#adverbs for beginners

[mylanguageclasses]

Adverbs and Their Types in English

Adverbs are one of the most versatile parts of speech in the English language. They add depth, clarity, and precision to sentences by modifying verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or even entire sentences. Whether you’re a native speaker or learning English as a second language, understanding adverbs and their types is essential for effective communication. In this blog post, we’ll explore what…

[physalian]

How to make your writing sound less stiff

Just a few suggestions. You shouldn’t have to compromise your writing style and voice with any of these, and some situations and scenes might demand some stiff or jerky writing to better convey emotion and immersion. I am not the first to come up with these, just circulating them again.

1. Vary sentence structure.

This is an example paragraph. You might see this generated from AI. I can’t help but read this in a robotic voice. It’s very flat and undynamic. No matter what the words are, it will be boring. It’s boring because you don’t think in stiff sentences. Comedians don’t tell jokes in stiff sentences. We don’t tell campfire stories in stiff sentences. These often lack flow between points, too.

So funnily enough, I had to sit through 87k words of a “romance” written just like this. It was stiff, janky, and very unpoetic. Which is fine, the author didn’t tell me it was erotica. It just felt like an old lady narrator, like Old Rose from Titanic telling the audience decades after the fact instead of living it right in the moment. It was in first person pov, too, which just made it worse. To be able to write something so explicit and yet so un-titillating was a talent. Like, beginner fanfic smut writers at least do it with enthusiasm.

2. Vary dialogue tag placement

You got three options, pre-, mid-, and post-tags.

Leader said, “this is a pre-dialogue tag.”

“This,” Lancer said, “is a mid-dialogue tag.”

“This is a post-dialogue tag,” Heart said.

Pre and Post have about the same effect but mid-tags do a lot of heavy lifting.

They help break up long paragraphs of dialogue that are jank to look at

They give you pauses for ~dramatic effect~

They prompt you to provide some other action, introspection, or scene descriptor with the tag. *don't forget that if you're continuing the sentence as if the tag wasn't there, not to capitalize the first word after the tag. Capitalize if the tag breaks up two complete sentences, not if it interrupts a single sentence.

It also looks better along the lefthand margin when you don’t start every paragraph with either the same character name, the same pronouns, or the same “ as it reads more natural and organic.

3. When the scene demands, get dynamic

General rule of thumb is that action scenes demand quick exchanges, short paragraphs, and very lean descriptors. Action scenes are where you put your juicy verbs to use and cut as many adverbs as you can. But regardless of if you’re in first person, second person, or third person limited, you can let the mood of the narrator bleed out into their narration.

Like, in horror, you can use a lot of onomatopoeia.

Drip Drip Drip

Or let the narration become jerky and unfocused and less strict in punctuation and maybe even a couple run-on sentences as your character struggles to think or catch their breath and is getting very overwhelmed.

You can toss out some grammar rules, too and get more poetic.

Warm breath tickles the back of her neck. It rattles, a quiet, soggy, rasp. She shivers. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. Sweat beads at her temple. Her heart thunders in her chest. Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba- It moves on, leaving a void of cold behind. She uncurls her fists, fingers achy and palms stinging from her nails. It’s gone.

4. Remember to balance dialogue, monologue, introspection, action, and descriptors.

The amount of times I have been faced with giant blocks of dialogue with zero tags, zero emotions, just speech on a page like they’re notecards to be read on a stage is higher than I expected. Don’t forget that though you may know exactly how your dialogue sounds in your head, your readers don’t. They need dialogue tags to pick up on things like tone, specifically for sarcasm and sincerity, whether a character is joking or hurt or happy.

If you’ve written a block of text (usually exposition or backstory stuff) that’s longer than 50 words, figure out a way to trim it. No matter what, break it up into multiple sections and fill in those breaks with important narrative that reflects the narrator’s feelings on what they’re saying and whoever they’re speaking to’s reaction to the words being said. Otherwise it’s meaningless.

—

Hope this helps anyone struggling! Now get writing.

[madamspellmans-met-tet]

yes maybe any rules you follow while writing or what you think is important? would really help and I bet there's lots of ppl who wanna know

ok so I’ve put together a few but these are just my opinions. I’m not a fan of writing rules, so keep in mind that these are just my personal guidelines that I’ve learned over years and that always have exceptions. The most important thing is to have fun and to develop a feeling for what works and that’s something you only get through experience. My first fanfiction was crap but I had a blast writing it anyway. Hope this helps, lmk if you have questions 💕

Beginner:

Formatting. This is about reading economy for the reader. get rid of empty lines (there’s shortcuts in word for that). Use paragraphs (there’s info online when to start a new one). Use quotation marks (“” or »«, don’t get fancy). Punctuation (em vs en dash, comma goes before the quotation mark etc.). No caps lock. Use bold or italic for emphasis.

