#i haven't made it that far in duolingo

[ros3ybabeslanguages]

Language Resources 🎀

*that I currently use for studying Spanish. When I pick up studying Japanese again, I will make a list for that as well <3 I currently use a handful of resources for learning Spanish, and they've all proven very useful so far!

🩷 My Current Resources for Spanish

Busuu - hands down my favorite language learning app. So much better than Duolingo, in my opinion (especially for languages with a different alphabet/writing system). I bought the premium for a year, which will expire in Septmeber, but I'm debating renewing again because I love it so much.

LingQ - I like using this for reading in Spanish. It gives me different types of things to read about, and while I don't have premium, I do put all the words I don't know into flashcards on AnkiApp on my laptop and translate anything I don't know using SpanishDict.

SpanishDict - favorite translation/dictionary app. I know it has lessons you can use, tho I haven't tried it yet, but I really do love this app. It's super helpful when I'm making flashcards or writing random vocabulary notes.

Goodnotes - This is a general note-taking app, but I love it because it allows you to import and write on PDFs, and that's just perfect for me! I've downloaded free PDF short stories/children's stories in Spanish and made notes of words I don't know, and taken notes in the app too. Definitely my favorite notes app, ever.

Italki - I know this is a website, too, but I use the app. It lets you work with professional teachers/community tutors in your target language. You can have structured lessons or just use it for conversation practice. I did a trial lesson not too long ago and have an upcoming lesson booked out in about 5 days. You pay per lesson, so there is no subscription, and there are so many languages and teachers/tutors to choose from. I did a lot of research before choosing a teacher, and I'm very happy with my decision so far. Definitely useful if there's not native speakers near you or you're like me and not confident talking to people you know in your target language/their native language.

Quizlet/AnkiApp - I use AnkiApp more then quizlet, and the Anki I'm referring to is NOT the same way everyone else uses, but it's the flashcard app of preference at the moment. I tried the AnkiDroid app and hated it. But yeah, AnkiApp is useful for flashcards and I really like it. I have it on my Chromebook and my Ipad.

Netflix - I love watching shows in Spanish on Netflix so much. I am currently watching La Reina del Sur on it (used to watch that sporadically in the past at a friend's house) and plan on watching some other shows, including Elite.

Spotify - I enjoy listening to Spanish music and podcasts right now. The music is more of an entertaining/enjoyable fork of audio input, and the podcasts help me get a feel for speaking and pronunciation and I choose podcasts that speak on topics of interest tk help with vocabulary in those areas I'd like to be able to speak about.

Textbooks - I have 2 PDF textbooks, Gramatica de Uso del Español: A1-B2 and Gramatica de Uso del Español: B1-B2. I've heard these are great for learning Spanish (and they're both only written in Spanish, like there's no English in them) and plan on using them once I figure out how to take good and useful textbook notes! I definitely need to improve on my grammar.

Those are all my current Spanish resources! I'd definitely say my current level is like a high A1 right now, nearing A2, but I have just a little bit of work to do before I get there. These resources are definitely gonna help, tho!

[pedripics]

Pedri via Residency - May 28, 2024

What is something you still want to accomplish in life? - " A lot of things. I am still very young or do you already want to kill me?"

Favourite teammate at Barça? - "I am close with the group in general but Ferran"

Do you play any instruments? or would you like to learn how to play one? - "Better not for the sake of the rest of the people. I like to listen to music but not much else" Favourite series or movie? - "Mi reno de peluche and the one about chapo guzman; favourite favourite is Prison Break and La que se avecina"

Do you know anything about Armenia? - "not too much, to be honest… but recently a very nice driver took me to a shooting was from there. His name was Ara"

Favourite moment of the season? - "It wasn't the best season. On a personal level, I would say the brace."

How do you deal with criticism? - "I try to stay out of it, although it's not always possible, of course... you have to try and keep going and keep believing in yourself"

How do you feel about being able to play for Spain after such a long time? - "Very happy. I haven't been able to play for Spain for a long time. Hopefully we will have great EUROs and also a great 24/25 season with Barça"

How did you feel after the brace? - "crazyyyyy"

"I always try to stop and sign, because I remember when I asked for signatures as a kid"

Plans for the summer? - "I hope to go on vacation, but in a month and a half… that will mean that we go far in the euro with the national team"

Have you eaten German food before? - "Yesss... a member of my marketing team is German and he made us German food a long time ago, with sausages and so on"

How is your English? - "I still have to improve a lot. Give me a few months and I will answer in English"

Do you miss doing anything in your daily life? - "I can't complain. I like to live in peace"

Would you like to go to China? - "Of course, yes. Althpugh in the season there is not really time for anything and during holidays I prefer to stay close and rest. Let's see if we ever have a tour in China"

