the start of my impossible list
I watched UnjadedJade’s video on the idea of making an impossible list and thought I’d start one to look back and reflect on later in life.
why don’t you try too?
study related
- become an architect (wow very surprising, I know)
- participate in EASA’s summer projects (European architecture students assembly)
- summer school at Bauhaus Dessau
- take a UAL online short course (specifically one on furniture design)
- learn about less represented architects (women, poc, queer humans and not just a ton of white cis men)
- spend time in Korea + China studying their architecture + urban planning
arts and culture
- work in a gallery (in any type of way)
- get the culture website I’m developing going + regularly publish the articles I’m preparing
- publish a book (how? ahah uhum yes we’ll try)
- learn to curate exhibitions and curate some (with a team, not just me)
- develop my editorial design skills + make my own designs for publications
languages
- speak Norwegian and Danish comfortably + sounding natural
- take a C1 exam in Russian
- become somewhat fluent in Korean + later, Mandarin as well
- improve my French (although I speak it every day, it’s needed)
literature
- read books in Swedish more often
- listen to France Culture more often
- read more authors of less represented origins, genders and situations
- learn more about Japanese, Chinese and Korean literature
How to learn a language when you don’t know where to start:
General Plan:
Weeks 1 and 2: Purpose:
- Learn the fundamentals sentence construction
- Learn how to spell and count
- Start building a phrase stockpile with basic greetings
- The Alphabet
- Numbers 1 - 100
- Subject Pronouns
- Common Greetings
- Conjugate the Two Most Important Verbs: to be and to have
- Basic Definite and Indefinite Articles
Weeks 3 and 4: Purpose:
- Learn essential vocabulary for the day-to-day
- Start conjugating regular verbs
- Days of the Week and Months of the Year
- How to tell the time
- How to talk about the weather
- Family Vocabulary
- Present Tense Conjugations Verbs
Weeks 5 and 6: Purpose:
- Warm up with the last of the day-to-day vocabulary
- Add more complex types of sentences to your grammar
- Colours
- House vocabulary
- How to ask questions
- Present Tense Conjugations Verbs
- Forming negatives
Weeks 7 and 8: Purpose:
- Learn how to navigate basic situations in a region of your target language country
- Finish memorising regular conjugation rules
- Food Vocabulary and Ordering at Restaurants
- Money and Shopping Phrases
- Present Tense Conjugations Verbs
Weeks 9 and 10: Purpose:
- Start constructing descriptive and more complex sentences
- Adjectives
- Reflective verbs
- Places vocabulary
Weeks 11 and 12: Purpose:
- Add more complex descriptions to your sentences with adverbs
- Wrap up vocabulary essentials
- Adverbs
- Parts of the body and medical vocabulary
Tips for Learning a Foreign Language:
Learning Vocabulary:
What vocabulary should I be learning?
- There are hundreds of thousands of words in every language, and the large majority of them won’t be immediately relevant to you when you’re starting out.Typically, the most frequent 3000 words make up 90% of the language that a native speaker uses on any given day. Instead try to learn the most useful words in a language, and then expand outwards from there according to your needs and interests.
- Choose the words you want/need to learn.
- Relate them to what you already know.
- Review them until they’ve reached your long-term memory.
- Record them so learning is never lost.
- Use them in meaningful human conversation and communication.
How should I record the vocabulary?
- Learners need to see and/or hear a new word of phrase 6 to 17 times before they really know a piece of vocabulary.
- Keep a careful record of new vocabulary.
- Record the vocabulary in a way that is helpful to you and will ensure that you will practice the vocabulary, e.g. flashcards.
- Vocabulary should be organised so that words are easier to find, e.g. alphabetically or according to topic.
- Ideally when noting vocabulary you should write down not only the meaning, but the grammatical class, and example in a sentence, and where needed information about structure.
How should I practice using the vocabulary?
- Look, Say, Cover, Write and Check - Use this method for learning and remembering vocabulary. This method is really good for learning spellings.
- Make flashcards. Write the vocabulary on the front with the definition and examples on the back.
- Draw mind maps or make visual representations of the new vocabulary groups.
- Stick labels or post it notes on corresponding objects, e.g when learning kitchen vocabulary you could label items in your house.
How often should I be practising vocabulary?
