So, You're Taking A Class And You Hate It: How To Make A Bad Class Suck Less

hiii ! i'm a big fan of your blog i've found it vv inspiring re. my studies :) just wondering what sort of DA things you do outside of your studies / academic things you do in your spare time that aren't necessary to your grades ??

hey! here’s a list of academic things i do outside of university.

if your question was about my non-academic activities that are reminiscent of the dark academia genre, lmk and i’ll make another post!

i read a lot of literary fiction and poetry

i write poetry and am always on the lookout for lit magazines and journals/independent presses to submit my work to. i’ve been published a few times, i don’t really talk to my friends or family about it because i worry they would think i’m arrogant for mentioning it

before the quarantine, i went to art galleries and museums several times a month (i have a free annual pass) and learned a lot from each visit

i do freelance journalism; i interned at a news outlet last summer

i watch international and experimental cinema on criterion collection. i also sometimes go to an independent theatre that airs niche documentaries. i think it’s really important to expose yourself to thought-provoking films

ive been to a few book awards ceremonies + literary events with my mom and her friends before. i’d like to do that more often, especially since many of the events are free

i spend a lot of time in secondhand bookstores looking for old crumbling hardcovers. my friends and i often buy the same book, read it separately, and then report back to each other with impromptu reviews

hello there! i would like to ask if you know any sites where i can practice reading japanese? like news sites, manga sites, or sites that offer free e-books that are in japanese. and are there any japanese podcasts that i can listen to? thank you in advance for answering this question. it'd mean a whole to me!

Hey there! There are actually quite a few recommended sites for Japanese learners, so I’ll link them right now :)

Japanese IO – I’ve used this site quite a few times and I love the interface! The design is really sleek and “to the point,” so there’s no distractions from what you’re trying to do, which is practice reading Japanese. It also has a great library and look-up feature.

朝日学生新聞社 – This is the “kid’s version” of the more adult 朝日新聞社. If you don’t feel that you’re quite up for the adult version, test out the version geared towards kids. They have fewer articles, but there’s plenty for a learner to pick through.

NHK NEWS EASY – I’m almost positive this is one of the most famous ones for learners. It’s similar to Asahi’s kid newspaper – articles are condensed with easier kanji and vocabulary, and it’s geared towards children, so learners can spend some time combing through updated articles and testing their skills.

Yahoo! Kids – More short news articles geared towards easier-to-understand Japanese.

MATCHA – A fun magazine similar in style to NHK EZ.

Watanoc – Another magazine-type site with a variety of articles.

Traditional Japanese Stories – Get your hands on some easily printed Japanese stories that are told to children. Great for language skills and culture! Similar to English pop culture stories (like Cinderella and so on), Japan has its own fairytales that are occasionally referenced.

Fuku Musume’s Fairy Tale Collection – More stories!

World of チョコチョコ – These are beginner stories, but as you progress you can read other stories on this website.

EhonNavi – Read hundreds of Japanese picture books for free!

If you’re looking for more advanced content…

NHK – Japan’s national broadcaster. You can read articles as well as stream audio and video (may be blocked depending on location).

毎日新聞 – Moderate/left-leaning national newspaper

朝日新聞 – Left-leaning national newspaper

読売新聞 – Conservative national newspaper

東洋経済オンライン – A well-known business and finance magazine.

Project Gutenberg (Japanese) – Get access to a ton of out-of-print and classical books for free.

小説家になろう – A site where authors can publish their works online in exchange for reviews.

青空文庫 – Another site where you can get older and out-of-print novels.

University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative – Another place to access novels in Japanese for free (with the option to read them with furigana).

ComicWalker – Free manga from the publisher Kadokawa. There’s an app too!

最前線 – You can read some manga online for free.

コミコ – More free Japanese manga available here!

キナリノ – A woman’s lifestyle blog which covers fashion, cooking, decor, and more!

Magazine Lib – You can read PDFs of Japanese magazines.

1000文字小説 – A place where users can submit 1000 characters or less stories. 

I also highly recommend starting a Twitter (if you don’t already have one) and following Japanese accounts. I follow a lot of feminist and political accounts so that I’m learning words relevant to my interests, as well as interacting with people that are discussing topics of interest to me (i.e. women and their place in Japanese society).

If you’re curious, you can find me on Twitter at @sydney0313 :)

I hope this list proves useful to you! (And others.)

