shaygottastudy-blog

[shaygottastudy-blog]

Sup guys, Tenka (Aka Ponzorz) here - I said I’d write a post about how I self studied Japanese, sooooo I guess this is it. I learnt Japanese from Zero to Fluent in about 2.5 years, and this is my method. It’s probably not the most interesting (I didn’t watch any anime… lol… I only started watching Anime these past 1, 2 years - back then I only read  a few Manga, and that was in English) and it’s hard, but maybe it can shed some light on to a study regime you can set up for yourself.

Before reading, keep in mind that there is never a single best way to study Japanese, and the most important thing about studying a language is not what textbook you have or what shows you watch - it’s always that you keep yourself going and push yourself to carry on.

I had a pretty set way I studied Japanese, so I’ll talk about that here, and since I gained proficiency I have found a lot of other methods to help people who are learning Japanese - and I’ll draw on those experiences too to inform people in this post.

Ikuzooooo.

[ Learning the Writing System ] This is step one. Japanese has three sets of difference characters. Most people don’t get it at first, but I’ll just try to explain each one below.

Hiragana （あいうえお - this is the Japanese vowels a-i-u-e-o in Hiragana） - This is the most basic one, you can use this to write everything you need to - but only knowing this one would be like some ponyo/sousuke level writing… aka like a five year old. As a person learning Japanese for a second/third/fourth/99th language though, Hiragana is definitely a solid start.

Katakana　（アイウエオ - this is the Japanese vowels a-i-u-e-o in Katakana）  Everything that can be written in Hiragana can be written in Katakana - it’s like two different versions of the same alphabet. 

However, Katakana is mostly used for ① Foreign vocabulary/Proper nouns that can’t be written in Kanji, and ② Emphasis/Nuance.  ①  is “Borrowed Words”, ie. Words in Japanese that originated from another language, will be written in Katakana.　For example, Camera (“Kyamera” キャメラ), and “Naruto” is ナルト <- This is Katakana.  The second situation of emphasis/nuance is more difficult to explain, but just think of it this way: Writing “Baka” in Katakana, can give off a different feel to if it were written in Hiragana. 

Kanji - Kanji is very, very, very, important. Most people beginning their Japanese studies won’t know very much Kanji, which is totally normal - and they will probably hate it at some point. But, writing Japanese without Kanji islikereadingenglishwithoutspacesinbetweenthewords. It kills the reader and if you are serious about studying Japanese, learn yo’ Kanji. Kanji are chinese characters that make up portions of a verb in Japanese, or a lot of nouns can be written completely in Kanji. Hiragana is used to support Kanji and used to fill particles and prepositions and subject markers etc, in a sentence, as those things do not have a designated Kanji - or it is not commonly used. It probably sounds confusing as hell right now but you’ll get it really quickly once you start learning. Every Kanji has a reading, so it may be hard to learn the different readings for each Kanji but it gets easier as you go, I swear.

I started learning the writing system slowly and piecemeal, just writing the seperate kana on paper and getting more or less used to them and memorising the readings. I talk about how I learnt this in the next section, but in the meanwhile… I thought of another method.

This may be off topic but I learnt how to read Korean Hangul in like an hour by playing an online “drill” game, so I think from that experience it may be a lot faster to learn Katakana and Hiragana that way. 

I found some drillers where you see the kana and just type in the romaji (ie. english version of Japanese lol):

http://kana.icann.se/

http://kagan.mactane.org/software/kana-drill.html

Try those!

( A bit about watching Anime - I think if Anime/dramas is what you’re interested in, definitely watch it. Just gonna put it out there, doing that alone probably won’t get you fluent. But it’s important because it keeps you interested, and it’s about immersion and keeping in contact with the language. :D Don’t spend 90% of your “Japanese study” in anime, but if it’s what you enjoy, go for it and it will help.

I recommend Slice of Life anime over Shonen - why? Because you’d use SoL anime dialogue more. FYI No one seriously uses “Dattebayo/-ttebayo” in Japanese, ever, “Bankai” is zero help if you want to make conversation, and most Shonen protagonists and villains speak in such an informal/brash way I’d only recommend if you want to get in to a fight. ;9 <3 )

[Actually studying the grammar and the vocab]

Because there is not much point in knowing the writing system without actually understanding what all those squiggly characters mean, it’s best to press on and learn some vocab and grammar. 