Consistency. choose whatever narrator you prefer, the tense to write in and the pov—stick to it throughout. See also: “head hopping”

Grammar & spelling. Doesn’t have to be perfect but just using a simple spell checker helps get rid of major issues.

Advanced:

in medias res. start as late as possible in the scene and leave at the earliest point. skip the simple stuff like waking up or falling asleep unless you have a reason to. This keeps the tension up.

always say less than necessary. give as little info in dialogue as possible. Usually I’ll write what I want the character to say and then go over it again and cut it to the bare minimum. People never say what they actually mean. I aim for not more than 2-3 sentences per direct speech section.

Avoid info dumping. Don’t have a character tell you their backstory. Show how it affects them today and drop subtle hints at it. Use environmental storytelling. When describing environment, sprinkle details throughout instead of putting them in a paragraph and try to always relate them to the character. Like what do they think of the carpet? Do they have a memory attached to it? Maybe the forest seems dark and lost to them because they have been kidnapped and feel lost. Stuff like that.

Rule of 3. This is for foreshadowing etc. once you mention something 3 times for some reason it gives the reader a sense of consistency and “roundness”. Referencing something that happened earlier in the story also helps make the world feel more real.

Avoid head hopping. Don’t switch from one character’s pov to the other’s in the same paragraph. Better even avoid it in the same scene or chapter. It’s hard to follow.

Overused phrases. “She released a breath she didn’t know she was holding” and more (you’ll find lists of that online).

Very niche:

Remove the filter. Whenever you’re tempted to write words like “saw”, “felt”, “heard” or other words pertaining to senses, see if you can rephrase the sentence. Just describe the thing directly. Ex: instead of writing “I looked at the clock.” write -> “The old fashioned clock on the wall showed it was already past lunch time.”

Said is not dead. Don’t overdo it with the dialogue tags. Said is a word that the reader skips over and doesn’t notice. It focuses the attention on the story rather than the writing, so no need to show off your vocab. Again, this is a case of do everything in measures. It’s not forbidden to use other dialogue tags on occasion—dosage is key!

Dosing adverbs (words ending in -ly). Same thing. Whenever I use an adverb in my writing followed by a verb, I try to think about whether there is a stronger verb to use so I won’t need the adverb. But sometimes it’s perfectly okay to use it. Like when you try to show a contrast. “She smiled happily” is redundant because a smile usually indicates happiness and you could use “she beamed” instead. But if you write “she smiled sadly” it’s an oxymoron and therefore a strong use of an adverb.

Metaphors/purple prose. Good and necessary but don’t overdo it. Rule of thumb for me is: use metaphors and similes etc to describe sensory input but keep it simple when describing actions. No need to write “she removed her elusive presence from the limited space of existence surrounding us.” Instead of “she left the room.”

A good scene for me ends in a different place (emotionally or/and physically) than it began.

Character voice. study the way a character speaks and try to mirror that in your writing. What kind of vocab do they use? Where are they from? Do they swear? What terms of endearment do they use? Do they speak more formal or informal or even slang? Where do they come from?

My favourite story structure: chiastic or reversed chiastic. Not gonna explain it here, if you’re interested you can look it up. This is just a personal favourite.

[japanwords]

初心 (shoshin) "beginner's mind"

Obviously, the new year is a traditional time to start new things.

Another option is to continue something old, but look at it anew.

In Japanese this is known as 初心 (shoshin), or “Beginner’s Mind”.

初 = for the first time, in the beginning. 

This is the same kanji as 初め (hajimé), meaning “for the first time”, as in the common Japanese greeting 初めまして (hajimémashité).

(Note: 初め is not to be confused with 始め, which is pronounced the same as has a very similar meaning. 

The difference is that 初 functions like an adverb of time, whereas 始め is more like a verb - as in “to begin”.)

心 = heart, mind

Having a “Beginner’s Mind”, viewing a situation from a fresh perspective, can lead to insight and innovation.

An example of this is the success of the go-playing AI program AlphaGo.

The Asian board game go (known in Japan as igo), is well known for having so many permutations of moves (apparently more than the number of atoms in the universe) that programming a computer that could beat a human player was long considered the holy grail of AI.

When AlphaGo eventually beat a human player, it used moves which humans would consider deeply eccentric, and at one point it made a move which no go experts had ever seen before.

What allowed the AI to win wasn’t necessarily the computational power, although this was immense. It was the fact that the machine taught itself to play from scratch, without being taught by a human who would necessarily be steeped in thousands of years of go history, culture and tradition.

Instead of going along with the preconceived narrative of how go should be played it used its own ideas with few fixed beliefs to get in the way.

Sometimes, less knowledge can be a good thing.

