Comments on: Nightline: The Talent Factories

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:05:25 +0000

Haven’t read the book, but I know that the only way to learn a new language is practice. If I say a new word over and over again, I imprint it in my brain. My bilingual language skills get lazy when I stop using them. I constantly have to read in my second language to keep my skill level up.

By: ed

ed — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:38:32 +0000

As I get older I realize more and more what would have actually been useful to learn at school. At the top of that list would be discovering and developing what really motivates you and how to most effectively go about being good at it.

I am an intermediate classical guitarist and see such a gulf between my playing and the playing of someone who is really good. I don’t practice deeply and that’s the difference. This is a really interesting book and I’m hoping that the concept really moves me on in my playing and with other aspects of my life.

By: marilyn cimino

marilyn cimino — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:42:20 +0000

As they say… as things change, they stay the same. I grew up in the 50s & started piano lessons @ age five. If there’s one thing I learned it was to take small steps & get it right before moving on. Wonder just how many times I practiced the same two & three measures over & over before moving on to the next trouble spot. Not until just now did I ever wonder how my mother lived through it all for 13 years.

By: Doc Romy

Doc Romy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:01:34 +0000

Just expose growing child to many activities and observe his favorite interest and skill/talent on that subject. Then give him the necessary materials along his line,coach him even give him a good Tutor…BINGO !!!

By: girard31

girard31 — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:46:30 +0000

So did Ashlee Simpson, Ryan Cabrera and Jessica Simpson stop practicing? Because they haven’t had a hit in years.

I love how science tries to explain something that’s intangible. Yes, practice is important, but the perosn has to love doing it, or they’ll either stop practicing or become miserable. A case in point: Serena Williams. She practiced to get her skills, but she admitted she never loved it and seems unhappy with ther success. And while you’re at it, look up the story of Todd Marinovich. He wanted to be an artist, but everyone around him wanted him to be a quarterback. So he worked hard at being a QB and was so unhappy, he started using drugs.

So how do you get someone to love what they do?

By: Teaching over their heads - universities, high schools, elementary schools, teachers... - City-Data Forum

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:11:25 +0000

[...] my favorite quotations that I apply to teaching, among other things. Then when I saw this video on Nightline, that I showed to my students, I realized, the learning occurs during the struggle. I teach my [...]

By: djcoyle

djcoyle — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 02:33:32 +0000

Nope. Kids are built to learn faster (with fewer reps), but the basic mechanism doesn’t change as we age. You can add myelin throughout life.

By: Wobble

Wobble — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:24:51 +0000

What about for people who are middle-aged? Is this only for kids?

By: djcoyle

djcoyle — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:31:20 +0000

Great question — and perhaps it’s THE question. Most psychologists would recommend paying deep attention to what the child stares at. As the old saying goes, “to stare is to think.” They would also recommend not forcing the issue — as in “you’re going to start piano lessons tomorrow” — but rather setting up experiences and encounters, laying back, and seeing which ones light up the kid. I’ve met an unusual number of musicians whose parents took the tack of forbidding instruments until a certain age (a la Keith Richards’ grandfather) — while putting them in full view. This made music fascinating/magical to the child, and thus lit their fire.

By: eric

eric — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:49:20 +0000

How does one find out what their children are interested in or good at so that they may develop the sustained energy to deeply practice?