First, I’ll talk about the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). JLPT is a benchmark exam for Japanese, it has 5 levels from 5 -1. 5 being the easiest, and 1 being the hardest. You don’t have to worry about sitting the exam or anything, but it’s just a really solid curriculum to base your Japanese studies off.

I started studying off

Tim’s Takamatsu -

this website is practically my godsend. I printed out everything, had it bound in to a book - you’ll see that most of the tutorials here are in Romaji. How I studied was I scribed in the Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji (Where applicable) under the Romaji. This helped me memorise and write Hiragana and Katakana really fast, get used to using basic Kanji, and learn all the basic grammar and vocab up till around N3 level. This took me about 3 months. Then I’d say it’s all downhill once you hit N3 level.

Even after I was through with Tim’s Takamatsu, I bought Schaums Outlines of Japanese Grammar just to help me solidify stuff. It’s not the best book nor the most interesting book, but it helped.     

http://www.tanos.co.uk/  is a fantastic website to look at all the vocab/grammar you need for each JLPT standard, and strive to learn them and gradually progress from 5-1. I printed off the grammar lists from Tanos, and learnt all the ones I wasn’t sure of. 

I also listened to a lot of podcasts, like Japanese 101. This helped me with listening skills, and I also learnt a lot of vocab and grammar. I find the stuff you learn from podcasts really memorable, compared to what you’d learn by reading off grammar books all the time. It’s a nice change.

Extra Materials for Basic Grammar etc - these are awesome, kudos to the people who made these - print it, stick it up in your room! I wish I had found  them when I was studying. (T_T) http://cheatsheets.nihonshock.com/sheets/basic-japanese/

http://cheatsheets.nihonshock.com/digital-cheat-sheets/cool-japanese/

http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/japanese-particles-cheatsheet1.pdf

There links below are more explanatory stuff rather than “cheat sheets”. It’s like Tim’s Takamatsu - so I would use them to supplement each other.

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/grammar_guide.pdf

http://thejapanesepage.com/grammar.htm

http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com/JVerbList.asp

This is probably one of the most important parts of my Japanese studying journey. Don’t give up if you’ve made it this far! :D You can do it!

[Advanced Japanese]

Okedoke, so how do you get from N3 to N1? You’ve gotten yourself this far, so just keep doing what you’ve been doing the whole time and don’t give up. Keep referring back to the JLPT standards to see what you need to still learn, in terms of grammar, and go for it.

N2, N1, levels require a lot of Kanji readings and Vocab Knowledge. How I tackled this, was by flashcards. I played a game on my phone called “Japanese Flash” (on iOS) and it was the only “game” I had on my phone for almost a year. Anki, or any other flashcard system will work the same. I find flashcards the most effective way for me to pick up vocab/kanji readings the fastest - the hardest thing about it is persevering. I’d play the flashcards on the bus, at home, in bed, in the shower jks  , some days I felt like I was going to throw up from flash carding… but it’s a bump you’ve gotta get over. It gets better as you pick up more readings, and you’ll find you’re able to correctly guess heaps of Kanji combinations as you go.

I had the book “A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar”, and the beginners version of that book, to help me through all the difficult grammar. Plus google.

http://www.imabi.net/ is a fantastic website too, with basic - advanced Japanese grammar. I wish I found this earlier as well. (T_T)

[Notes about my particular circumstances] So hitting N1 took me about 2.5 years. I do realise this is probably not what most people want to do - spend so much time manically studying Japanese, I had tunnel vision for a long time and it was literally what I spent my spare time doing, so hear me out.

I think at that point in my life, I was a stupid teen and I really hated my own situation, resented it, and I wanted to leave my city so bad and go somewhere - anywhere. In short, I was pretty desperate. For a lot of rebellious and otherwise personal reasons, I decided to go to Japan. (Eg. My family is Chinese, and I’ve been fed loads of nationalistic shit since toddlerhood about how Chinese people hate Japan blah blah don’t go there blah blah all Japanese are bad blah blah which I refused to believe and I wanted to see Japan with my own eyes since I was sure I would be able to make friends since I think there are nice people, as well as terrible people, eeeeverywhere in the world in any place.)

