optomstudies

[optomstudies]

I’ve been asked a couple of times now what my approach to self-study is, and this is my messy attempt to answer that question. All of this is true for me, and might not work for someone else; still, I hope it may help somebody!

1. Getting acquainted with the language

When you’re learning a language with a different writing system than your own, that’s the first thing you have to tackle, of course; but I usually try to get some background information even when the alphabet used by my target language is the good old Latin one. One thing I pay extra careful attention to is phonology: you want to get the sounds right from the very beginning, before you develop any bad habits (also, learning IPA changed my life). Having an accent as close to a native’s as possible is not necessarily the goal (I do like to work on that, but to each their own), but being understood is! And incorrect pronunciation can sometimes hinder comprehension, in some languages more so than in others. So don’t obsess over it, but don’t overlook it completely either. Getting to know the sounds of a language right away can also help you understand what people are saying a little quicker, and figuring out how new words might have to be read. Wikipedia is usually not bad when it comes to phonology, and Omniglot is a good resource as well.

2. Finding a good textbook

I’m a free spirit so I often find myself not looking for a textbook right away, and just chaotically absorbing information from different sources (see immersion below). When I do set my mind to choosing, though, I try to stick to one well-made textbook that I like, which should possibly contain clear grammar explanations as well as exercises. The temptation to hoard resources is strong – and I’ve succumbed to it myself more than once haha –, but I usually try to steer clear from using more than one textbook at the same time (although I do have separate, more thorough grammars on the side more often than not). I’d rather use a physical book if I have the chance, but if that’s not your thing or you don’t have money to spend on that, that’s okay: you can find loads of perfectly good books or websites online!

3. Compulsive translation

Anyone who’s been following my blog for a while probably knows that I love translating virtually anything: from songs to poems to short stories. It’s something that has always been a part of my life, and I thoroughly enjoy doing. It’s also an awesome language learning technique, which will help you enrich your lexicon and teach you tons of new turns of phrase in your target language. It works both if you translate from your native into your target language and vice versa: find a good bilingual dictionary (I prefer paper dictionaries because they provide more examples of usage, but again, you do you) and look for equivalent expressions, don’t just translate word for word! It might work sometimes but not always. When it comes to translation, Reverso Context is a great resource for some languages, because it provides translation in context, taken from a massive corpus heavy on subtitles – which you shouldn’t trust all the time, but will help you as long as you put some critical thinking in.

4. Immersion (you don’t say)

What a surprise, right? I usually start listening to music / watching video content right away; I wasn’t that big on YouTube before but language learning has made me change my mind. You don’t have to get everything: even if you understand 3 words out of 20, this will help you grasp the rhythms and intonations of the language. This depends on how many similarities my new target language shares with the ones I already know, but as a general rule I use Italian (or English) subtitles in the very beginning, then move on to subtitles in the target language and finally get rid of them entirely. Some people will argue against subtitles of any shape or form, but I can only speak for myself and they’ve helped me quite a lot in the past. The way I see it, reading is also essential: if I don’t have time to leaf through novels, I usually check out at least an article a day in my target language and write down the words I don’t know, plus their Italian translation.

5. Routine – the good kind

In short words, I strive to make the new language a part of my life. There are a thousand things you can do: change your phone settings? Great! Check out the news? Even better! If you’re out of ideas, here are a few suggestions. And don’t worry if you struggle at first: in fact, the start of this process is a bit rocky for almost everyone. Consistency, however, is the key: once the early, most difficult days are over, all of this will start to come natural and stop feeling like a chore! The more you do it, the faster this process will be.

[optomstudies]

〜に堪える／〜に堪えない

〜に堪える／〜に堪えない　＝　〜するだけの価値がある／ひどい状態で〜が我慢できない・〜するだけの価値がない。 These are pronounced にたえる・にたえない。に堪える is used to say that something is ~ worthy. に堪えない can be used to say that something is not ~ worthy, but also that something is so bad they cannot stand it.

自分の首を絞めてるのは見るに堪えないです。 It is hard to watch one being strangled. (Watching someone’s neck being strangled is such a bad condition that they can’t stand to watch it)

大人の鑑賞に堪える映画 a movie that is worthy of adult praise (it’s technically geared towards children but it’s so good that adults dig it too)

今回の朝日新聞の談話に対する批判は読むに堪えないものがありました。 The criticism regarding the latest Asahi Shinbun talk is something not worth reading.

彼等は米軍人を見ると「ヤンキー・ゴーホーム」「ファック・ユー」等と聞くに堪えないような罵声を浴びせる。 When they see US soldiers, they shower them with jeering that is hard to listen to, such as “Yankee go home” and “Fuck you”.