How many trophies have you won? - "With Barça, La Liga, Copa and Supercopa"

Do you feel ready for the EUROs? - "Siiii"

5 UCL Trophies or a World Cup? - "I don't want to choose. I would like to win it all"

Would you like to play against Portugal in the EUROs final? - "Sure. As long as we play in the final, I don't care against who it is"

Pele or Maradona? - "Maradona... Because he played for Barça and my father told me about him when I was younger. I remember the day he died very well because it was my 18th birthday"

Have you been to New York? - "Yes"

Favourite team to play against? - "Obviously Barça" (he did NOT understand that question lmaooo back to duolingo it is)

Visit Uruguay? You have a lot of fans here - "Ronald also told me once... We'll have to listen to him, because otherwise he gets angry"

How was it going to the Spanish GP in 2022? Are you going this year? - "It was a crazy experience. I don't think I can go this year because it clashes with the EUROs"

Do you like going to concerts? - "I haven't been to many, honestly... I have yet to go to one of Quevedo's. And last year they invited me from Spotify to see Coldplay in Barcelona but in the end I didn't go and I regretted it a little. Teammates went and they love it" (who tf turns down coldplay tickets??? 😭)

Your dad is a great person. - "The best"

How do you feel about receiving so much love? - "Very proud and privileged"

Do you want to score for Spain during the EUROs? - "Clarooo. Let's see if I can make it happen, because I haven't scored for Spain yet"

Red or blue? - "Azulgrana"

Do you like to cook? - "I'm not very good at cooking... My brother and mother are much better"

Pedri or Pedro? - "Pedri... Pedro sounds strange to me. From a young age they already called me Pedri, because there was another boy in the team whose name was Pedro and it was to differentiate us... and everyone calls me Pedri"

What do you think of Alexia, Aitana and Marta? - "They are top footballers!"

Is it difficult to have a 'normal' life? - "It's not easy, but mine doesn't change that much because I really like to be quiet and at home"

Only fish or only meat? - "I prefer meat... but for nutrition, fish"

When you were a kid did you make trouble in class? - "I was more of a quite kid"

Who do you think will win the Golden Boy award? - "Well, I hope a Barça teammate. Lamine, and if not Cubarsi"

What inspires you to perform at such a high level on the field? - "I do what I like the most"

What do you think of your season at Barça this year? - "I was saying this the other day. It hasn't been an easy season and I hope the next one will be much better in every single way and we will win titles"

Have you ever wished to have a sister? - "My mother always wanted to have a daughter, but in the end she had to settle for Fer and me hahaha"

How do you feel for the EUROs? - "Very good. Better and better"

Blue or Black? - "Blue"

[itzpris15634]

Day 3: Tea Time

I do not know much French. I had like a 100ish day streak on Duolingo, but then I gave up and forgot everything :/// Instead, Google Translate my unreliant beloved helped me out here.

===

"Ces biscuits sont bons, n'est-ce pas ?"

"Oh, oui ! Mon parfum préfér: fraise et chocolat."

"…N-no, Zoe," Madame Pom put her cookie down, looking Zoe straight in the eyes.

"Eh?" Zoe raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What did I miss this time?"

"It's not 'prefer', it has an extra syllable at the end. Préféré. Come on. Say it…"

Zoe attempted parroting the word after Pomela, finally getting it after several attempts.

"Très bien !" Pomela smiled, bringing the teacup to her lips to take a sip, "Tu t'en sors bien jusqu'à présent."

Zoe, a little less enthusiastic, sighed, "…Pouvons-nous revenir à l'anglais ?"

Pomela, putting her teacup back down, nodded, "Oui, we may."

Zoe groaned- a mixture of relief and exasperation- and let herself fall forward, her head banging onto the table Everything upon it- the teacups, cookies, and her notebook- rattled with the impact.

Pomela jumped, startled by her friend's manners, "Zoe! Careful! You could have spilled your tea!"

"I don't care," Zoe retorted, not moving an inch from her position.

"It could have spilled on your French notebook-"

"It doesn't matter."

"Psh. Ungraceful…" Pomela scoffed, but she tried to make her jesting tone evident.

"Ugh. Fuck grace."

A dramatic gasp, "Zoe! Language!"

"Nooo…" Zoe groaned yet again, "I don't wanna learn more language…"

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Regardless, going with what you meant- well, you did say yes to my offer for French lessons."

"I know, I know…" Zoe finally sat up properly- still not too considerate of her manners, however, she started toying with her utensils.

Pomela made a quick eye-roll, but pretended to pay Zoe's actions no mind.

"It'll be worth it. I hope. At least," Zoe mumbled.

"What will be?"

"This. So I can at least save myself the embarrassment of asking you or Clement to translate for me whenever I visit you guys in France."