I needed a scholarship in Japanese, so that’s why I studied madly. Otherwise, I’d never be able to have the $$ leave and I felt like I’d have been trapped in a city I don’t belong in, forever. Yeah… >_> I had serious attitude issues, pls don’t judge me. I love my city now that I’m back, and I ought to have given the people around me more credit. .___.

That aside though, I want to talk about Kanji. I realise in this guide, I never talked much about learning to familliarize with or write Kanji. I suppose the easiest way to explain this would be, well I’m Chinese in origin so that wasn’t much of an issue to me, but that would not only be misleading, but discouraging to a lot of people who don’t have a chinese background. There is no easy way learning how to write Kanji, you have to put in the legwork - that’s all there is to it. I never had an education in Chinese, English would be my first language as I passed my years from toddler onwards in Middle Earth and various other places, but I suppose one could say that I did my Kanji learning prior to learning the rest of my Japanese. Strict parents = learning at least X amount of Kanji/day before I could leave the house to go run around outside, and I distinctly remember one summer when I was around 11, my Kanji knowledge sky rocketed as a result of being forced to stay inside and learn it all summer. 

I wrote a Kanji 20+ times till I memorised it, and that’s probably how I got my foundation. Once I’d started studying Japanese, I still had to get used to how Kanji was used in the Japanese language system - a lot of stuff is written differently, and my Kanji wasn’t perfect to begin with so I had to learn a heap of new ones, and since all the readings were completely different to what I was used to, I had to learn those too (hence flash carding). I think my Chinese probably got better as a result of studying Japanese, lol…. I’m serious. >_>

[Culture and the community]

Firstly, I’d recommend http://www.tofugu.com/ . It’s an excellent website discussing a lot of things to do with Japanese culture, studying the language, book reviews, applying for JET program - anything. 

Don’t forget that studying a language is studying a culture. There are a lot of intricacies to the Japanese culture that need to be picked up on to use the language effectively, so do your best to immerse yourself in the culture and have fun. :D I’d suggest you do some reading on Honne and Tatemae - I wrote a huge post on that somewhere but I won’t put that in this post. There’s also a lot of intricacies to doing translation work, and it’s heaps of fun - though maybe a slightly different ball game - and I can talk about that if people want to know more, but not here.

The community of Japanese language studiers is one of the best I could ever ask for. I’ve met so many lifelong friends from studying Japanese, and after all has been said and done and running away to Kyoto and whatnot, I guess I can’t truly look back and say that I regret it. Once you hit a certain level, you know that everyone who is standing by your side has gone through the same things and put themselves through the same sweat, blood and tears to get where they are now. It’s also immensely rewarding to be able to help out those who are walking the same path as you. It’s a grand adventure that if you can put in the work, I feel like it will give immeasurable quantities of adventure and fun and chilled bottles of pocari sweats right back to you. 

I’m studying something completely different (Law), so I really miss Japanese sometimes. That’s why I’m doing stuff like translation work every week, etc, it gets pretty lonely. ;w; but anyway, I’ll leave it there, this post is so long, sorry! 

Feel free to ask me any questions and thank you for reading up till now. To anyone who wants to study Japanese (Or any other language) , I just want to say go for it! Don’t doubt yourself, you definitely have what it takes. :D Just do itttt.

Ganbare yo!

-Tenka

[shaygottastudy-blog]

After years and years (or better said, weeks) I have finally gotten around doing my Japanese language masterpost. All links listed are resources that I have used to study for (and pass!) the N5 exam, but they are great for beginners as wel! I would also like to thank lovely Julie @designstudy for giving me the inspiration (and motivation) to finish this mp! So here we go:

►Books

→ here are the books I’ve used to study and fully reccomend to others as well (all are great for beginners too)

Genki

Minna no Nihongo

Kanji Challenge

Japanese for busy people: I, II, II

►Mnemonics!

→life is hard, Japanese is harder, do yourself a favor and use mnemonics

Hiragana

Katakana

Kanji

►Kanji, Vocabulary and Grammar

→even if you don’t plan to take the N5, knowing these will definitely give you a better grasp of the language

Kanji List for N5

Vocabulary List for N5

Grammar List for N5

►Practice, practice, practice!