見るに堪えない is a common expression that means “can’t bear to look at, painful to watch”.

[optomstudies]

A New Era! Goodbye Heisei, hello Reiwa!

The name of the new era is officially announced! 令和 (Reiwa)

Today at about 11:30 a.m. JST the name of the next era was announced. Many Japanese people stopped what they were doing to be a part of this momentous occasion. But what does this mean? What exactly is an era? Let’s dive into it!

What is an era?

Japan has been using their own unique method of counting years based on the reign of the emperor since 645 AD, adapted from the Chinese method of dating using dynasties. This method is called 元号 (gengou). To date, there has been a total of 248 eras. An era begins when a new emperor ascends to the throne and ends with his death (or, in rarer cases, abdication). This time, the emperor is elderly, has health issues, and has asked to step down from the throne. This is the first abdication since 1817. 

Currently, it is April 1st on the 31st year of the Heisei Era. That can be written like this:

平成３１年４月１日 (Heisei 31nen, shigatsu tsuitachi)

“Heisei 31” can be abbreviated like this:

平31

H31

What’s more commonly used in Japan, gengou or the western system?

On official documents, it is standard to use gengou. Also, all money uses it to denote the year it was minted. However, nine out of ten Japanese people will tell you that the western system (西暦 seireki) is easier to understand. For this reason, people will often choose to use seireki when talking or in non-official paperwork. You will often commonly see both side-by-side, with one or the other in parentheses. 

What are the eras up until now?

Lol I’m not gonna list all 248. Sorry. However, all Japanese people know all the eras from Meiji to present, so I’ll talk about those. The Meiji Era was kicked off by the Bakumatsu, in which the centuries-long system of an all-powerful shogun and largely ceremonial emperor was overthrown, and Japan opened itself up to trade with the rest of the world for the first time in over 200 years. The start of the Meiji Era marks the start of modern Japan, the beginning of a more traditional monarchy (according to western standards), and the adoption of Western technology, education, etc. 

明治 Meiji  25 Jan 1868 – 30 Jul 1912

大正 Taisho 30 Jul 1912 – 25 Dec 1926

昭和 Showa 25 Dec 1926 - 7 Jan 1989

平成 Heisei 8 Jan 1989 – 30 Apr 2019

令和 Reiwa 1 May 2019 - ?

How are era names chosen?

This is actually really interesting. In centuries past, government officials would determine the gengou within 1-2 years of the emperor’s enthronement. The names were chosen using auspicious kanji like 明 (bright), 永 (eternity), 寿 (longevity), 和 (peace, Japan), etc. There were few rules, except that an era name could not be used more than once.

Nowadays, when these dates are used by all Japanese people on a daily basis instead of just by the select elite, several criteria have been established.

The meaning of the kanji must reflect the image of Japan and the way it wants Japan to move forward in history. (Nothing negative or unlucky)

The kanji must be easy to write and pronounce. (The 嘉 of 嘉永 [Kaei Era, 1848 - 1855] wouldn’t stand muster today because it’s ridiculous to write.)

It can only be two characters. (In the past, there were some eras with four kanji.)

The starting letter cannot be M, T, S, or H. (This is because the gengou is commonly shortened to “H31″ to mean Heisei 31, or 2019. If the next era used the same consonant, we wouldn’t know which era was being referred to.��

It cannot be a word already in use. It cannot be used in a surname, company name, or place name of any kind.

A small group of select historians, literary experts, and political scientists (I think this time it was 8 or 10?) sequester themselves away for several long months while they decide the new gengou. The gengou is of the utmost secrecy up until it is announced, so they are completely cut off from the outside world. No phones, no television, no radio, no contact with family, no internet until it is announced. Why is it so secret? Because Japan likes to be spooky and mysterious, I guess. lol I’m honestly not sure, but it’s probably just because that’s how it’s always been done. 

Since the emperor’s abdication is scheduled for April 30th, the new gengou was announced one month in advance, today. Because many computer programs and official government/business forms have been pre-made with “Hesei” on them (sort of like how we may sometimes make templates that have 20__ written on them), you can imagine how busy this change will make company and government employees. They will be spending this month creating new templates or getting rubber stamps with the new era on it and stamping over the obsolete Heisei. Poor guys. 

So what does Reiwa mean?

Let’s take a look at each kanji.

令 rei orders, ancient laws, command, decree

和 wa harmony, Japanese style, peace, soften, Japan 

When I first saw it, I thought it was something like “decree of peace,” which sounded very…militaristic? I mean, can you command that there be peace? Haha. But then I looked further, and it appears that this is taken from a line of poetry in the Man’yoshu, which is the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry. 

