Please Make Sure That Wherever You’re At In Life, You Don’t Treat It Like A Transitory Period. Don’t

U kno what???? Honestly?? All jokes side about the Duolingo owl, Duolingo is one of the only language education services I know of that doesn’t charge for the full course and I really think we don’t appreciate that enough in a world where knowledge is severely (and increasing) restricted based on income. I just went through the app store and downloaded every language app I can find, and the only two that didn’t charge hefty subscription fees to access all the lessons were duolingo and memrise. Support free education.

Skipping Lectures: How to ditch class and get good grades

Studitonious loves 8am lectures. Every day he cartwheels to class, radiant with the joy of acquiring new knowledge. Morning coffee? Ha! That’s for uncultured plebeians. He has no need for caffeine when he has his daily shot of morning eDUCATION!!! 

Here’s the thing - Studitonious doesn’t exist. Or if he does, he needs to get some serious help. Yet, there seems to be a common misconception that a “perfect student” must emulate this model. 

Getting up at the crack of dawn? Well, you don’t need to get up if you never go to sleep… #lifehacks. Oh, there’s a blizzard outside? No biggie, the cold never bothered me anyway. Everything is worth it because getting good grades is all. so. wonderful. Right?

Well, here’s a thought. What if you don’t have to attend all your lectures to get good grades? What if instead of forcing study habits that work against us, we develop flexible routines that work for us? What if we began studying smarter, not harder?

Let’s get one thing straight - not all lectures are created equal. There’s a big difference between ditching class to binge your latest Netflix obsession vs. ditching class because it’s counterproductive to your learning. Here are a few factors to consider:

Is attendance compulsory?

Does participation contribute to your grade? Do you have any in-lecture assessments? 

If the answer is “yes”, then go to your lecture. The mark may only be worth 5%, but would you rather have 5% added or deducted from your grade?

Are your lectures recorded?

At my university, all lectures are automatically recorded due to Access & Inclusion policies but this isn’t the case across the board.

If there’s any lecture-exclusive content (i.e. content discussed in lectures but not in the slides, group activities etc.) and your lectures are not recorded it’s a good idea to attend.

Is the content actually helpful?

Does the lecture aid your learning in a way that other mediums (reading lecture slides/the textbook, attending tutorials/labs etc.) do not? For instance, if your lecturer just reads off the slides, you can save time by looking at them yourself.

Is your subject more “hands-on”? For courses that are more heavily based on solving problems, I often find doing the problems myself way more helpful than watching my lecturer solve them.

How dense is the content of each lecture? Sometimes, there is simply too much to absorb in the given time slot. E.g. I once had a flipped class that had a brief 1-hour intro lecture to a week’s worth of content. Since it just briefly skimmed over everything, it was more worthwhile to study the concepts in detail myself.

Do you actually pay attention to the lecture?

Are you actually awake? I once had a friend tell me he attended all his 8am lectures despite always falling asleep because he “just felt like he should”. Bro, sleep.

How engaging is the lecturer? Obviously, you shouldn’t skip a class just because the lecturer is “boring” but there is a certain point where the line is crossed. In first year, one of my professors took long pauses between every second word and spoke very s l o w l y. Needless to say, he was much easier to listen to at 2x speed.

Note: there is a significant difference between a bad lecturer and just being distracted. If it’s your meme addiction, not the quality of your lecturer that’s making you lose focus, turn off your phone.

Other factors to consider:

Do you have any other commitments (e.g. other courses, work etc.) at the same time? While it would be nice to try and re-arrange your schedule sometimes things just don’t work out.

Are you sick? If you’re feeling rough mentally or physically, you should consider taking a day off.

Ok, so you’ve decided that you’re better off not attending your lecture but what should you actually do instead? How do you deal with this newfound flexibility and freedom?

Develop a study routine (and stick with it)

The key to skipping class successfully is just doing consistent work. If your lecture is 2 hours long, pencil in a 2-hour study session.

It’s important to maintain a sense of regularity and routine. Treat your study sessions like a compulsory class - do them at the same time each week. It may even help to study at the intended lecture time.

The most common pitfall is to go “Oh it’s easy, I’ll just skip my lecture and do xyz instead”… but never do xyz.

Identify the lecture’s problems and provide solutions

Why exactly did you decide to skip your lecture? How are you going to make your independent study more effective? If you don’t do something more useful with this “free time”, you’re just wasting it. Be specific.

Here are a few examples:

 Problem: Lecturer speaks too slowly. Solution: Watch the lecture recordings at a faster speed.

 Problem: Lecturer just reads off the slides, providing no new content. Solution: Read the slides yourself, making your own notes and saving yourself time.

Problem: The lecture is too theoretical in comparison to the assessment scheme. Solution: Do more practice problems instead of just going over abstract concepts.

Find a study group

Having friends who take the same course can honestly make the experience so much better.

It can also help increase accountability. For instance, you would probably feel more guilty ditching a group vs. solo study session.

