by Denny Bitte

02.07.20 / since i spent most of yesterday writing, i thought i’d catch up on language work today. i reread some japanese texts while listening to my favorite japanese songs. so much good vibes, i tell you!! i hope you’re having a good thursday ♡

○ 625 words to know in your target language ○

There is a really interesting blog called “Fluent Forever” that aids foreign language learners in tricks, tips and techniques to guide them to achieving fluency “quickly” and efficiently. One of the tricks is to learn these 625 vocab words in your target language, that way you have a basis to start delving into grammar with ease as you can understand a lot of vocab right off the bat. Plus this list of words are common across the world and will aid you in whatever language you are learning. Here is the list in thematic order :

• Animal: dog, cat, fish, bird, cow, pig, mouse, horse, wing, animal

• Transportation: train, plane, car, truck, bicycle, bus, boat, ship, tire, gasoline, engine, (train) ticket, transportation

• Location: city, house, apartment, street/road, airport, train station, bridge, hotel, restaurant, farm, court, school, office, room, town, university, club, bar, park, camp, store/shop, theater, library, hospital, church, market, country (USA, France, etc.), building, ground, space (outer space), bank, location

• Clothing: hat, dress, suit, skirt, shirt, T-shirt, pants, shoes, pocket, coat, stain, clothing

• Color: red, green, blue (light/dark), yellow, brown, pink, orange, black, white, gray, color

• People: son, daughter, mother, father, parent (= mother/father), baby, man, woman, brother, sister, family, grandfather, grandmother, husband, wife, king, queen, president, neighbor, boy, girl, child (= boy/girl), adult (= man/woman), human (≠ animal), friend (Add a friend’s name), victim, player, fan, crowd, person

• Job: Teacher, student, lawyer, doctor, patient, waiter, secretary, priest, police, army, soldier, artist, author, manager, reporter, actor, job

• Society: religion, heaven, hell, death, medicine, money, dollar, bill, marriage, wedding, team, race (ethnicity), sex (the act), sex (gender), murder, prison, technology, energy, war, peace, attack, election, magazine, newspaper, poison, gun, sport, race (sport), exercise, ball, game, price, contract, drug, sign, science, God

• Art: band, song, instrument (musical), music, movie, art

• Beverages: coffee, tea, wine, beer, juice, water, milk, beverage

• Food: egg, cheese, bread, soup, cake, chicken, pork, beef, apple, banana, orange, lemon, corn, rice, oil, seed, knife, spoon, fork, plate, cup, breakfast, lunch, dinner, sugar, salt, bottle, food

• Home: table, chair, bed, dream, window, door, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, pencil, pen, photograph, soap, book, page, key, paint, letter, note, wall, paper, floor, ceiling, roof, pool, lock, telephone, garden, yard, needle, bag, box, gift, card, ring, tool

• Electronics: clock, lamp, fan, cell phone, network, computer, program (computer), laptop, screen, camera, television, radio

• Body: head, neck, face, beard, hair, eye, mouth, lip, nose, tooth, ear, tear (drop), tongue, back, toe, finger, foot, hand, leg, arm, shoulder, heart, blood, brain, knee, sweat, disease, bone, voice, skin, body

• Nature: sea, ocean, river, mountain, rain, snow, tree, sun, moon, world, Earth, forest, sky, plant, wind, soil/earth, flower, valley, root, lake, star, grass, leaf, air, sand, beach, wave, fire, ice, island, hill, heat, nature

• Materials: glass, metal, plastic, wood, stone, diamond, clay, dust, gold, copper, silver, material

• Math/Measurements: meter, centimeter, kilogram, inch, foot, pound, half, circle, square, temperature, date, weight, edge, corner

• Misc Nouns: map, dot, consonant, vowel, light, sound, yes, no, piece, pain, injury, hole, image, pattern, noun, verb, adjective

• Directions: top, bottom, side, front, back, outside, inside, up, down, left, right, straight, north, south, east, west, direction

• Seasons: Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall, season

• Numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 50, 51, 52, 60, 61, 62, 70, 71, 72, 80, 81, 82, 90, 91, 92, 100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 10000, 100000, million, billion, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, number

