enykp

[enykp]

The Problem of My Skinny Self

In this generation, people will praise you if you’re thin. While majority of my friends have undergone body changes, that doesn’t happen to me...yet. I remember when my close friend in high school told me after a year of not seeing each other: “you still look like a high school student”. He told me that when I was already in my first year in college. I thought it was funny and it was a compliment but as I look at myself right now, I believe he would still tell me the same thing even though I have already graduated in college.

My body hasn’t been an issue for me. I love my body. I love how I can fit into narrow spaces. I love how my butt can still occupy that little portion in a car seat. I love how clothes would fit me and I’d be looking like a model. If I have something that I am more insecure about, it would be my armpit. But that is a different story.

Anyway, like I said I love my body and I have no problem about it. But I have started to realize how my image has affecting other people’s perception of me. I know you’re not suppose to worry about what other people thought of you but I can make a guess. I’m underweight and my BMI is only 90-something. I’ve tested myself already and it turns out that in my 90-something BMI, my body is composed more of fat than muscles. I am also a petite woman. I’m only 5′0″. Probably in the eyes of others that I look like a child from poverty. And because of that, I think that’s the reason why my colleagues will take advantage of me. Like they’ll belittle me because I am indeed little. And some may think that I am not believable because I look too young to make a command.

This doesn’t end up here. I did yoga few months back. I stopped because a.) I cannot afford it anymore b.) I think it’s not the best physical activity for me (although it did helped me). Ever since I stopped, that’s when I have a worse mental problems than before. My fear of becoming unsuccessful in life has started eating me, midlife crisis, and I have stumbled back into my old stubborn self. Watching youtube videos from 9AM in the morning until 12AM. How crazy, right? Sleep has been a problem to me as well. I get an 8-hour sleep yet I get to wake up with a heavy head. The point is, ever since I stopped doing physical activity, I am becoming the worst version of myself. I am thin and I am becoming to think that I cannot do anything.

And this also goes to my health. I have several cases of stomach problems because I SKIP MEALS. There was this one time that I only ate once a day although we have food in my house. I am so lazy that I think preparing food for myself is such a tiresome task. Now I believe this is the reason why I am so thin is because I don’t eat a lot.

Okay my point here is, I want to do something for my body. I actually want to gain weight in a healthy way. I want to gain muscles. I want to be fit! I don’t want to look like this pathetic malnourished woman that I am right now. I want to do myself a favor. Maybe in this way, I can start gaining self-confidence now. Maybe this will encourage me to finally eat more and eat healthy. Maybe this will mold me into a better version of myself. To see a completely different person that I have become. I don’t know. But believe me, I’ve always wanted to be fit.

For the next remaining days of 2019, I’m going to save money for my gym class. Maybe I should take boxing. Then maybe come back to yoga? I don’t know. I just want to be my most confident self so I can look respectable and believable.

[enykp]

Easiness of Spanish accents.

[enykp]

IGTBFISI6M: Day 5

Since I’m unemployed lately, I got a lot of time to do whatever I want. I realized that I was not using my time well. If I have realized this earlier, I could have progressed more in my studying more than what I have achieved so far. I am not proud of how lazy I am. I need to include this in the post because I have to rant about myself and I’m so sick of making excuses for my laziness. It brings myself down and even those people who root for me. Not only in learning Spanish but as well as being a yoga teacher. 

Anyway, a little log about my Spanish self-study:

I learned more about Spanish tenses, especially in Imperfect Tense, Future and Present Subjunctive. It made me realize more that Spanish grammar is SO DIFFICULT! 

However, I am proud about realizing the patterns in between the suffixes for first, second and third person. I guess if you’ve solved this problem already, then you will be fine with the grammar.

For the first time, I also made a specific lesson plan for myself. Tomorrow, I shall continue with the tenses then I shall make myself a short quiz or maybe I should rely on SpanishDict.

I’m excited for tomorrow! Hopefully, I can make this happen! I feel like I’m getting more fluent in Spanish every single day. :)

[enykp]

IGTBFISI6M: Day.....5?

HELLO!!!

