#both of them speak fluent Spanish and often have entire conversations in their shared language

[rhetoricalrogue]

I probably should have paid more attention to the militia hierarchy in the last half of Days Gone so I can properly daydream potential story scenarios instead of getting sad that they took what normally looks like a Bob Ross painting and burned 90% of the landscape, like yes, I know this is part of the theme of the story but there are no happy little trees anywhere. Just sad little burnt stumps that did very little to keep the infected hordes away.

The Crater Lake area made me miss Lost Lake and the Cascade maps so much.

[imaginethebeautifulworld]

Hello! I hope you are having a good day/night. May I ask for axis and allies plus spain, romano and prussia speaking to their s/o in their native language? Thank you very much! -Humble Anon💕

A very good morning/afternoon/evening to you as well, lovely!

When I began brainstorming these, I kept approaching this ask with the thought in mind that the S/O's first language is not the same as that of the Nation's, and aren't quite completely fluent as of yet. It made it a little bit easier for me to write, and offered me just a little more leeway to daydream. ^_^;

America:

Alfred really only does so when he's super tired, stumbling into the kitchen with bedhead to grab his first five cups of coffee, half-flopping on you as he greets you with a kiss to the cheek- ruined by his yawn- accent stronger than normal as he rumbles out a good morning, asks how you slept. He rambles lightly about his weird-ass dreams, making you smile just from his annunciations. At some point, he remembers to start translating, swapping over to the dialect you're most familiar with mid-sentence.

Canada:

Oddly enough, Matthew plays Language Tag more frequently than Al, but more often than not, it's usually an unrefined Franglish that has always irritated Francis and Arthur. (He enjoys this fact, just a little.) Around you, however, it really only flares up in moments where he's just so overwhelmed and in awe, taken aback by how much he's in love with you. Most of his petnames for you are in English, but those moments where you're both spending a lazy evening in bed, he'll happily shower you with all kinds of cheesey compliments in French, teasingly poking your nose every time you try to get him to translate.

China:

Yao has a habit of slipping back to Chinese on a whim, honestly oblivious to the fact most of the time. You've noticed it gets significantly worse whenever he's stressed, and you've learnt some very colourful nicknames for the Others over the years because of it. Despite his seemingly incessant need to pace while venting, you always manage to coax him into your arms, steadily working your fingers across his back, easy out the knots that had been plaguing him. Meetings always brought him stress, but after a good rant and a few moments of your grounding touch, he's sighing away all remaining agitation, slowly bringing himself back to you and apologising for the slip.

England:

One of Arthur's greater strengths comes in linguistics. While he would much rather prefer a courtship with an English speaker, he's not going to deny himself happiness just because of a silly little language barrier. He generally tries to keep everything on common ground, but his nicknames for you, and some of his more scandalising compliments, are murmurred in English. He always keeps it quiet, an intimacy reserved only for you. There's many a "dearest" and "darling" when first waking up in the morning, a languid greeting for the coming day. (Also, he swears mostly in English, so be careful if you decide to borrow any of his vocabulary.)

France:

Francis never hesitates to prattle in French; it's second nature to him. Sometimes, he'll hop between both yours and his preferred dialects several times in a single sentence. You know it's just part of who he is, and while it can be annoying some days, it is helping you improve your own fluency. There are also moments when he makes you weak, his expression uncharacteristically sincere, hands carefully clasping your own. He hums out a soft phrase, one you still haven't fully translated, leaning closer to caress your jaw, thumb brushing against your cheek, any number of praises passing his lips.

Germany:

Ludvig, since Day One, has tried his best to make sure you're comfortable around him, and part of that is him keeping firmly to the language you are most familiar with. When coming across words he may not be entirely familiar with, or saying a more complicated phrase, his accent may sometimes come out a bit thicker than would be normal. The only time he really slips into German is when he's on the phone with folks from his government. You don't mean to eavesdrop on the latter, but you do enjoy how much deeper his voice tends to get when he's being "professional." Secretly though, you have to admit his voice when he sleeptalks is your favourite of them all. 

Japan:

Kiku constantly, and often unnecessarily, goes out of his way to make sure that you're comfortable, and despite your arguing against it, one of his ways of trying to do so is to only stick the language you both share. Frankly, you love hearing him speak Japanese, even though you really only hear it when he's at the store, and sometimes to the servers during date night. You love how gentle his voice is, his accent adding almost a sweetness to his words. Lately, you've been debating how to tell him that you'd like to hear it more, but for now you savour the little pieces you've collected over the past few months.

