Learning?

Is learning really that expensive?

Here in Belgium I find it not so expensive. It is about 500€ for a full year. The books, which will serve as a reference, cost about 100€ per semester.

Private schooling is a bit more costly. So.. long live well funded education!

Currently I am fully 'enjoying' all this. Studying is a part of a student's life, so why should it bother me? Improvement can only be good.

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YouTube channels - podcast

Here's a a podcast about my recent posts.

 
Download now or listen on posterous

qsdf.wma (2412 KB)

Posted via web from landofdazzles's posterous

More on YouTube channels and the like

The YouTube channel that I mentioned in my previous post has more than 1.5 million subscribers. I didn't see why it's so great and I still don't get it. But I just discovered that the guy has 2 other channels, with also a considerable amount of subscribers. I guess he's a good entertainer and quite popular, but I would never subscribe to his channel.

There are so many more interesting channels (in my view) out there, and they are very much underrated (and undersubscribed). We can't do much about it though.

Another thing that I find rather annoying is the fact that some people subscribe to your channel so that you subscribe to them too (sub-for-sub). If you find a channel interesting, subscribe to it. If you don't, then don't subscribe! I'm subscribed to a mere 20 channels or so. I cannot watch all the videos they upload, because I do not have enough time. I update my subscriptions frequently. If I am not interested in the subject of the videos anymore, I update my subscription and unsubscribe. (I believe most people don't do this. Once they are subscribed, they keep subscribed forever.)

I don't understand why some people are subscribed to so many channels. Perhaps they do have the time to watch all the new uploads? Perhaps their interests are much broader than mine?

The same applies to Facebook. Having many friends is 'cool'. Why should one have many friends, if they cannot check every update? Then again, the more friends you have, the more time you spend on checking all the updates. It keeps going like this; a vicious circle.

Or maybe, people with many Facebook friends don't have anything better to do than checking all the updates?

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Is this real?

Recently I have watched a video on the popular website YouTube by someone with the username of 'Shanedawsontv'. His channel is available here.

Personally I do not understand what is so 'great' about his channel. First off, I seriously doubt the greatness of his channel, but that's without taking the number of subscribers in account. I was literally dazzled by that number. It is more than 1.5 million.

Maybe someone could elucidate this situation to me?

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Second piano concerto by Rachmaninov

The second piano concerto by Rachmaninov in c minor is a great work. I absolutely love all three movements, especially the first (Moderato) and third (Allegro scherzando) movement.

Here is more information about the piece.

I have the recordings by Ashkenazy, which are perfect. Surely search for it and listen to them. Enjoy.

Here are the last 5 minutes of the first movement (Moderato) played by Ashkenazy (Ашкенази)



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More on studying techniques

Someone suggested to me to use Anki to facilitate learning all those difficult anatomical terms and structures. I found it a good idea, so I tried it out.

Here's a screenshot of the interface:

Right from the beginning it is a lot of work. You have to find good pictures, which is very difficult on the internet. From the other side I could scan the pictures from my books, but that would take too much time.
If someone would offer me an Anki deck with all the muscles, arteries, etc., I'd be very excited. But by the time I'd finish the deck, I would have studied everything already!

I tried to study the 20 amino acids with Anki, but I couldn't. The problem was that, while reviewing, I couldn't draw the structures myself. I mixed them up and did not remember the chemical structures. When I started to draw them myself, I could remember them much more easily.

I do use Anki for other subject. I think Anki is especially useful for things you have studied before and want to review. I use it to remember words and difficult terms.


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Studying techniques

As for me, I have to study a lot of anatomical names of body parts. But what's the best way to tackle this?

Here's a picture of the arteries in your neck:

How would you study something like that?

First of all, it's very important to always have a picture of the structures you're studying. If you do not have a picture/drawing of the anatomical structure, it's way more difficult to visualize it yourself. A good way to start with is trying to remember the picture. Then you already know where the structures are located.

It's always fun to see some structures on your own body. For instance if you feel at the back of your neck, you will feel the spinous process of the vertebra prominens (CVII). If you can find other references on your body, it's easier to remember the structure.

Subsequently you've got to remember all the names properly. They are all scientific names, in Latin. I'm glad I had some Latin in highschool. So let's say, you have to remember the arteries from the above picture.

In the picture we have the arteria carotis communis, arteria carotis interna and externa. So let's have a closer look at these names. They all have one thing in common: arteria carotis. The a. carotis communis has two superior branches: a. carotis interna and externa. The common carotis artery bifurcates into two other carotid arteries, namely the external and internal. Of course, the names are self-evident. The external mainly flows the external part of the head, while the internal flows the interal part.

To remember all these names is not very difficult, but to remember them for a long time is a bit more challenging. You easily forget all the scientific names. My solution to this problem is to review the structures frequently. I take a picture with me and try to name the structures. If I forgot one of them, I write it down and review it even more.

The same applies to the muscles, joints, nerves, venes and bones.


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