As promised, I’m back!

And I’m not happy about it...

because I realized, SPANISH GRAMMAR IS SO DIFFICULT!!! You have to remember A LOT of things!!!!! Like the suffix to be added, the past and present participle... and all of that stuff!!! I really thank SpanishDict for a summarized yet thorough explanation of the grammar. I also like how they use sample sentences in Spanish so it sort of widened my vocabulary. I have encountered the words menter, baja, atraer y gritar. 

I’m not going to lie pero I am discouraged. bUT that’s on me. I get discouraged when the things I want is difficult to reach. So then again self, you hAVE TO DO THIS! YOU STARTED THIS AND YOU SHALL FINISH! AND YOU’RE GOING TO BE FLUENT IN SPANISH IN 3 MORE MONTHS!!!

Pray that I can understand Spanish grammar more please. 

[enykp]

The Ultimate Resource Post: French

Everything you need to begin and proceed your adventure with the French language! Enjoy!

Learn French

Websites to help you begin or proceed learning the French language.

•Frenchpod101

•Duolingo

•Learn French

•A Green Mouse (Learn French- children)

•About French grammar (About.com)

•About French Verbs (About.com)

Verb conjugator

Verb practice (memorization exercise)

Verb conjugation games (Digital Dialects)

•French Vocab Lists & Flashcards (Quizlet)

•Learn French language and culture (BBC)

•Mondly Languages

Listening

Listening skills are essential for learning a language, you need to get familiar with the sound, and by doing so, you can absorb the culture and moods associated with it, for example, by listening to the radio, music, or youtubers.

There is a website called News in Slow Languages that features many different languages, including French, where you can read and listen to spoken French at a beginner, intermediate or advanced level! 

Listening Practice and Activities

•French Listening Practice (All Levels)

•Listening Comprehension (Beginner)

•Listening Comprehension (Intermediate)

•About.com Listening Lab

•News in Slow French

French Radio

•France Bleu fm (Paris)

•Various French Radio Stations (Online streaming)

*You can download apps that have French radio stations as well.

French News/ Broadcasts

•France 24 (Live)- Click on “La Chaine En Direct”

•Le Monde (Videos)

•Live Broadcast TV in France

French Music

•Lyricstraining (Find French songs and practice learning them)

•Universal Music France (Youtube Channel)

•Warner Music France (Youtube Channel)

•Explore French playlists

Some Singers Who Sing in French:

•Édith Piaf (Cabaret)

•Stromae (House)

•Julien Doré (Pop)

•SHY’M (Pop/ R&B)

•Zaz (Jazz/Chanson)

•Françoise Hardy (Pop/Chanson)

•Maitre Gims (Rap)

•Jenifer (Pop/Pop rock)

•France Gall (Yé-yé/ Pop)

•Superbus (Rock/ Pop)

•Black M (Rap/Hip hop)

•Alizée (Pop/Dance)

French Movies

•50 Best French Films (List)

•Les Soleils de l'Ile de Pâques (1972) (Full-free/ Youtube)

•Juste Une Question D'Amour (2000) (Full- free/ Youtube)

•Le Petit Soldat (1963)

•À la folie… pas du tout (2002) (Full-free/ Youtube)

•100 Best French Films (List)

French Shows

•Peppa Pig in French (Youtube)

•Strawberry Shortcake in French (Yotube)

•Playlist of Shows in French, etc

•List of Shows

*If you have DVDs, check to see if you can watch or listen to it in your target language

French Youtubers

•Emma Bossé

•NORMAN FAIT DES VIDÉOS

•Rachel Martino

•PL Cloutier

•P.O & Marina

•Cyprien

•ADRI GEEK

•It’s Marina

Reading

Reading is essential as well, you must get familiar with how the language looks, how it’s used, and get used to reading multiple things to not only absorb the language, but the cultural views on thing as well.

