#January progress

[rigelmejo]

2/1/2023 Update on progress using Glossika Japanese. Lessons listened to: 37

This update is mostly for my personal tracking later. 

Downsides: I am struggling to get myself to listen to lessons. Based on time I have per day to listen to audio in the background, I should have gone through at least 100 lessons by now, and easily could’ve gone through 300. So 37 is... disappointing. I do relisten to the audios sometimes, so even though I’ve only gotten through 37 lessons I have probably listened to lessons 100 times. I suppose the upside is relistening to lessons before moving on is the actual way glossika recommends to study - listen to the prior day’s lesson before listening to the current day’s lesson. However, I was not trying to study how glossika recommended. I was trying to cram through as many audio lessons as possible so I could review if simply doing that and only that, was enough to learn a decent amount and see improvement. 

I desperately would like to get through all 312 lessons in a month. Just so I could finish and prove to myself if it helps or not! 

Since for me, a decent portion of these lessons are a form of audio review for me, so I do not need to be spending as much time on them as I am. I wanted to use these to review my knowledge and reinforce it, and strengthen my listening skills (and pronunciation knowledge) since I currently recognize more words by kanji meaning than by actually knowing their pronunciation (meaning I can’t recognize in listening words that I’d know if I was reading). So I feel I am... wasting a lot of my own time here, drilling beginner things I already know and working through the glossika lessons too slowly. Which is a bad perfectionist habit of mine that I often fall into when doing japanese study. oops.

I unfortunately have no solution to this tendency I have to avoid going through the lessons. I clearly am not super interested in the glossika lessons lol, they must bore me. For anyone else considering using glossika let this be useful to you: if you find it so plain its hard to listen to, it might be hard for you to push yourself to go through the lessons. The lessons are GOOD, don’t get me wrong. I just find it much ‘easier’ to make myself listen to a condensed audio of a video game (even though I know less words), or to play a japanese video game and look up words, than I find it to get myself to listen to simple boring daily life sentences in japanese/english. Just my personal focus issue. My brain loves to be challenged I think, even though I think in some cases like this it can make things less efficient.

Side studying I’ve been doing in japanese: I’ve played about 10 hours FFX and Persona 3 in japanese now. I went through about 300 memrise words in Nukemarine’s LLJ memrise courses before I got burned out with memrise again. I also have been playing like 50+ hours in the Yakuza games with english subs lately. While this doesn’t actually count as studying since I’m using english subs, I do hear the japanese audio frequently and I do think it helps me remember new words I’ve learned recently since I’m hearing them regularly and when I listen sometimes I try to compare the japanese I hear to the english subs and see if the translation changed anything. So all in all lets call the 50+ Yakuza games with english subs ‘mild review’ and count it as 10 study ‘review’ hours. 

So total study time these past 3 months has been: 10 hours video games in japanese, 10 hours japanese audio with english subs (so review but not real study), 50 hours of glossika audio (each audio is about a half hour and I relistened to most lessons 2-3 times so I’m guessing around 50 hours total), maybe 5 hours memrise and trying out the Listlang app, maybe 4 hours on Satori Reader (which later on in my journey I think will be an excellent study tool to prepare for reading but I don’t have the money for a subscription right now). 10+10+50+5+4= 79 study hours. ToT

79 study hours over 3 months. Yikes. I sure am lazy. so in ~90 days I did on average ~50 minutes of study a day. Okay... not entirely awful I guess. I usually make good progress with chinese at 1-2 hours study a day on average, so 50 minutes isn’t way below that amount... it could be way worse. I’m frankly amazed I made noticeable progress in the last few months then, damn, considering it wasn’t like a few hundred hours...

Upsides: Despite my apparently not very high study hours... I actually have noticed significant improvement. 

With Persona 3 - I played it 1 year ago and it took 1 hour to get to the save point. This month, it took about 20 minutes to get to the save point and I was able to get to the save point 3 times. So I was able to play the game 3 times faster, therefore I was able to read 3x faster. That’s a pretty huge improvement. I also was able to look up less words. When I played it a year ago I had to look up words frequently (about once every 2-3 minutes or more) and gave up even trying to read once I got to the school I just skipped text and tried to get to the save point as quick as possible and it still took an hour. This month when I played it I was able to only look up a word around once every 5 minutes, I could read the text fast enough that I did not need to skip text sessions to ‘speed up’ my playtime. I was able to spend some time actually exploring the character’s bedroom and school since reading was faster and therefore much more bearable. A 3 times faster reading speed is a REALLY noticeable improvement, I can’t express just how much easier everything feels when I can read faster. It makes the experience much easier and more bearable. Hiragana words and slang still made me feel very drained trying to understand wtf they meant by guessing, but it still felt 3 times easier than last year lol. 