[kkulbeolyeonghwa]

Absolute Beginner Ainu: Sentence building

Before we start: some people have been wondering if I'm a bot; no way someone would know Ainu?? Well, I am 100% real, posting original Ainu content here on Tumblr. Feel free to follow me :3

Today we will be making some simple sentences in Ainu, breaking them down, and explaining the structure.

エチイワンケ ヤ？ eci=iwanke ya? Are you good?/How are you?

The sentence starts with the pronoun エチ (eci), "you (plural)". In Ainu, these pronouns are attached to the verb. The non-attached form of this pronoun is エチオカィ (eciokay). If you want to use it in this sentence, you could say something like

エチオカィ アナㇰネ エチイワンケ ヤ？ eciokay anakne eci=iwanke ya?

Here, the independent pronoun is added to the start of the sentence as the subject of the sentence. That is why after the subject, the particle アナㇰネ (anakne) is added to emphasize that this word is the subject.

The ヤ (ya) at the end of a sentence indicates that the sentence is a question.

エイワンケ ヤ？ e=iwanke ya? Are you good?/How are you?

Here, the pronoun is switched to エ (e) "you". The independent form of this word is エアニ (eani)

クイワンケヤ？ ku=iwanke ya? Am I good?

This is a bit philosophical. The pronoun is ク (ku) "I". The independent form is クアニ (kuani)

エイワンケ ノ エアン ヤ？ e=iwanke no e=an ya? Are you good (currently)?/ How are you (currently)

Here, a few words are added.

ノ (no) is an adverbializing particle. It creates adverbs. アン (an) is the verb "to be".

So, literally, the sentence is "You healthily you are (question)"

It doesn't change the meaning much, but adding the アン in makes the question about a thing that is going on currently.

[jimpagne]

(😦) *levels of jungkook excitedness radiating in me* <———me when i saw how long your response was LOL

first off, oh my gosh. . . i was not expecting your post to be that long and detailed!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! i appreciate you taking time out of your day to compile such a lengthy post 💖 also I LOVE TYPING GAMESS!!! that website is about to be scared of me :P

questions:

1. do you have any specific ad blockers you use?

2. what are song diaries? is it you translating songs on your own? do you recommend that as something to help while learning?

3. do you know of any beginner friendly books to read? or recommend any youtube channels to watch to accustom my ears more to hearing korean? (since you mentioned doing these in your post)

i don’t have any specific questions in mind for korean (i will probably send another ask if i start stumbling) but the idea of a linguistic-centered post sounds interesting! maybe you could do bts and/or jikook related posts?

Welcome back! I'm glad you enjoyed my post!

adblocker: I like to use uBlock Origin... this thing is one of the most powerful extensions that I have EVER used. It blocks ads, popups, and most importantly it blocks random downloads/unsafe websites that might give your computer a virus. I mean, this thing is so powerful that it can even block ads on streaming services that usually require you to pay up a tier to get rid of them. Insane. The only website where I have found this adblocker not to work on is Twitch, which is really odd... but everywhere else it works 100% fine!

I seriously have no idea how I used the internet before an adblocker...

song diaries & social media diaries: basically these are my own personal journals where I break down the lyrics of a song and focus on grammar and vocabulary. This can be a little difficult for someone who is not super experienced with the foundations of Korean, because they might not be able to recognize all the individual parts, or they might choose a song that's pretty difficult. A song that that I can think of that's (in my opinion) pretty simple, would probably be If You by Big Bang, to be more specific, Jungkook's cover of the song. I just like it so much... Also, Jungkook's pronunciation is very clear, so it can help your listening skills as well.

So if I were to the look at this, I would start breaking down the lyrics & all the individual parts. If you're doing this on a document or on paper, you can color code or make up your own system.

"시간이 지나면 또 무뎌질까" Will this go away after time passes? Will this become dull over time? 시간이 지나면 또 무뎌질까 noun, particle, verb, grammar point, adverb, adjective

시간 - noun; time

이/가 - subject marking particle ... [I could sit here and explain the usage but particles need a whole post by themselves tbh]

지나다 - verb; to pass, elapse. There is also another similar verb form of this, which is 지나가다. You might of heard it in Namjoon's song everythingoes. 지나가다 has a very similar meaning, but it can be translated more like to pass by, to go by.

~(으)면 - grammar; if/when [v]. This form can often be confused with 때, which also means "when", but this is more representative of a hypothetic situation and not something that is necessarily guaranteed.

또 - adverb; again. Here it can be to emphasize/refer to the potential state this couple was feeling before their separation/relationship. In Korean, there is another way to say "again", namely 다시. Although some Korean use these forms interchangeably, there is a slight nuance between them. 또 might indicate "again", as in addition to what has already been done, whereas 다시 might mean again, but from the start.

