"Don't Use Libby Because It Costs Libraries Too Much, Pirate Instead" Is Such A Weird, Anti-patron, Anti-author

2024 is the year we stop “consuming” and go back to “reading/watching/listening to/playing” things

Hey, I'm back! Taking practice tests for the B2 exam <3

uncommon topics for vocab lists in your target language:

natural disasters

astronomy

baking

business and economy

architecture

culinary arts

fashion

cinema

music

philosophy

psychology

travel and tourism

historical periods

legal terminology

my opinion on generative ai writing continues to be incredibly simple: if you don't want to put in the effort to write it, I don't want to put in the effort to read it. you the author have decided it is not worth your own time so it is absolutely not worth mine. yippee !

— Nitya Prakash

I brought the spinning chair in the living room and stayed there for half an hour or so, now Dragonite is helping me with chemistry.

Studying is so much fun

my trick for getting through grad school is learning to navigate the quadrants with all their nuances

you don't want to look back and wish you had worked a little harder.

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

a Very Important Purchase