Prussia:

You learnt some time ago that Gilbert quietly speaking in German actually helped you fall asleep significantly easier. For that reason, he primarily only does so while either headed to bed, or whenever you're spending an afternoon together in the library. He'll sometimes read to you, but mostly he tends to ramble. You only understand a handful of the things he's saying and assume that he's regaling you with tales of days long past. In reality, he's running through his checklist for car parts he wants to fix, complaining about something stupid Roderich did back in 1648, and most often- when you're on the cusp of sleep, breathing deep and relaxed, his hand resting on your back- he's listing off every single thing he's come to love about you, not as afraid of his vulnerability when you're hardly conscious enough to hear it.

Romano:

Lovino spent too long relearning Italian to ever abandon it, even for your sake. He casually weaves it into regular conversation, the endearments, greetings, exclamations, and nicknames fluidly blending into the ordinary. He figured out quite a while ago that you actually enjoyed his "slip ups," so he's especially generous on date nights, about half of the words he's saying falling around you in his unique dialect. He once told you that you should be grateful, that he was blessing you with "the most beautiful language in the world." And begrudgingly, lost in his smile and the way the candlelight makes his eyes spark, you have to agree.

Russia:

Over time, one of your favourite pastimes with Ivan has becoming hunkering down on a settee by the fireplace, where he'll work on his knitting. The best part of these moments, especially on particularly frigid mornings where you've no obligations, is that Ivan will start to sing to himself, always pieces in Russian. Sometimes they're lullabies he's picked up from the royal families over the years, sometimes they're peasant rhymes he's known since childhood, and on some rare occasions, he'll sing something from an opera he fell in love with back in 1872. He'll often pepper in a few casual words here and there, always with a lightness to it, but you're absolutely addicted to how full his voice sounds when he sings.

Spain:

Antonio is actually the worst of the bunch. He can and will ramble in Spanish, a lot, so much so that some of it has permanently rooted itself into your own vocabulary, some of your replies slipping out without pause these days. He tends to catch onto his slip-ups quickly at least, quickly sliding back into your shared venacular with a quick apology. Still, you'll often hear him singing in Spanish, greeting the plants in Spanish, talking to the cats in Spanish. He's particullarly bad at losing himself whenever he's invested in a football match, or if you happen to catch him irritated about politics. Tonio has taught you quite a few colourful curses over the years, smattered with some day-to-day phrases you've both come to recite by default.

Veneziano:

Feliciano is surprisingly good at sticking to the language you feel most comfortable with, though he's notorious at mucking up the number of syllables in certain words. You have a strong suspicion he does this intentionally, this elongation solely designed to annoy you, especially as he always seems slightly bemused each time he does it. Regardless of how annoying he can be in your language, you do love eavesdropping on his conversations with his brothers, chattering away in Italian, his words and hands moving far too quickly for you to even hope to follow along. There's something so soothing in listening to him speak, even if he is producing 500 words per minute.

Thanks for the ask, Anon! I hope you enjoyed~

[alwaysabeautifullife]

How did you learn so many languages. Do you have any tips?

Yes!!!! Yes I do!!!

Everything I wish I could tell myself before starting my language “journey” lol:

🦩Dont be intimidated

Don’t be intimidated, specifically by doing listening or speaking practice. I know in the US (or for most English speakers), when we hear someone that speaks perfect English but merely has an accent we think “they don’t speak English”, but from experience this mentality is not shared with other languages. When you know even a little bit of a language or can’t speak it very well, natives speakers are really really encouraging. I think since we view not being 100% fluent without so much as an accent, as “not knowing any of a language” we are hard on ourselves and give up pretty easily.

🦩Listening practice is as important as studying vocabulary and grammar

When you listen to native speakers talk, you are training your ear even though you don’t understand it. Listen and listen, eventually your brain stops picking out English words that aren’t even there, but rather, starts to catch patterns in the language (for example, the same words sticks out to you over and over).

🦩Set realistic and doable goals or you’ll get discouraged and quit

If you are a busy person, make small goals to fit language study in. Don’t tell yourself that you need to master _____ within a week. Instead give yourself 15 mins of reading in the evening, and 25 mins of language listening in the morning. It’s also easier to add the language into stuff you do on a daily basis anyway. For example if you are religious, find your prayers you pray daily in the language you are learning.

🦩learn to read the language first (obviously this tip might not be applicable for character based languages like Chinese)

I know everyone says “immersion is the best and most important part of language” but honestly, a lot of our native speaking knowledge comes from our literacy education. When we are taught how to read, it’s through reading we can discover new words through context. It’s also easy to pick up new language reading since it’s available anywhere, where immersion is only available when you are surrounded by native speakers. The first thing I do is learn how to read and write the language, then the entire language becomes accessible to me.