무디다 (adj; to be dull) + 아/어지다 form = 무뎌지다 - adj; to become dull. ~아/어지다 is added onto ADJECTIVES to basically indicate that the state of the adjective is changing/has changed. Usually this grammar point is expressed using the past tense, since many already observe that the change has already occurred.

~(으)ㄹ까(요) - grammar; invitational/question form conjugated into the lower present tense. A way of asking a question where it might prompt the response of the listener. [Then here I could do what I did on my 이게 맞아?! post and link it to the other question/similar forms].

But yeah, this could be a way to do a song journal! Of course, like I said, depending on the difficulty of the song, this might not be super enjoyable, so you need to pick wisely! But you can see just how much content I got from a singular sentence.

I also included the additional notion of a "social media diary", and basically these work the same way as your typical song diary. Find a social media post from one of your favorite idols that has a caption or any comments on it. Then you can try to translate the material from there.

I chose this post from Jimin on Instagram!

There is no caption on this post, but there are two different comments, one from Hoseok, and one reply from Jimin.

호석: 쨔마나 우리한테 보낸 사진 올려야지🔥😂 지민: 천천히 올리겠습니다 😊

For the sake of the length of this post, I won't go into too much detail on this one, but I'll try to sum it up as much as possible.

"쨔마나 우리한테 보낸 사진 올려야지" Jimin, you should upload the photo you sent to us. Jjyamana, you have to/gotta post the pic you sent to us* *wrote it more this way to try to capture Hoseok's vibrant tone.

쨔마나 - Jimin's name in Hoseok's signature aegyo!

우리 - us/our

~한테 - an grammar attachment meaning to. Not used for locations or time, that's more for forms such as ~에서, ~까지, ~부터 etc. This is also a more colloquial/informal usage of this form, as there are two others, ~께 & 에게. Here's a vid on the topic.

보내다 (verb; to send) + (으)ㄴ form, which is NOT a particle here, but a way to express the past tense, as 보내다 is modifying/describing the next word, which is 사진, picture/photo. So it's like the photo that you sent.

올리다 - verb; to upload + ~어/아야지(요). ~어/아야지(요) is a grammar form that means should/must. So when added onto 올리다, it becomes 올려야지 (inf.), meaning you should/must upload.

"천천히 올리겠습니다" I'll be posting/uploading them slowly.

천천히 - adverb; meaning slowly.

올리다 - again, this means to post/upload.

~겠 is a form that Koreans use to indicate the future/certainty. There's a few ways to express future tense in Korean, but this has a feel that it is most probable, most certain.

~(스)ㅂ니다 the deferential form in the present tense, aka a very polite way to conjugate. Jimin often uses this form, its a very humble sounding way to form your speech, and it is often used toward your superiors (like teachers, professors, the elderly).

If you're not entirely sure as to how to translate some of the boy's posts, I highly recommend @/bts-trans, as they have an entire collection translations for each member's posts on multiple platforms. So if you get stuck, you can look at the translation, and try to draw conclusions from what's being presented.

books & youtube channels: In my previous post, I mentioned the Easy Korean Reading for Beginners by TTMIK, I think that's a pretty solid book. Also they have a conversations book, Real Life Korean Conversations for Beginners, and if you graduate from that one, they also have a intermediate one as well.

I also really like this book! Not only does it combine language learning with traditional folk stories, it also lays out the vocabulary very well and slowly gets more complex as you advance through the book. A lot of the other stories that I have read have been print outs from my Korean professor, so unfortunately I'm not sure if I could link those. But these three books are very good in my opinion. Also you could also google Korean short stories/books for beginners.

As for YouTube channels... did you know that the account, PinkFong, that made that crazy viral Baby Shark video, is actually a Korean kid's channel? Crazy. My professor used to turn on the videos and had us watch them. So, if you want to watch what Korean toddler's watch, you can definitely turn that on. Here's a vid of them teaching Sino Korean numbers!

Also, I don't have a specific channel recommendation for certain listening practices (on an academic scale, I mean), but if you want to practice listening in a quiz like format, or expose yourself to certain curated levels of Korean, I recommend looking up TOPIK listening practices. You might not be interested in taking that test, but I think the listening practices that many people post online are extremely valuable!

For more fun, less toddler-like channels, I do like the home decoration channel of 집꾸미기, 집 meaning house and 꾸미기 meaning decorating. A lot of the vocab in their videos is geared toward 가구 (furniture), but the speakers are clear, concise, and they sometimes have English subtitles on their videos.

There's also the prank channels like 드립팩토리 & 동네남들, aka "HoodBoyz" ... interesting translation of their own name (동네 meaning neighborhood and 남 meaning male + 들 plural) ... but I digress. Anyways, these channel do a lot of pranks, and although I haven't watched every video on their channels, the few that I have watched are ridiculous. Some of their vids have English captions, but they often have Korean all over the screen, so you can watch and practice reading while listening.

