#Learning resources

[unsolicited-opinions]

Is "People Love Dead Jews" by Dara Horn a good entry point to learning about antisemitism for someone who doesn't read books (because I can't financially afford it)?

It's a great book and I recommend it with enthusiasm, but I'm not sure it'd be the most ideal introduction or overview.

I was, at one point, a librarian. Librarians call what you're asking me to do here "Readers' Advisory." This is challenging because all I know is that you're looking for an introductory text on antisemitism.

If you were a patron in my library, this is where we'd have a conversation to familiarize me your preferences, background knowledge, etc.

Without that, these are two shots in the dark which might suit you because they're gentle reads and written to explain antisemitism to people with almost no background:

Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah E. Lipstadt

Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel

Between those two, you'd gain a lot of knowledge quickly and painlessly.

Books aren't the only options. Here are some excellent, authoritative resources which will cost you nothing to explore:

USHMM and Yad Vashem focus on the Holocaust, but provide historical context for antisemitism leading up to it.

Facing History & Ourselves uses the Holocaust as a critical case study but broadens the discussion to the nature of prejudice, hatred, and antisemitism in general, both historically and today.

I'm hoping others will recommend resources in the replies to this post.

Thanks for asking and seeking to learn more!

[suomeen]

Finnish Learning Resources

Idk who needs it but I thought I might share some free online resources that I found helpful for other broke overwhelmed learners.

Updated 2025/06/08

I'm pinning this for now since I keep adding new resources.

Best resource for grammar:

A short but nice course in Finnish, has multiple vocabularies:

This is just a demo but still useful:

https://materiaalit-koosto.otava.fi/web/state-jurdmmbvgaydeirmj4yq/649acb7ce5b1d718f439f971

Nice course on grammar with test tasks at the end:

https://openlearning.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=158#section-0

Other courses at Aalto Open University:

https://openlearning.aalto.fi/course/index.php

Some good learning materials and tests:

https://openlearning.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=59§ion=8

Very good series of basic videos for immigrants:

Another interactive learning site:

http://tasteoffinnish.fi/

Some listening exercises for learning basic words and phrases.

https://visnakker.no/tema.html

Very good short videos on basic word and phrases:

An online phrasebook with audio:

https://www.goethe-verlag.com/book2/EN/ENFI/ENFI002.HTM

English/Finnish tests from the same site:

https://www.goethe-verlag.com/tests/test/EN/FI/1/easy

A curious site where short news headlines are transcribed in pictures:

https://selkosanomat.fi/kuva/

Vocab quizzes:

http://iteslj.org/v/f/

Numerous Quizet vocab quizzes:

https://www.scoop.it/topic/oppitori/?tag=quizlet-mamu

A very nice short course, includes glossaries in English, French, Persian, Arabic and Russian:

A course of spoken Finnish:

https://extreme-finnish.teachable.com/

Finnish verb conjugator:

https://www.verbix.com/languages/finnish

A really good learning channel that has up to 15 subtitles in different languages:

A number of Free online courses:

https://www.savonia.fi/paivita-osaamistasi/muu-jatkuva-oppiminen/maahanmuuttajalle/suomen-kielen-kurssit-savoniassa/

A great resource for practicing grammar:

Free courses at the Open University of Vaasa:

Online learning materials, exercises, including audio ones:

https://salpro.salpaus.fi/hotpotatoes/

A nice channel with videos on language and also useful tips about life in Finland.

https://www.youtube.com/@MahdollisuuksienMatkalaukut

[catmasseuse]

My master list of Japanese learning resources! I use these myself/ when teaching my students, so I am very familiar with almost all of these!

Happy learning! Please feel free to reach out if you're not sure where to start!

EDIT: I added my favorite extensions and dictionaries! Check it out!

[physicsgoblin]

Physics and Mathematics Resources (plus some Chemistry):

I will update this because I know I have more recommend textbooks somewhere in my files, I'm just too tired to look right now. Latest update: 5/13/25

Physics:

The Science Spot--Mostly lesson plans for teaching kids

The Physics Classroom Tutorial--Has interactive online activities and models. Some videos and also some chemistry stuff.

