Adult Learners Handbook

My mother was German and she didn't really want to teach me to speak her language. I was too young to understand that "her people" were "the bad guys" in a global conflict a couple of decades before I was born and she was probably just trying to protect me from potentially life-ruining prejudice. So I persisted in asking questions about her mother tongue. How do you say this in German? What does that mean in English? And one day we talked about German having a personal or informal form of you and a separate impersonal or formal you.  I was a fairly young kid, maybe something like eight years old, trying to understand this alien concept my language and culture lacked and I said something like "So if I wanted to insult someone, I would use impersonal you ."  Because I'm a child and my limited life experience was mostly with family and friends and I'm thinking something like it's rejecting and othering and will distance people from me and sig...

You live you learn My favorite professors typically worked full-time in the field and taught part-time. Several of my GIS School professors fit that profile and it's part of why the UC-Riverside program is the best in the world.  One professor was a professional surveyor. You could see in his body language how he related to geometry as his body being a physical point in a giant triangle while recording satellite readings to establish the data sufficient to accurately mark a point in space to within a few feet. When I had a corporate job I frequently fantasized about working half time at my claims processing job and half time as some kind of educator or problem solver, trying to improve the job experience and work efficiency of the department. I never could figure out how that would work. Usually what happens is someone who used to do X retires and moves on to teaching. Sometimes because they can no longer do X. Those who can, do.  Those who can't, teach. In some cases, that wo...

The Romans, whose civilization is a great grandfather of most Western cultures, didn't have a concept for zero. Their numerical system looks to me like it probably arose from making tick marks for counting. For tick marks, you make a straight line to record "1." For every instance counted, you make another straight line up to four. For the fifth instance, you make a diagonal line through the first four to group them together and for 6, you start a new group of straight lines.  The Wikipedia article for tally marks has an illustration of what "5" looks like in tally marks. And here are what Roman numerals look like: Roman Numerals  1 = I 2 = II 3 = III 4 = IV 5 = V 6 = VI 7 = VII 8 = VIII 9 = IX 10 = X 11 = XI 20 = XX 50 = L 100 = C 500 = D 1000 = M It was primarily a system for COUNTING and writing DATES (and their calendar had issues: October, our 10th month, translates as "month 8" and November, our 11th month, translates as "month 9"). T...

As a teen, I wanted to be a simultaneous translator and had aspirations of becoming fluent in seven languages (counting English). That never happened but I know a smattering of multiple languages  and I know a bit about learning another language. I never learned Farsi AKA the Persian language, though I wanted to and went through a chapter or two of EasyPersian.com and still have the link years later. In my teens, I wanted to become fluent in multiple languages and had a list: German, French, Spanish, Russian, Greek "and one more, probably something Asian or Middle Eastern." I've actually studied every single one of those languages though I've never achieved fluency.  When I lived in southern California, I sometimes watched the Spanish language channel with the English subtitles on because my German immigrant mother told me watching TV is how she learned English.  Link rot happens and I no longer have the list of German and Spanish resources I used to help fulfill the...

On at least a couple of occasions, I've taught myself a new subject.  At age fourteen, I bought a three-book set called "The Only Way to Learn Astrology" and most nights I studied them for thirty minutes to an hour before going to sleep. It was a persistent interest for years and I acquired probably a few dozen books over time, including an ephemerides and learned to hand cast charts at age seventeen.  At about age forty, a friend who already knew how to code sent me a book with a computer CD for learning HTML and CSS together. I was already a blogger and I went through the book and practice exercises on the CD. 1. Find good materials to learn from. My friend who already knew how to code vetted my self study course for me and it was a good program. I did choose my own astrology books but I was a strong student generally and already somewhat familiar with astrology. If you have no idea what constitutes a good course of study for the subject, try to ask around if possible a...

In the US, most colleges follow either a semester or quarter system. A semester system is two class sessions during the typical nine-month school year and the quarter system is three class sessions during that nine months. A standard full class in the semester system is three credit hours because you typically spend three hours a week in class for about sixteen weeks. The equivalent class in the quarter system is five credit hours because you spend five hours in class per week for twelve weeks. I have most of my experience with the quarter system. The typical load for a full-time student is three 5 credit hour classes per quarter, three quarters a year. It's not uncommon to have an additional class that's less than five credit hours, such as a PE class which is often two credit hours, or some kind of orientation to campus that's one credit hour. That means nine full time classes per calendar year, plus up to something like four less burdensome classes. Usually, you need to ...

The US military provides Basic Training and there are many military schools you may be able to attend once you are a member. It also has other educational benefits, including tuition reimbursement for active duty members. Military benefits are a moving target. If you're currently a member, the military is your best source of information on what is currently available. If you are considering joining, speak with a recruiter for the branch of service in question.  Some federal jobs offer training if you qualify. I have known people who went to such training, but I have absolutely no idea how you find something like that. I have a technical certificate paid for by the Fortune 200 company I once worked for. It was part of initial training for my entry-level job in a specialized industry that has trouble finding enough qualified applicants. Walmart, Chipotle and other large companies have tuition reimbursement or other college-related benefits for qualifying employees. If you work for an...