🦩Spend time perfecting the sounds of the language that are most difficult for you

The vocal sounds of a language is the foundation of a language. I know we are all impatient and want to simply learn as many phrases as possible as fast as possible, but if you get down the unfamiliar sounds of a language that don’t exist in English, you’ll have a better foundation of the language and your speaking and listening will be better from the very beginning. So take the time to practice those weird sounds by looking into the position of the tongue and where the sound comes from, from the chest to the lips. Look into how tense the mouth is, how much air comes from the lips, what the sound is like next to other sounds. When you master this speaking becomes more instinctual and it’s easier to pick up the language.

🦩Search YouTube, google, Instagram IN THE LANGUAGE YOU ARE STUDYING.

Don’t search “korean music” or “korean kids tv” or even “korean vegetables” in google. Just translate how to say them in a translator app, then copy and paste them into the search bar. This way native korean information, videos, posts will come up. For example, if you’re in the mood for some horror comics, and want to read/watch them in the language you are learning, go to the translator app, and figure out how to say them, then search it. It works way better, even if the translation isn’t correct or more natural, you’ll still get the information, posts, and videos you want to see.

🦩Find ways to practice speaking the language (I use HiNative) and don’t be discouraged by corrections.

Getting corrected does not mean you’re wrong, corrections are the most useful part of learning a language. If you are the type of person who is sensitive to criticism, you need to remind yourself corrections are NOT criticism. They are NOT a reflection of your progress, they are NOT you failing! You will always be corrected as a language learner and the sooner you are gentle with yourself in learning the sooner you will learn more. Get those first corrections out of the way, allow yourself to butcher pronunciation, get corrected for the first 10 times, let it sting a little and move on. Eventually you will be begging native speakers to tell you every little detail in where you went wrong!

🦩Tv and Books seems to be more useful for immersion and listening practice then music does

So far in my experience music is its very weird and abstract, and the things said in music aren’t really useful in speaking? It’s good for gathering vocab, but if you want music listening practice that’s music based try searching for rap in that language, although obviously you’ll be picking up a lot of informal language in music/rap. Tv shows however are typically how people really do talk, so turn off English subs and just listen! Books are really useful for learning new vocabulary, but sometimes written language is different than spoken (often), although when you speak it the way you’ve learned from a book the worst you’ll sound is “formal and poetic”.

🦩Look up “insert language you are learning phrases and words that aren’t useful or correct”

There so many programs and books that teach you phrases you’ll never use or that are only appropriate in very specific situations. I don’t know why language programs do this, but learning which ones are weird or only in specific settings before you start learning really helps. Chinese Especially does this...like I learned so many phrases and words that natives will never use and have no purpose???

🦩Know the different subjects of learning a language and which apps to use for that

Everyone uses Duolingo, but this app alone won’t make you speak a language. Duolingo and Memrise are great for memorizing vocab, but, is it vocab that in the context of your reading and listening practice? Are you learning words you are hearing and reading all the time? Duolingo is a lot of fun but I feel like the vocab is so broad and it doesn’t go deep enough into the language. Feel free to use it at first to get used to the sounds of the language, but try using flash card apps like quizlet or Anki instead where you can write down and study words you are hearing constantly. Memrise does have actually study sets for many language books and lessons! So you can study words you are hearing in specific programs and books which is pretty useful in regards to vocab.

There obviously is more than just learning vocab. What about grammar, listening practice, speaking practice and reading? If you are wanting to use primarily apps find out which apps are available for your language. Here is an example of the apps I use for each subject. Be aware some languages are not available on them.

Vocab: quizlet, anki

Grammar: books (printed or kindle), YouTube grammar lessons, websites

Reading: books (printed or kindle), beelinguapp, instagram (posts that have text), Netflix/YouTube with both subtitles in the language you are learning and spoken in language you are learning, epic app

Writing: just use paper and pencil/pen

Listening: audio books (beelinguapp/epic/kindle/YouTube), tv and movies (Netflix/YouTube etc with no English subs), conversations on YouTube (search in language you are studying, don’t search “Spanish conversations” or “Japanese conversations”)

Speaking: HiNative (pretty much all I use since it’s all languages, quick, and you get immediately answered and corrected by native speakers), get friends in language you are learning through lots of apps

Translator: it’s really hard to find a good one, most of them are really weird so only use them for words and the most basic or simple phrases and sentences, otherwise use HiNative to ask native speakers directly, or ask people on the apps that connect you to native speakers