Pomela said nothing, only humming in acknowledgment as she sipped more of her tea.

Zoe continued anyway, "Believe me, I really do want to! But I feel too exhausted to carry on today."

"Well, if you like…" Pomela gestured to the darkening sky, "We can end today's session right now. It is getting dark."

"…That does sound amicable, but…" Zoe pondered, "I don't know. I feel I haven't been too productive with today's session…"

"You were the one complaining earlier about how tired you were."

"Oh. Right."

Zoe sat in silence, contemplating. Madame Pom stared, waiting for Zoe to say something.

"…Well?" She ended up being the first to say something anyway.

"Oh, okay, fine," Zoe finally decided, "Can we please today's session here?"

Pomela smirked, "Beg for it in French."

"Pomela!"

A lighthearted giggle left her lips, "I'm kidding! Of course, we can. Let's pack up our little tea party then. Can I bring some of these cookies back with me?"

"Yeah, feel free to," Zoe shrugged, getting up and stretching in what was left of the sunlight.

===

French -> English translations.

Ces biscuits sont bons, n'est-ce pas ? -> These cookies are good, aren't they?

Oh, oui ! Mon parfum préféré : fraise et chocolat. -> Oh, yes! My favorite flavor: strawberry and chocolate.

Très bien ! Tu t'en sors bien jusqu'à présent. -> Very good! You're doing well so far.

…Pouvons-nous revenir à l'anglais ? -> …Can we go back to English?

Again. May or may not be too accurate. I don't speak French.

[study-with-aura]

Saturday, July 27, 2024

Today was a lot! However, it was also a great day at the same time! Algebra took up the most time of my day since I'm playing catch up with it. I would have practiced piano for another hour, but I really haven't gotten to play games with Julien much at all this summer, so I decided to spend more time doing that with my brother instead. I love when we get to game together.

We also went back out to the lake today as I was hoping we would be able to. It was kind of cloudy, but the sun made an appearance every little bit. It was hot though, so the water was fun to swim in once I met up with some friends out there. I may have also done some lake reading. Where I was in the book I just finished was really good, so I finished it up at the lake while Dad and Julien were fishing. They keep trying to get me to join, and I used to fish when I was younger, but nowadays, it isn't that interesting to me. Plus, even though my family eats meat and fish, I try to avoid it, and that includes catching the food myself. It makes me shudder to think about it.

🌞 I hope everyone is having a great weekend thus far! 🌞

Tasks Completed:

History 9 - Learned about Franz Liszt + studied Romantic Opera + learned about Giuseppe Verdi

KA GRF Algebra 2 - Completed Unit 3: Lessons 4-7 + Unit 3: Quizzes 1-2

Duolingo - Studied for approximately 30 minutes (Spanish + French + Chinese) + completed daily quests

Piano - 60-minute piano lesson + practiced for one hour

Reading - Read pages 193-309 of The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade and finished the book

Chores - Cleaned refrigerator, stove and kitchen counters + put away groceries

Activities of the Day:

Personal Bible Study (Revelations 21 + Week 23 reflections)

Morning yoga

1.5 hours gaming with Julien

Journal/Mindfulness

[the---hermit]

02|03|2023

Today was a low productivity day, and you know what? That's fine. I did very little, and what I did took me a long time. Study-wise I only finished organizing my protohistory notes, I had to check whether I had missing informations on what I wrote so far, and for some reason that takes me a lot of time. I was planning to work on some materials for other classes, but I was tired and decided to work on that tomorrow. I am still getting my energies back from the past week or so of not feeling at my best. It's weird but even though I was mostly struggling emotionally, that was just as tiring as getting a bad cold, or something physical. And since apparently I decided this will be a year of healing and self care (especially from an emotional point of view) I don't want to ignore these things, and mostly I don't want to feel guilty because I listen to my body and act accordingly to what I need to feel better.

Productivity:

finished organizing my protohistory notes, and made sure to add all the missing informations

practiced Irish on duolingo

worked on a future post

set up my March reading journal spreads

Self care:

drank my tea in bed and read first thing in the morning (best way to start a slow morning to be honest)

had a pretty intense therapy session

talked to a friend on the phone (I will be completly transparent I wasn't looking forward that phonecall, I love my friend but apparently my social batteries lately are dead. I am happy I did it because it was nice in the end, it was good to talk to her)

journaled a little bit

hair mask (I haven't done one since I cut my hair short for the first time I think, and my hair feels so soft now why did I even stop doing this)

📖: Harrow The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

[modestbirdwizard]

How to Steal Youtube like your Dad Stole Cable: A non-comprehensive guide.

Piracy is cool and you should do it.