Here's a few of their pranks:

Ultra Oversized Clothing

Jewelry Store Thieves Scope Out the Store

Broken Up With While Stuck in a Chair

There is also a channel, and although she's not super active anymore, I really enjoyed watching her life and school vlogs. She gave an interesting perspective into South Korean school life, so you might find her interesting as well. Her name is 하나달 Hana Dal.

Also, believe it or not, but RUN BTS was one of the first programs that helped me learn Korean. You can definitely learn from BTS! BangtanTV has subtitles, and you can change them to Korean as well to definitely practice those listening and reading skills. The only negative of learning from them is that I default to banmal (informal/intimate speech), since I was so used to hearing them talk. Haha. Oh well.

And my last rec is not necessarily a YouTube channel, but it's more like a TikTok account. It's called 공감.mp4 or @/gonggam.mp4. They post a lot of, well, 공감 videos, which 공감 means sympathy, but in the way that everyone can relate to. So it's almost like when English creators make posts like "that feeling when..." or "that moment when...", basically anecdotal incidents that everyone can relate to. Also this account is ridiculous as well but I enjoy it greatly.

버스 탈 때 공감 | That moment when you ride the bus... or something like that, lmao. 버스 bus, 타다 to ride, ~(으)ㄹ 때 when [verb], 공감 sympathy

Well, that's all for now. Someone else in my ask box asked me to do a little lesson on Batchim, so I suppose that'll be my next move.

Good luck on your study journey, anon!

[the-wip-project]

SloMo WriNo: Instantly Improve Your Writing With One Simple Trick

Want to make your writing instantly better?

Don’t we all?

Promising instant improvement is an easy way to hook eyes, (I’m sort of sorry for click-baiting you— but not too much.) so a lot of writing advice is framed that way.

But is it actually possible?

Generally the advice on those types of posts isn’t anything revolutionary. You’re told to eliminate adverbs/filter words/telling. Or perhaps the advice is additive. You should start using all 5 (or even 6?) senses in every description, do or don’t use certain tenses or povs, change up sentence lengths, use more paragraph breaks, and so it goes.

It’s (usually) all useful advice, especially when applied in moderation. (No one will come and shoot you for occasionally using suddenly or summarizing a scene instead of showing every detail.)

The issues is that a lot of writers (especially beginner writers) are seeking some sort of magic bullet. That one trick that will change everything and magically make you good. (never mind that ‘good’ is far more nebulous and subjective than anyone wants to admit.)

Sadly, once you get beyond learning things like punctuation and when to insert paragraph breaks, there’s not really any single technique that you can quickly apply and immediately lift the quality of your writing.

For the rest, it really takes time. Even if the advice is good, you need to learn when and how to apply it.

As such, there’s only one technique that will definitely make your writing better.

Practice.

Yeah. So boring. The least sexy piece of writing advice. Write more.

But it’s also the simplest. (Not always the easiest, but definitely the simplest!) Writing is not mystic or singular. It’s just like any other art or craft. The only way you get good is by spending time at it. And just like anything else, you’re going to be bad before you can start to get good.

You would never expect to become an accomplished guitarist by spending lots of time listening to and thinking about music, while almost never picking up your instrument to practice. And you will not become a good writer without practicing the action of writing.

It’s a comforting idea that gets bandied around at times, that writing isn’t just fingers on the keys or pen on paper. That it’s thinking and daydreaming and making mood boards etc. While those writing adjacent things are fun and undoubtedly can help you write, they are not writing. They are not practice.

Spending your time doing those things instead of writing do not make you a better writer, and obviously they don’t finish your novel or writing project.

Which is my goal here. To help you finish your project. As such I spend very little time on dispensing advice on plot or prose, and focus mostly on the process of writing.

That’s not to say that I don’t think you should spend time on learning how to write better prose, or how to create compelling characters and plot, those things are important! But if attempting to learn that stuff gets in the way of practice, then it’s counterproductive.

So don’t let the writing advice become the focus of your writing. Apply advice slowly, and don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to fix all your perceived faults at once. (I still have a difficult relationship with punctuation, but I’m learning. Slowly.) If you can, focus on techniques that interest you. Keep things low pressure— fun even?

Yes you want your work to be as good as possible, but also, you’re doing this writing thing because you enjoy it, right? So don’t allow the pressure to be good to stop you from having fun. If trying to apply a certain piece of writing advice is making you miserable, toss it aside. It’s either bad advice, or it’s not the right time for you to worry about it. Above all, avoid anything that kills your joy and makes writing a miserable chore.

So I guess this is my one piece of advice that will improve your writing (process) instantly.