- A valuable technique is ‘the principle of expanding rehearsal’. This means reviewing vocabulary shortly after first learning them then at increasingly longer intervals.
- Ideally, words should be reviewed:
- 5-10 minutes later
- 24 hours later
- One week later
- 1-2 months later
- 6 months later
Knowing a vocabulary item well enough to use it productively means knowing:
- Its written and spoken forms (spelling and pronunciation).
- Its grammatical category and other grammatical information
- Related words and word families, e.g. adjective, adverb, verb, noun.
- Common collocations (Words that often come before or after it).
Receptive Skills: Listening and Reading
- Reading is probably one of the most effective ways of building vocabulary knowledge.
- Listening is also important because it occupies a big chunk of the time we spend communicating.
Tips for reading in a foreign language:
- Start basic and small. Children’s books are great practice for beginners. Don’t try to dive into a novel or newspaper too early, since it can be discouraging and time consuming if you have to look up every other word.
- Read things you’ve already read in your native language. The fact that you at least know the gist of the story will help you to pick up context clues, learn new vocabulary and grammatical constructions.
- Read books with their accompanying audio books. Reading a book while listening to the accompanying audio will improve your “ear training”. It will also help you to learn the pronunciation of words.
Tips for listening in a foreign language:
- Watch films in your target language.
- Read a book while also listening along to the audio book version.
- Listen to the radio in your target language.
- Watch videos online in your target language.
Activities to do to show that you’ve understood what you’ve been listening to:
- Try drawing a picture of what was said.
- Ask yourself some questions about it and try to answer them.
- Provide a summary of what was said.
- Suggest what might come next in the “story.”
- Translate what was said into another language.
- “Talk back” to the speaker to engage in imaginary conversation.
Productive Skills: Speaking and Writing
Tips for speaking in a foreign language:
- If you can, try to speak the language every day either out loud to yourself or chat to another native speaker whether it is a colleague, a friend, a tutor or a language exchange partner.
- Write a list of topics and think about what you could say about each one. First you could write out your thoughts and then read them out loud. Look up the words you don’t know. You could also come up with questions at the end to ask someone else.
- A really good way to improve your own speaking is to listen to how native speakers talk and imitate their accent, their rhythm of speech and tone of voice. Watch how their lips move and pay attention to the stressed sounds. You could watch interviews on YouTube or online news websites and pause every so often to copy what you have just heard. You could even sing along to songs sung in the target language.
- Walk around the house and describe what you say. Say what you like or dislike about the room or the furniture or the decor. Talk about what you want to change.This gets you to practise every day vocabulary.
Tips for writing in a foreign language:
- Practice writing in your target language. Keep it simple to start with. Beginner vocabulary and grammar concepts are generally very descriptive and concrete.
- Practice writing by hand. Here are some things you can write out by hand:
- Diary entries
- Shopping lists
- Reminders
What could I write about?
- Write about your day, an interesting event, how you’re feeling, or what you’re thinking.
- Make up a conversation between two people.
- Write a letter to a friend, yourself, or a celebrity. You don’t need to send it; just writing it will be helpful.
- Translate a text you’ve written in your native language into your foreign language.
- Write a review or a book you’ve recently read or a film you’ve recently watched.
- Write Facebook statuses, Tweets or Tumblr posts (whether you post them or not will be up to you).
- Write a short story or poem.
Writing is one of the hardest things to do well as a non-native speaker of a language, because there’s no room to hide.
There are lots of ways to improve your writing ability, but they can be essentially boiled down to three key components:
- Read a lot
- Write a lot
- Get your writing corrected
I never wrote a post before but I feel the urgency to talk to somebody. To talk about my deepest psyche. To someone that will not judge me and just listen.
Is there in the world somebody capable to just listen in silence?
Studying Independently
When you start university, one of the biggest shocks to the system can be the leap from teacher-led learning to self-directed study. At times, it is challenging to cope with.
Independent study requires a whole new approach to education. Forget everything you know about how to study (well, not all of it!). You’ll need to become responsible for your own learning and be proactive; the only person you can rely on is yourself. It may sound daunting but it can be quite liberating. After all, your tutors are willing to help you with any problems that may arise, just don’t depend on them to tell you what to do and when to do it.