I mean it, I fully condone the theft of copyrighted material online for the masses. You should consider the relative prices of a sturdy VPN to the cost of all your monthly streaming subscriptions and see what I mean: The mere fact that so many of these services trade the same movies back and forth on a bi-monthly basis only proves one thing, They don't respect you or your hard earned money. The prices go up, the services offered get more narrow and ill-defined, and worse to boot, but the torrent sites still exist and they still have everything I could ever want.

There are other guides on how to get any movie or album you want online, and maybe I'll write another, but today I want to talk you through something different. Piracy for the modern age, stealing something that would make the eyes of any tin-foil antenna wielding cable pirate misty with pride.

Let's get around youtube's bullshit under the jump:

We're going for the big dog. We're going… for youtube premium. I'm writing this guide with Firefox and Android in mind, but as far as I'm aware this will work more or less on chromium based browsers as well.

The two web extensions you'll need for your desktop:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sponsorblock/

If you're like me and find yourself in a youtube death spiral more often than you wish, you might want this one too:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hide-youtube-shorts/

Now, we address the app on your phone. Real heads have known about this trick for years, but it recently came to my attention.

ReVanced is a revival of the original Vanced app modding tool, and what it lets us do is very simple: bypass restrictions in many of our favorite apps like youtube, duolingo and others, so that we can get back essential features that have been paywalled. Specifically for youtube, we can now access off-screen playback, windowed playback, ad-free viewing, and we even GAIN a feature for our trouble, sponsor block, which uses crowdsourced data to find and skip embedded sponsor spots in videos. Think Squarespace and raid:shadow legends.

When you're installing revanced, you need to be careful not to install a pre-made hacked .apk, you really need to apply them yourself because nefarious users are everywhere and WILL send you malware. The ReVanced Manager app makes it very easy anyway, so you shouldn't need to rely on pre-hacked apks anyway.

You can get revanced from their page. Make sure it's the real deal, because there ARE fakes around.

You can find a current or slightly out-of-date youtube app around online very easily if you search. A slightly out of date apk is preferable here, as it means more of the hacks will work out of the box. If you've already downloaded the ReVanced app, then it will suggest a version for you to download.

"What about my TV?!" I haven't done this one personally, though I do intend to soon. My understanding is that you can use the command line on your fireTV stick to download a hacked app there as well! It's not an Enter The Matrix-tier operation, you just have to type a couple lines into a console. Super simple!

"Why aren't there more links in this post?" The companies have the internet too, and you probably know how to use it a bit more than they do. Posting links is like handing info to the enemy.

[dangertoozmanykids101]

Y'all know I love the Rabbit Hole

And I also love all y'all!!

Did any of y'all see this?

Eh eh eh eh eh..... Isn't this DELIGHTFUL?!

Tubi's whole rabbit hole campaign is one of my favorite things! I feel like they made it just for me!

Some of you may have noticed that I'm a bit obsessed with rabbits. The image takes so many forms within my imagination. I love how cute and fuzzy they are, especially their symbolism of spring and renewal and reproduction.

But when the images bring about the thoughts and feelings that edge toward the sinister and foreboding, I am beside myself with glee and enthusiasm.

Sorry I haven't been around much this summer. But I've been kicking ass in Duolingo! I have to make my daughter proud. So each 5 min chunk I have free I've been chugging away at that. But all y'all and our collective muses are always in my thoughts. Because y'all are my lifeline to sanity and sometimes the only adults I actually talk to about adult things.

Plus you can always count on my obsession to ALWAYS draw my attention back to this place.

The kind of fics our community creates are like no other writing I've ever seen. And that's not even bringing into account the smut portion of the writing here. Y'all know what I'm talking about. Nothing else compares.

Writers from this community have a far more fruitful imagination than what we can find elsewhere. And I'm not just referring to the dark or the weird, although those are priceless here—pure gold! No one writes crack fics like this community!!! But the fluff, the AUs, the angst, the horror, the eroticism, the dreamy pining, the slice of life, and the humor.

OMG! The humor!!!

The sense of humor this community shares is unmatched! I love you all so much! So much!

@caffiend-queen @nildespirandum @redfoxwritesstuff @acidcasualties @so-easy-to-love-me @americasass81 @muddyorbs @lokisgoodgirl @lokischambermaid @latent-thoughts @talklokitome @thezombieprostitute @theinheriteddutchess @navybrat817 @darkficsyouneveraskedfor @jtargaryen18 @tilltheendwilliwrite @alexakeyloveloki @devikafernando @mastreworld @nonsensicalobsessions and more!!!

[gemsofgreece]

recs for a beginner in greek? my interest is spurred via ancient greek, but i'm sure there are tons of tv shows and films that i'm missing out on

Do you mean Greek course recs? Or media recs? Couldn't tell.

