mirai-studies-languages

[mirai-studies-languages]

Funny story: I was telling my cousin about how when my mum is pissed off with me, she’ll call me an animal in Arabic, and when I was listing all the different animals she calls me, my very sweet great aunt (who could only understand the words for the animals) looked at me with great pride and said well done in arabic lmfao because she thought I was just showing off all the arabic words for animals I knew lollll

[mirai-studies-languages]

I read my first poetry collection in French!! It was romances sans paroles by Paul Verlaine. 

[mirai-studies-languages]

I think for the next several months I’m just going to focus on getting my Japanese to an intermediate level and maintaining my French, Arabic and Spanish.

[mirai-studies-languages]

I ended up getting an AAB in my final exams!!!

[mirai-studies-languages]

This was such a lie I read 4 last week and I’ve already read two this week and we’re only halfway through lollll

I read a crazy amount of books last month. I think it was like, 11 and a half or something like that. I think that this month I’ll just focus on languages and reading my set texts for English literature.

[mirai-studies-languages]

Man, it is so hard to define my level in a language, because what I can do in each language really varies depending on the circumstances in which I learn it. In French, I am quite academic (in that I can read books + listen to podcasts + write essays + have debates) because I learned it in school, but I find it quite difficult to watch TV shows because of all the slang. In Arabic, most of what I’ve learned of it is from a two-month trip to my homeland which I’m almost finished with so my listening and speaking have skyrocketed while my reading and writing are only passable. Also, my speaking is very dialect heavy so how the hell am I meant to categorise that? How am I meant to measure my level in and study the grammar of a little-researched dialect? My Spanish is a mess, we don’t talk about Spanish ughhhhhh

[mirai-studies-languages]

1, 7, 133 and 135 for the book asks :D

1 - Probably Book Lovers by Emily Henry. It's so cute and fluffy, I love it!

7 - It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. Absolutely hated this one, the writing was terrible and I hated everyone in the book. I might finish it later but for now....no way.

133 - The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai! I saw it in a Tokyo Ghoul fanfiction and loved it! Triggering though so do be warned.

135 - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, or if that's too triggering for you, Pride and Prejudice is lovely :D

[mirai-studies-languages]

I don’t really want to talk about politics on here but I think that it’s interesting that not a single non-white person I know hasn’t noticed the absolutely disgraceful double standard of white western countries during the ukraine crisis. It is so indescribably frustrating to watch the way that the same countries which were turning away Palestinian refugees a year ago now letting in the (mostly white) Ukrainian refugees in (which is good of course, I don’t deny that, it’s just the double standard this demonstrates that I don’t like). They are literally categorizing refugees based on race. It’s unbelievable.

[mirai-studies-languages]

I’d recommend AO3 (lol), along with a couple of books like et si c’etait vrai and l’etranger (I know it’s a classic but it’s suprisingly simple to read tho the content is kinda heavy).

Who would have thought that actually reading articles in French would improve my reading comprehension?? Not me apparently

[mirai-studies-languages]

