Staying true to my motto and tagline of this blog, “Learn More Faster”, I continue to challenge myself to learn new things. Recently, I have been brushing up and expanding on my childhood education of Hebrew, learning a new programming language (Python) and new job training.
A month and a half ago I signed up for a class on Coursera called “Programming for Everybody (Python)“. I’m now about half way through and finally getting the hang of it. I find the format of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) structured enough to keep me focused but flexible so I can learn when I want. Practice and application of what I’ve learned has helped the content stick in my head. Although it is like learning another language, the vocabulary is not as daunting as let’s say Hebrew.
I have found it much harder than I thought to pick up Hebrew. Although I started with an understanding of the letters and a few phrases, that was about it. After two weeks of ulpan (language classes) everyday and meeting twice a week the past month I am only now getting comfortable engaging in conversations with my limited vocabulary. As always, I have found some technology to help me out with this task. Memrise is a platform (web, iOS & Android) for learning languages and vocabulary with more than 200 languages to choose from! It provides corny tips and tricks to help remember words with graphics and mnemonic hints. Second tool I have used is pimsleur recordings. Although they start out (and continue) very slow and repeat words and phrases almost to the point of annoyance, it is a proven method that has been recommended to me by many.
And last but not least, job training as a Business Intelligence Analyst at Signals Intelligence Group. Signals is an enterprise analytics company run by former intelligence officers from the IDF. Signals enables the world’s leading companies to make faster, evidence-based decisions on questions relating to new product development, ecosystem overview and competitive intelligence. I am working in the sourcing group searching, ripping, and crawling through open-source information to be compiled into intelligence reports and presentations. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning new tools and new ways to think about tackling problems.
Well I think that is enough learning for one post.