With Final Fantasy X - I’m noticing improvement AS I play. When I started, the menu was challenging, now I find navigating the menu quite easy and honestly a game menu is a great way to repeatedly practice recognizing words until you learn them. So is the combat menu. It’s like how in english we never knew the word ‘ultima’ or ‘aeon’ as far as the actual attack or creature they mean in a game, but we learn because a game teaches us. This is comforting, we have to learn these kinds of words even when playing games in english... so learning them in japanese is not really much different. So yeah, the pause menu and combat menu are already notably easier 10 hours in then when I started. Common words specific to this game were also picked up fast - I know know summoner, summon, defeat, cheer, pray, temple, monster, magic, boat, port, waruiwa - (used as ‘im sorry this is a bad time’ sort of like sumimasen but casual to end a conversation), a lot of more casual word endings or word forms (Tidus and Wakka...). This is comforting, as now I expect if I played something like say Nier Automata I would pick up the technology words eventually simply because they’re used a lot. Or in Kingdom Hearts I sure would pick up hearts, darkness, light, friends, friendship, worlds, keyblade, fast lol. I am also noticing it’s much easier to follow what’s being said in scenes then when I started. When I started I’d usually understand 1 part of a sentence but not all of it, or 1 sentence but then not 2 more then understand on again. Whereas now 10 hours in I watched the scene on Mihen High Road where Yuna and Tidus talk in front of the sunset. I understood every word of every single line, except 1 single line I didn’t know one clause within it. So I understood the scene Really Well, well enough to compare the japanese translation to the english translation I remember. There’s still lines where I only understand part of them (like when Seymour says ‘Then pretend I didn’t say it’ I understood that line but not the one right before it, or when Gatta says Chappu says spending time with your girl is nice but... I did not catch the part where I know in english he says ‘protecting your girl from’ sin is better. I only caught the ‘your girl’ part beforehand and ‘sin’ part toward the end). But I AM understanding a great deal of full lines, which is fun as I’ve been comparing it to the english translation I remember to see what was changed in english or kept the same. Lulu is... really direct in japanese just like she is in english, which I was surprised by. There’s also a part where Seymour asks Auron “It’s been 10 years, how have you been” or whatever, and Auron literally says “I’m Yuna’s guardian, I’m busy” then walks away. It was just really funny to me how directly he shuts Seymour down. Or when Gatta says when he told Lulu about Chappu, she hit him too. 

When I started playing FFX this month I did not expect that I was going to eventually be able to understand the lines to this degree of detail. I thought at best I was going only be able to follow the main idea. Now to be fair: I’ve played this game before in english so I have that remembered english script in my memory to help me guess unknown words or lines. I expect a game I’ve NEVER played before would be considerably harder. However, this speed of progress bodes well for if I wanted to play Nier Replicant or Nier Automata. Apparently the navigation menus will not take more then a few hours to get comfortable with in japanese, and after enough hours I will be able to enjoy understanding the detail of a lot of the japanese lines. Which is definitely a good motivation to want to play more games in japanese - I am very interested in comparing the japanese script and choices with the english translation, and knowing it will be possible to do that is exciting. 

With manga - an unexpected improvement. I’ve been opening up manga from time to time. I am finding some easier to read now. I think the improvement is mainly due to reviewing information I knew already because I’m using japanese more. I still find heavy adverb use and hiragana word usage hard and that’s where a majority of the unknown words I don’t understand but that are important are. 

Basically - I’m seeing a significant reading improvement in both skill and especially speed at 3x faster than last year, ability to follow the speed up japanese in of cutscenes/follow the speed of japanese in audio much better than before, significant improvement in recognizing stuff I’ve studied before faster/easier, and some small but solid improvement in vocabulary. I did not expect any noticeable improvement until I’d studied a few hundred more hours, so honestly this is really great and a lot more than I expected.

In regard to the Glossika lessons: I DO think they’ve been helping, I Do think they’ve been reinforcing my knowledge I already knew and giving me good review, and while I struggle to listen to them often I do think they work similarly well for me as anki/memrise do except without requiring 100% of my focus when I do them. So the glossika lessons (audio flashcards) are easier for me to actually study. While I wish I was doing them more, I’m happy to say I do think they’re helping me improve like I hoped they would.

[nevertheless-moving]

thinking fondly of that star wars body swap au where 3/4 of the protagonists are experiencing relatively standard body swap shenanigans: bewildering friends and confounding authority figures, learning about each other and themselves, going outside their comfort zones. Meanwhile Cody’s just kindof writhing in eldritch horror inside of Anakin’s force-stitched-together-meatsuit.