If this is about courses, right now Duolingo is the one I would recommend the most for beginning up to reaching a low intermediate level.

Tons would be... an overstatement haha I do have some good recs though. You can watch all content in ERTFLIX, the ott platform of the Greek state TV channels, which is entirely for free and available worldwide. The TV series I personally recommend there is Καρτ Ποστάλ (Card Postal), it is gorgeous, introspective, philosophical. Then there is another famous show there, Κάνε ότι κοιμάσαι (Pretend you are asleep), which is crime / mystery / thriller, but I haven't watched it. A lot of people also love Τα καλύτερα μας χρόνια (Our best years), which is a family / period show set in the 60s-70s. I haven't watched this one either. Another personal rec would be Αγάπη παράνομη (Unlawful love), which is based on an old novel, but it gets very dark in a realistic way, so that's something you should know. Other than that, ERTFLIX also has foreign content with Greek subtitles, with which you could practice. And it has great Greek documentaries.

You could watch Maestro in Blue on Netflix. Season 2 will be out this spring! Beautiful show, fantastic performances, great music.

There's also a man, George, who has been making English subtitles for various classic Greek series, comedies and dramas, including top tier Είσαι το ταίρι μου (You are my soulmate), a hugely clever and unusual rom-com, Στο παρά πέντε (In the nick of time), a crime and mystery comedy which is considered one of the two best Greek comedies ever and must have the thickest plot I have seen in a comedy (very popular show with the Greek tumblrs here) and OF COURSE ΤΟ ΝΗΣΙ ΑΚΑ THE ISLAND, a drama which is the best Greek series to date and for which I have entirely normal reactions. Here I link the post I had made about George's platform.

If you don't care to have subtitles at all you can find these shows and many others in DailyMotion and especially the website greek-movies.com. (this needs vpn, you know). This one has it all. Literally all, including the classics, classic Greek cinema of the 50s-60s-70s was by far the best era.

I am currently watching Η Μάγισσα (The Witch). There are some talks that it could go to some international streaming platform after it ends but you can watch it in the aforementioned website anyway without subtitles. I love this show, it's semi-daily, so this season will have 70 episodes, and obviously it comes with the limitations of daily shows, but as semi-daily shows go, it is bloody fantastic, I am obsessed right now.

YouTube also has a lot of old Greek series. The first thing you should do after starting any Modern Greek course is to start watching Κωνσταντίνου και Ελένης (Constantine and Helen's) on youtube, the best Greek comedy, or maybe the best comedy in the universe, with only slight exaggeration 😜😇 The aforementioned Είσαι το ταίρι μου, is also available on youtube with George's subtitles.

Some additional links of older posts to check:

10 best animated movies to watch in Greek (foreign ones with great Greek dubs)

My favourite Greek movies

Check my #greek tv series and #greek movies tags for more.

[magicalrocketships]

Books!! Thanks to @officialmood for the tag :)

An estimate of how many physical books I own: Me, staring at my bookcases and doing an estimate per shelf x number of shelves... maybe 500? (and if you include ebooks, then there are 304 books in my to read folder and 339 in my read and keep folder). AND I did a big clear out before I moved last year. And took four bags to the charity book shop earlier this year. I cycle a lot of second hand books in and out tbh.

Favorite author: There are loads of favourite books and I could pretty much go on about most of the books on my shelves, but I think I could continue to lose myself in Lois McMaster Bujold's books over and over and over again. I know that Georgette Heyer books are very much Of Their Time but it is also true that if I ever need a comfort read then I know what to reach for.

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: Godddddddddd. Liza said Infinite Jest and I also have zero intention of ever reading this. But SO MANY.

A popular book I thought was just meh: Red, White, and Royal Blue. I did not get along with Wolf Hall, but I also didn't get that far into it before giving in.

Longest book I own: Toss up between the Neal Stephenson Baroque Cycle volumes, War and Peace, Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree (although I've lent this out and probably won't get it back), and Victoria Goddard's Hands of the Emperor / At The Feet of the Sun. They're all pretty chunky, without doing any specific investigation.

Longest series I own all the books to: Elinor M. Brent-Dyer's Chalet School series (approx 62 books, depending on which editions you own). After that, Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series.

Prettiest book I own: I don't own any where the cover is the prettiest thing I've ever seen, but I do own a queer historical photography book where together the inside and out is the prettiest visual history. Some of my books are v pretty because of the way they make me feel, but that's a different question.

A book or series I wish more people knew about: Maybe Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard? There's a core few of us that feel a lot about it. One of my very oldest internet friends that I haven't seen in years sent me a package earlier in the year that was just a notebook that had reminded her of this book and therefore it was a necessity to share it with me (she was right to do this). I also kind of want more people to talk to about Joan Aiken's Black Hearts in Battersea series.

