Brian Beckman explains monads
I try to do more original writing here than posting links, but this is too good not to reference.
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=358968
Brian Beckman is one of my favorite experts from Channel 9. He's a real rocket scientist, but that's not why I like hi videos. He's not trying to be a rock star pesonality. Instead, he's great in that "everyone that views this will learn something."
I want you to watch this video at least twice. First, watch it to understand monads, functional programming, and the kinds of problems for which it was designed. You'll understand the concepts better afer each viewing.
After you do that, watch it to improve your speaking skills. Notice how Dr. Beckman takes concepts that are unfamiliar to you and makes them clear. The video is not about making you think Dr. Beckman is smart (although you will). It's not about how hard these concepts are. Instead, it's about how easy these concepts are to unerstand once Dr. Beckman explains them to you. It's abot how you'll understand monads, monoids, functions, and LINQ syntax better after you watch this.
You can learn some computer science theory, and improve your speaking skills at the same time. It's a great use of an hour.
Oh, and after you do that, read through the comments on the Channel9 page. There's been quite the ongoing discussion.