Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

I was strolling in the bookstore today. My mind was blank before a cup of in-store coffee kicked in. Even after it, it didn’t really cheer me up. The coffee was all right. It was that the books I was glancing at, all with the same yellow color pattern on the cover, neatly laid out on a table. It’s the series of For Dummies.

A quick survey of the titles depressed me; I was dumb to at least 20 subjects (among them: wine tasting), not yet counting an array of the Dummies on the shelf. I picked up one on the edge—French for Dummies—and flipped through it. Before long, my mind was set: I am a dummy. Only a moment later, a book on the new non-fiction table caught my eyes. I skimmed it, and my mood turned; it wasn’t because of the coffee.

The book has a serious title: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, written by Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University. In a nutshell, she says that everyone has a mindset; someone’s is fixed, and other’s is fluid. The former believes that one’s talent and ability is innate—either you have it or not, so there isn’t much you can do about it; the latter thinks that one is a work in progress. You can always learn and improve, as long as you put in time and efforts. Not surprisingly, she concludes that the successfully people tend to have a changeable mindset. They are flexible, they see more opportunities, and they are more eager to learn.

That’s the “Aha” moment for me. I walked back to the Dummies table with my changed mindset. Hey, man, I could do it. That thought alone made me felt like a success. I picked up both Wine for Dummies and French for Dummies, before finally settled with Wine.

My mindset was clear: it would be easier to drink like a French than to speak French.

Why do you learn a foreign language?

As I was reading Andy Grove’s memoir “Swimming Across”, I came upon an interesting Hungarian saying: “You are worth as many men as the languages you speak.” Andy’s dad hired a tutor to teach him English when he was about 10 years old. Andy didn’t like it and thought it was boring. Later English played an important role in his life, as he emigrated to US, studied science there, founded Intel and became arguably one of the most influential businessmen in his new country.

I wonder why we Chinese don’t have any similar saying. As a matter of fact, I haven’t heard of any old Chinese saying related to language or language learning. Maybe because our ancestors consider China to be the Middle Kingdom (translating the word China 中国 into English literally), the center of the world, therefore no need to learn a second language. I don’t know.

What I do know is there is an overflow of English learning companies, websites and schools all over China now. English Corners can be spotted in most major cities and universities. From English learning boot camps like Crazy English, to bilingual preschools, Chinese people are spending tons of money trying to learn English. This global language is viewed as the golden key for us to access a wide array of opportunities.

I hope that is not the only reason why we study a language. There has to be something in the target language that motivates a learner. Something fun. Things like:

“French is a beautiful language.”

“Wouldn’t be nice if I could read War and Peace in Russian and feel the power of the book in its original language?”

“I always love Spanish people and culture.”

“I love American movies.” “and I am a big fan of Korean TV dramas.”

“I am a die-hard soccer fan. I thought I’d start to learn German so I could go to Germany and watch World Cup Soccer finals there.”

What motivates you when you learn a foregin language?

The Most Exotic Entrée of Chinese Food You Ever Eat

What would you do if you pick up the menu (pictured below) at a Chinese restaurant?

If you read only Chinese: loudly order ten-course meal and boss the waitress to hurry up.

If you read only English: quietly order the first and the last entrée on the menu while avoiding eye contact with the waitress.