HyperPhysics--Quite possibly the best resource I've ever seen because it shows how all concepts are linked together. The site isn't loading for me but it says it's up. There is a downloadable version on the Internet Archive (though it doesn't look as nice and clean). EDIT: I found a GitHub that lets you clone and download the html so you can click through it offline and it works! If people are interested I can make a tutorial, it was very easy.

PhET--A ton of demonstrations and tutorials. Also has some for mathematics and chemistry.

Paradigms Physics Notes--this was the curriculum that was used in my junior and senior classes. A lot of stuff here. If you are interest about teaching physics using this method, you can read more here.

Quantum Mathamatica Add-on--Useful for calculations.

The Hypertextbook--uhh lots here. Problems, solutions, explanations, etc.

oPhysics--interactive physics software.

MiniPhysics--more demonstrations and interactive software.

Michel van Biezen--really clear work-throughs of many subjects (algebra, calculus, chemistry, physics). He actually has a tumblr but has been active in like a decade @ilectureonline

Mathematics:

Paul's Online Math Notes--Got my whole class through junior and senior year

Calculator Soup--a lot of different kinds of calculators

3Blue1Brown--Very interesting youtube channel that shows a lot of calculus and linear algebraic principals visually or in intuitive ways.

Mathologer--more interesting advanced mathematical concepts.

General:

OpenStax--Free textbooks, legally

[burgeoning-ambition]

I've created a masterlist of the Japanese lessons I've posted on my wordpress blog so far! Please feel free to check it out here, or feel free to use any of the following links to navigate to a certain lesson:

Reading and Writing Hiragana and Katakana

Reading and Writing Kanji

Parts of Speech in Japanese (Part One: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives)

Parts of Speech in Japanese (Part Two: Adverbs, Counters, Postpositions, Conjunctions)

An Introduction to Particles

The Copula (です)

I'll do my best to remember to update this post, but the main link on my wordpress will definitely stay up to date as I post!

[earhartsease]

hey brit hoh/deaf folks, what's the best online BSL learning resource? doesn't have to be free but not really expensive would be great?

[amourdeslangues]

Hey! Would love to know if you could recommend any Farsi learning resources. I’d usually go for Duolingo but seeing as they’re for some reason unwilling to add a Persian language course, that’s unfortunately not possible rn. Thanks :)

if you're looking for something duolingo-like, there's a persian course on memrise that I can definitely recommend!

also chai & conversation has been a really helpful resource, they make videos on instagram and yt for persian learners. if you're willing to spend money on this, they also have a website with more in-depth lessons and courses. i haven't tried those though, can't attest to the quality

finally, two more youtube channels that are pretty neat imo are Persian Learning and Persian with Azin

have fun learning!

[er-cryptid]

Note Cards (January 2024)

1/3 Down Femoral Shaft Diagram

1st Cuneiform Anatomical Siding

3-Phosphoglycerate Derivatives

3rd Class Lever Diagram

55 Cancri c

A. floridanum

Amplification of Enzymes Diagram

Archaeologist

Arginine

Bedsore

Cardiac Valve Sounds

Carnitine Acyltransferase Reaction

Cranial Nerve 8 Dysfunctions

D2700 Skull

Diagnosing Leishmaniasis

DNA Polymerase

Enzyme Catalysis

Features of Genus Homo

Guide RNA

Human Lifespan

Locations of Preganglionic Soma

Longissimus Regions

Methanogenesis

Middle Proteins

Morphology of Pelvis

Multiple Displacement Amplification

NADPH and Glucose 6-P

NH3 and Glycine Synthase Reaction

Occipital Belly of Occipitofrontalis OIA

Penicillinases

Peptide Bond Torsion Angles

Pulp Development Zones

Rectus Abdominis OIA

RM3 Tooth - Buccal View

Roles of Actin Filaments

Safkhet

Schwann Cells vs Oligodendrocytes

Siding Distal Tibia

SOS Response

Southern Sugar Maple

spino-

TH17 Cells

Tibial Groove for Flexor Hallucis Longus

Upper Midshaft of Humerus Diagram

Vena Jugularis

Y. faxoniana

Zygomaticus

.

