英语演讲：只需20个小时，你就能学会任何东西

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TED演讲：只需20个小时，你就能学会任何东西


讲者简介：Josh Kaufman：数据分析师
演讲简介：之前网上有一种观点，学会一项东西或掌握一项技能，有个“10000小时原则”，即需要练习10000小时。但演讲者Josh Kaufman表示，10000小时那是熟练到专家级别了。只要遵循四个原则，从完全不会到一个不错的掌握程度，只需20小时。


也就是说每天45分钟，坚持一个月左右就可以了。你就可以掌握一门外语或是其他技能等等到一个还不错的熟练程度。


这四个原则就是：1.解构技能，把目标拆成小目标，越细越好。2.学习此项技能中，学会自我纠正。3.远离让你学习分心的东西，如游戏等。4.练习至少20个小时。


 Hi everyone.
大家好


Two year ago, my life changed forever.
两年前，我的生活完全改变了。


My wife Kelsey and I
我和我的太太凯尔希


welcomed our daughter Lela into the world.
迎来了我们的女儿莱拉。


Now, becoming a parent is an amazing experience.
为人父母是一种奇妙的体验。


Your whole world changes over night.
一夜之间，一切都改变了。


And all of your priorities change immediately.
你所有的计划全部被打乱。


So fast that it makes it really difficult to process sometimes.
速度之快，让人措手不及。


Now, you also have to learn a tremendous amount about being a parent
然后你会有很多东西要学。