However, this can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes my “study sessions” with friends will just dissolve into us looking at memes for hours. Make sure you’re actually going to study!

Banter is great, but remember when to have fun, and when you need to focus and get shit done.

George: [to Percy] Pardon my French, but you're being a douchebaguette.

[5/27/17]

My French teacher gave us these tips for studying a new language, so I typed them up for you guys! You can check out the original doc he gave us here

back to school

i know, i know, i’m a little bit early. it’s all good, i have anxiety, i plan ahead constantly. i figured i’d share some of my plans to prepare myself for heading back to school.

1. fix your sleep schedule

for school i wake up at 6:30, in the summer i wake up at 12. and recently i decided to fuck that up even more by pulling an all-nighter and just, in general, screwing up my sleep schedule. i’ll need about a month to fix all this damage, but in general, you should start reacquainting yourself with your school schedule about two weeks before you have to head back.

2. figure out your note keeping system

i’m switching things up this year, and i won’t be using the binder system i’ve had all throughout high school. it’s simply to heavy for my walk to and from school. instead, i’ll be using a filing folder, and keeping loose leaf paper, as well as the week’s lessons in there, and once the week is over, i’ll transfer my notes to the binder system at home, which should limit the weight i carry. also, this’ll force me to have better organization, and hopefully make weekly review easier. just as a rule of thumb, refreshing your note keeping system is something you should do annually, at the start of a new year or even before a new semester; you know what’s been working and what hasn’t been.

3. gather breakfast ideas

i have about ten minutes scheduled in my morning routine during the school year for breakfast. and about five of those minutes are spent figuring out what to eat. i want to gather simple breakfast ideas that i can test out now, so i don’t waste time deciding what to eat. this just, in general, makes mornings less of a hassle and can help make sure you’re getting a good start to the day.

4. take stock of your supplies

i need a lunchbag and highlighters, my previous ones are no longer able to function, so i need to replace them. i don’t, however, need new pencils, i have plenty. doing an inventory check can really help prevent buying duplicates of something you thought you didn’t have.

5. create achievable goals

this year is my final year of high school, and then i’m off to university, most of my goals centre around applications and just graduating. but there are other things i know i need to do. embracing study habits for one. i’m hoping to do so by staying in the library after school instead of walking home right away because i know i can’t get work done as effectively at home. i’ll also be doing a review for exams all throughout the year, instead of the day before, by creating flashcards and mindmaps for each days lesson. set a general goal, then add the steps you’ll need to take to achieve it.

6. check your courses

i’m dropping out of physics because i don’t need to be taking it and it will give me a spare instead of a full course load. i need to talk to my guidance counsellor before school starts because of it. as well, i like to make sure i’m in the correct classes and that my schedule is as balanced as possible. some schools may not allow this for regular students, mine does. make sure you’re taking what you need to take and what will allow you to succeed.

7. put dates in your planner

my school offers a tentative list of events going on through the year, with set exam and break times. i like to keep track of these, and setting them in my planner makes it easier to see how my year will play out. if your school doesn’t offer this, check out past years scheduling so that you have a general feel for how your year will go.

these are just some of the things i’m doing to ensure this year goes smoothly for me. let me know what y’all are doing too!

Tips: How to Overcome Presentation Anxiety

Requested by an anon, how to get over the fear and anxiety of public speaking/presenting. I struggled with this throughout middle school but kicked it to the curb in high school. Here’s how.

1. Know your topic like the back of your hand. A lot of presentation anxiety stems from getting up there and suddenly forgetting everything you practiced. If you know your stuff, you’re not going to have to worry about this.

2. Practice, practice, practice. If you have younger siblings or someone in your family who is willing to sit and listen why you rehearse, even better. They may be able to identify holes in your presentation such as clarification or comprehension issues. You want your audience to know your topic

3. Be organized. If your teacher allows, have flashcards or an outline of what you want to talk about. Now this shouldn’t be your whole presentation word for word in front of you because then you’ll never make eye contact with your audience and your teacher will count off. Trust me. The notecards/outline should be just key points you can glance at to jog your memory on what you want to talk about. So if I’m giving a presentation on Aphrodite my outline would look like this.

Aphrodite

Goddess of love, beauty, and sex

Born of white foam of sea

Venus in Roman culture

Daughter of Zeus

Married Hephaestus

Sexual relations with Ares

Had x number of children

You get my point. Short sentences to jog my memory and I would fill in the details in the presentation

4. Before you present, chew some gum. If your mind thinks you’re eating, it assumes you have no reason to fear danger (anxiety) so it helps you to calm down.

5. Take a big, deep breath before you go up. Seems cliche but it always helps me.

6. Focus on your content, not your audience. I promise most of them aren’t paying attention to you either. Be confident in yourself and in your material.

I... don’t want to do this, but I don’t know what else to do...

I am $105 short this month. My card was charged without permission, and the people are saying that they will not refund it and will only credit my account for the next month. I have bills & debts that I absolutely need to pay and cannot put off any longer. If anyone can give even $1, I would immensely appreciate it.