頑張ってください！

6.2021

Hands and flowers collage weekly

The last few weeks have just been working, drinking coffee, rushing to catch lectures and then studying until late. On repeat. It has been so long since I’ve needed to study this much; but I can feel my french getting better everyday, so the hard work has been worth it ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

How I Learn Languages

As an aspiring polyglot, it’s important that I have a bunch of resources at my disposal for language learning. I use a variety of resources for my learning, such as books, websites, apps, T.V. shows, movies, etc. Almost all of these resources are free too! These are some of my resources!

-Websites-

1. Omniglot

This website is more for finding information about languages and finding languages to learn. It has a very comprehensive list of languages and you can find plenty of secondary resources for learning the language. You can find tutors for that language, and even songs in your target language. I can just about guarantee you that no matter what language you’re looking for, it will be documented here. It is absolutely amazing, and it is a FANTASTIC resource for the dedicated linguist. Price- Free

http://www.omniglot.com/

2. Duolingo

This is both a website AND an app, however, I tend to use the website more frequently, mainly because I’m always on my laptop anyway. The learning system that this website uses makes out very easy to stay motivated, and the lessons are organized amazingly. Currently, the website offers about 27 different language courses for English speakers, and various language courses for speakers of languages other than English. You can set goals for yourself, take multiple courses, be involved in discussions, and even do translating activities. Beware though, it gets VERY addicting. Price- Free

https://www.duolingo.com

3. Memrise

Also a website AND an app, this is my all time favorite resource for learning languages. It has SO many languages to choose from, and it even offers subjects other than languages, although foreign language learning is its primary appeal factor. Price- Free

http://www.memrise.com/home/

4. BBC Languages

Although this sector of BBC has been archived and is no longer updated, it still contains some valuable information. It includes some useful phrases, alphabet guides, and jokes in many languages. You’re bound to learn something new there, so check it out! Price- Free

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

5. Foreign Service Institute (FSI)

This website offers language courses constructed by the U.S. government, and relies heavily on audio-based learning. However, many of the language courses include lessons in the form of pdf. There is a very large selection of languages to choose from, so this resource is very good for getting an excellent introduction to your target language. Price- Free

https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/

6. Live Lingua Project

Claiming to be the internet’s largest collection of free public domain language learning materials, this website is a MUST for language learners. It contains the FSI courses, Peace Corps language learning materials, and the DLI (military) language courses. It also offers Skype sessions for language learners in several different languages! The main appeal of this website, however, is the Peace Corps language material archive. There are SO many different languages to choose from, and there are many ebooks and audio files to take advantage of here. Price- Free

https://www.livelingua.com/#project

7. Languages On the Web

This website offers texts that translate English texts into 55 other languages. It is not a translator, it merely provides reading material in foreign languages to learners. It is a very useful website, especially for analyzing how sentences are formed in other languages. Price- Free

http://www.lonweb.org/

8. Learn 101

This website is really helpful for explaining grammatical concepts and for learning general stuff about languages, such as verbs, vocabulary, nouns, adjectives, basic phrases, foods, etc. There are quite alot of languages offered on this website, so it’s a great resource! Price- Free (for certain features)

http://learn101.org/

9. Clozemaster

This website is great for learning languages through a sentence based, contextual experience. It’s a bit like Duolingo in that sense, and it requires you to fill in missing words from sentences. In my opinion, it’s better for people with a background in their target language, and they offer many different options for languages. It’s also good for speakers of a native language other than English! Price- Free

https://www.clozemaster.com/

10. Lexicity

This is a great website for ancient language learners, and it provides resources for Egyptian, Mayan, Hittite, Latin, Old English, Etruscan, Gaulish, and several others. I have found the majority of resources that I have looked through helpful to my learning efforts. They have dictionaries, grammars, charts, and texts, and it is a very comprehensive resource. Price- Free

http://lexicity.com/

11. Book2

This is a good resource for learners looking for audio files to help them practice their listening. I haven’t used it all too much, but there are many language options, so you’re bound to find a language that you find interesting on here. Price- Free

http://www.goethe-verlag.com/book2/

12. Lang-8

This is a great resource for getting feedback on your writing in your target language. You can post things in your target language, and native speakers of that language will correct it, and you can do the same for other people! It’s very helpful, and is a great resource if you have to write in your target language often. Price- Free

http://lang-8.com/

13. Bilinguis

This website offers a few books to read in different languages and is good for comparing different languages of the same book. This makes for good practice for reading in your target language. Price- Free

http://bilinguis.com/

14. Udemy

There are quite a few languages courses on this website, although several of them cost money. However, there are quite a few courses that are free, and are good for introducing you to your language of choice. Price- Varies depending on the course, however, there are some free ones

https://www.udemy.com/courses/

-Apps- [For this, I can only give the price for iPhones, however, I am relatively sure that these should be the same price in the Android store]