like, for example, how to dress your child.
比如，该如何打扮你的宝宝。


(Laughter)
（笑声）


This was new to me.
对我而言这是新的挑战。


This is an actual outfit,  I thought this was a good idea.
这是我搭配的一套， 我觉得还挺不错的。


And even Lela knows that it's not a good idea. (Laughter)
但是好像连莱拉都看不上。 （笑声）


So there is so much to learn and so much craziness all at once.
要学的还很多，千头万绪的。


And to add to the craziness,  Kelsey and I both work from home,
更糟的是，凯尔希和我都在家工作，


we're entrepreneurs, we run our own businesses.
我俩都做生意，有自己的公司。


So, Kelsey develops courses online for yoga teachers.
凯尔希为瑜伽教练做在线课程开发。


I'm an author.
我是一名作家。


And so, I'm working from home, Kelsey's working from home.
因此，我俩都在家上班。


We have an infant and we're trying to make sure
我们有婴儿要照顾，我们竭尽全力


that everything gets done that needs done.
把每件事都做好。


And life is really, really busy.
日子过得非常忙碌。


And a couple of weeks into this amazing experience,
这种奇妙的体验持续几周过后，


when the sleep deprivation really kicked in,
睡眠不足的弊端开始显现，


like around week eight,
大概是在第八周的时候，


I had this thought, and it was the same thought
我产生了一种想法，我觉得这种想法


that parents across the ages, internationally,
无论你是哪国人，无论你多大年龄，


everybody has had this thought, which is:
只要你当父母了，都会有：


I am never going to have free time ever again.
我此生再无自由之日了。


(Laughter)
（笑声）


Somebody said it's true.
有人说确实如此。


It's not exactly true,
这可能有点绝对，


but it feels really, really true in that moment.
但在当时的情境下，我真的是这么想的。


And this was really disconcerning to me,
这让我很抓狂，


because one of the things that I enjoy
因为我最喜欢的事情


more than anything else is learning new things.
就是学习新事物。


Getting curious about something and diving in
对某件事产生兴趣，然后一头扎进去，


and fiddling around and  learning through trial and error.
不断尝试，不断学习。


And eventually becoming pretty good at something.
最后变得比较擅长。


And without this free time,
但是，如果没有自由支配的时间，


I didn't know how I was ever  going to do that ever again.
我真不知该如何继续我的这个爱好。


And so, I'm a big geek,
没错，我是个死宅，


I want to keep learning things, I want to keep growing.
我想持续学习，不断成长。


And so what I've decided to do was,
于是我做出一个决定，


go to the library, and go to the bookstore,
去图书馆和书店


and look at what research says about
寻找研究资料，


how we learn and how we learn quickly.
看我们该如何学习，如何快速学习。


And I read a bunch of books, I read a bunch of websites.
我读了很多书，也浏览了不少网站。


And tried to answer this question,
想搞清楚一个问题，


how long does it take to acquire a new skill?
掌握一项新的技能需要多久？


You know what I found?
知道我找到的答案是什么吗？


10,000 hours!
1万小时！


Anybody ever heard this?
你们听过这说法吗？


It takes 10,000 hours. If you want to learn something new,
要花1万小时。 如果你想学点新东西，


if you want to be good at it,
并且变得很擅长，


it's going to take 10,000 hours to get there.
要用掉你1万小时的时间。


And I read this in book after book, in website after website.
我在书本上，网站上不停地读到这一点。


And my mental experience of reading all of this stuff was like:
我的内心是崩溃的，我的心在呐喊：


No!!
不！


I don't have time! I don't have 10,000 hours.
我没有这么多时间！我上哪儿找1万小时？


I am never going to be able to learn anything new.
我再也学不会新东西了。


Ever again. (Laughter)
永远没戏了。 （笑声）


But that's not true.
但事实不是这样的。


So, 10,000 hours, just to give you a rough order of magnitude,
1万小时是什么概念，打个比方，


10,000 hours is a full-time job for five years.
1万小时相当于5年的全职工作。


That's a long time.
那是一段很长的时间。


And we've all had the experience of learning something new,
我们都学过新东西，


and it didn't take us anywhere close to that amount of time, right?
但谁也没有花过那么长的时间，对吧？


So, what's up? There's something kinda funky going on here.
那这是怎么回事呢？有点不对劲啊。


What the research says and what we expect, and have experiences,
研究结果和我们的期望、我们的经验


they don't match up.
并不相符。


And what I found, here's the wrinkle:
我发现，问题在于：


The 10,000 hour rule came out of studies of expert-level performance.
1万小时定律针对的是专家。


There's a professor at Florida State University,
佛罗里达州立大学有一位教授，


his name is K. Anders Ericsson.
叫做K.安德斯?埃里克森。


He is the originator of the 10,00 hour rule.
1万小时定律是他最先提出的。


And where that came from is, he studied professional athletes,
而这一定律的研究对象，是职业运动员，


world class musicians, chess grand masters.
世界级音乐家和象棋大师。


All of this ultra competitive folks in ultra-high performing fields.
都是些竞争激烈的领域， 他们又是其中的佼佼者。


And he tried to figure out how long does it take
他试图弄清楚，


to get to the top of those kinds of fields.
在这些领域，登上巅峰需要多久。


And what he found is, the more deliberate practice,
他发现，练习得越多，


the more time that those individuals spend
在各自的领域


practicing the elements of whatever it is that they do,
花费的时间越多，


the more time you spend, the better you get.
最后取得的成绩就越大。


And the folks at the tippy top of their fields
那些站在最巅峰的人


put in around 10,000 hours of practice.
都花了差不多1万小时来练习。


Now, we were talking about the game of telephone a little bit earlier.
这事儿其实就是个以讹传讹的故事。


Here's what happened:
事情是这样的：


an author by the name of Malcolm Gladwell
有一个作家叫马尔科姆?格拉德威尔


wrote a book in 2007 called "Outliers: The Story of Success",
在2007年写了本书叫《异类：成功秘诀》，


and the central piece of that book was the 10,000 hour rule.
核心内容就是1万小时定律。


Practice a lot, practice well, and you will do extremely well,
多练习，好好练习，你就能成功，


you will reach the top of your field.
成为本领域的佼佼者。


So, the message,
其实，埃里克森博士


what Dr. Ericsson was actually saying is,
真正想说的是，


it takes 10,000 hours to get at the top of an ultra competitive field
要想在一个竞争非常激烈的特定领域里


in a very narrow subject, that's what that means.
成为佼佼者，需要花费1万小时的时间。


But here's what happened: ever since Outliers came out,
但《异类》这本书一经出版，


immediately came out, reached the top of best seller lists,
就迅速冲上了畅销榜首，


stayed there for three solid months.
并保持了整整3个月。


All of a sudden the 10,000 hour rule was everywhere.
1万小时定律一夜之间家喻户晓。


And a society-wide game of telephone started to be played.
全民开始以讹传讹。


So this message, it takes 10,000 hours to reach the top of an ultra competitive field,
“在竞争激烈的领域 登顶需要1万小时”这条信息，