Here is my PayPal. My CashApp is $allthatsknown. Thank you.

picture it now. the life you want to have. the smells, the colors, the people. the smiles and the accomplishments. where you’ll live, where you’ll relax, where you’ll study or meet new people or just discover. allow yourself to dream, and aim high. disappointment is a part of life, and whenever someone succeeded, they allowed themselves to dream, to expect, and then to fail. and then try all over again, until it worked out.

the greatest skill a woman can learn for herself is self reliance

Helpful Books To Learn Languages

French

50 Ways To Improve Your French

Barron’s French Idioms

Learn French: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning French!)

2,001 Most Useful French Words

Say It Right in French: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly 

Streetwise French

Berlitz Hide This French Phrase Book

Italian

50 Ways To Improve Your Italian

Berlitz Self-Teacher Italian (Personally, I don’t really care for these types of books, mainly because I don’t the things you learn in the first few chapters. Unless you have a base in the language, I don’t think this book will work for you.)

Learn Italian: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning Italian!)

Barron’s Italian Idioms 

Easy Italian Phrase Book: 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use 

Correct Your Italian Blunders

Spanish

50 Ways To Improve Your Spanish

Correct Your Spanish Blunders 

Just Enough Spanish

Dirty Spanish - Warning: This is really vulgar.

Barron’s Complete Spanish Grammar Review 

Making Out in Spanish (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Spanish, this seems like a pretty good book.)

Ven Conmigo! Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook: Level 1 (This is the actual workbook I use in my Spanish 1 class. It is great and I love it. If you want to teach yourself Spanish, I highly recommend getting a workbook like this.)

Hide This Spanish Book (This has a lot for a small book. Mainly just some basic phrases, along with some that are more vulgar.)

Hide This Spanish Book for Lovers (The title speaks for itself…)  

Mierda! The Real Spanish You Were Never Taught In School

Say It Right In Spanish

German

50 Ways To Improve Your German

Dirty German - Warning: This is really vulgar.

Say It Right In German: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly

Easy Way to Enlarge Your German Vocabulary

Barron’s German Idioms

The Tell-Tale Heart - If you want to read in German, this seems like a pretty good book to get. 

German-English Visual Dictionary

Scheisse!: The Real German You Were Never Taught In School - I love all these books. They have them in every language (The title means “Shit”). Although it doesn’t have the pronunciations, its still pretty great for the vocabulary it has. It’s a bit vulgar though, but not too bad.

Portuguese 

Just Enough Portuguese: How to Get by and Be Easily Understood

Portuguese Verb and Essentials of Grammar

Berlitz Portuguese Phrase Books & Dictionary

51 Portuguese Idioms - Speak Like a Brazilian 

Arabic

Arabic-English Visual Dictionary

The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read and Write It

First 100 Words In Arabic

Learn Arabic: The Fast and Fun Way

Making Out In Arabic  

Instant Arabic!

Japanese

Berlitz Concise Dictionary

Essential Kanji: 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters

Colloquial Kansai Japanese: The Dialects and Culture of the Kansai Region

Speak Japanese Today 

Making Out In Japanese - I just bought this book, and it seems pretty great. 

More Making Out In Japanese 

Korean

Say It Right In Korean 

Korean Made Easy

Instant Korean

First 100 Words In Korean

Making Out In Korean

More Making Out In Korean

Korean For Travelers - I think this might only be a Nook book, which kind of sucks.

Dirty Korean -  Warning: This is really vulgar.  

Basic Korean: Workbook

Intermediate Korean: Workbook - I’m not sure if this is worth getting because of the price, but it seems like a helpful book

Korean At A Glance

Teach Me Everyday Korean

Chinese

Making Out In Chinese (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Chinese, this seems like a pretty good book.)

Mandarin Chinese - English Visual Dictionary

Survival Chinese 

Get Talking Chinese - This book is so great. It’s kind of like a children’s book, but for learning basic Chinese, it’s great.

Hide This Mandarin Chinese Phrase Book 

Instant Chinese!

Polish

Say It In Polish 

Berlitz Polish Concise Dictionary

Berlitz Polish Phrasebook and Dictionary

Polish: An Essential Grammar

Russian

Learn Russian: The Fast and Fun Way

Say It Right In Russian

Russian Vocabulary

Dermo!: The Real Russian Tolstoy Never Used

Russian At A Glance

Just Enough Russian

General Language Books

Barron’s 501 Verbs (comes in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin, Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, English and German)

Note: I love Berlitz and Barron books for learning languages. Most are just reference books for verbs, grammar, or basic phrases instead of textbooks. But once you have a base in the language, they help you improve so much. I highly recommend buying any Berlitz or Barron language books. I love the 50 Ways To Improve Your books. They are the best grammar/vocab/correction language books ever. I use the Spanish one to help teach myself Spanish, and I absolutely love it. And it isn’t very expensive either!