jaemstudies

[jaemstudies]

Happy Valentine's Day, langblrs

[jaemstudies]

It's always sooooo funny when English people or Americans are like "Why are Irish names so hard to pronounce?? Why are these Welsh words so insane???" that's because it is a different language that you do not speak hope this helps ❤️

[jaemstudies]

Korean Word of the Day

동상

Statue

[jaemstudies]

Two new open-access books on inclusion and decolonization in linguistics!

Inclusion in Linguistics, Anne H. Charity Hudley, Christine Mallinson, Mary Bucholtz (Eds.) (2024), Oxford University Press

Full-text PDF Companion website

Decolonizing Linguistics, Anne H. Charity Hudley, Christine Mallinson, Mary Bucholtz (Eds.) (2024), Oxford University Press

Full-text PDF Companion website

Per Anne H. Charity Hudley, "we strongly encourage readers to engage with [the books] as a pair. The volumes and the models of decolonized and inclusive research, teaching, advocacy, and action that they present are informed by each other." (Source)

They also ask: "In support of publication justice, please share the links rather than the PDF files so that our authors get the download documentation and credit for their work that they deserve." (Source)

Go forth and be educated!

[jaemstudies]

Apps/sites for learning Japanese

Can't believe how high quality these free resources are!

Last updated: 2025-01-05

コース

Minato

Free high-quality interactive self-guided courses. It also has live courses (I haven't tried it yet).

Preview

TUFS Language Modules

From Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

The English version currently only has the pronunciation and dialog modules, so I'm studying the Traditional Chinese version.

Features

Vocabulary list by topics (Chinese)

Dialog

Pronunciation guide

辞書

Kakimashou

Features

Stroke order

Tone

Preview

Jisho

Super clean interface

Features

Tone

Has JLPT tags

Lots of sentence examples

アプリ

Miraa

The Miraa app makes it easy to listen and repeat (the shadowing/echoing technique).

It has a paid version, but I find the free version to be good enough

Features

Can directly paste links from YouTube

Can ask AI for an explanation of words/sentences you don't understand

Has search built in to search for podcasts in Japanese

renshuu

Also available as a web app

その他(た)のツール

Google - Text-to-Speech AI

Useful for reading out my transcripts. It already sounds much more natural than I do, so I can import it to Miraa and shadow my writings.

10ten Japanese Reader (Rikaichamp)

This is a Chrome extension that I use. I used to use Yomichan and then Yomitan after Yomichan sunsetted. But I personally like 10ten's UI.

Preview

[jaemstudies]

Korean Word of the Day

벽지

Wallpaper

[jaemstudies]

[jaemstudies]

me watching cdramas while crocheting so i’m only catching half the words: ah yes, immersive learning

[jaemstudies]

[A white fortune cookie paper with blue text. Front: Happier days are definitely ahead for you. Lucky Numbers 2, 36, 21, 3, 49, 37 Back: January, Chinese text 一 (yī) 月 (yuè)]

[jaemstudies]

The thing with the Mari Lwyd, though, is that it's being... I don't know, 'appropriated' is the wrong word, but certainly turned into something it isn't.

Thing is, this is a folk tradition in the Welsh language, and that's the most important aspect of it. I feel partly responsible for this, because I accidentally became a bit of an expert on the topic of the Mari Lwyd in a post that escaped Tumblr containment, and I clearly didn't stress it strongly enough there (in my defence, I wrote that post for ten likes and some attention); but this is a Welsh language tradition, conducted in Welsh, using Welsh language poetic forms that are older than the entire English language, and also a very specific sung melody (with a very specific first verse; that's Cân y Fari). It is not actually a 'rap battle'. It's not a recited poem. It is not any old rhyme scheme however you want.

It is not in English.

Given the extensive and frankly ongoing attempts by England to wipe out Welsh, and its attendant cultural traditions, the Mari is being revived across Wales as an act of linguistic-cultural defiance. She's a symbol of Welsh language culture, specifically; an icon to remind that we are a distinct people, with our own culture and traditions, and in spite of everyone and everything, we're still here. Separating her from that by removing the Welsh is, to put it mildly, wildly disrespectful.