News Websites

•Le Monde

•France 24

•Le Figaro

•Le Parisien

•L’Equipe (Sports)

Online Books/Stories

•Children’s Stories in French

•French Short Stories

•French Poems

•Buy French Books (Amazon)

Misc

•Wiki-How (In French)

•Recipes in French

•French reading practice

•French Reading Comprehension Exercises

Writing

Writing is important, and if you practice everyday, you will surely improve your writing skills along with getting down the verbs, grammar, and vocab with writing practice.

Websites to Practice Writing Skills

•Lang-8

•100 Writing Prompts for All Grades

•Practice Typing in French

*Tweet or post on Facebook in French to document feelings or events.

*Write notes in French, etc.

Speaking

There aren’t much ways to use online resources to practice speaking, other than practicing with friends who speak or are learning the language, or using some apps/websites available to ask natives if you are saying things correctly.

Remember to speak EVERYDAY! With people who speak it or not, but be sure to speak! When you’re alone, in the shower, or out in public, even sing in your favorite song that happens to be in Italian! It’s essential to practice practice practice.

•HiNative (You can speak and ask native speaker’s how you sound)

Language Exchange Websites

•WeSpeke

•italki

•Speaky

•HelloTalk (App)

•MyLanguageExchange

•Interpals

Practice French

If you’ve started learning French just now, or for a while, it’s important to keep up your language skills by practicing the language.

Games

•Fun and Diverse French Games

•Children’s Games (Hello-World)

•Digital Dialects Games

*Be sure to create physical or digital flashcards to document vocabulary learned, so you can go back and practice

Immersion Tips

Immersing yourself in your target language will increase your language skills greatly. Here are some tips to help you immerse other than everything above on this list.

•Set your phone, computer, or any electronic settings to French.

•Set social media to French.

•Tweet or post on Facebook in French

•Label things around your house if you need to learn or remember what they are in French.

•Set your Twitter or Facebook trending topics to the location of your target language’s country (to see trending topics from that place).

•Find a friend who speaks the language and text/e-mail/call them as much as you can (everyday if possible)

French Chat Room (for people who are learning it)

•THINK in French

Other Resources

Dictionaries

•WordReference

•French>English Dictionary (Bab.la)

•French Dictionary

Pronunciation

•Forvo (Type in a word and pronunciations from native speakers will show up)

-

Thank you for reading this, I hope it will be a great help for those learning French. This post is ORIGINAL, meaning, I spent time searching for links and ways to construct this list together. Do not copy this entire list and the way it’s formatted, for it is original to cecelialanguages.tumblr.com especially the introductions to each topic (I wrote them).

Note: I will make a similar post in Spanish and German. If you’d like some in more languages, let me know.

♥Cecelia♥

[enykp]

omg hello i havent posted in a long time. a little update here, yes i think i have improved my spanish. there are days that i was so eager to study and there are days that i just make excuses why not to study. just like today. well in my defense, i was busy looking for a part-time job so i guess... pass? jdlkfs

next week i’ll be back!!

[enykp]

ITBFISI6M: Day 3

Okay this is from yesterday.

Ayer, I translated the first stanza of Desilusion de Sofia Macchi. It’s a good song by the way! Take a listen! :)

Nothing much happened in my Spanish learning. I feel bad too. I feel like my learning schedule is not helping me. I study in the evenings. Although amo tanto la noche, I feel sleepy. And sometimes I would just go through my vocabulary for the sake of finishing my routine... not to learn. I read somewhere that if the routine or the habit does not work, change the system. So right now, it’s 10:59 en filipinas y quiero to make a new system of my habit. And...... no lo se. Estoy perdido. But maybe tomorrow. I can think of a new one. I’m sleepy now so maybe that’s why. 

[enykp]

🌿 Check out this beautiful pre-wedding photoshoot with a precolonial & colonial theme. Inspired by the Bisayans in the 16th Century @infamouskarl_pascual and his wife decided to channel their ancestors in their photoshoot. They have done a good job invoking the vibes and spirit of our ancestors. From their choice in the textiles, to the gold bracelets and necklaces, to the batuk (tattoo) inspiration, and the use of a kampilan. May you guys be blessed and thank you for sharing your photos with us! ➡ If you would like to share your own precolonial themed wedding photoshoots or any cultural performances, artwork, etc. tag us in your photo or send a message to us on Instagram or on Facebook and you might be featured.