→I cannot stress this enough. If you want to make any progress in studying this language or getting good scores on your exam, practice is vital! 

Reading exercices for N5

Grammar exercices for N5

Kanji exercices for N5

Listening exercices for N5

►Grammar help

→because the internet has a lot to offer and it’s a shame not to take advantage

Useful Youtube channels: here, here, here, here and here

Useful websites for grammar: here and here

The coolest Japanese dictionary out there

►Music

→some of my favorite Japanese artists, beacuse let’s face it: studying a new language is 900% better when you also listen to music in that language

Kenshi Yonezu

Daoko

Utada Hikaru

Mondo Grosso

Ichiko Aoba

Galileo Galilei

►Fun stuff

→for when you want to chill but also learn

Read short stories in Japanese with translation

Read raw manga 

Watch literally any anime out there

Watch J-dramas

Watch Ghibli movies

Watch Japanese movies

►Some tricky stuff

→these are actually very useful w o w

Wa vs ga

Shi or tsu?

All you need to know about counters

Ya vs to vs mo

►Cool Japanese studyblrs:

 → these are definitely worth to stalk/follow!!

@japanese-randomstuff @japanese-langblr @glotpoly @atejapan @japaneseblr @learnjp @aringoaday @ilostmyheartintokyo @nodoyodobenkyou @playwithletters

…and on a final note, some tips:

Be consistent. From my experience, Japanese is a language that if not studied constantly, can be easily forgotten

Use separate notebooks/folders for grammar and vocabulary. You will thank me for this one later.

If you want your kanji/katakana/hiragana/whatever it is that you are writing to look neat, follow the stroke order ! ! !

Quizlet is your best friend when it comes to remembering vocabulary

Hope this helped someone!! Also if you have any questions/need some advice on where to begin, please don’t hesitate to hmu @sttudy

-Claudia☆☆

[shaygottastudy-blog]

Japanese Vocabulary Diagram: 1-4

Follow us on www.instagram.com/valiantjapanese

[shaygottastudy-blog]

when did the Japanese start eating eggs? a long たまご.

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Donations Needed: I Might Be Homeless

Hi guys! I’m remaking this post because the last link didn’t work. 

DONATE HERE

Why I have no money:

I was kicked out of home months ago, but my father rented me a small unit near uni so I could still study

I am having issues with applying for centrelink, but it’s in the process

He stopped paying a while ago due to lies about me from my mother

I have been getting by on donations, grocery boxes from churches, and money I make tutoring and doing odd jobs

I have not been able to work much lately due to a neurological injury that has severely limited my arm movement (can’t reach, etc.)

All of my money lately has gone towards medical bills

Why I might be homeless:

My lease is not being renewed, no matter how much I beg (I don’t know why yet)

To move out I need money for moving and a new bond (4 weeks rent)

My father is demanding the bond for this place and threatening me, so I can’t use it for my new place

I have no family or friends I can move in with

What the money will be for:

bond ($1000+ AUD)

moving truck (if all else fails I’ll rent a ute for half a day and get friends to help me move, I don’t have much)

me surviving because I literally have no money for anything else, either

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I love it when I wake up and stretch and something cracks. Makes me feel like a glo-stick

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I’m not putting this under a cut because everyone needs to see and know each and every person who has brought us to this place. Here are their names:

Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt received $11,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Virginia Congresswoman Barbara Comstock received $10,400 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

North Carolina Senator Richard Burr received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Texas Congressman Will Hurd received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

New York Congressman John Katko received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Maine Congressman Bruce Poliquin received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

New York Congressman Lee Zeldin received $9,900 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

North Dakota Senator John Hoeven received $8,450 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Iowa Congressman Rod Blum received $7,450 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte received $7,450 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson received $7,450 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Alaska Congressman Don Young received $6,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Arizona Congresswoman Martha McSally received $6,500 from the NRA during the last election cycle.

Arkansas Senator John Boozeman received $5,950 from the NRA during the last election cycle.