Classical: 于時、初春令月、氣淑風和、梅披鏡前之粉、蘭薫珮後之香。

Modern: 時、初春の令月にして、氣淑く風和ぎ、梅は鏡前の粉を披き、蘭は珮後の香を薫す。

Summary: 人々が美しく心を寄せ合う中で文化が生まれ育つ

English Summary: Culture blooms and grows through the beautiful cooperation of the people.

Okay, so it’s not as dour as I thought it was at first haha. It’s actually pretty! 

What do you think about the new name? Is it fitting? Do you have any other questions about eras?

[optomstudies]

by @inksandcoffee on ig 🌦 this makes me want to do a bullet journal but i‘m really bad at it 😩

https://www.instagram.com/inksandcoffee

[optomstudies]

Hello! I also posted about this on my studyblr (studying-slytherin) but it has almost no followers and I'm looking for advice. I'm on the spectrum, and lately I've been having meltdowns in class just from the sheer amount of information, people, and noise. I'm very high functioning, so I'm not in special ed, and all my teachers are aware that I'm on the spectrum for my accommodations. If you have any advice/can get the word out that I need advice I'd appreciate it greatly. Thank you!

Sure! I’m not an expert, so hopefully people who have more experience in that area can contact you after seeing this! Perhaps you can ask for long distance education arrangements to be made? Or watch lectures from home? Hope it helps!

[optomstudies]

Do you have any tips on getting shadowing/clinical experience as an undergrad?

Definitely just ask! If an optom student wanted to come and sit in, anyone would be happy to accommodate! It doesn’t affect the business or how the store runs so there would really be no objections to it. 

If you’re asking about how to get a part time job as an optical assistant, then I would suggest cold calling and dropping your resume in with the manager of the place and asking them to consider you if they ever need to hire anyone! 

Hope that helps! ^_^

[optomstudies]

hi cee! I recently got a guaranteed entry for unsw in b commerce combined and was wondering what your experience at the university was? what was first year of uni like and how did you adapt to the difference between uni and high school (e.g. balancing work/ social life)?

hey! sorry for the late replies, as always I have left this blog on the backburner for too long haha

I’ve actually pretty much written about all my university experiences in that primer I wrote about university here (What I’d Wish I’d Known Before University)!

Honestly I didn’t think I’d be so exhausted but travelling 2-3 hours everyday really does take a toll on you! So balancing university studies with everything else was certainly a struggle at first, but you get used to it eventually! 

I think for a lot of people they’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that there’s a lot more time you need to put down to maintain your grades compared to high school. Since I’d already put a lot of time into my studies in high school, that wasn’t so hard, but it was more about being more efficient and effective with my time at uni that was hard - it felt like I didn’t have enough time to get everything done! 

I picked up a casual position at my current workplace one year in, but by that time, I’d actually gotten really good at balancing everything. Part of that is also realising that you can’t go overboard with the amount of time you put into part time jobs. Yes, you need money to survive, but in Australia a lot of the financial strain is taken off by the fact that tuition is all wrapped up in your HECS, and I lived at home and commuted 2-3 hours a day, so that saved me a lot of unnecessary worry about finances. I didn’t see it as a way to make money, but a way to gain experience, so there was no rush for me to work 2-3 days a week. I definitely had a boss that understood that because I was an optom student I would only be able to work once a week, so that made it easier (though she always wished that I had worked more!)

Hope that helps! ^_^

[optomstudies]

Im 18 and have no idea what to do with my life career wise I have no motivation I need my GED because I want to go to college but this test is so hard idk what to do I feel stupid

Getting a GED is not about being stupid or smart. It’s about how hard and consistently you work. If you just practice being disciplined you’ll eventually get through all the content. 

Try and make it a habit to study a little bit every day and crossing it off on a calendar. You might miss a few days at first, but the more you do it the better you get at being consistent. 

It’s not so hard to just promise to study 1 hour a day at first. Once you get that down pat, then it’s not so hard to study 2 hours a day, and you can build up that way. So try and think a little bit more positively about it! 

If you keep the mindset that if you’re not naturally smart when you’re born and hence can’t get a GED then why do people even bother trying right? So many people who haven’t succeeded through the traditional school route do well through their GED after maturing a bit and realising it’s about discipline, not about being ‘naturally’ smart or talented. 

Hope that helps!

[optomstudies]

Hi! Do you know anyone who has joined the Master of Clinical Optometry via B. Science, Advanced Science or Vision science (people that have transferred after 3 years or so)? Is it competitive?