Patreon

[callipraxia]

I was just asked to share a favorite writing tip, and as I wrote, it sort of organically expanded from the realm of writing tips I have received and into the realm of writing tips I’ve worked out for myself. I cut most of that from the original response because it wasn’t really what was being asked, but for anyone who might find it helpful - here are six notes on writing from someone who’s been doing it for twenty-something years and has no Agenda, financial or academic, to steer me much astray from confession of my actual practices:

Tip #1: my favorite writing tip I ever got from an outside source is (paraphrasing) “if you want to write like Tolkien, the key isn’t to stick a bunch of dwarves and elves in a low-medieval setting. The key is to write about subjects that you love as much as Professor Tolkien loved Northern European languages and mythology and the pre-Industrial English countryside and Catholic theology and etc.” It isn’t the details of what creatures you have in there that gives something that particular engaging quality that will carry it through and overrule a lot of its inevitable flaws - it is, instead, a subtle, difficult-to-define sort of energy the work will have that, as far as I can tell (and I’ve tried, many times, with concepts and projects that just didn’t work out), cannot be faked.

Tip #2: Based on my own experience as it applies to Tip #1, start trying to figure out what your interests are as early as possible and never stop looking even once you think you’ve found them. There’s a plethora of low-to-no-cost, low-to-no-commitment ways to pick up at least the basics of topics you know nothing about***, so give something a try every now and then, you might surprise yourself. For another personal anecdote, I grew up with the firm belief that physics was something I would a) find really boring and b) not be smart enough to get even the vaguest grasp on no matter how hard I worked, and that even trying was therefore probably a waste of time. I still can’t do the math and would probably flunk any real exams, but physics writing, obtained from the public library’s New Arrivals section, has ended up being one of the richest sources for my writing that I’ve ever encountered.

Tip #3: if you truly can’t find a subject in the world you find yourself especially interested in, that’s probably either the depression or the after effects of bad educational experiences talking. Or both - both is always an option. Start addressing that stuff and the world will most likely become a much more interesting place and you will most likely become a much more interesting writer.

Tip #4: if you find yourself with a sort of author crush, with someone (including other fan authors!) whose work you really, really admire, and you desperately want to be like them when you grow up - find out what they read and read it, too. This doesn’t work 100% of the time, but it is often a productive exercise; the reason I tend to include so many footnotes in my fics is because I’ve benefited so much from other people who left footnotes with reading recommendations or trivia explanations on their fics.

Tip #5, the Big One: Combine multiple things you are geeking out about into one story. The best writing I probably ever did began with how certain characters were represented in three different fanfics in two different fandoms. The presentation of Character A from Franchise 1 in two fics reminded me, in ways she normally wouldn’t, of the presentation of Character B from one fic from Franchise 2. I also just really liked Character C and thought it might be fun to introduce some elements of Character D to him and then see what happened, so I isolated some of the things I liked about those characterizations and combined a character trait or two from each in order to form two ‘new’ basic characters who would form the ‘center’ of the story. I then ran them both through additional filters: the first filter was some specific other interests (ornithology and tea culture) I happened to have, and then the second was the general impressions I’d gotten of family lives and dynamics from reading a couple of blogs for several years****. And then I topped this concoction off by dusting it lightly with references to and elements from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and an old Cage the Elephant song. Yeah. Other sources of musical inspiration have included, but are far, far from limited to, songs from Breaking Benjamin, Foster the People, Hozier, Lana del Rey, The Mountain Goats, The Offspring, and The Smashing Pumpkins. Even I kind of roll my eyes at that list, but hey, if it works, it works.