Anakin (as Padme): “Man I can’t believe that Senator actually called me sweetheart, I can’t believe how patronizing these men are.”

Cody (as Anakin): [Scratching at his arm] “Yeah, that’s great. Uh, hey, quick question—why does my shadow keep turning into a death head mask?”

Anakin: “Huh? Oh, hey! Would you like at that! I haven’t looked at my shadow in years! It’s—it’s totally normal! I mean except for how it’s Padme—”

Cody: “This is—your shadow just always—does it ever...I mean when you’re around other people”

Anakin: [sucks in his breath through his teeth] “Did it kill someone else’s shadow? I hate when that happens”

Cody: [scratches arm harder, eyelid twitching] “This...happens often? What—why—”

Anakin: “I try not to think about it, ha! Anyway, have you tried smoothies since—[voice fades into high pitched static noise, distant sound of respirator breathing]

Cody: [scratches arm harder] (muttering under his breath): “don’t think about it. don’t think about it.”

Obi-Wan (as Cody): “There you two are—oh Anakin—I mean Cody, you’re bleeding! What happened?”

Cody: “I...misjudged the strength of the mech arm.”

Anakin: [gives thumbs up]

[cityrun]

my brother my brother my brother and me

[gravedigg]

They're in their honeymoon phase uwu. I redrew this old piece of mine, I hope I redeemed myself.

Full nsfw here

[wolfythewitch]

im so so confused rn the last time i had social media you were a mcyt artist??? now as far as i can tell you are in the bible fandom and the odyssey???????? im so lost bro like i wasnt on the internet for a full year but still lol??? love your artwork btw!!!

Sometimes we find god when we least expect it

[kusakichan15]

LOKIUS - FAKE PRIEST x DEMON AU 👀✨

To earn some money Kent decided to introduce himself as a travelling priest, Father Mobius, once he found himself in a village that was allegedly being tormented by a demon... Little did he know the demon was more real than he expected...

The demon, Loki, takes interest in the newcomer's sudden appearance especially when previous priests have tried and failed to make him leave... He decides to observe the new priest and realized that he's not actually what he says he is and has a little fun with him...

Now Kent finds himself tricked into a deal with a demon that has begun to follow him around in exchange for leaving the village and giving the people peace...

[euphreana]

Captured AU - Page 2

Yeah, that doesn't look good...

Page 1 | Next

[brown-little-robin]

okay, I'm crowdsourcing advice for a minute, so bear with me and please lend some words if you have any:

I want to get out of the house more. Like, on a regular basis. Weekly, maybe. Preferably, I would like to be interacting with people—the same people—every time, for... like... accountability, but also because I am hoping to put myself out there as the 21st century's most neurotic platonic Casanova. Uh. Making a friend or more out of this would be desirable. But I think if I go out with the intention of making a friend, I will be disappointed.

So. I want to go do something, for that something's own sake. I don't want to go be fake once a week hoping to get a friend out of it.

However, the beautiful state of Iowa is a bit cultureless, and I am too introverted and easily overwhelmed for this world (e.g. going to bars is probably not gonna be my thing). So.... I guess.... any suggestions? opinions? thoughts on making friends in general, or finding good activities as an introverted adult, in general?

oh yeah, also: I am poor. that's a factor. so. signing up a class or similar is not a great option right now.

what the heck, I'll add a silly poll for fun:

[the-fibre-stuff]

I made a fren.

[gomzdrawfr]

Bam bing bong, summary of my doodles in 2024

[toodetudpimedas]

Found some of my old Stay fanarts that I haven't posted here yet.

[wangxianficrecs]

When Words Just Won't Do by SailorBryant

When Words Just Won't Do

by SailorBryant (@sailorbryant)