As far as I’m aware the program hasn’t been running for long enough for the 3 year transfer to happen? Because when I graduated they announced that year that it was switching to M Clinical Optom for the new students being taken in, so it would’ve only been running the Bachelor of Vision Science for maximum two years now. Which means that so far there haven’t been any students that have transferred after 3 years. 

As for Internal Program Transfer (IPT) that’s if you’re doing a Bachelor of Science majoring in Vision Science and transfer into the Bachelor of Vision Science - so there’s probably been one group of people that have done that so far (although I’m not sure what this number would be - less than 15 people?)

I think you’ll find this PDF useful though because it explains all the ways that you can go into optometry! 

https://www.science.unsw.edu.au/files/Optom-pathways201608.pdf

Hope that helps! 

[optomstudies]

Did you get a job straight after you finished uni?

Yes I did! I’d actually already signed in March in my last year. At the time I was really worried about signing too early and missing out on opportunities, but I look back on it now and it ended up working out well ^_^

[optomstudies]

Sleepover time! What do you think about washi tape ?

I love it! I have a lot is washi tapes, but it's just kind of hard to build up a collection that mixes and matches well. Like I always go for the pretty patterns which makes it hard for me to match them well haha

I need to get a few more plain ones, like a grid pattern or some newspaper print washi or something. At the moment I'm not buying any more because I don't bullet journal or really use a planner anymore. Like I don't really have work to do at home atm

It's a bit of a waste of money if you're not too into decorating though

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Sleepover time! *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧

[optomstudies]

I told a friend I was crushing on someone and then she said he was kind of not a great person and now I'm conflicted :/

Hmmm, ask yourself a few questions I guess? Like what reason does your friend have to say that? Did she see something directly or was it just based on heresay? Hopefully it's not the worst scare scenario where she likes him for herself and doesn't want you to like him?

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Sleepover time! *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧

[optomstudies]

Last night I dreamt I was on a bus with a cute boy but the driver didn't like us so he kicked us off and we decided to walk the rest of the way together.... Along the way I got to know him and it was so much fun! But then I woke up :(

Omg speaking about dreams about getting to know a guy, I recently had a dream (literally just this morning) where I was dating a previous high school crush of mine (lame yes I know, but I can’t control my dreams) and going shopping for dresses (that were suspiciously cheap? like I found a dress for $50 and even dream me was surprised), and then literally his mother was Michelle Yeoh from Crazy Rich Asians (Nick’s mother), and she challenged me to a quiz to test my legitimacy as a girlfriend. Anyway, I was like trying to prepare for the quiz, but one of my crush’s friends was like saying you’ll never win because she’s going to ask you questions that you won’t be able to know the answer to, like the name of the nanny that raised my crush, etc. But anyway, I was like dw man I got this, I have my crush here to tell me all his childhood, she doesn’t know I’m meeting up with him at the moment. Dream self was obviously ignoring the fact that I don’t have telepathy haha. As always I have really vivid dreams and always look forward to sleeping at night time. Like I get so many post-apocalypse dreams, it’s super fun. 

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Sleepover time! *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧

[optomstudies]

Personal asks - 99

99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?

I’d ask everyone to please take care of the environment more and be more mindful about what you use. I’m really a fan of the recent movements for everyone to have their own reusable straws, no plastic packaging movements, and reducing their carbon footprints :) I watched some videos on microplastics in the oceans so I’ve been more mindful about what plastics I use! 

Also take care of your eyes more pls 👀👀👀

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Sleepover time! *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Personal Asks *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧

[optomstudies]

favorite color palette?

Royal purple and golden yellow

Powder blue and yellow

Bright orange and a vibrant pink

Ocean palettes - dark blues and greens, crested by white sea foam

Minimalist combinations

Wood grain and white and gold touches

Marble, rose gold, and pink (kind of reminds me of @the-girly-geek and her colour palettes on her vision board)

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Sleepover time! *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧

[optomstudies]

What are your top ten favorite kinds of cats or puppers? :D

Oh gosh! I’m not too much of an animal person, but I do love Pomeranians, Shiba Inus, and mini poodles? For cats I have no idea what any of them are called, but I like the slim looking cats (not the ones with big fluffy coats) that are black or white. I know that can cover a lot of cat breeds but I have no idea haha

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Sleepover time! *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧

[optomstudies]

Ooh forgot to say this morning (well it was morning for me at least 😂) but congrats on 18k girl!!!! 🎉🎉 Also I don't know if you listen to Zion.T but his new mini album is soooo good!

Thank you!! And yeah I do! I haven't checked out all the b sides on his mini but I did like his collab with Seulgi! :)

✧・ﾟ:*✧・ﾟ:* Sleepover time! *:・ﾟ✧*・ﾟ✧