Tip #6: Don’t get the wrong idea from Tip #5 - I don’t recommend approaching stories or subjects with the aim of finding something to combine with something else in mind. The example I gave coalesced in my head over the course of several years before I ever put any of it into writing. The ideas will form in their own time, and I think the best thing to do is to just absorb as much enjoyable media and neat information as you can and then let your brain gradually do its own thing in its own time. It’s frustrating, but trying to think of things to jam together for a story or character idea on purpose doesn’t work nearly as well in my experience - maybe it can be pulled off for a one-off, preferably one that is a direct homage to or parody of the original, but when it comes to longer-term and more nuanced stuff, it’s rare for a deliberately sought out mash-up to ever quite get that Certain Something that I talked about back in Tip #1.

*** I can only really speak for the U.S. here, but with that caveat - I cannot overstate the utility of public library resources like inter-library loan and Friends of the Library bag sales, along with the contents of the library itself and particularly the New Arrivals sections if one is fortunate enough to be within reasonable driving distance of an even moderately well-stocked public library. If they’ve got a subscription to something like JSTOR or another academic database, so much the better, though you can find a surprising amount of information just through free articles and excerpts on JSTOR at least. The website and app Coursera also has a modest but useful collection of free courses, some of which are designed to be completed in as little as two days, and the similar website/app edX has quite a few classes where you can access the materials freely enough and just won’t get credit toward any professional certificates unless you pay them. I’ve done some studies also through Modern States, which is completely free as far as I remember and aimed at preparing people for exams that could, in theory, allow someone to test out of their freshman year of college or university. I have the very vague impression that Khan Academy sometimes gets mixed reviews, but I’ve found it a useful resource before. I’m sure this list also only just scratches the surface of what’s out there, too, since these are just resources I’ve personally used.

**** One of these was a LiveJournal, to give you some idea of how long ago this was…The other, in the category of “less obvious places to look,” was a collection of tea-tasting logs from a website called steepster; some users use/at least used to use their logs as a sort of journal/social media as well as a place to review teas, and some of those people are really good writers. Haven’t been to steepster in a while, though, should probably peek in sometime to see if it and/or any of my favorite loggers are still around….

[ranahan]

Free tactical medicine learning resources

If you want to learn first aid, emergency care or tactical medical care for real, you will need to practice these skills. A lot. Regularly. There’s no way to learn them just from books. But if you’re looking to supplement your training, can’t access hands on training, are a layperson doing research for your writing or otherwise just curious, here are some free resources (some may need a free account to access them).

TCCC

The current gold standard in the field is Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), developed by the US army but used by militaries around the world. There is also a civilian version of the system called Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC). Training materials, Standards of Care, instructional videos, etc. can be accessed at deployedmedicine.com. You’ll need a free account. This should be your first and possibly only stop.

There’s also an app and a podcast if those are more your thing, although I haven’t personally tried them.

More TCCC (video) resources

STOP THE BLEED® Interactive Course

TCCC-MP Guidelines and Curriculum presentations and training videos

EURMED’s Medical Beginner's Resource List has suggested list of video materials (disclaimer: I haven’t watched the playlists, but I have been trained by nearly all of the linked systems/organisations and can vouch for them)

Tactical Medical Solutions training resource page (requires registration; some of the courses are free)

North American Rescue video downloads

Emergency medicine

WHO-ICRC Basic Emergency Care: approach to the acutely ill and injured — an open-access course workbook for basic emergency care with limited resources

Global Health Emergency Medicine — open-access, evidence-based, peer-reviewed emergency medicine modules designed for teachers and learners in low-resource health setting

AFEM Resources — curricula, lecture bank, reviews, etc.

Global Emergency Medicine Academy Resources (links to more resources)

OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology textbook

Open-access anatomy and physiology learning resources

OpenStax Pharmacology for nurses textbook

Principles of Pharmacology – Study Guide

Multiple Casualty Incidents

Management of Multiple Casualty Incidents lecture

Bombings: Injury Patterns and Care blast injuries course (scroll down on the page)

Borden Institute has medical textbooks about biological, chemical and nuclear threats

Psychological first aid: Guide for field workers

Prolonged field care

When the evac isn’t coming anytime soon.

