"Practice makes perfect" is a very popular expression. However, can we take this saying literally?

One popular theory (理论) is that if a person practises for at least 10, 000 hours, they will reach "perfection"—or, in other words, become an expert in their field. This theory was made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 best-selling book, Outliers: The Story of Success. He gave the examples of the music group The Beatles and Microsoft co-creator Bill Gates, who clearly put in over 10, 000 hours of practice before they became successful.

However, Gladwell's book has been said by many to be too simplistic and generalising. Although Gladwell's work was largely based on research done by Anders Ericsson, Ericsson argued that 10, 000 hours was just an average figure. Some people, for example, needed far fewer than 10, 000 hours, and others many more. More importantly, Ericsson said that just practising a lot was not enough; the type and quality of practice were also significant. He went on to explain the importance of "deliberate practice", which is when a person practises a specific part of a skill in depth rather than practising a skill as a whole. Deliberate practice is said to be much more effective, though more tiring.

Many other studies argue that practice alone is far from enough. In fact, a more recent study from Princeton University stated that practice only accounted for up to 26% of reaching an expert level. Many other factors contribute to people becoming experts. Natural talent is an important factor, which is especially evident in sports. For instance, many baseball players in America have amazing vision that allows them to see the ball much sooner than others do. Besides, IQ, personality, attitude, and starting age are decisive factors, too. It is also important to note that becoming an expert doesn't equal instant success. Success also relies on social factors, environmental factors, and even just being in the right place at the right time!

In conclusion, practice may not make perfect, but deliberate practice has been shown to lead to significant improvement. 

One of the negative effects from the all-pervasive social media is that it has almost killed the reading habit To change this situation, a group of IT professionals and engineers have come together to start the 'Let's Read India' movement in Maharashtra by taking their library to the people's doorstep.

Prafulla Wankhede, one of the founders of the campaign, says it's getting an overwhelming response. "Our primary objective is to bring this WhatsApp and social media generation back to books and make them better educated and more civilized citizens," he said.

Wankhede said their library van (货车) went to remote places lacking major facilities. "We want to reach out to every person who wants to read a book. We have three mobile libraries now. People can borrow books for a week for free with only one condition: the borrower should submit a 300-word review about the book to be able to take a second book," he said. "Our objective is to ensure people read."

"Those who want to get books can connect through our social media website and app. This will enable them to know the locations of the mobile library that has GPS attached. Besides, there is a QR code for each book. The mobile library makes the weekly visit to the identified locations," Wankhede said.

Initially, 'Let's Read India' Foundation had planned to start the initiative in Maharashtra, Goa and Madhya Pradesh, the plan was shelved because of the pandemic situation. "We are now focusing on Maharashra," said Wankhede. "Once we grow in Maharashtra, we'll then shift our focus to the rest of the county." The foundation also plans to start a YouTube channel where well-known authors' speeches, interviews and reviews will be played

"We not only offer books, we also suggest what should be read. Many people are really confused about their reading choices. If they are able to read the kind of books they want, it will help them in their academic and professional life," said Wankhede,

I used to tell my children that they were smart, because I was impressed by their rapid growth. I remember clearly watching my daughter figure out how to build a Lego house that would stand up on its own, and thinking: Look at this tiny architectural genius.

But decades of research now suggest that we should not tell our children they're "smart" when they do impressive things. When I first heard it, I felt instinctively irritated. But after I dug into the research, I was persuaded. It all goes back to something called "growth" mindset, a term developed and popularized by Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford. Professor Dweck believes that we can change our abilities through effort and strategy. The alternative to a growth mindset is a "fixed" mindset—the idea that our abilities are inborn and can't be changed. When we praise our children for being "smart", based on victories like doing well on a test, we're unwittingly（不知不觉地） encouraging them to believe that if they do poorly or make mistakes, they're not smart.

It's not just what we say that matters, but how we tolerate our children's failures. A 2016 study by Dweck showed that parents' "failure mind-sets" affect their children more than their views on intelligence. In other words, if parents think that failure is shameful, their children are more likely to be afraid of making mistakes. The study concludes that everyone is actually a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, continually evolving with experience. Whatever we say or don't say to our kids, the key is to get them more comfortable with failures big or small.

It's helpful for kids to understand that you make mistakes and learn how they happen. When you chat with them, you can describe what you learned, or how you strategized a solution. "You don't have to deny you have negative emotional reactions," Dweck said. "We, as a society, don't do that enough because we feel embarrassed when we make mistakes." But if we discuss our missteps more and explain how we overcame them, our children can learn to do the same.