Be proactive:
- Take control: universities try their best to offer all the help, materials and guidance possible, and although they offer it they do not give it to you. You must decide what you need and seek it out yourself, whether it be recording equipment for a media piece you’re producing, a meeting with a mental health specialist for when things get tough, or advice about referencing.
- Know the essentials: your module lead should put out a handbook with essential information such as deadlines, assessment briefs and what they expect from you. Make this your bible.
- Find your own resources: although your teacher should provide a reading list, this is not a strict guide. To succeed you must go above and beyond that which is provided. The reading list should be a springboard for you to go and find related texts and deepen your understanding.
- Go beyond the lecture hall: make the most of the opportunities that university provides you. Join that society! Attend that guest lecturer’s talk! Volunteer! You are multifaceted, so show employers that you are more than your education.
- Deal with stress: university can be a stressful time. Don’t wait until the stress builds up and you breakdown. Be proactive and dedicate time each day to relax and be mindful. Meditation is key.
Manage your time:
- Create a task matrix: Focus Matrix from the App Store is great for this! Divide your tasks into “Important”, “Not Important”, “Urgent” and “Not Urgent”. It will stop you wasting time doing pointless tasks, something which we tend to do while procrastinating.
Motivation:
- Intrinsic motivation: this comes from your interest in the subject and a curiosity to find out more. It assumes no reward, or at least the reward of satiated curiosity.
- Extrinsic motivation: being motivated by external rewards such as good grades, scholarships and approval form others. However this type of motivation is not sustainable.
reblog and make a wish! this was removed from tumbrl due to “violating one or more of Tumblr’s Community Guidelines”, but since my wish came true the first time, I’m putting it back. :)
ryedragon
OH MY FUCKING GOD, IT’S BACK ON MY DASH.
THIS SHIT WORKS OKAY, I AM DEAD SERIOUS.
The last time I saw this on my dash, I didn’t think it would happen, so jokingly I wished I could go to a fun. concert.
AND GUESS WHAT, I WENT TO A FUCKING FUN. CONCERT.
THIS SHIT WORKS, TRY IT.
displaced-angel
YOOOOOOO
I SAW THIS ON MY DASH THE OTHER DAY AND THOUGHT “ITS WORTH A TRY” SO I WISHED I COULD GET A 3DS
LITERALLY LIKE 4 DAYS LATER MY DAD SENT ME A PICTURE OF THE 3DS XL HE BOUGHT FOR ME WHILE I WAS AT SCHOOL
IM STILL FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS
holy fuck, I didn’t expect this to work, I was like psh, whatever it’s just a quick reblog, but I wished my Dad would actually respond back to me AND HE FUCKING DID A FEW DAYS LATER, I GOT A FUCKING TEXT FROM MY DAD TODAY WHO HASN’T SPOKEN OR RESPONDED TO ME IN MONTHS HOLY FUCK WHAT IS THIS MAGIC IT WORKS.
riningear
I WANTED TO SEE MY BOYFRIEND AND I DIDN’T THINK I’D GET DAYS OFF BUT THIS WEEKEND I’M HEADING UP THERE??? THIS IS CRAZY SHIT
spoopy-len-in-a-dress
SO LIKE I JOKINGLY WISHED FOR MY OWN LEN KAGAMINE AND THEN LIKE A WEEK LATER I GOT A LEN NENDOROID??? H ELP
themixedbagofspooky
WTF OKAY SO THIS SHOT ACTUALLY WORKS BECAUSE WHEN I WISHED, I HAD WISHED MY CRUSH WOULD LIKE ME BACK AND GUESS WHAT? I HAVE A BOYFRIEND NOW. WHAT THE HELLLLL?????
highonvodka
ok I’ve said this before but IM DOING IT AGAIN THE FIRST TIME I SAW THIS, MY WISH DID COME TRUE SO I REBLOGED AGAIN AND SAID IT IN THE TAGS BUT THEN I WISHED FOR SMTH ELSE AND IT LITERALLY LITERALLY HAPPENED LIKE A COUPLE DAYS LATER WHAT THE HELL SO NOW IM WRITING THIS HERE FOR YOU BC I DONT BELIEVE IN THIS CRAP BUT STILL IT’S AN AWFULLY BIG COINCIDENCE
2spookysamy
THE BOY I FELL I LOVE WITH LEFT TO TRAVEL THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD AND HAS BEEN GONE NOW FOR 3 MONTHS. WE HAVENT SPOKEN SINCE BECAUSE I DIDNT WANT TO MAKE HIM FEEL TRAPPED TO ME AND NOT ENJOY HIS TIME SO I WAITED FOR HIM TO CONTACT ME FIRST. I SAW THIS ON A PARTICULARLY LOW DAY WHEN I WAS MISSING HIM SO MUCH I CRIED FROM THE PAIN, GUYS I REALLY LOVE HIM, SO I THOUGHT MEH WHAT THE FUCK, AND WISHED HE WOULD JUST LET ME KNOW HE WAS OKAY.