...but it IS what I'm increasingly seeing, both online and in real world Mari Lwyd festivals. She's gained enormous pop-culture popularity in recent years, which is fantastic; but she's also been reduced from the tradition to just an aesthetic now.

So many people are talking/drawing about her as though she's a cryptid or a mythological figure, rather than the folk practice of shoving a skull on a stick and pretending to be a naughty horse for cheese and drunken larks. And I get it! It's an intriguing visual! Some of the artwork is great! But this is not what she is. She's not a Krampus equivalent for your Dark Christmas aesthetic.

I see people writing their own version of the pwnco (though never called the pwnco; almost always called some variant on 'Mari Lwyd rap battle'), and as fun as these are, they are never even written in the meter and poetic rules of Cân y Fari, much less in Welsh, and they never conclude with the promise to behave before letting the Mari into the house. The pwnco is the central part to the tradition; this is the Welsh language part, the bit that's important and matters.

Mari Lwyd festivals are increasingly just English wassail festivals with a Mari or two present. The Swansea one last weekend didn't even include a Mari trying to break into a building (insert Shrek meme); there was no pwnco at all. Even in the Chepstow ones, they didn't do actual Cân y Fari; just a couple of recited verses. Instead, the Maris are just an aesthetic, a way to make it look a bit more Welsh, without having to commit to the unfashionable inconvenience of actually including Welsh.

And I don't really know what the answers are to these. I can tell you what I'd like - I'd like art to include the Welsh somewhere, maybe incorporating the first line of Cân y Fari like this one did, to keep it connected to the actual Welsh tradition (or other Welsh, if other phrases are preferred). I'd like people who want to write their version of the pwnco to respect the actual tradition of it by using Cân y Fari's meter and rhyme scheme, finishing with the promise to behave, and actually calling it the pwnco rather than a rap battle (and preferably in Welsh, though I do understand that's not always possible lol). I'd like to see the festivals actually observe the tradition, and include a link on the booking website to an audio clip of Cân y Fari and the words to the first verse, so attendees who want to can learn it ahead of time. I don't know how feasible any of that is, of course! But that's what I'd like to see.

I don't know. This is rambly. But it's something I've been thinking about - and increasingly nettled by - for a while. There's was something so affirming and wonderful at first about seeing the Mari's climb into international recognition, but it's very much turned to dismay by now, because she's important to my endangered culture and yet that's the part that everyone apparently wants to drop for being too awkward and ruining the aesthetic. It's very frustrating.

[jaemstudies]

one thing i hate about english is your open compound words. what do you mean it's a light switch and not a lightswitch or a water bottle instead of a waterbottle. get real

[jaemstudies]

This is specifically about me talking to this university to enrol as a transfer there because I dropped out of OSU and I just want to know if there's anything else I need asides from my transcript ealdkfj;asd

i feel like we don't appreciate the ability to leave voicemails enough like. god i would rather leave a voicemail than talk to someone specific yk? i just have to leave my name, number, and a quick message *chef's kiss* mwah mwah i lvoe it

[jaemstudies]

ooh this website doesnt know what it means... its ok website 🙂 no worries. surely i can find this information elsewhere

[jaemstudies]

Learning a new language really does make you aware of how many fucking words there are. Waaaaaay too many things in this world that need their own special little word. Grow up.

[jaemstudies]

[jaemstudies]

PLEASE look at this its going to make me cry

[jaemstudies]

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ How to study: A note-taking and analytical reading guide ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅

To preface,

One of the most important things to understand when it comes to learning, is the two styles of memory rehearsal.

Style 1: Elaborative Rehearsal

The act of understanding a concept so deeply it connects to your worldview, past experiences, and this piece of knowledge becomes yours.

Style 2: Maintained Rehearsal

Reviewing a piece of information to memorize a fact, but not the concept and the roots of the context.

+ It is important to think for yourself; form your own connections and learn because you want to learn, not just in hopes of getting good marks. Knowledge is beautiful and powerful, and should be utilized in the appropriate way.