Texas Congressman John Culberson received $5,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

New York Congressman John Faso received $5,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Wisconsin Congressman and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan received $5,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Pennsylvania Congressman Bill Shuster received $5,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Pennsylvania Congressman Lloyd Smucker received $5,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney received $5,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole received $5,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Oklahoma Senator James Lankford received $5,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

South Dakota Senator John Thune received $5,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Idaho Senator Mike Crapo received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

North Carolina Congressman Richard Hudson received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Louisiana Senator John Kennedy received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Florida Congressman Brian Mast received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise, himself the victim of a mass shooting, received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Texas Congressman Lamar Smith received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Iowa Congressman David Young received $4,950 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

California Congressman Ken Calvert received $4,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski received $4,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Texas Congressman Pete Olson received $4,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott received $4,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent received $4,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Georgia Congressman Barry Loudermilk received $4,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry received $4,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Michigan Congressman Tim Walberg received $4,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Alabama Congressman Robert Aderholt received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Ohio Congressman Dave Joyce received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Minnesota Congressman Jason Lewis received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Texas Congressman Michael McCaul received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Virginia Congressman Scott Taylor received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Colorado Congressman Scott Tipton received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

California Congressman David Valadao received $3,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

North Carolina Congressman Ted Budd received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Ohio Congressman Steve Chabot received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

California Congressman Paul Cook received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

South Carolina Congressman Jeff Duncan received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Georgia Congressman Drew Ferguson received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Georgia Congressman Tom Graves received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

California Congressman Duncan Hunter recycled the well-wishes of Speaker Paul Ryan, and received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

West Virginia Congressman Evan Jenkins received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

California Congressman Steve Knight received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Illinois Congressman Darin LaHood received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Ohio Congressman Bob Latta received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Utah Congresswoman Mia Love received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Washington Congressman Dan Newhouse received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Minnesota Congressman Erik Paulsen recieven $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

New York Congressman Tom Reed received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Utah Congressman Chris Stewart received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Ohio Congressman Pat Tiberi received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Indiana Congresswoman Jackie Walorski received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Ohio Congressman Brad Wenstrup received $3,000 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Tennessee Congresswoman Diane Black received $2,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn received $2,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

Texas Congressman John Carter received $2,500 from the NRA during the 2016 election cycle.

[shaygottastudy-blog]

you don’t have to be more attractive. you don’t have to be attractive at all. you don’t have to attract anyone or anything. you are not a magnet, damn it. you should be you for you and only you. and yes I am talking about you and you and you.  

[shaygottastudy-blog]

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daily reminder that the boy you’re in love with at 16 probably won’t matter when you’re 25.

daily reminder that the math test you failed your freshman year of high school probably won’t matter when you’re graduating college.

daily reminder that the problems you’re facing today may seem like the worlds end, but they will not matter in a year.

daily reminder that you’re going to be okay.

everything is going to be okay.

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OH MY GOD whyyyy did no one tell me you’re supposed to send thank-yous after interviews?? Why would I do that???

“Thank you for this incredibly stressful 30 minutes that I have had to re-structure my entire day around and which will give me anxiety poos for the next 24 hours.”

I HATE ETIQUETTE IT’S THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE THING FOR ME TO LEARN WITHOUT SOMEONE DIRECTLY TELLING ME THIS SHIT

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Reblog if you can speak, read, or at least kinda communicate in more than one language.

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HOW TO SURVIVE IN COLLEGE

how to deal with a roommate you hate

avoiding big mistakes when picking a major

creative ways to organize your dorm

eating healthy in a dining hall

what to do if you think you’ve been drugged

how to have a healthy college relationship

college packing list

staying in touch with high school friends

choosing a study abroad program

awesome study tips

making friends in college

what to do if you want to transfer

how to deal with a hangover

dealing with loneliness

what to do if you have a bad professor

find out about your professors before you register

how to bond with your roommate

essential foods to keep in your dorm

how to deal with homesickness

why being single in college is okay

scholarships and financial aid

pros and cons of joining a sorority

tips for saving money in college

adjusting back to school after a semester abroad

making the most of your college years

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sorry i’m late, professor. i’m disenchanted with the human experience and waking up every morning thrusts me into an instant existential crisis

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Enrollment for 2018 Affordable Care Act (ACA / Obamacare) starts November 1 and ends December 15. Trump (what an asshole) reduced the ADVERTISING funds by 90% to announce when people can enroll. Spread the word.