• Months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

• Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

• Time: year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second , morning, afternoon, evening, night, time

• Verbs: work, play, walk, run, drive, fly, swim, go, stop, follow, think, speak/say, eat, drink, kill, die, smile, laugh, cry, buy, pay, sell, shoot(a gun), learn, jump, smell, hear (a sound), listen (music), taste, touch, see (a bird), watch (TV), kiss, burn, melt, dig, explode, sit, stand, love, pass by, cut, fight, lie down, dance, sleep, wake up, sing, count, marry, pray, win, lose, mix/stir, bend, wash, cook, open, close, write, call, turn, build, teach, grow, draw, feed, catch, throw, clean, find, fall, push, pull, carry, break, wear, hang, shake, sign, beat, lift

• Adjectives: long, short (long), tall, short (vs tall), wide, narrow, big/large, small/little, slow, fast, hot, cold, warm, cool, new, old (new), young, old (young), good, bad, wet, dry, sick, healthy, loud, quiet, happy, sad, beautiful, ugly, deaf, blind, nice, mean, rich, poor, thick, thin, expensive, cheap, flat, curved, male, female, tight, loose, high, low, soft, hard, deep, shallow, clean, dirty, strong, weak, dead, alive, heavy, light (heavy), dark, light (dark), nuclear, famous

• Pronouns: I, you (singular), he, she, it, we, you (plural, as in “y’all”), they.

The original blogpost I copied this list from (it includes more tips & tricks to learning vocab) : https://fluent-forever.com/the-method/vocabulary/base-vocabulary-list/

I’m going to be making my own vocab lists using these words for my target languages of Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese. I’ll be posting the vocab by theme on my blog, so make sure to follow me https://asian-lang-stubyblr.tumblr.com if you are interesting in seeing those!

study tips: from me to me

I see a lot of posts with study tips for students new and old. A good few of them seem to be pretty good while others also seem to have unrealistic advice and unachievable standards. This is post is more of an exercise for me to acknowledge my weaknesses and strengths, and to figure out which study tips actually work for me. My study tips for myself may not apply to everyone since we’re all individuals with different preferences. Please, keep in mind that these study tips are directed towards myself, though I do hope they help other students.

Although, I do suggest everyone gives this exercise a try. Which study tips would you give yourself to be a better student, based on your previous school year?

Develop a routine

I crave routines, organisation, and structure. It helps me to keep a clear head and feel like I am in control of my choices and my performance.

Study full-time ≈ 40h/week

This is actually a tip I got from Jamie from TheStriveToFit on youtube. I don’t remember which video it was, but I’ll just write what I remember her saying. I recommend her youtube channel to all kinds of students, she has great advice whether you’re majoring in med or language or any other field. :)

No zero days

This is tip I saw a few years ago on tumblr somewhere and for me the concept works. I don’t remember who posted, but if you are out there, THANKS!!

Limit your electronic entertainment

Lately, I have been trying to limit my time on Netflix, HBO, and YouTube, in order to have more time to read and study. Yes, I am an adult now, but for me being an adult doesn’t mean binging on TV and not being responsible for my studies.

Develop the habit of caring for yourself

This is a very generic tip, but also a very undervalued tip. We are creatures of habit. The habits we develop now in our teens and 20′s are what we will be carrying with us for most of our lives. Yes, it is possible to break habits, but it isn’t as common as you think. Focus on habits which will be beneficial to your health now and throughout your life.

You CANNOT live off of energy drinks and fast food. Please, stop glorifying fast food as a staple for a student diet. You can eat healthy on a student budget. Also, the concept of “treat yourself” shouldn’t be something you do everyday. Treating yourself can mean treating yourself to some extra calories one day, it doesn’t have to be a large pepperoni pizza, a hot fudge sundae, and a box of donuts. I have to admit, it sounds delicious, but sometimes it’s best to not have such an epic splurge. I do that only once every three months, but mostly when I treat myself, it’s something small that won’t have a negative impact on my diet focus.