Enjoy yourself, and ditch anything that ruins that joy. You’ll get better at your own pace, as long as you keep writing.

—Maree

Subscribe to my substack to make sure you don't miss a post, chat with me on the WIP Project discord, and tag any posts you make about the challenge with #slomowrino if you want me to see them!

[reflectionsofthesea]

Hiii I’m back! It's been a pretty stressful and busy time at work, so I'm less online than usual, but still learning finnish daily! It's actually being my saving grace: getting to detach myself from work,routine and stress and just putting my head into something completely different that I enjoy doing. Putting a read more because I wrote a lot here:

I've been progressing with my exercise book, and learned how to express the need to do something 'i have to...' and also the imperative tense. Really useful stuff. I also finally finished trascribing all puhekieli 'basic rules' on my notebook!

Some new stuff in my daily learning routine:

I started listening to podcasts and short stories! I was a bit intimidated at first, but now I've been enjoying doing it every day when I am cooking, cleaning the house or even when drawing/working. I'm listening to a beginner's podcast and can basically understand a good 80% of it, which is making me feel so proud and motivated hahaha. The crazy thing is that even if I don't understand a couple of new words, I can follow the conversation and the topic and I always know what the host is talking about, it's crazy. I'll definitely continue listening to podcasts and stories daily because I think it's helping A LOT and truly making me feel like I'm making huge progress and my brain is enlarging lol.

I started using LingQ! The importing videos/podcasts feature is super useful, and I imported some videos in finnish from youtubers I found and having LingQ generate subtitles in finnish for me and translation in english, so I can study them is so useful. That way I can exercise listening to more puhekieli and expand my vocabulary. It helps that the videos are super fun and entertaining themselves, so I genuinely want to know what's happening hahaha. (one was a Sims4 house building video, another one a travelling vlog)

I tried writing some 'stories' for the first time, this is also an advice I heard from a video, that helps with getting your brain used to constructing sentences and phrases. I already did this in a smaller way, writing very short sentences practicing different grammar rules to commit them to memory, but this exercise really makes you put more effort into building longer and slightly more articulated sentences, like phrases you'd say to someone when having a chat, or thinking out loud. I decided to pick some random themes and just write what I can about them! The pink underlined words/verbs/adverbs are things I had to look up because I didn't know how to say yet. I think this is a pretty fun and creative exercise to do though, and I can see how it can make your brain faster at producing sentences on the long run :) It will be fun to keep doing this when my vocabulary grows and I can say more stuff! (I saw a writing exercise idea on tumblr that was describing your Dnd characters and something about their personality/stories, and I really want to do that!)

Overall, I'm feeling really good and motivated. I remember feeling a bit stuck a month ago, and now that feeling is gone, and I feel like I improved a lot. I really think implementing new exercises like the written stories exercise and especially listening a lot has been so useful and important into me feeling like I'm growing more in this language. I'm really glad I fought my inner doubt and saboteur and just did it. I also gander at posts written in finnish here on tumblr and realized I understand a good 70/80% of what's written in there. Sometimes more or less, depending on how long the post is or how specific the words used are. But that's pretty crazy to me and really satisfying!

Also, if you need some inspiration for your language learning journey or some good tips (like the listening to podcasts and writing stories I'm currently doing), please watch this video! It really inspired me to keep going in my journey :)

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

totally random, but what advice would you give to fresh writers on Tumblr/ao3?

Here is a post I made:

[mamawasatesttube]

I am thinking of getting into writing but I am a bit scared to do so. Do you have beginner writing tips?

my biggest tip: read!

what kind of story do you want to write? read stories like that. do you have a favorite author? read their work. what makes their writing stand out to you? what turns of phrase do they use? what makes a story into one of your favorites? what kinds of words, what kinds of sentences, what kinds of descriptions...?

now, that probably feels like a lot and might be pretty overwhelming, unless you happen to be the sort of freak who just enjoys sentence diagramming and literary analysis (<- self-descriptive). but the best place to jump into writing, in my opinion, is to read what you want to write, and then to write what you want to read.

in a similar vein, if you're scared of mistakes (which - everyone makes 'em! i sure as hell still have areas in writing that i definitely want to improve in!), it can help to think about what you don't like to read. inconsistent verb tenses take you out of the narrative? there's something you can make sure you look out for in your own work. hate it when a story can't decide if it's third person limited vs omniscient viewpoint? there's something else you can ponder for your own writing! long-ass paragraphs of detailed description make your eyes glaze over? boom now you know you dont wanna do that yourself.

when i read, i particularly love looking at ways authors use figurative language, and how they direct reader attention. for example:

She swings her sword at her opponent, but just barely misses.

and

Her blade sings through the air, just a hair's breadth shy of her enemy's skin.