GUYS.
HE FUCKING CALLED ME 20 MINUTES LATER
20 FUCKNG. MINUTES. LATER.
GOOD THINGS DO HAPPEN. AND ITS IN THIS POST.
I wish for someone to leave something in my ask.
crotchkat-vantass
OKAY SO I ASKED FOR A HEDGEHOG AND NOW GUESS WHO HAS A PET HEDGEHOG
mitunas-choice-rump
UM I DID THIS LIKE SERIOSLY LAST WEEK SOMETHING BASIC AND IT HAPPENED???
determind
I’M NOT KIDDING I MADE A WISH AND IT WORKED TOO LIKE IT WAS SO VERY IMPROBABLE THAT IT WOULD HAPPEN BUT IT DID????
sad—quotes
it’s worth a try
tcc-angel
Everyone in the tcc
everyone who reads this post will get some big spicy joy within 24 large minutes (hours)
strippeddaddy
Absolutely love this
dorm friendly magick for broom-closeted student witches
Got roommates that aren’t into witchcraft/magick? Can’t burn incense in your dorm room? Don’t have time for elaborate rituals between studying for exams and writing papers? I’ve been there. Here are some of my favorite undercover spells and rituals for witches living that college life.
Journal Magick
- Keep a manifestation journal! Find a journal that really speaks to you and makes you feel good every time you open it, whether it’s a bulky leatherbound tome or has a holographic cover and hot pink pages – what matters is that you feel a connection to it.
- Every morning, write down the things you want to manifest in your journal in the present tense, as if they had already happened. [Note: this works better if you are writing the same thing every day for at least a few weeks. Consistent intent is key!]
- For more information on this type of manifestation, just search “scripting” on YouTube and you’ll find approximately 642934 videos on the subject.
- This is a really great technique for closet witches, because no one is going to be suspicious of you writing in a notebook – plus, it’s normal for people to want to keep their journals private.
- Work with correspondences just like you would for a normal spell! You can print out photos of herbs, crystals, tarot cards, astrological signs, or moon phases that correspond to your intention and glue them into your journal (or draw them, if you have artistic talent). You could even get an essential oil that matches your intention and dab a drop of it on the page. You’re essentially creating an altar dedicated to your intention, just on paper instead of in a physical altar space.
- Tap into the magick of color by writing your intentions with a pen in a corresponding color (green = abundance/wealth, pink = love and friendship, yellow = academic success, etc.).
Tea and Coffee Magick
- Tea and coffee are already essentially potions, and no one is going to think twice about a college student drinking a lot of coffee/tea.
- Coffee is associated with grounding and protection, and it adds energy to any spell it is added to. Black tea is associated with protection, courage, and abundance. Green and white tea have their own, slightly different magickal uses. Based on these correspondences, you can use coffee and tea as a base for undercover potions!
- For mental clarity and memory retention, brew a mixture of black coffee, lion’s mane, chaga, and ginger. For a caffeine-free alternative, brew an herbal tea with rosemary and peppermint.
- To cleanse negative energy and release stress, brew a mixture of black coffee, Ashwagandha, cinnamon, tulsi or basil, and Eleuthero.
This is based on a Four Sigmatic blend, lmao. - For a sneaky prosperity spell, brew a mixture of black coffee, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla. Yes, that is essentially pumpkin pie spice, and yes, you can use a pre-mixed pumpkin pie blend instead of buying the individual spices.
- I could go on, but you get the idea. You can customize your morning beverage to suit any magickal or spiritual need.
- Most plants have medicinal uses that are the same or similar to their magickal uses. So if anyone asks, tell them you’re adding these extra herbs for their nutritional and/or medicinal value.