Prolonged Field Care Basics lecture (requires registration)

Aerie 14th Edition Wilderness Medicine Manual (textbook)

Austere Emergency Medical Support (AEMS) Field Guide (textbook)

Prolonged Casualty Care (PCC) Guidelines

Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines

Austere Medicine Resources: Practice Guidelines — a great resource of WMS, PFC, TCCC, etc. clinical practice guidelines in one place

The Wilderness and Environmental Medicine Journal (you can read past issues without a membership)

Prolonged Field Care Collective: Resources

National Park Services Emergency Medical Services Resources

Guerilla Medicine: An Introduction to the Concepts of Austere Medicine in Asymmetric Conflicts (article)

Mental health & PTSD

National Center for PTSD

Psychological first aid: Guide for field workers

Combat and Operational Behavioral Health (medical textbook)

Resources for doctors and medical students

Or you know, other curious people who aren’t afraid of medical jargon.

Borden Institute Military Medical Textbooks and Resources — suggestions: start with Fundamentals of Military Medicine; mechanism of injury of conventional weapons; these two volumes on medical aspects of operating in extreme environments; psychosocial aspects of military medicine; or Combat Anesthesia

Emergency War Surgery textbook and lectures

Disaster Health Core Curriculum — online course for health professionals

Médecins Sans Frontières Clinical guidelines

Pocket book of hospital care for children: Second edition — guidelines for the management of common childhood illnesses in low resource settings

Grey’s Quick Reference: Basic Protocols in Paediatrics and Internal Medicine For Resource Limited Settings

The Department of Defense Center of Excellence for Trauma: Trauma Care Resources (links to more resources)

[mousiecat]

Coding Study Plan!

I've enjoyed learning coding at a casual pace, but I'm ready to really buckle in and focus on moving forward to build my skills. SO, here is my plan:

Routine

Learn/practice coding at least 45 minutes per week day, alternating between FreeCodeCamp, web accessibility lessons, and personal projects. I aim to post about my progress at least once per week.

I plan to solidify my HTML/CSS, move onto JavaScript soon, and then decide where to go after that :)

Details and resources under the jump!

Coding Lessons

FreeCodeCamp: Great, project-based way to learn coding!

I'm almost done with the Responsive Web Design course, which covers HTML/CSS. I have enjoyed this way more than other tutorial methods I have tried before. Instead of providing a lesson with a separate activity afterwards, the project is the lesson, and you immediately use the coding and see the direct results. Learning by doing!

I'm excited to start on the JavaScript course soon!

Web Accessibility

Here are some free resources I'll use to study web accessibility:

Wix's Web Accessibility Course (thanks to @xiacodes for posting about this!)

Altogether, the videos for the lesson total about 1hr 15 mins.

This will prepare me to take the Accessibility Specialist Certification Exam which provides a fun certificate for passing~

Accessibility Resource List from @accessibleaesthetics

Includes accessibility info that is relevant for everyone, as well as more specific knowledge for programmers, bloggers, writers, artists, and roleplayers.

I'm always learning from @accessibleaesthetics's posts! please give them a follow to learn accessibility during your casual Tumblring :)

Web Accessibility Twitch Stream with Africa Kenyah, hosted by @kitkatcodes

1hr 30 mins, can't wait to watch!

Africa Kenyah is a software engineer, accessibility specialist, and yoga teacher. Visit her website here!

[polyglot-thought]

Language Learning Resource! (Video)

I feel like this video is a PERFECT outline of what you should be actively doing to learn another language.

—

—

Here’s the main takeaways with some of my own ideas thrown in:

1. Don’t learn a language with the intent to enjoy fun things in your target language LATER after you gotten to whatever your target level of fluency is: Just go ahead and start now! Watch the TV show you want to watch even if you don’t understand any of it yet, you’ll get there eventually.

