indigostudies

[indigostudies]

tuesday | june 24 18/100 dop steps: 14.5k

i carried out a successful RNA extraction today! this was my first time working with RNA and i know it can be tricky, so i'm pleased to report that everything went smoothly (and yes, i was anxiously spraying down my gloves with RNase Zap at every possible opportunity). my research project is finally off and running!

plus: started the day with a 4 mile run, went to a lab dinner with my housemates, and finally did that laundry i'd been putting off since Saturday.

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24.06.2025 // summer break!!!

actually got back to studying yesterday, but didn’t do enough to warrant talking much about. but today i studied korean for an hour in total! i was right to focus on lingory as my main study tool for it—the lesson structure gives me a framework, and the grammar explanations are very thorough! (though you do have to specifically look for them, they aren’t included in the text of the lesson—but it’s a bit like how duolingo used to be in that way, in a good way.) i still need to add vocab to my flashcards deck, but i can use basic future and past tense, suggestions, and express desires ^-^ my strongest skill is reading at the moment, which is strange, because historically i’ve always been better at speaking languages i’m learning than reading them; i’m planning on improving my listening via CI and podcasts, and my speaking through setting aside a set half hour to record myself speaking. writing is pretty well covered since that’s how i take my notes, haha. i’m pretty satisfied overall! now just to add german study to my routine as well…

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you know sometimes i wish my langblr presence were more…for lack of a better term, aesthetic the way a lot of others are. but then i remember 1. i don’t have the patience to rewrite notes by hand in fancy lettering and negotiate camera angles and perfect food presentations, and 2. my main promise to myself in starting this blog was to make a space where the more awkward, less aesthetically-captureable parts of studying coexist alongside the prettier ones, because goodness knows part of the reason it took me years to make a blog focused on studying was because i thought that my messy, fits-and-starts, insomniac, not-easily-romanticisable way of learning things couldn’t possibly warrant something as nice and shiny as a blog dedicated to it

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another day juggling bibliography and the history of the Latin alphabet for my grad admissions exam ft. my Gutenberg Bible pencilcase 📖

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20 June 2025 // finishing up my conservation bio class next week

i have had a hard time locking in on this topic. like i enjoy learning about it but this class just hasn’t held my attention

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Day 833 of the PhD

I have officially submitted my first abstract to a conference. I hope I get accepted, I’m so ready to share my research. Feel like I finally understanding what I’m doing. Such an odd thing to say since I’m submitting next year… but this PhD has evolved so much!

Now that the abstract is done… it’s time to go back to writing the exegesis and designing this thing!

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studying in the wee hours like okay…우전 열두 시부터 사 시 까지 한국어 배웠어요…bitte frag mir nicht warum ich kann nur am frühen Morgen sprachenlernen ^-^

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ah yes, my favourite foreign language feel, “I know what all of those words mean individually but not together like that”

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like i can say very basic phrases in all the languages i’m focusing on at the moment! i can muddle through basic greetings in korean and qazaq and even thai! (and have slightly more advanced conversations in qazaq and korean.) and my german, while nowhere near the purported b2 it once was, isn’t as bad as it could be. but…i really wish i could just snap my fingers and get better at all of them. i love studying and putting in the work, it’s just that sometimes i get overwhelmed thinking about how much more i still have to do.

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(talking to myself): it’s okay, you’re not uniquely stupid and incapable of learning new languages, you’re just at the a1 level and are struggling to adjust to the sensation after years of only interacting with languages you knew at a first language/upper intermediate level, it will be fine, you’ve done it before and you can do it again,

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✧✧ langblr introduction ✧✧

hello! I'd rather not share my name, but I suppose you can call me Puzzle. I'm familiar with langblr, but it's been a long time since I was an active member.

I'm a USAmerican in my 20s, and I enjoy languages. I am proficient in multiple languages, but for the time being, this blog will only share parts of my learning journey in lithuanian! after many months, I have convinced my closest friend to plan a trip to lithuania with me. a date has not been decided, and it will likely not happen for over a year. but I really want to feel more comfortable with the language before our travels.

my current level is upper A2 in lithuanian. by the end of the year, I'd like to be comfortably level B1, and by the time I take my trip to lithuania, I'd like to be at least bordering on level B2.

if anyone is interested in learning more about this lovely language and culture, please consider following along for my journey! I'd love to share my experiences and encourage each other along the way :)

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anyone else love grammar? i fucking love grammar. in every language i trudge through the base vocab until i can study something cool (grammar (grammar)) without being lost

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Here’s how to tell if a language is easy to learn

None of them are easy

They’re all stupid and terrible and will kick you in the nuts

That being said

Languages similar to ones you already speak

Languages you have a lot of motivation to learn

Languages that have a lot of resources and media to watch and/or listen to and/or read

So, if you’re reading this with relative ease (aka you speak English fluently) probably French or Spanish

Do whatever you want though idk

Don’t just choose a language based on how easy it is

Unless that’s what it takes to keep you motivated idk

Go learn Frisian or something

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hello!

So my written exams are over, now I need to get the orals out of the way next week. I had a really nice free week, because they can't tell us the results until the very end. So oblivious to that I was outside a lot (cycling :)), watched httyd live action, went to art galleries and thought about summer break. But now it's time to lock in again and study. I have a study session with my friend planned today and we're gonna suffer read through philosophy together :)

Countdown ⊹₊

Philosophy oral 5d - L1 oral 6d - L2 oral 8d

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learning another language is always beautiful, no matter how long it takes. like, what do you mean you are crying because you had to read a sentence twice to get it, when at the beginning you had to do it five times? kicking yourself because you had to listen to an audio at .75x to understand it fully, when two months ago you could barely understand one or two words, even at your second try? getting mad because you had to research how to spell a word, when a few days back you didn't even know how to pronounce it? hell, that's amazing. keep going. you'll get there.

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15.06.2025—light study session this morning with my mum

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This week has just been about reading things I barely understand and yet revelling in the confusion because I quite literally signed up for this. But there hasn't been a single day that I haven't figured out what, however minor or insignificant it may seen, I have an affinity for. Makes up for the self- manufactured stress, I must say.