors also "found that when new wealth is created within a family, there is a 90% probability that all of the wealth will be gone by the third generation."

This means that rich kids and grandkids blow through their parents' money in a short time.

Recently, in a Wall Street Journal article, I read that 3 winners of Extreme Home Makeover have lost their homes. Basically, after getting their free mansion, they took out mortgages.

That was smart.

So, if you really like the homes on the show, three of them are now in foreclosure.

What's the moral of the story?

Giving someone money, without the knowledge to manage it, is a complete waste.

I am a much bigger fan of Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank. He's one of the pioneers of microfinance/microcredit.

Although I'm not sure what the solution is, I do know that blindly handing someone cash is not the answer. If you do, you're one of those... enablers (I think that's the word that Oprah uses).

Personal Responsibility

Remember the infamous McDonald's lawsuit?

Yes. The coffee was piping hot, but are you supposed to drive a car with a hot cup of coffee between your legs?

Apparently, this is also happening here in Korea.

2 Million Won Granted for Sprained Ankle in Cinema

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter If a moviegoer sprains his ankle while exiting a dark theater, are they entitled to compensation, and if so, how much? A theater was told to pay 2 million won ($1,670) to a patron who hurt his ankle because the theater was too dim, a court said Monday.

Based on the article, the man left the movie theater during the film to answer a phone call.

It was really dark. He slipped and hurt his ankle. However, the Korean judge felt the movie theater was somehow at fault.

Does this mean that movie theaters cannot turn off all the lights during a movie?

Or do we need a warning sign in all movie theaters?

"Be careful when exiting the theater during the film. It's dark."

We are currently living in a world without personal responsibility. It's never your own damn fault.

If you're poor, you can blame rich people.

If you're out of a job, you can blame the economy.

If you're unhappy, you can blame your parents.

If you're uneducated, you can blame the school or teachers.

If you're gaining weight, you can blame fast food.

If you fall, you can blame gravity.

For everything else, you can blame the government.

If you're bored, you can blame me.

Welcome Back! Taco Bell

It looks like Taco Bell will be open in Seoul before the end of the month. For most Americans, Taco Bell means good cheap Americanized Mexican food.

In the U.S., you can buy a taco for as little as 89 cents or 1,000 won.

Is it healthy? No.

Is it nutritious? No.

Is it tasty? Yes.

Is it cheap? Absolutely.

If you like tacos, burritos, or nachos then I recommend a visit. I hope the prices are roughly the same as the U.S.

Taco Bell is my favorite fast food restaurant. =)

Some Statistics For You...

English is the first language for over 400 million people.

China has 300 million English learners.

350 million people can speak English in India.

"Half of the world's people are projected to be speaking English by 2015."

88% of Seoul National University students enrolled in private academies.

Korea's "top university students spent on average three hours daily carefully studying what they learned in class."

Number of Asian students enrolled in U.S. universities:

India: 103,260

China: 98,510

Korea: 75,065

Kim Hyeon-Su, age 13, received a perfect (120) Toefl score. Her mother taught her English at home.

Whenever a student asks me, "How can I improve my English?" I usually ask, "Can you speak English with any friends or family members?" If the answer is "no," then it will be slow and difficult.

1.9 trillion Reasons...

Recently, the U.S. Senate approved a debt hike of $1.9 trillion dollars.

It looks like this: $1,900,000,000,000.

In Korean won you'd add three more zeros. 1,900,000,000,000,000 won.

This is the amount of money the U.S. government needs to borrow (mostly from China).

To put it in perspective, 1.9 trillion dollars, would be the same as giving every single person in Korea about 40 million won.

This is my biggest problem with government of any kind. It's too easy to spend money when it's not your money. It's just human nature.

It's why children spend money from their parents and don't feel guilty.

It's why casinos use chips instead of cash.

It's why stores prefer you to use credit cards instead of cash.

You don't feel anything when you gamble with chips or pay with a credit card.

The next time you go to Coffee Bean and order two lattes, try paying with cash. You might feel a little pain when you give it to the clerk. Spending cash hurts. Especially, when you've earned it yourself.

I remember my first part-time job in high school. After I got paid, I realized I had to work for one hour just to buy lunch for myself.

South Korea's 2010 government spending is around $250 billion or

291,000,000,000,000 won. That's a lot of lattes and lunches.

One of the few governments in the world that surprised me was Hong Kong.

In 2008, the government had a surplus of $14 billion. Instead of spending the money, the government decided to reduce taxes on salaried workers by 50%.

http://www.tax-news.com/archive/story/Hong_Kong_Tax_Cuts_Aimed_At_Middle_Class_xxxx26687.html

I'm still waiting for my government to do that someday.

Ralph's Bar

My friend and former teacher Ralph opened up a bar in Imun-Dong near H.U.F.S. It's an American style bar. The prices are very reasonable and Ralph is quite friendly.

If you are in the area, stop by and practice your English with him. Also, I'll be there on the weekends lending him a hand.