2. You do not need to be speaking all the time with others to get good at speaking. It helps, but it should not be solely relied on. OP gives a good example of what he did wrong in the video.

3. Speaking a language isn’t due to knowledge like learning math is, it’s more like a muscle that is always working for the sake of function.

4. You can’t just do 30 minutes days and expect to be fluent eventually. You need to be using your target language as much as possible (aka immerse yourself). Immersion takes much more than 30 specific minutes out of your day. I actually do this all the time, talk to yourself in your target language, read your target language (I follow a lot of social media accounts in my target language so I constantly see it), text others in your target language, watch videos/movies, voice shadowing etc etc. You may even be able to feel when your brain is in (insert language here) mode. Me personally I can tell, and I notice that if I’m in Japanese mode it’s hard to absorb things in Mandarin or other language

5. Mindset is everything. If you think constantly about how hard something is, you will always feel like the task is hard. If you are learning a notoriously hard language, and ruminate about this, it will only hurt you in the long run. When I started learning Mandarin as a kid no one ever told me it was hard before, and I picked it up fast, and I only slowed down when I got frustrated about how hard the language is but sped back up when I reminded myself that input and immersion will get me the results I’m looking for eventually no matter which language.

—

[ceeroosa]

this is a website of resources created by intermediate southern michif language champions and knowledge keepers, including recordings made with a first speaker who has since passed on.

[pictures-and-things-321]

Just found some old pictures of the wands my mum and I made for a Fantastic Beasts event at the college LRC (library) where I used to work.

We made them out of newspaper, toilet roll, PVA glue, acrylic paint, beads and plastic gems, and a glue gun.

These were hidden around the LRC and students would hunt for them every day for about two weeks until they found them all. Those that found them got to take them home and we also had some other activities to promote some of our Harry Potter audiobooks, ebooks and physical books and movies.

Bonus points to whoever spots the atrocious spelling mistake I made on the promotional material. Had to remember where we hid them all so I could break out the tipex

Edit: I Would like to mention as an afterthought, I am in no way in support of She Who Must Not Be Named (aka JK Rowling's) personal opinions regarding trans people. In my opinion she has turned into a vial and loathsome individual who has thoroughly tarnished my love of the fictional world she created. Her actions are pointlessly decisive, and harmful to cis and trans women alike.

Though the fanfic + fanart and the diverse community which created it and enriched that world is still incredibly dear to me. Even though I was never an active member (beyond, reading, giving kudos where it was due and occasionally commenting) I still felt like I was part of a friendly welcoming community full of talented (& not so talented), inspiring individuals.

If you are trans then please know that I support you. What is going down at the moment is utter bull. It might not feel like it sometimes, but people are on your side.

[ekmosley]

⭐️Happy world Book Day 2025!!⭐️

⭐️To celebrate here is a fun paper craft activity! A STARDOG PARTY CROWN!

⭐️ Use the hashtag #stardogpartycrown if you wish me to see your magical crown creations.

⭐️ Dress up like Stardog from The Last Stardog with this simple paper craft tutorial.

⭐️TIME: 15-30 min

⭐️YOU WILL NEED:

1. Printer

2. Paper/ Coloured Card

3. optional: Colouring pencils, paint, crayons, glitter or anythings else you like to create and craft with.

4. Cello-tape/ glue

5. Scissors

6. The Stardog template download: //ekmosley.com/crafts/

⭐️INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Simply go to https://ekmosley.com/crafts/

2. right click and save the 2 Stardog template images to your computer.

3. Print on A4 coloured card or plain paper.

4. Colour in with paint, pencils, crayons, glitter, anything you like or leave as is.

5. Cut out around Stardog and the stars using the black lines as guides

6. Cello-tape or glue the two ends of the strips to form a circlet around your head.

7. You’re done! Put on your crown! Dance! Sing! And howl big and loud!

⭐️Go forth a create! Happy Crafting and Stargazing!⭐️