M, WIP, 10k, Wangxian

Summary: Wen Qing swallows her pride and writes a letter to Hanguang-jun asking him to escort Wei Wuxian to Jin Rulan’s one-month celebration. It changes everything. --- "Still, as you must intimately know, asking Wei Wuxian to take the cautious path is as useful as asking a mountain to kindly move out of your way. However, I cannot acknowledge my own fears while not pursuing every option available to assuage them. If possible, I would ask that Hanguang-Jun would consider escorting Master Wei to the celebration himself. He is determined to make the trip on foot, - Lan Wangji stops for a moment, reading back over the line as he makes sure he has not misread the characters. A trip from Yiling to Koi Tower will take days on foot, instead of hours. He knows Wei Ying has been casual with his sword, to his own detriment, but to choose to walk instead of fly when no one from the other clans would even know - It defies logic. Kay's comments: Don't we all love a good what-if story? What if Lan Wangji accompanied Wei Wuxian to Jin Ling's full moon celebration instead of Wen Ning? Would have things gone better? Something this story explores! Though at first it's about Lan Wangji being sneaky (which I loved) as he receives a letter from Wen Qing, which makes his family suspicious and then we get some good slice-of-life content of the Wens and Wei Wuxian in the Burial Mounds on top! Truly the cherry on top! I really enjoy Lan Wangji's POV in this story and how it portrays his frustration towards himself. He wants to be better, he wants to express himself so that Wei Wuxian understands him, but he's struggling, especially after past misunderstandings... Excerpt: By the end of the dinner, his uncle’s shoulders seemed to have relaxed, and his eyes were less sharp, assured that nothing was off in Lan Wangji’s behavior. If his brother’s knowing eyes see something different than his uncle’s, he keeps his thoughts to himself. After a quick reminder of their duties in the morning of preparing the senior disciples for the trip to Koi Tower, Lan Qiren dismisses them both with a nod. The two brothers trail out. “Wangji,” comes the hesitant voice of his brother when they reach the path that splits to lead to their respective residences. Lan Wangji turns to face him, giving him his full attention. His brother searches his eyes, his face, his posture. He opens his mouth multiple times to speak, but hesitancy crawls across him in grasping waves and he closes it every time. Lan Wangji knows his brother does not know the exact contents of the letter; it has stayed on his person throughout the day. But he knows that his brother knows him. And his brother is smart; he knows the situation and can make his own inferences, his own assumptions.

pov lan wangji, canon divergence, ambush at qiongqi path, fix-it, everybody lives, wen remnants live, wen remnants deserve better, canon - mo dao zu shi & the untamed combination

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[honeytonedhottie]

my january over-view⋆.ೃ࿔*:･✍🏽🎀

i recorded everything in my notion so that i could track my progress on my january goals and im rly very satisfied with how i've managed myself this january.

my goals for this january was to ;

take my supplements every day

get back into the swing of school after break (maintain straight A's)

continue to improve and manifest my life

do more challenging workouts

embody the wellness girlie aesthetic and implement habits that are health focused

this was my january over-view ;

week one : i drank a cup of peppermint tea, started taking the beauty gummies from the brand ollie (it has essential vitamins, collagen etc and its main focus is skin hair and nails), and i bought and drank a bottle of kombucha to promote digestive health. i did a twenty minutes pilates workout and it was a bit challenging but i think that i did a good job. today i ordered a stanely water bottle cup to make sure that im staying hydrated.

week two : i drank a 16 oz cup of celery juice. i drank a cup of clove, ginger, and green tea. today i drank a 20 oz cup of celery juice on an empty stomach and i took my beauty gummies. i drank lemon water and some sort of earthy liquid (diatomaceous earth). i drank that today too. i followed along and did two pilates workouts from youtube. i walked 15 minutes on the treadmill.

week three : i walked for 15 minutes on the treadmill and even jogged a little. i finished my first book of the year, then she was gone. i've been taking this dietary powder called diatomaceous earth and its an exfoliant for ur organs. i drank a new flavor of kombucha (a strawberry flavor). i had another bottle of kombucha (mystic mango flavor) and i even drank a matcha latte.

week four : i opened up my second girl blogging account so that i can post success stories and stuff. i drank cucumber infused water today in my brand new hello kitty water cup. today i ran out of peppermint tea :( i finished a whole carton of strawberries after dinner. i did a 10 minute belly dancing workout and it was a lot of fun. i finished part two of my book writing process and successfully outlined my book. i drank a bottle of kombucha (strawberry flavored) and i did a winx club inspired workout challenge this morning. i drank a green probiotic drink.

OVERVIEW :

i achieved my january goals of prioritizing my health and have made regular movement a habit. i've been so DILIGENT and consistent and im so so so PROUD of myself. i treat my body with love and CARE and i show my body love through what i eat → what i do → and how i speak about my body. on a scale of 1-10 the month of january's productivity was a (8/10)

[lilybug-02]

Until the hiatus ends, I'm just going to imagine Chara and Kris are awkwardly standing in the kitchen, blinking at each other and occasionally making small talk and thinking of ways to pass the time C: "So... wanna... I dunno, dance or smthn :I" K: "..." *blink* C: "...Okay :I"

C: "...this is uh...this is pretty uncomfortable, heh..."

K: ".... :|" ❤️

C: ".....God I wish I had my phone right now."

[onceknownfriend]

Slow and steady. Progress is a process

[the-alan-price-combo]

60 years ago - on November 16th, 1964, the Animals recorded "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"!! 🐾✨️