Learning a new language - Part II

... continued from here

3. Learn the basic grammar rules for tenses and genders (genders are more important in some languages than others).
In Croatian language, if you where to say a blue man or a blue woman, the word blue would look different (plavi muskarac vs. plava zena). This is why it is important to understand genders or you may use a wrong adverbs to describe yourself. If you like to be a source of entairtainment for the locals, then go right ahead and forget about using the right gender. :-)

As for learning proper tenses, I would encourage learning the present tense immediately. If you feel brave, learn the past tense (as you will talk a lot about the past) and then future (as you talk less about the future). Other fancy tenses can be left for when you feel comfortable with the past, present and future tenses.

4. Learn the 'connector' words.

What I mean by 'connector' words are all those words that are left in a sentence once you remove all the verbs, nouns and adjectives. These words are the glue of language.

I remember, when I was learning French, one summer long, long time ago, our teacher gave us several pages of 'connector' words (in, like, as, with, of, at, ...) in French. Try learning these basic words and then take a look at an article in that foreign language. You will be surprised to see how much of the flow you understand with even little understanding of the main words.

... to be continued.

Back in the driver's seat

Today was the first time in a month that I took the car out for a drive. My foot is finally feeling better. Not good as new, but good enough that I am able to drive.

It sure felt nice to drive to different parts of town. I felt too cooped up over the last month. Spending all that time in bed and not being able to go places can sure bring you down.

It is a beautiful autumn day here. Warm, sunny, and leaves changing colour everywhere you look. The autumn lasts a lot longer than in Canada. Well, definitely longer than in Saskatoon, and a bit longer than in Ontario and Quebec.

I like the sensation of a autumn wind on your face. It's not the harsh Canadian wind that chills you to the bone, but more of a gentle breeze bringing you the smell of nearby trees. I completely forgot about how autumn used to feel in my childhood and I am really happy to have a chance to experience it again.

Yesterday was kind of a stressful day dealing (again) with the Croatian bureaucracy. I guess that Carla's immigration papers were just sitting on someone's desk because the bank statement (???) in her application was not translated. Not like they would follow up and let us know that something is missing. Since Carla is scheduled to be flying back in 9 days, I was trying to get them to hurry up, but that's like trying to get maple syrup to flow up a tree. Impossible! There's a good chance that the paperwork will now be done on time, but there is a holiday on Wednesday which is not going to help the matter.

That's another thing that I noticed here. All holidays are fixed to a specific date. I remember moving to Canada and initially thinking how a 'third Monday of May' was stupid way to fix a day to celebrate a holiday. Over time, I began to appreciate the logic in this as it is kind of hard to have a long weekend if the holiday falls on a Wednesday. I am a full convert now to a fixed-day-of-the-week holiday as opposed to a fixed-date holiday! :-)

Book report - The McKinsey Way

I finished reading a really good book on management consulting, The McKinsey Way. Let me first say that McKinsey and Company is a Ferrari of management consulting, in the sense that they get the coolest engagements and charge probably the highest rates.

The book is written by Ethan Rasiel, who worked there for three years in the early 90's. Ethan covers several aspects of McKinsey and tries to explain why McKinsey is so good and sought after.

First, McKinsey is very thorough in its research and analysis. Facts are triple-checked, and analysis is thorough. The author even goes in depth on the proper way to hold a brainstorming sessions. He also has a few tips about how to perform a good analysis (use the 80/20 rule, don't boil the ocean, make sure your solution fits the client)

Second, the author talks how McKinsey does not "sell" its services, but markets instead. Meaning that McKinsey people and their work are seen and heard about, so when someone has a problem (and is willing to pay dearly to get it fixed), they come to McKinsey.

Third, they treat their employees "relatively" well for a consulting firm, so there is light at the end of the tunnel of sleepless nights and living away from home for months.

The book reminded me of a lot of experiences that I went through in my MBA. One of the requirements for the completion of my MBA was to do a Management Consulting engagement and solve a business problem. I did this at my work, but the project was something outside of my regular duties. All of the experiences of dealing with clients that were mentioned in this book were the things I had experienced myself on my management consulting engagement. In hindsight, I am glad to say that I made a lot of right decisions (sure, a few were wrong, but it was my first consulting experience!).

I would recommend this book for anybody who deals with clients, solves problems and wants to be more efficient in their life. There's something for everyone. It's a quick read, so if you don't want to buy it, just read the relevant chapters in the bookstore! :-)

Feelin' better!

I was not feeling very good over the last few weeks. Isolation and not being able to leave the house got me down, so I had to come up with a few things that will give a longer-term boost in optimism (as opposed to escapism of The Simpsons).

So what did I do? I called people (friends, family) and talked to them. It is amazing how much better a person feels once they feel connected to other human beings. A piece of advice, if you do know someone who is feeling down, make a point of talking to them over the phone, or even better, take them out somewhere fun. Don't wait for them to ask for your help, because they won't. They are feeling too low, and you as a friend/family member need to take that step.

Another thing that happened was listening to Rocky 5 inspirational speech (link provided by my brother). I find listening motivational books and reading motivational literature incredibly uplifting. The trick is to make this a part of your daily routine. It does not have to take long. Even a quote a day will make a difference. Here is a link to my sister-in-law's collection of great quotes.

Cabin Fever

It has been three weeks since I sprained my foot. In those three weeks, I have stepped out of the apartment only a handful of times. I can't even move around the house. As soon as I start walking around the apartment, I feel my foot swell up. Then, a few minutes later, it is blue and hurting.

I can't even watch TV shows. The whole first seasons of Heroes and Prison Break are just waiting to be watched, but I just have not felt like it. The only show that I have been able to watch are the Simpsons. Homer makes me laugh. :-) I need something to make me laugh these days.

I looked up some good rehabilitation exercises for a sprained ankle and I have been doing those diligently. The foot has been hurting more than usual in the past couple of days so I had to slow down (not like I was racing around, anyways) and keep my foot elevated.

I had so many plans for these weeks that Carla is in Croatia (see family, scope out Zagreb and the surrounding area, go to the gym) but all these require a functioning foot, or at least an ability to stand upright for more than 5 minutes.

Oh well. Things like this happen in life, no need to feel bad. But I do... Now if I could just get myself out of this funk.