became, it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something,
变成了“精通某件事需要1万小时”，


which became,
之后变成了，


it takes 10,000 hours to become good at something,
“想要擅长某事，需要花1万小时”，


which became,
之后变成了，


it takes 10,000 hours to learn something.
“学习一个新东西需要花1万小时”。


But that last statement, it takes 10,000 hours to learn something,
但最后这条结论： 学习一个新东西需要花1万小时，


is not true. It's not true.
是不对的，大错特错。


So, what the research actually says --
实际上，这项研究说的是——


I spent a lot of time here at the CSU library
我在科罗拉多州立大学图书馆


in the cognitive psychology stacks 'cause I'm a geek.
认知心理学区域查了很多资料， 因为我是死宅嘛。


And when you actually look at the studies of skill acquisition,
当你在查找关于习得技能的研究成果时，


you see over and over a graph like this.
你经常会看到这张图。


Now, researchers, whether they're studying a motor skill,
研究者们，无论他们研究的是运动技能，


something you do physically or a mental skill,
也就偏体力的（技能），还是偏脑力的技能，


they like to study things that they can time.
他们都喜欢用可以计时的事情为例。


'Cause you can quantify that, right?
因为可以量化计算，对吧？


So, they'll give research participants a little task,
于是，他们给研究参与者一个小任务，


something that requires physical arrangement,
有些需要体力解决，


or something that requires learning a little mental trick,
有些需要动点脑筋，


and they'll time how long a participant takes to complete the skill.
他们来统计参与者需要多长时间完成。


And here's what this graph says, when you start --
这个图说明，刚开始的时候——


so when researchers gave participants a task, it took them a really long time,
研究者给参与者的任务， 需要很长时间才能完成，


'cause it was new and they were horrible.
因为以前没做过，他们心里又没底。


With a little bit of practice, they get better and better and better.
但经过一段时间练习后，他们会越做越好。


And that early part of practice is really, really efficient.
早期的练习真的非常非常有效。


People get good at things with just a little bit of practice.
人只需要一点点练习， 就可以把事情做得不错。


Now, what's interesting to note is that,
有一点很有意思，


for skills that we want to learn for ourselves,
对于那些我们真心想学的技能，


we don't care so much about time, right?
我们就不会在乎花多少时间，对吧？


We just care about how good we are, whatever good happens to mean.
我们只在乎能学得多好， 无论这个好的标准是什么。


So if we relabel performance time to how good you are,
如果我们把练习时间换成擅长程度，


the graph flips, and you get his famous and widely known,
图表就倒过来了，就成为了那条著名的


this is the learning curve.
学习曲线。


And the story of the learning curve is when you start,
学习曲线告诉我们，作为初学者，


you're grossly incompetent and you know it, right?
我们都极烂，而且我们也知道自己极烂。


(Laughter)
（笑声）


With a little bit of practice, you get really good, really quick.
只要一点练习，你很快就会做得很好。


So that early level of improvement is really fast.
因此早期的进步是非常大的。


And then at a certain point you reach a plateau,
之后在一个特定时间点，你进入了平台期，


and the subsequent games become much harder to get,
之后进步就越来愈难，


they take more time to get.
要花更多的时间。


Now, my question is, I want that, right?
我想了解的就是那个，对吧？


How long does it take from starting something
从一开始学，水平极差


and being grossly incompetent and knowing it
到比较入门，


to being reasonably good?
需要多长时间？


In hopefully, as short a period of time as possible.
理想状态，当然是越短越好。


So, how long does that take?
那么，到底需要多久呢？


Here's what my research says: 20 hours.
我的研究结果是：20小时。


That's it. You can go from knowing nothing
没错。你可以从什么都不懂的菜鸟，


about any skill that you can think of.
到学会任何一种技能。


Want to learn a language? Want to learn how to draw?
想学一门外语？想学会画画？


Want to learn how to juggle flaming chainsaws?
想学会怎么耍电锯？


(Laughter)
（笑声）


If you put 20 hours of focused deliberate practice into that thing,
如果你拿出20个小时，全情投入一件事情，