Follow The Pinoy Culture blog:

Instagram: thepinoycultureblog Facebook: thepinoycultureblog Twitter: pinoy__culture

[enykp]

Beautiful Tagalog Words

walanghiya - liveliness and eagerness

charot - a reason for being

putok - natural scent of a person

pokpok - awareness that nothing is ever permanent

abnoy - things that remind you of yourself

chaka - something added to embellish and make something perfect

kupal - the feeling of great achievement due to putting more effort

anyare - a profound insight 

gago - powerfully persuasive

echos - being mindful of small details

jejemon - verbosity

bwisit - purpose in life

tanga - something everyone seems to be except for you

weh - things left unsaid

bokya - reaching the zenith

ulol - picturing things in your head

supot - something that didn’t happen because of waiting for too long

baliw - ephemeral beauty

hinayupak - overflowing with fervor

ansabe - wanting someone to repeat what they said that made you happy

punyeta - finding beauty in things despite their imperfections

tarantado - a convivial person

[enykp]

me @ myself

[enykp]

I thought it was time to show all of you my desk :) I put some personal annotations on it, if you have any more questions you can just send me a message! Anni

[enykp]

IGTBFISI6M: Day 2

Hello!

Another day of memrise. I reviewed some of my vocabulary and learned new words such as hacerle, girar and parar. 

Yesterday, I found a new website about Spanish grammar. It’s Complete Spanish Guide. I tried and went through the website and I must say it’s pretty good. It’s summarized and it gives simplified grammar tips and exercises. It’s like how a teacher’s handout would be like. I think I would recommend this to anyone who doesn’t want to read paragraphs of explanations and who is kind of a visual learner. This is the kind of resource that I want. 

Currently, I am in the future tense section. I love how easily they can describe this. 

[enykp]

Online Courses for Language Lovers (that aren’t languages)

I wanted to let fellow language learners know about some great courses that I think will help you out since they cover topics that aren’t typically taught in language classes. They cover various topics such as culture, linguistics, and psychology that will round out your language education. They are all MOOCs which means that they are free online courses available to the public. 

Exploring Language and Cultures:  You will learn about the benefits and challenges of meeting people from different cultures, what it means to be plurilingual and pluricultural, and the ways in which language and human communities shape each other. You also will look at the role of intercultural competence at the workplace, reflect on the use of English as lingua franca in international contexts, and get a flavor of the skills involved in language-related professions such as translation and interpreting.

What is language?: An applied linguistic perspective: This serves as an introduction to the discipline of applied linguistics. It examines what is meant by ‘language’, what its main characteristics are, and how human language differs from communication between other animals. It also asks whether theoretical knowledge about language can be applied to professional practice.              

Intercultural Communication: This free online course will help you better understand cross-cultural complexity; cultivate your awareness of your own and others’ cultural identities; highlight some notable variations in communication styles and cultural values; and signpost paths towards building your intercultural competence.

Multilingual Practices: In this course, you will identify central aspects around societal and individual multilingualism, evaluate the benefits of multilingualism of both minority and migrant speakers, identify issues that arise when people who do not share the same languages meet, critically evaluate multilingual language policies for both migrant and minority languages, and investigate multilingual practices.

Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics: This course introduces you to linguistics, featuring interviews with well-known linguists and with speakers of many different languages. Join us to explore the miracles of human language!

Introduction to Linguistics: In this course, you’ll get an introduction to the main approaches used in linguistic research, including linguistic experiments and discourse analysis. You’ll find out about the key methods used in linguistic descriptions, and some of the everyday ‘myths’ about language. You’ll discover how linguistic researchers turn our ideas about language into linguistic knowledge.

The Bilingual Brain: This course explores the brain bases of bilingualism by discussing literature relevant to differences in age of initial learning, proficiency, and control in the nonverbal, single language and dual-language literature.  Participants will learn about the latest research related to how humans learn one or two languages and other cognitive skills. Course starts May 5, 2019. 

