The First 20 Hours. How to Learn Anything Fast by Josh Kaufman(book)

THEORY:

A person will only need 20 hours to be good enough in any field.

ACTION:

I read this book a while ago. I was intrigued by the idea of spending just 20 hours learning something and I will be good enough after. I was very excited to put it to the test. I have been in Canada for a few years and I thought it would be cool to learn French, the other official language of Canada.

I have used a popular language app here and there for over a year. I have learned words but I wasn’t learning how to actually string them together to be able to engage in a conversation. It didn’t work for me but it may work for other people.

Then, I came across Mango, another language learning app. Here in Canada, I can access the app for free by using my library card. I can even add 5 more people in my account, also for free!

I like the lessons in Mango. I am learning words, phrases and sentences that I can use in daily conversations right away. I like the reviews in between lessons, it helps me to really remember the previous topics. I am actually very excited to start each lesson because at the end of every lesson, I definitely know more. it makes me feel productive and proud.

RESULT:

So, was the 20-hour theory effective for me? Was that time enough for me to say that I am now good enough in French? Unfortunately, no. I had spent a little over 20 hours learning but I don’t know enough.

These are the things I have learned so far:

How to introduce myself and my siblings.

Tell someone where I am from, my address, my age, my phone number, my favorite color, my favorite food (which is grapes for now, lol, coz that is the only French fruit I have learned so far).

I can count, recite the months of the year, recite the days of the week, name a few colors and name a few countries.

I can describe the weather, name the 4 seasons and know the time of day.

I know some but not yet enough to carry a meaningful conversation. I can survive the introductions when I meet someone but I won’t have any more to say afterwards lol.

The first 20 hours theory may have not been successful in my French language experiment, but it didn’t go to waste. It was enough time for me to know that I want to continue learning. For me, Mango’s lessons are very well thought of, easy to learn and is very engaging. So, I will try to finish all the lessons and assess my skill at the end of it.

I will update this post once I have finished all the lessons on the app.