both contain the same information, but the second is more vivid. how? the subject is the sword itself, the verb is more unusual, the longer description is more precise than the lone adverb. so if i were to read this line somewhere, i might think to myself, ooh, the desc "her blade sings," i like that! and then i might return to that kind of phrasing later when i try to write myself.

all of which is, i guess, a longform way to say, "become a more active reader, and you're sure to become a better writer!" more than anything more technical about sentence variation or particular kinds of description or narration or anything else i could tell you, that's probably the best piece of advice i could possibly offer.

and hey, don't be afraid to reread your own work!! you are your #1 fan and your own target audience. write the kind of thing you would like to read. if it's not quite where you want it to be, you can reference things that do accomplish the things you want your writing to, and try and see what those authors did differently. if there's a story in there you want to tell, it's worth polishing and figuring out!!!

i hope this is at least somewhat helpful :D if you have any other questions or more specific anxieties or anything im happy to try and answer more. good luck with the writing!!!

[mylanguageclasses]

Adverbs of Frequency in English: Usage, Rules, and Examples

Introduction Adverbs of frequency are an essential part of English grammar, helping us express how often an action occurs. They answer the question “How often?” and provide clarity in both spoken and written communication. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner, mastering these adverbs will enhance your fluency and precision in English. In this blog post, we will explore common…

[salvadorbonaparte]

Hi, I’ve been trying to commit to language learning for a while now, but the place that I always get stuck is taking useful notes. So I was wondering how you go about note taking, especially when you’re first learning a language, so you can’t exactly take notes in that language. Thanks!

Hi! Sorry for the late reply!

I think my note taking is always evolving but here are some things that have worked for me lately:

I write down vocabulary by hand (makes it easier to remember) and I sort it into categories. I have pages for nouns, verbs, adjectives/adverbs, conversational phrases, idioms/proberbs and then one for all the little words like prepositions. This makes it easier for me to remember and find words.

When it comes to grammar notes, I usually try to read the explanations in my textbook and then try to summarise and paraphrase it in my notes. I try to add example sentences with their translation for each grammar concept to make it easier to understand, remember and revise.

It's a bit cliché but colour coding actually helps me. You can circle/highlight specific grammar concepts or words in different colours to visualise sentence structure, conjugation, cases, anything you have trouble with.

Don't worry about taking notes in a foreign language yet, that will come naturally once you're more advanced. When you're a beginner it's more important to understand your notes.

[responsible-lime]

Top 5 Tips To Remember Basic Grammar Rules in English

Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner, understanding and applying basic grammar rules is crucial for mastering the English language. Without a solid foundation in grammar, your communication skills can suffer, leading to misunderstandings and confusion. So it is advisable to follow best english and writing guide.

In this blog article, we will explore essential basic grammar rules that every English learner should know. We will give you some tips that will help you to remember these basic grammar rules.

Top Tips to Remember Basic Grammar Rules in English  

Here are some tips and tricks that will help you to remember the basic grammar rules in English -

Use Proper Pronouns  

Know when to use personal pronouns (such as I, you, he, she, it, we, they) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs). Ensure that pronouns are used correctly and agree in person, number, and gender with the antecedents.

One of the main confusions that beginners in the English language face while learning pronouns is whether it should be ‘are vs is.’ Mastering subject-verb agreement, which is another basic grammar rule, will help them to know when to use are vs is.

Understand Parts of Speech  

Familiarize yourself with the different parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions. Learn their functions and how they relate to each other in a sentence.

Study Sentence Structure  

Know the basic sentence structure in English, which typically follows the pattern of subject-verb-object (SVO). This understanding will help you construct grammatically correct sentences.

Avoid Run-On Sentences and Fragments  

A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are improperly joined, while a fragment is an incomplete sentence. Practice constructing complete sentences and using appropriate punctuation to avoid these errors.

Be Consistent with Verb Tenses  

Maintain consistency in verb tenses within a sentence or paragraph unless there's a specific reason to switch tenses. Mixing tenses can confuse the reader and disrupt the flow of your writing.

Basic Grammar Rules That Everyone Should Know  

Here are some Basic Grammar rules that everyone needs to know.

Subject-Verb Agreement: Understanding and Applying this Rule  

Subject-verb formation is one of the most basic rules in English grammar. This rule states that the verb in a sentence must agree with the subject in terms of number and person.

For instance, the verb should be singular when the subject/subjects are singular in a sentence and vice versa. This rule may seem simple, but it can be a stumbling block for many English learners.

To ensure subject-verb agreement, it is important to identify the subject and understand its number and person. Keep in mind that subject-verb agreement applies not only to present tense verbs but also to past and future tenses.