Book I’m reading now: I'm listening to Jingo by Terry Pratchett, have just picked up the second Sandman volume, and I'm partway through Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield (although I realised last night that it was too creepy for me to read in bed, lollllllll)

Book that’s been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven’t gotten around to it: BRB just going to stare into an invisible camera, my goodreads to read pile is 462 books long and is only made up of stuff that I own / once owned and is probably not up to date with paperbacks. Let's say The Simarillion, because I've probably intended to read that since I was a kid (and have not yet managed it). I've read 133 books so far this year and yet my to read pile never gets any fucking smaller.

Do you have any books in a language other than English: Nope. I used to own some HP books in German and Latin but I did not keep them. I am not very good at languages, although me and the Duolingo owl are trapped in a daily standoff.

Paperback, hardcover or ebook?: Mixture of all three. Love a good paperback but I am... gently allergic to paper, so sometimes if I've read too many paper books my hands pay the price, and on the whole I do believe that skin should stay on my body, where I've put it, rather than peel off and bleed. A healthy mix of ebook and paperbook in general, with the odd hardback.

People have probably already done this, but tagging @junkshop-disco, @magog83, @dearmrsawyer, and @pennyplainknits.

[stratocumulusperlucidus]

8, 13, and 22? :)

8. How many languages do you know?

My mother tongue is french, then I learned english, which I'm pretty much fluent in.

I also learned spanish for like 5 years in school pero hace mucho tiempo y ahora puedo leer un poco pero no hablar muy bien.

I learned some german because of Tokio Hotel and because my sister lived in germany for a few years, but it's not an easy language so I didn't go very far.

Then my sister moved to sweden so I learned a bit of that too. I love how it sounds, but haven't practiced in a while. I only know a few basic words/phrases, not much.

I visited Shanghai a few years ago and when I came back I wanted to try and learn some chinese (why not before I went? idk, it could have been useful lmao), so I've been learning on duolingo for a few years now. It's duolingo so I don't have a great level but I LOVE the grammar, it seems very logical and easy to me (no gendered nouns, no verb conjugation, what a dream!!), and it's fun being able to decipher a few characters here and there whenever I see something written in chinese.

And I got curious about arabic so I started learning that too on duolingo, like last year I think? Learning a new alphabet is very fun!!

Whew that's a looooong answer lol so that's 7 if you take into account the languages I only dabble in.

13. Your dream place to visit?

I went to the Grand Canyon once in december and there was so much fog I couldn't see anything so I'd really like to go back and actually see it!

22. Best memory you could think of?

I was thinking of a bunch of memories and then this one made me tear up so: when I got back from spending 9 months in Canada as an exchange student, and @adropofred was waiting for me at the airport and oh that feeling of relief, of pure joy and love, finally seeing them again and hugging them after so long? yeah.

Ask me stuff, get to know me!

[lantur]

random notes,

I have been going all in on self-improvement/enrichment lately. It feels so good to have new goals to strive toward now that "write a novel" is complete. I have a 4-week streak on Dreaming Spanish videos and Duolingo, and I'm so happy that my comprehension of beginner-level Spanish videos is getting better. I'm also making good progress on my travel journal/scrapbooking project, and I'm back to reading social work textbooks.

The combination of homemade tea lattes and before-work workouts is still doing wonders for my mood. My running has gotten SO much better (free of pain and soreness!) since I started lower body strengthening in August. I wish I had known sooner that all my aches and pains were caused by weakness.

I had a fun weekend. My friend Steve came over for dinner on Friday, and I haven't seen him in months. Derek and I had a big extended family pre-Christmas party on Saturday, and we got to hang out with our favorite cousins. On Sunday night, a couple of my friends and I got Chinese takeout and spend the rest of the night sitting and chatting around the dinner table, and it was so cozy. :) Other highlights include a Sunday afternoon nap, a Saturday morning swim and sauna session, and plenty of cuddles with Westin.

Food/cooking thoughts: I roasted chicken legs earlier this month. I saved the sauce left over in the pan - a mix of the fat from the chicken drumsticks and the soy sauce + hot honey + garlic and ginger marinade. That combination of the chicken fat and gingery marinade has been AMAZING to flavor up my sautéed kale. I saved the bacon fat from the zuppa toscana I made on Friday night, and I'm excited to use that on my vegetables next.

It's not snowing here and it hasn't been too cold, compared to what it's usually like in winter. So far, I've dodged the seasonal depression bullet, for the first time in several years. :) This is also my first winter on the correct dose of antidepressants, and I know that must be helping a lot.