1. Memrise

As mentioned above in the websites section, this app is so amazing for on-the-go language learning, as well as for subjects other than languages! It helps users memorize concepts with “meme” which are pictures that will remind you of what the word or concept means, and it’s such a unique and fun learning experience! It has the feel of using flashcards, but I just love using this app so much. Price- Free

2. Duolingo

Also mentioned in the websites section, this app is great for both learning new words and reviewing words that you have either memorized or have just been exposed to. There are grammar lessons available, translation activities, groups that you can join, and Duolingo makes it fun to learn a language with it’s reward system. Price- Free

3. HelloTalk

This is my absolute FAVORITE app to talk to native speakers of my target language(s). You can become language partners with people, help others with translations, video/voice call, send voice messages, and have as many partners as you want! It’s an absolutely amazing app, and I highly recommend it to everyone! Warning- If you’re a native English speaker looking for a native Chinese speaker, you will get HUNDREDS of requests. It might overwhelm you for a second. Price- Free

4. TuneIn Radio

This is really great for finding stations in your target language, and it helps with practicing both comprehension of spoken language as well as introduces you to awesome music in your target language! Price- Free

5. Tigercards

This app presents words in the form of lists, and gives you vocab so that you can review it. Not the best presentation of words and it doesn’t really offer a memorization technique like Memrise, but it’s still helpful! Price- Free

6. Busuu

This app is a bit like Duolingo, and it offers German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, Italian, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Japanese, and Chinese! Price- Free

7. uTalk

This app offers so many different languages, it’s pretty incredible. There are games that you can play, phrasebooks, and several other features. The interface is also really awesome and simple, so it makes learning easier than usual. Definitely a must have. Price- Free

8. Innovative Language

I haven’t used this app much, but I have heard that the lessons on this app are very good, and you can download the lessons so that you can view them offline. Price- Free

9. FlashSticks

This has been super helpful to me, in addition to the games and flashcards that it offers, it also provides an object scanner, which uses your camera to scan objects and then tells you what it’s called in your target language! Price- Free

10. Mondly

This has been an awesome resource for me since it’s a bit like Duolingo, only with more unique language options. I’m currently using it to learn Hindi, however, there are tons of other language options. The interface is awesome, and I love using it. Price- Free

11. MindSnacks

This company makes several different language apps, and currently I’m using the Mandarin, Japanese, and French ones. So far, I’ve really enjoyed these apps! Price- Free

12. Spotify

Through Spotify’s “Word” category, there are many different playlists dedicated to language learning, such as for Arabic, Mandarin, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, and Swedish! Price- Free

13. Quizlet

This is more of a diy language learning resource. It is not an inherent language learning resource, however, if you learn best through lists and/or flashcards, then this app allows you to make cards and review vocab that way! I use it all the time for exams! Price- Free

14. FluentU

This is an awesome app for watching videos in your target language, and is really good for learning new words. Price- the app is free, but the service is $15 per month or $120 per year

-Books-

1. Teach Yourself

This series offers an astounding number of languages, and I have found them to be pretty effective in helping me learn languages. I have used the Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, and Irish ones.

2. Barron’s Grammar and Verb books

I really like the way Barron’s does language books, so far I have used their Japanese grammar book and their Russian verbs book, and I really like the layout of them, especially the grammar book!

3. Dk Visual Bilingual Dictionaries

These are so helpful for me, I’ve been using the Mandarin and Japanese dictionaries for a long time, and they are so comprehensive and awesome!

4. Ethnologue

These aren’t language “learning” materials, but rather they help me find new languages to learn. These are more for the linguistic lovers, since they catalog almost every living language in the world in every country, and provide language maps and statistics. There’s really fascinating stuff in those books, so I highly recommend purchasing them. 

5. The “Dirty” books

So far, I have only used the Japanese version, however, I really like what the book includes, and it’s great for learning slang in your target language, and things that traditional textbooks wouldn’t teach you.

6. Living Language

I LOVE these books so much, I’ve used the Russian, Mandarin, and French ones and I’ve found them very helpful! The layout of these are very nice, and they’re pretty comprehensive.

7. Tuttle books

Tuttle offers several different language books, and they all are very good in my opinion. I have used their books for Arabic, Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and Hindi.