Introduction to Lexical and Semantic Typology:  The aim of the course is to obtain the idea of the lexicon as a complex system and to get the methodology of the typological approach to the lexicon cross-linguistically, as well as to learn about the general mechanisms of semantic shift and their typological relevance. Course starts May 5, 2019.

Language Revival: Securing the Future of Endangered Languages: Learn how the world’s endangered languages are revived and why this process is critical to preserving cultural identity.  Course is archived but the material is accessible.

Introduction to Applied Linguistics and TESOL: You’ll explore real-world examples of applied linguistics, such as forensic linguistics and language assessment. You’ll look at the field’s impact on important issues - for example, reducing gender bias in language use and simplifying legal language. You’ll find out what applied linguists do through a series of case studies. Specialists will work through problems and show you applied linguistic research methods to solve them.

For Free Online Language Courses: Link Here

Last Updated: May 2019

[enykp]

IGTBFISI6M: DAY 1

Hello! I know I posted my challenge 3 days ago and I was not able to update about it. My mind was occupied with frustrations and stress regarding the midterm elections and I don’t have the mental space to study.  If you’re disappointed with the results too, hi-five!

So a little update about my challenge, I went back to memrise. I’ve got to finish 100 most popular spanish verbs course in memrise. 

Language learners! 

I know you know this already but in case you don’t, then here’s the shortcut to learning the language. Learn the most commonly used words! It’s easier to find them in youtuber’s dialogue or your idol’s IG caption. The more you encounter them, the more you can be familiar with it and the more you can comprehend the sentences well. 

That’s why I chose this course. I’m glad to say that it really works! I’ve been talking to my Spanish speaking friends and I can understand their sentence a little bit without using a translator. It helps!

Tomorrow is another day. I don’t know yet what to do... well besides memrise.

[enykp]

I’m Going to be Fluent in Spanish in 6 months

I was pretty much inspired by Ikenna’s (and this one too) video about being fluent in a foreign language in just 6 months. The highlight of this video was when he gave a timeline for the learning process. He said that the first three months would be more on input and the next three months would be output. So basically, as what self-taught polygot would recommend, learn the words. Acquire more vocabulary and gradually, you can be familiar with the different words used in a sentence. Also, do more listening. In this way, you will know the pronunciation and the dictions, accents and such. When you’re confident enough, try to make sentences and practice speaking out your sentences to a native speaker. Find a tutor or a friend to help you correct you. 

After I watched that, I immediately started my language learning journey. I started with Spanish because I have been studying Spanish for two years now  and I’m still stuck with quiero, guapo, ser, estar, etc. I watched the video last March and unfortunately, I’m still not confident with my vocabulary. 

I am posting this to give myself a challenge. Challenges are great motivators somehow and I love challenges (although I never fulfill one). Maybe this will be my successful challenge! So for my remaining four months, I will give an update about how my progress. I will make a plan tomorrow. I should REALLY make this happen. Wish me luck! 

!Hasta luego!

[enykp]

Spanish-Language Film List

Hello everyone! 

I love watching movies in Spanish. It has been one of the most efficient ways to help me improve my listening skills and to learn new vocabulary. Here is a list of some of my favorite movies in Spanish! Most of these are available on a variety of platforms, including Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Video, or Hulu. Most of them can be watched with subtitles in English or Spanish as well. :) Enjoy!

Amores Perros

Que Culpa Tiene El Niño?

Como Agua Para Chocolate

Y Tu Mamá También 

Sexo Pudor y Lagrimas 

Contratiempo

Caída del Cielo

Amar

También La Lluvia

Maria, Llena Eres de Gracia

El Más Buscado

Aquí Entre Nos

Volver

Sin Nombre

Ay Carmela

Nueve Reinas

Tres Metros Sobre El Cielo

Elvira

Diarios de Motocicleta

Instrucciones No Incluidas

El Laberinto Del Fauno

Thanks for checking out the list. More Spanish resources on the way! Happy binge-watching! 

- Jeremy

[enykp]

100 hours of French : COMPLETE!