[beelearnsfinnish]

☆ 22 august, monday.

let's ignore the fact that the streak was yesterday, cause hey!!! got 200 days streak!!! feels like big accomplishment cause im the most inconsistent person ever so yeah it did gave me some motivation :)

still haven't had time to do a proper study plan because of work, but have been listening to my finnish playlist on my commute, and also started putting some finnish podcasts even if i understand two words out of twenty. im not surrounded by the language anymore so i have to force the inmersion.

been liking watching some youtube with the transcript on lingq tho! haven't really watched many before cause i hated that almost any of the videos i found had the automatic cc option but i think lingq is gonna save my life in this aspect. already made a youtube playlist with vlogs & lifestyle videos since i think they're gonna be the most helpful ones, and im almost done watching the first one and taking notes.

i do think its beneficial for me watching content this way and specifically youtube videos cause its giving me a grasp of how people actually speak, besides the basic duolingo & simple course sentences. i'm taking notes of sentences i like and think the structure can be helpful when it's my turn for writing. if you happen to have any youtube channel recommendations I'd love to hear!

think this is gonna be my plan til i get some time to actually continue a textbook or make a plan. liking it so far! :)

[nemrut]

Learning Japanese - Week 3 & 4

So, the weeks from 14.01.2024 - 28.01.2024.

I wanted to push my update day from Saturday to Sunday last week, which I felt made more sense, unfortunately, I forgot to write on that day, so I just decided to push that to this Sunday.

So yeah, haven't quite managed to learn daily. I did some Duolingo for some kana repetition every day at least, but there were some days when I just repeated what I already knew instead of learning something new.

Other than that, I am mostly familiar with hiragana and somewhat good with katakana, although I still need to practice to really know all of them.

I haven't touched grammar rules yet.

I did start with kanji, and I am already struggling with that, tbh. Not sure which kanji to begin with, and I see that there are different approaches. One with just learning the writing and meaning, but not the reading yet, alongside learning the radicals, and the other is just learning the kanji as is, with both the onyomi and kunyomi reading, and while that approach makes more sense to me, I kinda feel a bit torn.

The kanji I have "learned" so far were 1-10, 100, 100, light, person, water, fire, earth, wood, and air.

Not sure this is a sensible way to start, tbh. I looked into the book remembering the kanji and a few youtube videos, but none of them really clicked with me. Same with ANKI, because I haven't found an ANKI deck that started with a sensible (to me) order of kanji. I think writing stuff on paper works best for me there, but I will try to do stuff with anki. I might have to create my own cards though.

I am open for advice from any experts though.

So yeah, still trying to learn, but slowed down a bit.

[linguenuvolose]

2024 goals - January progress

Looking back I've honestly been doing super well with my goals this month! I'm very proud! It's small steps but they are making me feel good and like I prioritize things that I value which ultimately is what I want. I've been feeling calmer in life this month, that the avalanche of life changes is slowing dow finally which feels so good! I have however also had a lot of doubts and sadness and stress so it's a lot of both. Currently I'm feeling scarred but happy but stressed but calm. All over the place insomma.

Goals progress under the cut because if there's one thing my linguist ass likes to do it's saying words.

Get back into a reading routine

I have read a bit this month but nothing extraordinary. I don't know if I should do some kind of discipline thing like I have to read on my way to work every day for a week, just to see what happens. I think that could work because I do enjoy reading but I fall out of habit with it.

Meet friends at least once a month (= get better at reaching out, would be cool to reach out to people I never really knew but always found cool too!)

I've honestly hung out with a lot of friends! One I reached out to and it was so nice to catch up and it felt normal and like no time had passed. He also said he was happy I had reached out and that we should try to meet again soon. I got to meet one of my boyfriend's friends and she was super cool and fun! And then I was invited to a birthday party with some friends that I hadn't seen since summer. It was good to reconnect with them and it feels like it makes the first step to reaching out to them again less daunting. I was also very proud of myself because I managed to buy a gift without freaking out which is a huge thing for me! I also already have 2-3 hangouts planned for February. I want to be careful though to not plan too much because I kinda did this time last year and it sent me into a panic so I have to balance just chilling some weekends too.

Do the damn exercises for my back :( (possibly start going to the gym or join a sport of some kind (I would love to do salsa or boxing))

I haven't been great at doing my exercises at all (I've done them maybe 2-3 times all month...) and my back has been hurting more/in a different way so I should get on that. I've gone to two salsa classes so far though! I'm so happy I signed up for the course! I don't know that it's necessarily doing anything for my back but I get to move one hour a week. I'm trying actively to have fun and enjoy moving my body so it's nice! I do think group classes are good for me. Like if I would've been like let me start going to the gym I'm not convinced that I would do it consistently. I'm thinking maybe I should find some other class once this salsa one is over..?

Get better at Portuguese (I find it so difficult to define a level because what is my level now even?)

