Let me tell you a little story.

I will put you in the shoes of the main actor: the contractor.

So you are a contractor to build a house. What will you need to build your house?

Wood, to make the structure of the house;
Shingles, to protect from the rain with the roof;
Pipes, to have running water;
Copper wires, to have electricity everywhere;
Gypsum sheets, to hide the wires and pipes;
etc.

But what is even more important? The basis of everything?

Cement, to make the foundations.

Without foundations, the house cannot stand, and if unfortunately it does stand, it will be destroyed much more quickly. Instead of lasting for years, it will last only a few days, a few weeks at most.

It's exactly the same when you are learning: without a solid foundation, you will have a much harder time learning anything else, no matter what it is.

With this example, we can see that there are two important points in gradual learning: order and time.

Order

If the person who is laying the drywall is to be able to do his job, the wires and pipes must be installed in the walls, which must be laid, on the foundation, which must be finished.

Don't try to understand German without knowing its structure, don't try to learn Für Elise if you can't read sheet music, don't try to program an operating system if you can't find your way around yours. In short, don't try to lay the drywall on a wall that isn't there.

Whatever you want to learn, you MUST start with the basics. If you don’t, what you do manage to learn – with difficulty – you will forget as quickly as you learned it.

For example, if you want to learn German, and you start by conversing with a German, you will have a lot of difficulty, and you will have to ask him to repeat himself, and if you do manage by chance to understand the general idea of what he wanted to tell you, you will not know all the details, and you are not even sure what you understood.

If you want to learn German, start by learning the different possible pronunciations, then the basic structure, and work your way up (I will talk about languages in more detail another week). When you want to converse with the German you just heard, you will find it easy, and one listening will be enough.

Time

Now let’s move on to the second important point in our story of the contractor. If our contractor (you) wants to finish his house before the end of his deadline, he will have to divide the time he has intelligently.

Indeed, if you ask to do the foundations first, that's fine, you have understood the importance of doing things in order, but if you think that in one morning everything will be done, and that in the afternoon you can start the rest, on your still wet cement, you will simply sink into your foundations.

In other words, if you want to skip steps too quickly, it can work, but you will lose the basic knowledge that you have learned, and in the end it will be no better than no foundation, since your "house" will end up collapsing because it will be crooked, therefore unstable. And an unstable house means a house that collapses faster than the others.

So take the time to have solid foundations, even if it takes longer.

And if you were one of those people who thought that taking your time is the same as wasting your time, I hope I have changed your mind. The example I have given you proves otherwise.

I could go on and on giving you many similarities between the contractor who wants to build a house and you who want to learn, but I want you to understand that a solid foundation is more than important, it is vital.

If I continued to show you various other important points in the story, I would not be following my own advice by trying to make you miss the basics.

So remember this: a solid foundation is essential to good and long-lasting learning, and the more time you spend building it, the more time you will save.

See you next week for another tip.

"(This was an article I wrote nearly 15 years ago!, Nov. 2009)"

The house contractor vs Learning

Let me tell you a little story.I will put you in the shoes of the main actor: the contractor.So you

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