I loathe French. I loathe it so much, because I’ve been trying to conquer it for five years, over five separate attempts [2014, 2015 in HS, 2016 preparing for CLEPs, late 2016 in class, 2018 over summer], and coming up empty every time. So, I decided to have a personal challenge, and reach B1 over 100 hours of quality studying, by May 1st. 

Initially:

My CEFR level according to just an online test on Kwiziq:

… was a very low A2. nothing to write home about!

my passive grammar knowledge wasn’t much better:

What did I do?

As some of you already know, I had a system for getting my vocabulary back up to snuff, and its detailed methodology post can be found: right here. I started doing this a few weeks before I decided to shoot for 100 hours, and finished about three weeks before I hit 100 hours.

However, this isn’t all I did. Here’s how my study time broke down:

Listening comprehension: Around 50% of the 6000 minutes I spent studying [50 hours], were spent on listening comprehension. This was very important to me, because I had never been able to watch anything in French, or listen to anything, and understand it. I knew I was going to have spend a lot of time on pronunciation and French media. I still can’t watch a French movie without subtitles [obviously!], but I can listen to News in Slow French and understand around 80%? So that’s pretty cool. 

how I strengthened listening comprehension:

Language Transfer: Introduction to French [6-8 minutes each]

Coffee Break French: Seasons 1-3 [15-25 minutes each]

News in Slow French [15-25 minutes each]

Movies + shows: I spent 25 hours watching stuff in French, and learning a lot of colloquial language and specialized vocabulary that I wouldn’t have stumbled upon myself! 90% of these, I also have vocabulary lists for [those helped me pay attention, pausing and writing down vocab to look up later].

things I watched:

French movies on Netflix: The African Doctor, Il A Tes Yeux

French series on Netflix: A Very Secret Service

Netflix Originals with French Audio and Subtitles: e.g. Watership Down,  The Unicorn Store, How It Ends

Writing/grammar:

Most of my writing was covered with my vocabulary system. After that ended, I kept a language journal for the next month, with the starter post detailing what I would write about. Most of those posts can be found in my #language journal tag. Sometime in March, I also borrowed Teach Yourself: French Grammar from my library, because of all the resources I own myself… I have zero French stuff. I posted some notes from that book, and made a lot of reference posts in my language journal. 

how I studied grammar:

Teach Yourself: French Grammar [there’s a newer version now, but I worked with the one I linked]

Lingolia: French [grammar site]

Lawless French [grammar site]

ElearningFrench [mini course based from FSI]

Français Avec Pierre [Youtube channel, he also has a blog and courses–i think those are paid–to see, 7-10 minute videos he does with his wife, all captioned!]

Laddering ! [for one week, I studied Japanese via a French course, so I got a lot of practice with that]

Discord server [Putting this here because I often posted questions and received help from my friends, so definitely have some way to check yourself!]

a lot of other things, but this was the majority of my grammar study..

When did I do this?

An unspoken rule for myself was that I didn’t want to actively study French past 8 pm. I usually studied from 9-11 am on weekdays. Some days I would keep going until 2 pm, but usually I had work. Occasionally, I’d study for half an hour or so on my lunch break. Then, another hour as I listened to podcasts on my commute. 

In total, the challenge took 72 days, 11 of which I actually didn’t do anything, so more like 61. This means I averaged 1 hour and 38 minutes of French studying per day. I had zero desire to max myself out. I just wanted to make sure whatever I studied, I was paying attention! Plus, I needed time to prepare for work and keep up with my students in other languages, so having French on the brain all the time would’ve hindered me.

So, what about now?

Now, I test as this on the CEFR level:

and this is my grammar ranking:

Can we say, success?! I got back to B1, and not a LOW B1, but actually fairly decent ! I’m at the point now where I can write in French pretty quickly and, I’m right on the cusp of being able to explain my way around concepts that I don’t yet have the vocabulary for. 

So yeah, challenge over! Now, I’m back to studying Japanese via French so that I can retain that knowledge, and I’ve switched my phone over to French. I need to get back to writing letters in French to keep up with that, but overall I’m very happy with my B1 again, and feel more confident in my skills.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an ask!