BOOK RECS ASK GAME

a book that is close to your heart

a book with a blue cover

a stand-alone that you wish was part of a series

a poetry book that reads like a story

something in fiction that reads like poetry

a book with a pink cover

a book you did not finish

a book you finished in one sitting

your favourite book of 2020

a book that got you through something

a book with a green cover

a book that mentions food in the title

your favorite romance novel

a book that made you trip on literary acid

a book rec you really enjoyed

a book you'd recommend to your younger self

a book with a yellow cover

your least favorite book ever

a book that put you in a reading slump

a book that got you out of a reading slump

a book with a red cover

your favourite thriller

a book that is currently on your TBR

a book on your nightstand

a book by your favourite author

your favourite memoir

a book with a purple cover

a book you wish you could read as a beginner again

your favourite YA novel

your favourite middle grade book

a book that mentions a name in the title

your favourite nonfiction novel

a book with a white cover

a book featuring the enemies to lovers trope

a book featuring the found family trope

a book that mentions time in the title

your favourite heist book

your favourite series

a book featuring your favourite character

a book with a black cover

a book about nature

a book that made you want to scream by the time you got to the end

a book that you have read more than three times

your favourite fantasy novel

a book featuring the friends to lovers trope

a book with a brown cover

a book that mentions a place in the title

your favourite sci-fi novel

a book featuring the bed-sharing trope

a book that made you cry a LOT

a book that you found underwhelming

a popular book/series that you love

a popular book/series that you hate

a book with the best opening line

a book with a satisfying ending

a book that features an animal in the title

a book you want to hit bonk your head with

a book with an orange cover

a book about city life

a book that you think about at 3am

your favourite horror novel

a book with a forgettable plot but amazing characters

a book that actually made you laugh out loud

a book with a grey cover

a book that scared the crap out of you

a book that fucked you up

your favourite historical fiction novel

your favourite piece of classic literature

your favourite mythological retelling

your favourite poetry collection

your favourite LGBTQ+ fiction

a book with a gorgeous cover

a good book with an awful cover

your favourite love triangle

a book featuring the I'm not like other girls trope

a book with a golden/silver cover

a book so useless that you could use it as a coaster

your favourite royal read

a book that reminds you of your favorite song

a book that reminds you of a loved one

a book that mentions flowers in the title

a book featuring the chosen one trope

a book featuring the fake dating trope

your favourite dystopian read

your favourite book about magical realism

a book with an insane plot twist

a book with a predictable ending

a book that made you angry

a book that disappointed you

the longest book you've read

the shortest book you've read

a book about a redeemable villain

a book featuring an unreliable narrator

a book about grieving

your favourite coming of age novel

a book with a restaurant/food setting

a book with a hospital setting

a book set in a fictional kingdom

a book with a strong female protagonist

your favourite gothic novel

a book set in a school

your favourite dark academia read

a book that deals with heavy topics

a fluffy, sweet read

your favourite crime novel

a book that made you squeamish

your favourite book in a different language

a book with a small town setting

a book featuring a teacher/professor

your favourite psychological thriller

a book writing a book

a book about war

a book about the great depression

your favourite chick lit novel

a book that talks about mental health

a book with multiple povs

your favourite anthology

your favourite short story collection

your favourite summer read

a book about childhood friends

a book that makes you nostalgic

your favourite winter read

a book recommended by a celebrity

the book you're currently reading

your favourite autumn read

your favourite spring read

a book you'd read when you're missing somebody

a book that made you hungry

a book with beautiful prose

a book featuring flashbacks and/or intersecting storylines

tag somebody with whom you would want to buddy read a book

who is your favorite person to go to for book recs?

a book that you came across randomly and fell in love with

unreccomend any book you like!

recommend any book you like!

[mirai-studies-languages]

I found a useful article on passe simple in french and almost started crying, how was your day?

[mirai-studies-languages]

I read a crazy amount of books last month. I think it was like, 11 and a half or something like that. I think that this month I’ll just focus on languages and reading my set texts for English literature.

[mirai-studies-languages]

Ok so this obviously didn’t happen lol. I have had quite a long time off of tumblr though, and I’ve gotten a lot closer to my family and friends. I’m going to still limit my time on social media though, and stick to posting strictly about languages and chatting with my friends.

I’ll be honest, I’m thinking of deleting my entire tumblr account. I love running this blog, but I don’t think that justifies the negative impact that social media has on my life. I’m neurodivergent so I have a habit of oversharing online and developing extremely intense parasocial relationships and it’s really unhealthy. I think the best thing to do would be to just go cold turkey, and focus on developing real relationships with family and friends. I’ll leave this post here for a few days just so that people know why I’m doing this, and then I’m deleting my account.