- You can also charge your tea or coffee with crystals. Just set a small crystal associated with your intention (amethyst for mental clarity, black tourmaline for protection, citrine for prosperity, etc.) next to the mug for a few minutes, or place it on top of your coffee maker. Be sure to charge both the crystal and the drink with your intention!
Candle Magick
- If your dorm lets you have candles then congrats, because candle spells are both super powerful and a super easy way to hide your magick in plain sight.
- Find a candle in a scent and color that match your intention. For example, you could use a pink, rose-scented candle for a love spell.
- You can find custom spell candles made by witches for witches on Amazon and Etsy, and these have the added bonus of having been specifically created for magickal use. Some of the businesses I’ve personally had good experiences with are Art of the Root (available on Amazon), Esoteric Arts (available on Etsy), and Crystal Journey (Amazon).
- That being said, I’ve gotten good results with $1.99 scented candles from Walmart, so please don’t feel like you need to spend a fortune on special candles for your spell to be successful.
- In a pinch, an unscented white candle can be used for any intention. You can get these at the dollar store, and it’s never a bad idea to have a few on hand.
Oil Magick
- Your dorm has a no-open-flames rule, so candles and incense are out of the question. No problem – you can get similar results with essential oils.
- An essential oil literally contains the concentrated essence of a plant. Magickally speaking, this makes them a powerful way to add some oomph to your spells. They’re also commonly used for aromatherapy, so your roommate probably won’t be phased by you diffusing them in your dorm.
- You can create custom EO blends the same way you would create an incense blend, by combining different plants based on their correspondences. You can also buy pre-mixed blends online if you’re feeling lazy or if you have a certain blend you know you’re going to use a lot like, say, a focus-enhancing blend for studying.
- Another option, and one that’s more traditionally witchy, is to use magickal oils/ritual oils. A magickal oil is an oil that has been created for a specific magickal purpose – it’s like a spell in a bottle. A ritual oil is created for a specific use in magickal ritual. You can find tons of different ways to incorporate these oils into your daily life for some very subtle witchcraft.
- You can create your own magickal oils by combining herbs, essential oils, and crystals that match your intention, or you can buy magickal oil blends from witch-owned businesses. Art of the Root has my absolute favorite oils – I have like six different blends, and they’re all ridiculously powerful.
- Some ways you can use magickal oils: 1.) wear them as a body oil, 2.) diffuse them like you would an essential oil blend, 3.) use them to anoint and bless objects, like tests or study guides, 4.) add them to spiritual baths, and a million more. [Note: many magickal oils come with real herbs and resins in the bottle. These chunky bits could damage a diffuser, so do keep that in mind.]
- Personally, I wear magickal oils on a daily basis in the place of perfume, since most of the ones I own smell really good. As I apply them, I say a small incantation to power them up. For example, if I’m wearing an attraction oil, when I put it on I’ll say something like, “I am powerfully attractive to the people and things that will improve my life.” Which oil I choose to wear depends on the day and the area of my life where I want some extra help.
Tech Magick
- The nice thing about being a witch in the 21st century is that, if all else fails, you can keep your entire magickal practice contained on your laptop and/or phone. And even if you’re not doing 100% of your witchcraft in a virtual space, you can still use your technology as a tool in your practice.
- Pinterest is the ultimate visualization tool. You can create a virtual altar to a deity or spirit guide by dedicating a Pinterest board to them, or create vision boards for the things you want to manifest, or create a brainstorming space to plan your full moon rituals… the possibilities are endless.
- Keep your Book of Shadows and/or manifestation journal in a Word document. If you’re really concerned about privacy, you can even password protect these documents. Another pro of an electronic Book of Shadows is that most word processors have a “search” function that lets you look things up more easily.
- Make a devotional playlist for a deity or spirit guide. Making Spotify playlists for my deities is one of my favorite devotional acts! I’ll put together all of the songs that remind me of that deity, and I can listen to it anytime, anywhere to instantly connect with them. And don’t be afraid to ask your deities what type of music they like – you may be surprised by the answer!
If any other witches have similar tips, feel free to add onto this! This is just stuff that I’ve found works for me, but magick is deeply personal and everyone will do things a little bit differently.
And not to shove my content in everyone’s faces, but I did just post a spell to enchant your school notebooks on my YouTube channel, so check that out if you’re interested!