It's 25 meters behind Coffee Bean and Alpha stationary store - down the small side street in front of "Dr. Chicken."

Here's the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=100000595993495

If you are coming with a large group of more than 12 people, I would make a reservation:

010 -3879 - 9355.

Bill and I

One of my favorite games is "Time Crisis 3."

Bill can throw a cigarette in his mouth.

Things That Make Me Laugh

The Wonder Girls are becoming popular abroad. Their hit song "Nobody" is catchy, but I'm not really into them.

Here's their performance:

After you watch The Wonder Girls, you might laugh as much as I did at

these videos:

How do these guys do this dance without laughing?

My Mom's Painting

Happy Birthday Mom.

One of my mom's hobbies is water color painting. It requires a lot of patience and skill.

Here's her latest painting:

Exercise Your Brain

A lot of studies have shown that exercising the brain is just as important as working out. Some people believe the brain can atrophy.

Students are lucky because they can learn something new every class. =)

Lately, I've been trying to keep myself sharp by doing these mental exercises from Naver.

You can find them here: http://game.boom.naver.com/brain.nhn

Here are some of my results below:

Try some of these and tell me your score. =)

Are you a film buff?

In English slang, a "buff" means someone who is enthusiastic or knowledgable about a subject.

For example, "She's a history buff."

Here are some of my favorite films. Can you name these movies?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

Cheaper Cell Service

There has been a news article almost every day about cell phone service in Korea. Usually, the topic is the high cost Koreans are paying compared to other countries.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s report, titled Communication Outlook, which is published every two years, Koreans are being charged some of the highest cell phone rates in the 30-member organization.

According to the report, Korean mobile phone users who talked for an average of 246 minutes per month had the 16th highest bills among OECD member nations. Koreans who talked for 114 minutes per month had the 12th highest bills, while those who talked for 44 minutes had bills that were the sixth highest.

“We agree that cell phone rates in Korea are excessively high, as stated in the OECD report,” said Lee Tae-hee of the Korea Communications Commission. “We will try to make some policy changes to provide consumers with benefits that could offset the high rates.”

When I first arrived in Korea, I did notice that cell phone service was more expensive than in the U.S. My monthly bill in the U.S. was around $30-$60 a month depending on the plan I was using. However, in Korea, my bill varies between $40-$100 a month depending on how many calls I make. Most cell phone plans in the U.S. offer nationwide calling, which is not expensive when you consider the size of the country.

Here are some current plans being offered:

T-Mobile - The phone below is free ($0) with a two year contract. The cost per month is $39.99 for 1,000 minutes a month. If you pay an extra $5, you can send 300 text messages a month. In many cases, it's actually cheaper just to call someone than send a text mesage.

Verizon - The LG "Dare" phone is free ($0) with a two year contract. The cost per month is $60.

The features of this plan are 450 minutes of talking a month and unlimited text, picture, and video messaging. Therefore, you could send 1,000,000 sms a day. = 0

Finally, if you love talking and sending messages, T-Mobile offers an unlimted plan.

The plan offers unlimited calling and unlimited text messaging for $100 a month. This Samsung phone is free ($0) with a two year contract. The regular price of the phone is $499. If you want to talk on the phone for 24 hours a day, this is the perfect plan for you. =)

In my opinon, the best deals are the family plans in the U.S. Here's an example:

Sprint offers 2 Samsung phones for $50 (one time fee). The family plan is $100 a month. The features are:

2 Samsung phones

2 phone lines (separate phone numbers)

1,500 minutes per month (the family shares the minutes)

Monday-Friday after 7:00PM all calls are free. Calls are free all day on Saturday and Sunday.

Unlimited text messaging.

How much is your cell phone bill a month?

New Experiences

I enjoy new experiences. Today, was interesting. I tried to take the subway and after 20 minutes of waiting there was an announcement. I couldn't understand all of it, but I did hear something about a 40 minute delay.

So, I decided to leave and one of the clerks gave me one of these:

Anyone ever have this experience?

How to Look at Your Pay Stub

Before you proceed, hufs.ac.kr does not work with Internet Explorer 8. lol However, it will work with older versions of Explorer, Google Chrome, or Firefox.
First, go to http://www.hufs.ac.kr/ and click on the link that is circled below. It's to the right of "e-Class."
Next, you'll come upon this screen. Enter your ID and password.

After you have logged on, click on the link below "Welfare Information" on the right. I circled the link.

Finally, change the setting to 연수원 and then click on "급여조회." This will take you to your pay stub. You can change the month and year to view past stubs. If you have any questions, let me know. =)

Why is English so Difficult?

Aside from articles (a, an, the) and prepositions which a lot of people have problems with. I feel the major hurdle is the sheer number of words. If you're learning English, you will eventually get used to articles and prepositions. Words, on the other hand...

Take a look at the Global Language Monitor. There will soon be 1 million English words. According to the site, a new English language word is created every 98 minutes. lol

However, large English college level dictionaries (like Oxford) have around 600,000 definitions.

