Is there a limit to one's learning capacity?

Just came across an article of the above title on Neuroscience topic on the limits of learning.

I remembered my primary school Chinese teacher used to write 4 words in my autobiography book, "学如海涯". (There's no limits to the horizon of learning).

It is true, that there's no end to learning.

Although, There are times, i feel so despair because i simple can't a new trick right. But eventually, i got through.

I have subjects, like Economics and English language, which i love to fail in school, i am still struggling with them.
I have seen examples in the recent classes i attend, that class, consisted of students age ranged from 16 to 80+. Imagine the teacher's agony, he have to style his materials and speech that it can be understood by his listeners. As a teacher, whom had taught with a class ranged from 8 to 14 years old, i already finding it already challenging, imagine a BIGGER age gap.

Coming back to the topic, this class i attended, the topics are fairly easy to understand, straight forward. The only problem is our exams, we must score 99 to 100%, yes, that means we not just understand 100% of what is taught, and also to regurgitate all of them verbally, and physically in the exams. This had challenged many of my classmates, about 30% of us took the exams in the end. I even heard, many deferred the exams for more than once, just want to be sure they are to pass the exams. One of them, re-attended the same classes for more than 3 times, the last time i met this person, he is still re-attending the class, still struggling to remember all the things, but the more this person attend, he got a little better, just a little.

I guess this is how our brain works. Is the psychology. Personally, on younger days, I always feel there's a limit to learning, despite teacher's 4 words reminding that i was wrong.
When i attending high school, i realized i could not absorb as fast and well as i did in earlier years. I starting to do badly for my physics, one of my better science subjects. I was so much convinced by my belief. And proceed to University, my good mathematics subject started to fail me, too, proving it better to me.

Now with this classmate who attended the class so many times, i was slapped my the belief i have was wrong. It is not there's a limit to our brains, it is time that forces us to surrender. We are given a very short time to learn and excel, It is the ability to absorb the information and applying the information in a short time restricts us.

If given time, nothing cannot be learnt.

So now, when i see my students struggling, i simply tell them to slow down, cool down, not to be so frustrated over things they could not understand ... at the moment.
However, we are in the society that does not wait for slow learners.
Perhaps, this is the biggest challenge as a educators nowadays.

Jane
Night Desperato Project

Passing of Nelson Mandela

I just received news from Yahoo!news & CNN that the founder of South Afica, President Nelson Mandela, had just passed on.

May God bless his soul and May he rest in peace.

To a founder who been through so much, i am amazed of his 94 years of his roller coaster life. Feel his pain during his 27 years of jail, and enduring the pain of his country and his own when his death of his son, his mother, which he was not allowed to attend their funerals. After he becomes president one year after his release from jail, he steered the country towards democracy, something, so vast, for such a big country. Even after officially retirement in year 2004, his names lingers.

As time passed for 11 years, news had ceased reporting about him, other than he is usually reported  sick.
For whole of year 2013, rumors of him dying, slipping in and out of coma, there were also sites i found claiming, Africa will not let the poor old man die. There is a African belief, that a person will not passed on, until his family and close ones let him. Thought it was a interesting and yet strong one, but, this is not how it works in real life.

However, i was glad that he died surrounded by his family.
At last, a father gets his rest. His soul will be in every South African's heart.
The world will remembered him for his works, and efforts.

May you rest in peace, President Mandela.


Night Desperato Project.