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The full rotation of the Moon as seen by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

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Senior year!! So close to the finish line!! Whether you’re heading to a university, community college, or apprenticeship, hopefully this post will give you a hand and help you to juggle your stressful final year. 

College applications

Tips

Visit as many colleges as you can– even if they aren’t your top choice. It’ll give you a better idea of what kind of college you want to go to (in terms of size, location, etc.) and help you understand where you really want to apply. 

Keep your applications organized. A spreadsheet, printable calendar, planner, or even a bullet journal page will help you keep track of which essays you’ve written, who’s helped you proofread, and everything else!

Make a schedule and stick to it! If you stay on top of things, there will be far less rushing to write that last essay the night before the deadline. 

Write your common application essay early. If you have it done in the summer, it’s one less thing to worry about, and you’ll have plenty more time to edit it, have other people read it, and perfect it.

Keep and file absolutely everything. Pamphlets from college visits? Printed score reports? Drafts of essays? File them all away. You’ll be grateful when you come to make a decision and it’s all right there!

Links

Month-By-Month Applications Guide

Tips for Each Essay Types by @thisnerdsadventures​

College Essay Calendar

Applying to a UC by @markiveelle​

The 7 Best Tips For College Apps

The 5 Best Apps to Keep College Apps Organized

How to Stay Organized During College Apps

10 Tips for Completing your Applications

Apply for scholarships

Tips

Check out local options. It’s much easier to win a local scholarship since they’re usually relegated to just one school or county, so there a far fewer applicants than the national ones you can find online.

Keep track of ones you’ve applied for. You’ll find a spreadsheet noting the date you applied, the dollar value, the scholarship provider, and whether you won or not absolutely invaluable.

Beware of scholarship scams. Naturally, you’ll be trying to apply for as many as possible, but avoid any that promise money, ask you to pay an entrance fee to apply, or ask for your bank account information.

Use online resources. There are oodles of websites which will match you to scholarships, provide a way to track which ones you’ve applied for, and many even offer their own.

Links

How to Spot Scholarship Scams

Average American Scholarships by @wonderstudying​

Scholarship Advice and Databases

The 13 Best Tips for Winning Scholarships

List of Unusual Scholarships

How to Search for Scholarships by @adamparresh​

Scholarships 101 by @thisexpedition​

Get ready for college

Tips

Develop better study habits. Prepare yourself for your college workload by not letting yourself slack off and instead working on becoming better at studying, working hard, and planning.

Try not to get senioritis! Make sure your scores and college are your number one priority before you try and make it to every single football game this year. Do your homework first!

Do your FAFSA/financial aid homework. You don’t want to be worrying about how to pay for college, so plan it out senior year and get the student aid you need by filling out the FAFSA as soon as it’s available.

Start reading about what college is like. You’ll need to familiarize yourself with details of college life for your applications, too, so doing that reading really kills two birds with one stone!

For anyone heading to community college– try taking a class there this year! It’ll help familiarize you with what you’ll be doing next year, and also give you some weighted credit to boost your GPA. 

Links

12th Grade Financial Aid Checklist

How Seniors Can Get Ready for College

Taking Community College Classes in High School

28 College Prep Resources for Senior Year

Senior Year Checklist by @honeyedstudy

Enjoy your last year!

Tips

Spend plenty of time with friends. You won’t get much opportunity to see them beyond this year, so enjoying your time together with the people you know best is a great way to top off your year.

Try something new! Even if you’ve never been to a dance, try going to prom. Get to know your hometown even better before you go away next year, and discover somewhere completely new.

Go to school events. Attend a few football or basketball games, and just enjoy your school spirit to make some memories before you leave.

Enjoy yourself– don’t just focus on college. These are the only days you’ll have as a high school senior, so do your best to make them count. You’ll have years to enjoy college, but high school is running out!

Links

27 Things You Should Do Before Leaving High School

50 Items for Your High School Bucket List

30 Things to Expect in Your Senior Year of High School

20 Ideas for an Unforgettable Senior Year

You’re a Senior! What Now? by @solustudies