The next 3 sound advice from Professor Stanislas Dehaene of the College de France is listed below:
4) Coding: Not strictly in the sense of computer programming, but with reference to systems and structures. For children, it includes understanding of numbers, categorization and perception of objects.
5) Sleep: It is important for young children to have siesta which helps consolidate their memories during the day while sleep helps adults strengthen their knowledge. 7-9 hours and 10 hours of sleep are recommended for adults and children respectively..
6) Memorization: Good memory is of great value in learning as well building social ties. Train your memorization ability in your daily life such as remembering popular songs and poems.

To continue on learning mini series, I am summarizing an interesting article from Le Point (a weekly French magazine) by Professor Stanislas Dehaene of the College de France. He offered 10 advice on the subject of learning. The first 3 are as follows:
1) Learn by playing games: Making the subject interesting by utilizing games (e.g. word and math games).
2) Do some sport/exercise: It has been reported that doing physical exercise on a regular basis helps delay the decline of memories and offers other cognitive benefits.
3) Sing, listen to music and play a music instrument: Learning a music instrument requires a certain degree of brain and body coordination which simulate the brain.

I visited Marseille last weekend. Marseille does not have a good reputation in particular among the French themselves. Some of my French friends frowned at me or looked slightly in shock when I told them I went there.
Yes and my verdict – as suggested by the title of this blog, I don’t think the general opinion of Marseille has done it justice. I have a few points.
#1) There are regional manners even within a single country. The fact that Marseillais are more direct and abrupt (at times) does not necessarily make them of worse manners than people other parts of France. Their manners are different, but not necessary better or worse. Some people found the Marseillais warm and unpretentious.
#2) Don’t form a firm opinion of a place or a person before you get to know it/him/her. You can have some ideas and findings but stay objective till you are ready to conclude (don’t jump to it)
#3) Petty crimes (pickpockets and such) happen in all big cities. We do need to be prudent and vigilant when we are there.
I would say go to Marseille and find out for yourself :>

Recently I have read a few articles from different sources on a subject close to my heart – learning. Let me provide a quick summary for each other. The first one is taken from the book called “The First 20 Hours – how to learn anything fast” by Josh Kaufman
According to the book, the ten major principles of rapid skill acquisition:
1) Choose a lovable project.
2) Focus your energy on one skill at a time.
3) Define your target performance level.
4) Deconstruct the skill into sub-skills
5) Obtain critical tools.
6) Eliminate barriers to practice.
7) Make dedicated time for practice.
8) Create fast feedback loops
9) Practice by the clock in short bursts
10) Emphasize quantity and speed.

Don’t pay more than the “face value”. Sometimes when an unpleasant incident happens, we let it affect us emotionally and psychologically longer than the mere incident itself. To me (someone from the finance background), in such case, we are paying more than the face value (the price required – essentially overpaid).

For example, if I overslept and ended up running late for work. I got stressed out and it ruined my entire day feeling bad about it. The face value for oversleeping is being late for work. If it affects the rest of my day adversely, I am paying TOO MUCH for the mistake. I think this principle applies in other situations. Don’t let a negative incident/feeling linger on and cause a bigger damage.

Remind yourself that you have ALREADY paid for the mistake and MOVE ON.

Recently I have attended a life coaching seminar and the speaker has strongly recommended an exercise developed in the U.S. This exercise was proven to be very useful and effective to lighten up one’s mood. The exercise is by the end of each day, write down 3 things that you are grateful for. The items (of gratitude) are highly personal and subjective. The key is to record them down on a paper or another media (computer for example). It is an effective way to reflect and reinforce our gratitude which in turn will generate the positive energy and improve our mood as well change our perspective.

Give it a go and tell me if it works :>

A remark came up during a recent conversation with a friend: “I feel like ‘so-and-so’ is stronger than me.”
That is not an uncommon feeling that we sometimes do feel like someone is stronger than us. However, on reflection, what does it mean by “stronger”?

Perhaps we can look at the word “STRENGTH” which is closely related to the word “strong”.
In another word, what are your strengths? Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. It is rarely that one person has absolutely all the strengths while another person has none.

A person can be strong in loving others, caring for others and encouraging others. Bringing joy and happiness to others people’s lives is also a strength. Being kind and generous is a virtue as well as a strength. For example, a mother is a strong person because of her love for her child. That is a very powerful and strong love.

I would say we are all STRONG (have strengths) in different ways. Look up and open our eyes.

Though I am not French, I am a strong supporter of the economic reform led by Macron. It is currently a full-on “face-off” between the Macron-government vs. the unions in France, in particular the SNCF (train) union. I will spare readers of (in my opinion and many others) the “out-dated” employee benefits of the train workers is a key focus of the issue.

I hope the common people will rise (I know it is a huge pain and inconvenience with the strike) and support the reform. It is TIME for a change and move on. The past is to help us become better and stronger; however, holding firmly to it will hinder us from our progress.

Yesterday I went to a French restaurant in Paris for lunch. When I surveyed the menu quickly, I saw “Rognon de veau” on it which looked interesting.
I asked the waiter what it was. He replied with confidence, “It is a part of veal and it is very good. You should try it.” Then I ordered it.
When it arrived, it looked like beef stew. I was so excited and had a bite. It tasted and smelled funny. I goggled it and found out in shock that it was actually Veal KIDNEY :s

I could not finish it (I did make an effort to eat more). I brushed my teeth twice immediately and swallowed many mint drops :s

Last week I invited a friend over for a coffee to catch up. I asked him if he would like to have instant coffee with or without coffee mate (I ran out of milk on that day).

After confirming that there are no other choices of coffee available, he in turn asked for a glass of water. I offered him tap water, filtered water, hot water, cold water, water of room temperature, water with ice, warm water and with or without lemon (I just happened to have a lemon in my fringe on that day). He was “impressed” by the number of choices on water that I was offering and suggested to me the business idea of opening a water-shop instead of a cafe.