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Welcome to the Monday Byte where I send you 5 things each week so you can improve your English and land a remote dev job.
đź“– Word/Phrase - six figures
This phrase is used to describe a level of money based on the number of digits. So if I said, “I make over six figures” it would mean I make at least $100,000 but less than $1,000,000.
If you count the digits, you'll see six in $100,000 and seven in $1,000,000.
I don't think people say four figures but I've heard five and up.
💬 Pronunciation - Critique of Mexican Programmer’s English
We’re back with critiques on YouTube! This time, I critique an English Byte community member and programmer from Mexico.
He actually surprised me with how good his pronunciation is! I think you can learn a lot from this one:
🗣️ Real World Conversation - How often do you read technical books?
I have a friend who makes like high six figures as an engineer. I once asked him his secret and he was like, “honestly man, I just read one engineering textbook every year, which is one more book than everyone else I know reads.”
— Charlie Becker (@charliedbecker)
8:09 PM • Jun 2, 2023
I saw this tweet referenced in another tweet the other day. Holy cow. 8k likes? This resonates with people. But why? Because most of us don't read technical books.
Seriously, all we need to do is read 1 per year and we'll be ahead of 90% of the people.
In my last job, my boss had us read The Pragmatic Programmer so I've read 1 for 2023. But my new company has an unlimited book budget so I have no excuses not to get way ahead of the curve.
What is 1 technical book you're thinking about reading? Reply and let me know!
đź”— Content - Writing React from Scratch
Although this talk is 3 years old, it's only 36mins and it shows you how someone like you might rewrite React from scratch.
I like this type of talk because it forces us to rethink the mental models used under the hood by our everyday tools. Highly recommend watching this on your next lunch break!
💪🏼 Exercise - Read the “Built-in React Hooks” docs
Similar to that tweet earlier, there was another tweet about how important it is to simply read the docs. This will not only help improve your technical English but it'll put you 10 steps ahead of others.
So here's what you should do:
Set a timer and read for 2mins
Spend 1min summarizing what you read (out loud)
This task will engage your reading and speaking skills and takes less than 5mins.
Enjoy the week, we’ll talk again soon.
- Joe
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