you will be astounded.
你会感到震惊的。


Astounded at how good you are.
震惊于自己居然能这么厉害。


20 hours is doable,
20个小时并不多，


that's about 45 minutes a day for about a month.
也就是每天45分钟，坚持1个月。


Even skipping a couple days, here and there.
中间空出几天也没关系。


20 hours isn't that hard to accumulate.
积累20个小时并不难。


Now, there's a method to doing this.
下面是具体办法。


Because it's not like you can just start fiddling around for about 20 hours
并不是说你瞎玩20个小时，


and expect these massive improvements.
就能精通某件事。


There's a way to practice intelligently.
还是要用恰当的方法进行练习。


There's a way to practice efficiently,
要练习得有效率，


that will make sure that you invest those 20 hours
这才能保证你投入的20个小时


in the most effective way that you possibly can.
是最有效的。


And here's the method, it applies to anything:
下面就来介绍方法，它适用于任何事情：


The first is to deconstruct the skill.
首先将你想学的技能进行分解。


Decide exactly what you want to be able to do when you're done,
想好你最后要达成什么效果，


and then look into the skill and break it down into smaller pieces.
然后将技能分解成一个个小的部分。


Most of the things that we think of as skills
绝大部分我们称之为技能的事情


are actually big bundles of skills that require all sorts of different things.
实际上是由许多不同的技能组成的。


The more you can break apart the skill,
你把技能分解得越细，


the more you're able to decide,
你就越能决定，


what are the parts of this skill that would actually help me
这项技能里面的哪些部分


get to what I want?
能帮我达成目标。


And then you can practice those first.
你就可以先练习这些。


And if you practice the most important things first,
如果你先练习最重要的事情，


you'll be able to improve your performance
你就可以在最短的时间内


in the least amount of time possible.
最大限度地提高自己。


The second is, learn enough to self correct.
第二点，要有一定的（理论）学习， 能帮你自我纠错。


So, get three to five resources about what it is you're trying to learn.
要找3到5种学习资源。


Could be book, could be DVDs, could be courses, could be anything.
可以是书，可以是DVD， 可以是课程，什么都行。


But don't use those as a way to procrastinate on practice.
但是不要因为这个而推迟练习。


I know I do this, right?
我就这么干过。


Get like 20 books about the topic, like,
买了20本相关的书籍，说


"I'm going to start learning how to program a computer
“我要先看完这20本书，


when I complete these 20 books".
然后开始学习编程。”


No. That's procrastination.
这样不对。这就是拖延。


What you want to do is learn just enough
（理论）学习不用太多，


that you can actually practice
能支撑你开始练习就可以了


and self correct or self edit as you practice.
并在练习过程中 自我纠错，自我调整。


So the learning becomes a way of getting better
因此（理论）学习能帮你进步，


at noticing when you're making a mistake
能在你犯错时提醒你


and then doing something a little different.
然后进行调整。


The third is to remove barriers to practice.
第三点，是要排除干扰。


Distractions, television, internet.
电视，网络，所有的干扰。


All of these things that get in the way
这些东西都会阻止你


of you actually sitting down and doing the work.
坐下来开始练习。


And the more you're able to use just a little bit of willpower
你的毅力越大，


to remove the distractions that are keeping you from practicing,
越能排除干扰，


the more likely you are to actually sit down and practice, right?
你就越能坐下来，认真练习，不是吗？


And the fourth is to practice for at least 20 hours.
第四点就是要练习至少20小时。


Now, most skills have what I call a frustration barrier.
我觉得，（学习）大部分技能 都存在“沮丧障碍”。


You know, the grossly-incompetent- and-knowing-it part?
就是“我很菜鸟而且我自己知道”的阶段。


That's really, really frustrating. We don't like to feel stupid.
真的很不爽。 谁也不愿意觉得自己蠢。


And feeling stupid is a barrier to us  actually sitting down and doing the work.
而觉得自己蠢真的会 阻止我们坐下来安心练习。


So, by pre-committing to practicing whatever it is that you want to do
所以，无论你想做什么， 先给自己定个目标


for at least 20 hours,
先练习个20小时，


you will be able to overcome that initial frustration barrier
你就能渡过最初那段很受挫的时期


and stick with the practice long enough to actually reap the rewards.
从而（有信心）将练习持续下去， 直到获得回报。