Part 1: Reading non-fiction/informative based texts

Technique 1: "The Walden Method"

Step 1: Inspectional reading

Quickly (!!) read the entire chapter

Know exactly what happened

Know exactly what stood out to you

Know what to look for

+ Highlight things that stand out to you (in any way) and/or take small notes in the margins ("interesting!" "what" "love!")

(This forms the backbone of your understanding for this topic)

Step 2: Analytical reading

Gather a general understanding of the material

Create a concise map of your thoughts, and small details of the text

+ Intricate connections begin to take place because pieces of information now make sense with the general backbone you formed in the inspectional reading.

Step 3: Take notes in a flow-like fashion

Write down the backbone ideas/concepts

(What year did the French Revolution take place? What were its important influences? Who were important figures during this time?)

Elaborate on these backbone ideas/concepts to give you a visual representation of the connections you made with your backbone, and to see what still needs to be understood.

Part 2: Taking notes of non-fiction/informative based texts

Technique 2: "The Cal Newport Method" - (for non-technical subjects)

Base your notes around these three points in this order to make your notes as clear and concise as possible:

Q-question

E-evidence

A-answer

+ When/if you are in a lecture, scribble down everything your instructor says of importance, and then revise your notes immediately after.

+ You must group your evidence and conclusion pieces carefully, being sure to link the proper piece of evidence to the correct conclusion.

(EX:

Question: What are Emily's favorite colors?

Evidence #1: Her mother says she likes pink.

Evidence #2: Her father says she likes pink, and yellow.

Evidence #3: Her brother says she likes blue, but only when its December.

Conclusion: Emily's general favorite colors are pink and yellow, as well as blue only when it is December.

^^ It is important to include the bit about it being her favorite color only in December because it would be incorrect to say it is one of her general favorite colors.)

Technique 3: "The Cal Newport Method" - (for technical subjects)

Base your notes around these three points in this order to make your notes as clear and concise as possible:

P-problem

Q-question

A-answer

Step 1: Understand the large, basic concepts first

+ Do not drive head first into math problems or questions concerning the nervous system if you do not understand the large, basic concepts first.

Step 2: Note-taking

Write down practice problems/diagrams/equations, etc.

Write each step to solving/understanding this problem/diagram/equation, etc.

Annotate each step, explaining why this is so

For equations, write down a practice problem for each possible alternative outcome that can happen

(EX:

1. How to solve an algebraic equation.

2. How to solve an algebraic equation with a square root.

3. How to solve an algebraic equation with square roots, etc.

Technique 4: The Feynman Method

You do not fully understand a subject until you can explain it to a child, and reword it yourself without notes

Part 3: Studying non-fiction/informative based texts

Testing yourself with flashcards and quizzes

Forces you to actively retrieve knowledge, which updates, and reinforces memory

Allows you to actively gage what you already know

Making mistakes actually improves knowledge and memory

2. Use flashcards

When using flashcards, it is best to mix the deck with multiple subjects, interweaving the concepts you focus on in a single session, is more effective than practicing a single skill one at a time.

This further strengthens memory because it forces the brain to temporarily forget, then retrieve information.

You may also find connections across the topics, making it more significant to your brain.

3. Rest, review, rest, review

Spacing reviews across multiple days allows for rest, and retention between sessions.

+ Cramming is not effective because while you could remember information from the night previously, it will not stay ingrained in your long term memory, or even just as likely in your memory the next morning...

Part 3: On essay writing

The more complicated your essay is, the dumber it sounds.

When writing a research paper, refine the scope of your research and don't be afraid to narrow it.

When writing a research paper, create a pile of at least 20 academic papers on the same subject.

+ Sift through these papers with your scope in mind

+ This is the breeding ground for new ideas

Give yourself time to process information right after reading.

View the writing process as an exploration

This is a collection of information collected from these sources:

R. C. Walden - Youtube

Cal Newport - How to become a straight-A student: The unconventional strategies real college students use to score high while studying less

TED-Ed