[mirai-studies-languages]

I’ll be honest, I’m thinking of deleting my entire tumblr account. I love running this blog, but I don’t think that justifies the negative impact that social media has on my life. I’m neurodivergent so I have a habit of oversharing online and developing extremely intense parasocial relationships and it’s really unhealthy. I think the best thing to do would be to just go cold turkey, and focus on developing real relationships with family and friends. I’ll leave this post here for a few days just so that people know why I’m doing this, and then I’m deleting my account.

[mirai-studies-languages]

On Consuming Content “Below Your Level”

I recently saw a post of tips for language learners that warned against consuming content (such as books or shows) that was below your level, which this person described as something where you know most/all of the vocabulary. It painted this time spent as a waste, as if the only reason for immersing in your target language is to learn more vocabulary. I have to disagree.

Any time spent in your target language is time well spent and is worthwhile. No matter the level of the content and no matter how well you understand it. There are always benefits to consuming content (especially that made for natives!) in your TL. Even if you understand every single word, you might learn a new grammar concept. Even if you understand all of the words and grammar, you might pick up on some slang. Immersing in your target language teaches more than just vocabulary and grammar.

Even if you aren’t learning tangible things, immersing is important to a language learner’s journey. It can ingrain things that are harder to learn from a textbook, such as speaking cadence or sentence structure.

Additionally, the end goal is always to be able to completely understand things with fluency and ease. If I didn’t want to understand things in a different language, I just wouldn’t study it, not look for the most difficult piece of literature in my TL just so that I can maybe pick up on a few obscure terms that I’ll never see again. Being able to fully understand things in your target language is awesome! It’s a huge confidence booster, especially the first time you experience it in a new language. You should celebrate being able to fully understand something in your target language, not feel guilty over it.

TLDR; there is no such thing as “wasted time” when immersing in your target language. If you want to read or watch something, you should do it without worrying if you’ll learn enough vocabulary from it for it to be worth your while. If it’s in your target language it’s worth your while.

[mirai-studies-languages]

what skills do yall have that make you annoying abt seeing people do it in media. i’ll go first i ran track for 6 years (first distance then sprinting) and i am physically incapable of not commenting on people’s running form

[mirai-studies-languages]

Hello, people! The time has come: I will teach you the secret to study for three days and remember everything for your test. This is a hardcore studying session so I would recommend to only do it when you are truly freaking the fuck out. Now, I must tell you: It’s gonna involve some hard work, so sit comfortably because we’re about to start:

REMINDER: YOU DON’T NEED TO DO THIS IN A ROLL. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE DURING THE  COURSE OF THE DAY. 

REMINDER 2: REMEMBER TO EAT, DRINK WATER AND GET ENOUGH REST. YOU DON’T NEED TO FORGET ABOUT YOUR HEALTH IN ORDER TO GET BETTER GRADES. 

DAY 1

First reading of your main textbook

Second reading + highlighting 

Research more about the topic (internet, other books, talk to your friends, etc)

Resume everything (notes)

Do a mind map of main points 

If what you’re studying needs something to be memorized “word by word” (such as: meanings, processes, references, chemical reactions, etc), write it down and put it on your wall. You’re gonna read it several times during the day. 

Write down the topics and key words on a reference paper (you’re gonna take this paper everywhere, forcing your memory to expand from those simple key words) 

Review your notes 

Do ten exercises (questions)

Review your notes + exercises 

Watch a video class 

You’re done for today. Good job. Now rest, tomorrow is a new day. 

DAY 2

Review your notes

Read them out loud

Read them again, but this time record yourself

Listen to it. Twice. 

Review your notes before bed

DAY 3

Review your notes + listen to your recordings from yesterday

Do 30 exercises (questions)

Review notes + exercises 

Listen to your recordings again

Review your notes one more time.

FANTASTIC JOB! Now it’s your time to rest. If you’re feeling like it, read your notes one more time before bed. 

One more time, this is a heavy studying session, and not supposed to be done all the time. Remember to take care of your health and take several breaks during the day. If you don’t need, there is no need to do everything listed here. 

Good luck!!!