Comparable Spanish dictionaries have around 100,000 words.

Webster's estimates that 25,000 new English words are created every year.

Why are there so many words in English? One reason may be so many influences and origins. Oxford estimates that English was derived from the following:

French and Old Norman - 28%

Latin - 28%

German - 25%

Greek - 5%

Unknown origin - 5%

Proper names - 3%

The rest is from other languages including Dutch, Old Norse, etc.

Don't feel discouraged. You can communicate well with around 1,000 words.

I've been speaking English my entire life, but I'm still using the dictionary and learning new words. So, you're not alone.

This 13-year-old boy knows a lot more than me. >.<

By the way, five Indian-American kids reached the finals.

(I think India's biggest advantage over China is English fluency.)

*Bonus - A cheesy song called "Words."

Banking Hours

"Banker's hours" is an old-fashioned idiom meaning someone who has short work hours. For example you could say: "When did you start working banker's hours?"

Since banks in Korea are only open now between 9:00AM and 4:00PM, perhaps this idiom will be popular again.

You might say: "Andy, why do you need to go to the bank?"

"You can do everything online or through an atm."

True.

However, I usually go to the bank to exchange money. This cannot be done at an atm or online.

Currencies, like stocks, are always fluctuating. The Korean won reached a peak of around 900 won to 1 U.S. dollar a year and a half ago. Recently, it fell to as low as 1,600 won to 1 U.S. dollar. I like to take advantage of these currency swings. Why not? It's only a short trip to the bank.

Unfortunately, since banks are only open from 9AM-4PM, the only time I have is either lunch or Saturdays.

Bank tellers in Korea are all salaried employees. They work long hours after the bank is closed, sometimes until 9PM or so.

In the U.S., most bank tellers are part-timers: high school students, university students, house wives, etc. They get a wage of around $8-$10 per hour. When there's a rush of customers, a bank might have as many as 10 bank tellers working in the front. I know this because many of my friends in high school were bank tellers. They would work 2 hours a day after schoool from 4PM-6PM.

Because the banks are using a lot of part-time workers, the banking hours are much more convenient for customers.

Here are the open hours for my bank in California:

Mon-Sat 10:00 AM-7:00 PM

Sun 10:00 AM-3:00 PM

Yes. My bank is open 7 days a week and from 10AM-7PM Monday-Saturday.

Wouldn't you like it?

The Other L.A Team

Let's go Clippers. Let's go.

Yes. I know this NBA franchise sucks. However, I thought it would be interesting to present some facts and statistics of their futility.

1. The Clippers actually have to pay 710 AM to carry live broadcasts of their games. lol

2. Donald Sterling once hired a girlfriend/lover to be assistant general manager. "Patricia Simmons, a former model and occasional Sterling companion, who has what one San Diego newspaper described as 'no known basketball background.'"

3. From 1978-2008, the Clippers have only had 3 winning seasons.

4. Lifetime win-loss % = .362

5. 21 head coaches since 1970.

6. They are the oldest NBA team to never appear in the NBA Finals.

7. Only 3 teams have never won an NBA championship, Conference Championship, or Division Championship in their franchises history: Memphis Grizz, the Clippers, and Charlotte Bobcats.

8. Notable draft picks:

1982 Clippers #2 pick Terry Cummings (#3 Dominique Wilkins)

1989 Clippers #2 pick Danny Ferry (#3 Sean Elliot, #4 Glen Rice, #14 Tim Hardaway, #17 Shawn Kemp, #26 Vlade Divac)

1995 Clippers #2 pick Antonio McDyess (#3 Jerry Stackhouse, #4 Rasheed Wallace, #5 Kevin Garnett)

1998 Clippers #1 pick Michael Olowokandi (#2 Mike Bibby, #4 Antawn Jamison, #5 Vince Carter, #9 Dirk Nowitzki, #10 Paul Pierce, #32 Rashard Lewis) LOL

2001 Clippers #2 pick Tyson Chandler (#3 Pau Gasol, #10 Joe Johnson, #28 Tony Parker)

2002 Clippers #8 pick Chris Wilcox (#9 Amare Stoudamire, #10 Caron Butler)

2003 Clippers #6 pick Chris Kaman (#18 David West, #29 Josh Howard)

2004 Clippers #4 pick Shaun Livingston (#5 Devin Harris, #29 Jameer Nelson)

9. Ron Harper after being traded to the Bulls: “It’s nice to be back in the NBA again.”

10. Danny Manning before a Clipper home game at the Sports Arena: "Let's try to take the crowd out of the game early tonight."

11. Charles Barkley (with Houston at the time) after beating the Clippers: ``It's embarrassing the way they played. That team has to grow up and mature. The way they played is a disgrace,'' Barkley said. ``It doesn't matter if you win or lose, you have an obligation to the game. I'm disappointed in their effort and enthusiasm.