SkillsFuture + anything related to upskilling/learning something new!

[sharonkhoo]

@thebottomsupblog I admire your energy! Keep going!

I took out a EdX subscription, but haven’t had time to do any of the courses yet. Been busy with work, a trip, etc. Hope to take at least one course next week when my current freelance project is done. My husband took out a Udemy subscription, and has embarked on a 100-day (supposedly) Python course - that is something I wouldn’t take even if you bribed me extravagantly!

[thebottomsupblog]

@slmkhoo I probably have an unfinished Python course in my Udemy list too, can’t remember if it’s 30 or 100 days hahahaha! Hoping my 14yo will take over.

I had a taste of Python when I did my data engineering bootcamp in 2023. That was also when many of us first heard about ChatGPT and actually it was a very good coding tutor!

I thought it was fun, but also felt that I was very late into the game haha. I did get to use it a bit when I subsequently had a tech traineeship, for data cleaning.

It’s something that I might tinker around with if I had a lot of time, but it’s just one item in a very long to-do list, including tons of books to read and movies to watch!

[thebottomsupblog]

Popping in to share that I just finished my first paper for my current course (a specialist diploma in career counselling).

We had to do APA-style referencing — not something we’d like to relive, that’s for sure. But thankfully there’s AI to the rescue these days!

It’s quite a brain workout to read academic papers again, I must say. In my previous specialist diploma, I did business analytics, which was more about using tools and setting up a workstream to analyse big data — we didn’t have to care so much about how we phrased things, and there was hardly any need to reference.

I’m still very glad that I signed up for this course; it’s actually useful for improving how I deal with the people around me as well. However, it will make me think twice, just in case I should want to sign up for grad school all over again! I think I will hold off “heavy” courses for the later part of 2026, and focus on fun stuff like photography, drums, zine making

[sharonkhoo]

@thebottomsupblog said in SkillsFuture + anything related to upskilling/learning something new!:

Popping in to share that I just finished my first paper for my current course (a specialist diploma in career counselling).

We had to do APA-style referencing — not something we’d like to relive, that’s for sure. But thankfully there’s AI to the rescue these days!

It’s quite a brain workout to read academic papers again, I must say. In my previous specialist diploma, I did business analytics, which was more about using tools and setting up a workstream to analyse big data — we didn’t have to care so much about how we phrased things, and there was hardly any need to reference.

I’m doing the reverse - in that I’m having to “retrain” myself to craft carousels to post on IG! My usual style is not so suited for that (as those who’ve read a lot of posts here will know). I’m using AI (Copilot) to edit my drafts to make them more contemporary in style!

I’m fine with preparing bibliographies (any style) - I used to be a librarian!

[sharonkhoo]

@thebottomsupblog I’m about a third of the way through a course entitled “Masterpieces of World Literature”. Quite interesting, but there’s a quiz (20 MCQs) at the end of every work presented. I do a section when I have time.

[thebottomsupblog]

@sharonkhoo Oh nice!!! What are some of the books that you have to read?

NLB has this series called A Bridge to the Classics:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/100069047889702/948198266803290/

I think this month, they’ll be talking about Dostoevsky (can never spell his name without checking!)

[rinsider]

@thebottomsupblog

I’m sad. No follow up on my “successful registration of interest” for the dog grooming course. I guess I have to smell her Fritos toes for eternity.

[sharonkhoo]

@thebottomsupblog said in SkillsFuture + anything related to upskilling/learning something new!:

@sharonkhoo Oh nice!!! What are some of the books that you have to read?

NLB has this series called A Bridge to the Classics:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/100069047889702/948198266803290/

I think this month, they’ll be talking about Dostoevsky (can never spell his name without checking!)

Confession: I’m lazy! I don’t read the actual books! Maybe the Wikipedia summaries… I’m using the course as a shortcut - just to get an idea of the books as I don’t think I’ll ever get round to reading them! The only one in the list that I’ve read is the Odyssey (about 40+ years ago!). I have heard of some of the others, but most are completely new to me.

Texts/authors considered in the course:

Section 1:Goethe and the Birth of World Literature
Section 2: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Section 3: Homer, The Odyssey
Section 4: The 1001 Nights
Section 5: Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji
Section 6: The Lusiads
Section 7: Voltaire, Candide
Section 8:Lu Xun and Eileen Chang
Section 9: Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones
Section 10:Wole Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman
Section 11:Salman Rushdie and Jhumpa Lahiri
Section 12: Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red

[thebottomsupblog]

@sharonkhoo Wow you’ve read the Odyssey!!! What are some tips that you have for reading (and appreciating) the classics? I find it hard to want to reach for those. I have Moby Dick unfinished, on my list.

Thanks for sharing the list

I read Salman Rushdie’s Knife, after I heard him on an NYT podcast. I’ve never read Satanic Verses. Knife was a good read — it included an imaginary conversation with his attacker, and he also addressed a question that’s been put to him many times during his recovery, “do you believe in God now?” I won’t spoil it, but I was struck by his answer!

[sharonkhoo]

@thebottomsupblog said in SkillsFuture + anything related to upskilling/learning something new!:

@sharonkhoo Wow you’ve read the Odyssey!!! What are some tips that you have for reading (and appreciating) the classics? I find it hard to want to reach for those. I have Moby Dick unfinished, on my list.

I don’t have any tips! As an adult, I find that my time is too precious to read things that don’t interest me, or if I don’t appreciate the style of writing. (That’s part of the reason why I refused an offer to study Eng Lit at university level!) But I am curious enough to want to know about things that are not immediately in my sphere, including something about what others consider “great literature”. If I feel that the book has made great contributions in some way, or is very famous for some reason, I might look up the wiki summaries!

When I was still in sec school/JC and had more time on my hands, I made an effort to read some of the recommended books that I kept hearing about, including the Odyssey (in translation, of course!). But they were mostly novels of later periods (18th century onwards) and random things I came across in libraries. When I was younger, I was more prepared to be impressed by what others considered “great” even if I didn’t really like the style!

Now, I read mostly fiction in the mystery genre (NLB reports that I read over 200 such books in Jan-Nov last year!). So this course is really my lazy way of finding out more about these “important” texts, some of which I have never even heard of before.