Don’t pull all-nighters and stay up until the early hours cramming for an exam. I usually know when an exam is coming a few weeks in advanced and so do most students. This means you have plenty of time to schedule your  studying so that you learn and understand enough to pass the exam. Failing an exam isn’t everything, but it sure is an inconvenience to arrange a retake exam. Also, the lack of sleep/irregular sleep pattern causes more harm than good.

That’s all I have for now. Feel free to share or message me on what your thoughts are :) Have a good day!

2020年3月29日

Staying at home and preparing the next chapter.

I saw everyone on twitter tearing Emma Watson apart for saying she’s self - partnered instead of single and decided to watch her interview for British Vogue to know what the hell was she trying to say with that. I was very surprised to find a 30 minute video in which amongst other things she talks about the following:

Every media outlet decided to focus in an out of context quote from the three minutes she talked about her dating life when the actual interview had a lot of depth and way more important things were discussed. I’m sad and angry but not surprised.

English Language Resources

This is a masterpost for those that are learning English as a second language. As someone that used to be in ESL classes, I wanted to provide people this list, along with some great language learning tools, to make learning English more enjoyable.

General Lessons

Grammar

Vocabulary

Books (PDF) 

Online English Courses

Apps

YouTube:

Posts

Other Helpful Websites to Master English:

sea horse (by Zanthia)

And embraced in the warm and yielding touch, of some grand divinity; ancient, and earthly, and tangible as the soil

// Part 19

2018-10-03

Learning French on YouTube

Hey guys, here are some of my favorite channels on youtube for learning French.

Francais avec Pierre  - great channel if you want to know more about grammar rules and expressions, how to sound really French and natural. He also makes videos about the DELF/DALF exams…

Comme une Française  - also very good if you are confused about certain things… you can learn a lot about used expressions and words you would not find in a book

1 jour, 1 question - the main purpose of this channel is to explain things to kids, but in a fun way. It’s animated and short, but it’s great for obtaining a wide range of vocabulary, because the themes go from politics, geography and history to something like animals and food. Also might be good for learning about some history things, and interesting new facts, not just learning French.

Learn French with FrenchPod101.com  - again… grammar, expressions, vocabulary channel

Cyprien - this is the only channel that is just a normal channel, not meant for learning French (but I am sure everyone knows Cyprien anyway). I just really enjoy his videos and it’s very useful for learning new words and of course for some listening practice.

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I am sure there are many more channels like these… but I just wanted to write down my favorite ones for you guys

Damon and Jo is a great channel too!!! Lots of lil French learning tips but also videos en français for you to listen to (and I think you can put English subtitles if you need!)

Free Online Language Courses

Here is a masterpost of MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are available, archived, or starting soon. I think they will help those that like to learn with a teacher or with videos.  You can always check the audit course or no certificate option so that you can learn for free.

American Sign Language

Arabic

Catalan Sign Language

Chinese

Beginner

Intermediate

Dutch

English

Faroese

Finnish

French

Beginner

Intermediate & Advanced

Frisian

German

Beginner

Advanced

Hebrew

Hindi

Icelandic

Indonesian

Irish

Italian

Beginner

Intermediate & Advaned

Japanese

Kazakh

Korean

Beginner

Intermediate

Nepali

Norwegian

Portuguese

Russian

Beginner

Advanced

Spanish

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Swedish

Ukrainian

Welsh

Multiple Languages

Last updated: March 1, 2017

How to Create a Self-Study Schedule

If you’re studying any foreign language on your own (or without a course) you’re going to need to be extra organized. Your language study is in your own hands and so is how much you learn. There is no one holding you accountable or motivated either. So it’s entirely up to you to make sure you’re organized and planning enough material that your learning at a comfortable pace. There are roughly two ways to learn languages on your own. There are roughly two ways to go about planning your language study: intensively or casually. Here are my tips for intensive studying and I’ll post about casual studying soon:

Keep reading

Keep your #browsonfleek with Maybelline’s Define & Fill Duo like @refinery29 does here! 📷 by @jamienelson6, makeup by @manthony783 #mnybrows