I haven't worked super hard on this but I listened to a few episodes of Respondendo em voz alta one week. I also searched for some kinda indie music and made a playlist. I think I did some Duolingo but now I've downloaded Busuu again so I'm working through that again. I actually finished that whole course when I kinda speedran in back in August but there are so many things I don't remember so I want to do it more properly now. I want to find a way to practice what I learn better so that I actually retain it but it's difficult.

Get my license (my permit expires in a year so I kinda have to)

I had one lesson.... It went super well and it felt good but it's kinda just the thing of finding available times. For February a goal is to make my boyfriend do the course thing so I can drive with him. I should also start studying the theory honestly. It's time I think

Get back into the habit of going on walks

I went for one walk last Saturday when the weather was beautiful! This goal I think is honestly more of a "how many hours of sun is there in a day" than anything else. Of course I don't feel tempted to go for a walk in my low-key unsafe neighborhood at 8 pm when it has been dark for 4 hours and it's -5 c you know.

Go to the theatre more (youth discount my beloved) and also to some museums!

I haven't but I started following some theaters and museums on Instagram to keep a bit more up to date with their program and hopefully get inspired to go to stuff that interest me! I did go to a poetry event, a concert and a movie so I got some culture!

Improve my sleeping schedule

I've added this goal later because like second week of the year I said to myself it's not cute to always sleep too little anymore. And then I kinda just... had a mindset change, said to myself girl you should start going to bed earlier and now I sometimes do. Which is huge compared to before. I've noticed that often if I start preparing for bed earlier I expand the time and like start cleaning the kitchen and stuff so I don't necessarily sleep earlier but I think it's still good I start slowing down and rewind earlier. I still never ever sleep 8 hours on a workday but maybe bit by bit I will get there.

[outer-edges]

6, 24, 18💖

omg hi!!and also ty

6. Episode of TV or webisode that defined the year for you?

LOOK THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS HERE BUT I THINK WE REALLY GOTTA GO WITH When We Are In Need BECAUSE THATS THE EPISODE OF TLOU THAT REALLY ROTTED MY BRAIN OUT.

like, i was IN IT when i was watching the show but 1.08 was really the nail in the coffin oh my lord.

24. Did you keep any New Years Resolutions?

yes! omg i actually did im so proud of myself. i made a laundry list of resolutions with intention of keeping only a handful, but the short version of resolutions i kept includes transferring to my top choice college, getting my learners permit (still working on the whole driving thing), and maintaining my duolingo streak all year (SO FAR FINGERS CROSSED BUT IF I LOSE IT ILL DIE)

18. Most Memorable Meal

bahhhhh okay i don't have anything special for this because i unfortunately didn't get to try any super new foods this year, but i think my most memorable meal was one i had on vacation. my family went to jamaica this year, and where we stay is really out of the way in this small ass town so it takes a while to get there from the airport, esp once you throw in errands. anyway, on the ride there my parents friend brought us to a local jerk place and it was SO good. srsly brought me back to life because i HATE HATE HATE flying and driving so bad

anyway. this is getting long and i haven't even mentioned the food yet. the meal itself was pretty standard jamaican fare. curry goat, jerk chicken, peas and rice, fried plantain, and festival. but those are also some of my fave foods and top tier quality.

(honorable mention meal is also from this trip. one lunch i had was literally just easter bun + cheese sandwich and like half a jackfruit + star apples and thats pretty much all i need in life to be happy. sandwich and fruit)

[the---hermit]

Book haul #2 and a letter bringing joy for far away.

17|07|2023

This new week started slowly and calmly. I watered my plants in the garden, and cleaned up all the fallen fruits to avoid a gathering of wasps. I continued my tolkien movie marathon, got a lovely card from a friend. I am planning on hanging up all the cards friends send me, as soon as I repain my room (ideally this week). I also got two other books from that order I made a few weeks ago for my birthday, and now I am only waiting on a book I preordered and a book my brother got for me as a late birthday gift. My current read is Juniper And Thorn by Ava Reid, on which I had heard very divisive thoughts, but after a third of the book I can say I am really enjoying it. The writing is beautiful, and it has very nice dark fairytale vibes, it's really promising so far. I haven't yet decided whether I will be dnf-ing The Lost World, but the odds aren't too bright right now.

Chill hobbit summer activities of today:

Read first thing in the morning

Garden work

Continued my tolkien movie marathon

Went to the plant shop and I may or may not bought two plants to add to my herb garden (I am waiting tomorrow morning to plant them in the garden because it's way too hot and I don't want to risk feeling bad because of the heat)

Worked on the bookmarks I am making for my friends (knife gang beloved <3)

Practiced both Irish and French on duolingo

📖: Juniper And Thorn by Ava Reid