That's it! It's not rocket science.
就是这样！并不复杂。


Four very simple steps that you can use to learn anything.
学习任何东西都可以按这四步来。


Now, this is easy to talk about in theory,
好的，理论说起来总是很容易，


but it's more fun to talk about in practice.
其实说到练习会更加有意思。


So one of the things that I've wanted to learn how to do for a long time
有件乐器我想学已经很久了，


is play the ukulele.
就是尤克里里琴。


Has anybody seen Jake Shimabukuro's TEDTalk
你们看没看过杰克?岛袋的TED演讲


where he plays the ukulele and makes it sound like --
他弹奏尤克里里，那声音简直——


he's like a ukulele god.
他就像尤克里里之神。


It's amazing.
非常精彩。


I saw it, I was like, "That is so cool!"
我看了之后觉得，“哇，太酷了！”


It's such a neat instrument. I would really like to learn how to play.
非常精妙的一种乐器。我非常想学。


And so I decided that to test this theory
于是我决定验证一下我的理论


I wanted to put 20 hours into practicing ukulele
花20小时来练习尤克里里


and see where it got.
看效果如何。


And so the first thing about playing the ukulele is,
演奏尤克里里的第一件事，


in order to practice, you have to have one, right?
想要演奏，你先得有一把琴，对吧？


So, I got an ukulele and
-- My lovely assistant?
于是，我弄了一把尤克里里， 有请我可爱的助理。


(Laughter)
（笑声）


Thank you sir. I think I need the chord here.
谢谢你，先生。 我想我还需要一根弦。


It's not just an ukulele, it's an electric ukulele. (Laughter)
这可不是普通的尤克里里， 是插电的。（笑声）


Yeah.
酷吧？


So, the first couple hours are just like the first couple hours of anything.
最开始的几个小时 就像其他所有事情一样。


You have to get the tools that you are using to practice.
你要把所需的工具准备好。


You have to make sure they're available.
确保它们能正常使用。


My ukulele didn't come with strings attached.
我的尤克里里最开始是没有装弦的。


I had to figure out how to put those on.
我要搞清楚如何把它装好。


Like, that's kind of important, right?
这非常重要，对吧。


And learning how to tune, learning how to make sure
还要学习调音，准备好一切，


that all of the things that need to be done
确保在开始练习前，


in order to start practicing get done, right?
一切就绪。


Now, one of the things when I was ready to actually start practicing
当一切准备就绪，正式开始练习前


was I looked in online databases and songbooks for how to play songs.
我上网找了各种数据和歌本。


And they say, okay, ukuleles, you can play more than one string at a time,
上面说，哦，尤克里里， 你可以弹奏不止一根弦，


so you can play chords, that's cool,
可以演奏和弦，很棒，


you are accompanying yourself, yay you. (Laughter)
你可以自己给自己伴奏。 （笑声）


And when I started looking at songs,
我开始看歌本，


I had an ukulele chord book that had like hundreds of chords.
我还有一本尤克里里的和弦书， 里面有上百种和弦。


Looking at this and "Wow, that's intimidating".
我当时就傻了，“哇，这太恐怖了。”


But when you look at the actual songs,
但是当你真正看歌本的时候，


you see the same chords over and over, right?
你会发现相同的和弦总是重复出现，对吧？


As it turns out, playing the ukulele is kind of like doing anything,
其实，弹尤克里里就跟做其他事一样，


There's a very small set of things that are really important
有一些固定的模式，它们非常重要


and techniques that you'll use all the time.
你会一直用到它们。


And in most songs you'll use four, maybe five chords,
在大部分歌曲里，你会用到4到5种和弦，


and that's it, that's the song.
那就够了，就能弹出一首歌了。


You don't have to know hundreds, as long as you know the four or the five.
掌握这4、5种和弦就够了， 没必要学会几百种。


So, while I was doing my research,
在学习过程中，


I found a wonderful little medley of pop songs
我发现了一首不错的混音曲， 由许多流行歌曲组成，


by a band called Axis of Awesome. (Whistles)
来自“惊奇轴心”乐队。 （咂舌）