Using the correct verb form will make your sentences grammatically correct and easier to understand. Practice this rule by creating sentences with different subjects and verbs, and pay attention to the agreement between them. With time and practice, subject-verb agreement will become second nature to you.

Proper Use of Punctuation Marks: Commas, Periods, and More  

Punctuation marks play a crucial role in conveying meaning and clarity in written English. They help separate ideas, indicate pauses, and organize thoughts. One of the most commonly used punctuation marks is the comma.

Commas are used to separate items in a list, set off introductory phrases, and connect independent clauses. However, it is important to use commas judiciously and avoid unnecessary comma splices.

Another important punctuation mark is the period. It is used to indicate the end of a sentence. Periods are essential for creating well-structured and coherent writing. Additionally, other punctuation marks such as question marks, exclamation marks, and quotation marks add variety and nuance to your sentences. Understanding the proper use of these marks will elevate your writing and make it more engaging to readers.

Mastering Verb Tenses: Present, Past, and Future  

Verb tenses are the backbone of English grammar. They allow us to express actions and states at different points in time. Understanding and mastering verb tenses is essential for effective communication. The three main verb tenses in English are the present, past, and future. Each tense has its own set of rules and forms.

The present tense is used to describe current actions or ongoing situations. It is formed by adding the base form of the verb to the subject. The past tense, on the other hand, is used to talk about completed actions in the past.

Lastly, the future tense is used to express actions that will happen in the future. It is formed by using "will" or "shall" before the base form of the verb.

To master verb tenses, it is important to practice using them in different contexts. Read and listen to English materials, and pay attention to how verbs are used in different tenses. With practice, you will become more comfortable and confident in using the appropriate verb tense in your speech and writing.

The Benefits of Improving Grammar Skills  

Improving your grammar skills is a journey that requires time, effort, and dedication. However, the benefits of mastering basic grammar rules are numerous. Clear and correct grammar enhances your communication abilities and allows you to express yourself accurately and effectively.

So, take the time to study and practice grammar regularly. Your efforts will pay off, and you will reap the rewards of improved grammar skills in all aspects of your life.

[dailydaneo]

빵아빵아🍞~

this blog is running on queue to provide one korean word every day !

i pick words that i myself learn or want to remember so the difficulty (of usage) is targeted mostly at low intermediate learners and up. you'll find barely any beginner-friendly words here but who says anyone can't appreciate a good Word ?!!

◖FORMAT◗

《 chinese in parentheses 》 means that it's a sino-korean word. no chinese characters = pure korean word.

《 stars next to words 》 indicate a level of relevancy / importance of vocab in the different stages of learning. can be understood as a difficulty level indicator & corresponds to terms "basic" and "advanced vocabulary" in english language learning. ★ means "university level words" (advanced); ★★ means "middle and highschool level words"; ★★★ means basic everyday words. no stars means nothing – they're just not marked, not used any less or less relevant.

《 below 'keep reading' 》 you'll find example sentences, related words & important notes, if there are any. didn't want to leave words floating in vacuum so i'm giving them some usage context, which i hope helps to remember the vocab better not only for me !

◖ABBREVIATIONS◗

n.—noun | adv.—adverb | v.—verb | d.v.—descriptive verb | tr.—transitive (verb) | intr.—intransitive (verb) | phr.—phrase

#nouns | #verbs | #d.verbs | #adverbs | #phrases

[fatiguedcorvid]

I think the best approach to writing/writing craft is to know what every part of your work is doing. 

I’ve always hated the advice “know the rules so you can break them” because knowing the rules doesn’t tell you how to know when to break them, knowing why “the rules” are “the rules” does. A lot of advice, especially for beginners, doesn’t explain why or when you should listen. However, if you know what your story elements are doing, you will know whether or not they’re conducive to what you’re trying to create. Good writing in the wrong contexts becomes bad writing.

The reason people say to avoid adverbs is not because adverbs are the devil, it's because a lot of the time they clog up your sentence. “Falling quickly” is superfluous because "quickly” is embedded into the verb “to fall”; “falling slowly” is important information because the adverb contradicts the verb. A character can be well written on their own, but if their function doesn’t support the story, it will suffer regardless, like putting Walter White into Alice In Wonderland.

This approach avoids both the “must follow every rule to a tee'' mentality and the “no one knows my art better than me, so i won’t listen to any advice ever” mentality. It allows for different works to have different goals while also leaving some solid foundation to build on top of.

Instead of asking myself “is my writing any good?” i try to ask myself “what is this part doing in the story?” The first question is both subjective and vague. The second can be approached more objectively (avoiding biased crit for certain genres, for example), as well as being limited in scope. It also helps shift the focus from a nebulous “goodness”, which is very personal, to function, which is easier to detach your self-worth from.

I just think a lot of writing advice should be formatted as “writing x has y affect” instead of “dos and don’ts”