That’s all that I have right now, but if you all would like more resources than I will definitely make a second one!

finally found a method for watching online lectures that works for me!! while i watch a lecture i take cornell style notes, just quickly writing down the most important stuff and summarizing, because if i only watch the lecture i get bored so easily. i don't really stop the video and have the lecture slides open too, if i want to reread something. after that i make flashcards with the app brainyoo based on the lecture slides and my notes. ideally, i would revise the flashcards regularly but mostly i start studying them when exams approach.

hi i really want to learn kanji/katakana but i dont know where to start

Hi! Yeah, Japanese can be really daunting at first because it feels like there’s so much to learn and many places to start. I’m not sure whether or not you know hiragana already, but I’m going to list the way I started with Japanese kana (hiragana + katana) and then moved on to kanji. ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

Anything in bold is something I use/used/highly recommend!

1. LEARNING THE KANA ALPHABETS (HIRAGANA + KATAKANA)

I personally recommend learning the alphabets separately. Master one alphabet (I recommend hiragana first because it’s what you’ll use the most), and then move on to the next. I spent 2 days learning and mastering hiragana, and then slowly mastered katakana over a period of a few weeks because hiragana is everywhere, but katakana wasn’t an immediate concern for me. Obviously you need to learn both, but if you know hiragana you can jump into grammar, kanji, and other lessons while slowly mastering your katakana skills and becoming familiar with that alphabet through katakana vocabulary.

Here are some kana resources to try out!

Learn Hiragana: Tofugu’s Ultimate Guide *

Learn Katana: Tofugu’s Ultimate Guide *

Hiragana Drag-n-Drop

Katakana Drag-n-Drop

StickyStudy (phone app; on-the-go flashcards for learning kana)

Real Kana (quizzes you in different fonts to help you get used to different styles)

Practice katakana with Pokémon

* I’m not personally a fan of mnemonics, but I know a lot of people swear by them so it’s worth trying them and seeing if they work for you!

Both kana alphabets will become easier with exposure, so just keep practicing them over and over! 

2. KANJI

Okay, so I’m going to be honest – everyone learns kanji differently. Some people benefit from just writing them 100 times, other people need flashcards, and some people can see them 2 or 3 times and remember them forever. You’re going to have to find the best way to learn for you, but the following resources will at least get you started. The rest is up to you ^^

Japanesetest4you – a good way to learn kanji is in vocabulary words, so once you’ve learned hiragana you can jump right in to learning new vocabulary and mastering kanji along the way! I love this websites way of splitting vocab into JLPT levels

StickyStudy (phone app) – this costs ~$9.99, but is unbelievably useful because it has kanji split into grade levels, allows you to decide how many you see everyday, and so on. I also like that I can use it on the go!

MindSnacks (phone app) – also lets you practice kana, but can expose you to kanji in a fun, game-like format

WaniKani – people have mixed feelings about this website because it works for some and not for others, but the first 3 levels are free so you can get your feet wet and decide if it’s right for you!

Memrise courses

This N5 verb list – a good start to basic, common kanji you should learn!

TEXTBOOKS + BOOKS

Genki – as far as I know, this is one of the most popular textbooks for learning Japanese and I can vouch they’re really good. They teach certain amounts of kanji each lesson and expose you to those kanji continuously, eventually removing the furigana to force your brain to remember the kanji reading + meaning alone!

Basic Kanji Book – I’ve personally never used this, but I see it everywhere on langblr and it seems like a popular way to start learning kanji

When it comes to kanji, I think it’s important to understand how to read them and understand how they work in Japanese. Almost every kanij has multiple readings. Kunyomi (訓読み) is the Japanese reading and is generally used when one kanji is by itself, while the onyomi (音読み) is the Chinese reading and appears in compounds.

For example: the kanji 話, when by itself, is read はなし (story), or はな (as in the verb ‘to speak’ - 話す, hanasu). However, when found in a compound such as telephone (電話 でんわ), the kanji is read as わ/wa. I recommend reading Tae Kim’s Guide on kanji to further understand them! Understanding how kanji operate in Japanese was really helpful for my own learning.

I think it’s also important to remember that even Japanese people didn’t learn kanji all at once! They learned them by grade, learning anywhere for 80-140 kanji per year until they were in high school. These are called The Jouyou Kanji (常用漢字) and are essentially the 2,000+ kanji Japanese people are expected to know by the government. You can learn more about them here and here.

Good luck with your studies and I hope this helps! 

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