One of the Biggest Roadblocks to New Learning

Welcome to this Tuesday's 2 x 2 Newsletter!

This week's letter touches on one of the most common mistakes in learning that can massively hinder progress and growth: working on the wrong problem. Identifying and working on the right problem may be one of simplest yet most effective interventions for catalyzing new learning.

Robert Bjork coined the term "desirable difficulty" to refer to learning that was more difficult, but also more enduring. Seeking out desirable difficulties is usually a good sign that you are making headway in a skill or subject area.
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2 Quotes on Direct Learning:
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• “There is no education like adversity." — Benjamin Disraeli

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• “If you want to learn to swim, jump into the water. On dry land, no frame of mind is ever going to help you.” — Bruce Lee

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2 Thoughts From Me:
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• When learning how to speak a new language, it can be tempting to spend precious time using the Duolingo app, or listening to media in the target language. However, the best way to make rapid progress is usually to have real conversations with a tutor or native speaker. You'll get fast feedback, harness your procedural learning pathways and pick up practical new vocabulary.

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• Are you working on the right problem? If not, how can you discover what the right problem is?

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This week's article presents Sal Khan's formula for creativity and mastery learning.
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Until next week,

Matthew Outerbridge