🌱I should note that for talking to native speakers I only like HiNative, since it’s built to NOT be a form of social networking at all. It’s not personal in anyway, and there’s no way to private message or speak to other users outside a asking questions publicly. The people on there are only about learning or teaching a language, not usually making friends. I’ve found the sites that are built to make native speaking friends aren’t useful to me personally, as most of the native speakers are either dudes looking for a woman to date or people wanting to only practice English with you, so they wasted a lot of my study time. People who are willing to help you learn are there, but it takes time to filter everything else out. If you would find it helpful to make friends by all means use them but I don’t really use it myself.🌱

You don’t want to really study EVERY SUBJECT every single day (unless you have the time). It can get really overwhelming, and you don’t really absorb information that if you are just cramming. While I would say it’s good to read and listen daily, spread subjects out over the week. Grammar on Monday and Friday, vocab on Tuesday and Thursday. Take one day to review all of what you’ve learned all week. Pick a day you have the largest block of free time. Bi-weekly works fine too.

I have an old post on how I organize my study time for multiple languages: https://alwaysabeautifullife.tumblr.com/post/182817883372/what-do-you-use-to-learn-your-languages-im

🦩Write sentences daily of everything you’ve learned (no THIS I RECOMMEND DAILY)

Write as many as you can. Use all the grammar you’ve learned, the words you’ve learned, everything! Write them in your notes and submit them to be corrected in HiNative. The sentences they correct, put them in flash cards!

🦩It’s ok to abandon languages you aren’t passionate in

So you’ve learned to read the language, and you know basic phrases, and now you just don’t want to do it anymore. If you can’t think of any reason to maintain it and don’t know why you are studying it, learning some of the language is good! Fluency does NOT need to be everyone’s goal. You can hold a conversation, and that’s good enough for you. Feel free to try out various languages, there will be one or some that really are your passion, it’s fine to have the goal of fluency in those and conversational in others.

Don’t abandon languages however because you feel discouraged. Discouragement is just a bump to get over, when you train your brain to maintain study habits through the days you feel discouraged, you make it habitual. Habits are harder to break and abandon! Evaluate your reasonings for wanting to speak a language, and your reasons for abandoning them if you want. Don’t let difficulty, disorganized, discouragement, or poor time management get in your way!!

🦩With all that said it’s ok to take breaks

It’s ok to get overwhelmed and take breaks from language learning. If you can still maintain what you’ve learned by listening to music in your language or staying connected in some way that’s good, but the “you’ll loose a language” isn’t entirely true. I’ve taken year long breaks and refreshing what I learned previously is pretty easy! Your brain really does go “oh yeah I do remember this!” when you’re studying information you studied years ago.

🦩Be gentle with yourself

Be gentle with yourself. People that claim to be fluent in 6 months are selling something or want to be an influencer. Don’t compare yourself to them. Language learning even for natives is a lifetime education. It’s not something you do for 6 months then stop. It’s continual and that looks different for everyone (yes native speakers included). Don’t bother watching YouTube videos on how to learn in 10 mins or 3 months, you’ll only get discouraged about your own amazing progress and all the work you’ve done.

🦩Plan your “can you say something in it” phrase now

This one is just for fun but after hearing you are learning a language the first thing you’ll get asked is “oh cool you speak (insert target language here)? Can you say something in (insert target language here)?” It does not matter what level of fluency you are at, you will absolutely forget the entire language and your own native language when you are asked this because it sends your brain to another dimension. So think of some funny phrases to say to people who ask, master them, then when they ask what they mean you can have a laugh. Other wise you will say something stupid of jumbled words (my go to was ‘we women are fruit’ for some reason thanks brain you’re incredible) you’ve learned that don’t belong in a sentence, or even worse you’ll run a blank and you’ll just look at them like:

🍳👄🍳

So think of inside jokes to tell your friends, funny phrases, even goofy insults! Memorize them and tell them at your friends and family to torture them because they can’t escape sound waves! It’s a good way to memorize the language but also to become confortable speaking it!

Please excuse any errors I don’t wanna go over my mistakes so pretend u can’t see them 🙈

[purplesurveys]

1194

survey by n0b0dysp3rf3ct

What’s your favourite song to sing to? These days it’s Sweet Night by V, but it always changes tbh. I don’t really have an all-time favorite song to sing along to.

What’s your relationship like with your exes? Nonexistent. I’m good at blocking off people and memories like that, no matter how special the relationship had been or how much time we spent together. I don’t feel guilty about it; I actually feel more at peace this way.

What mistake do you find yourself making over and over again? Procrastinating and putting off things I could literally finish in 10 minutes or less. I’ve been better about it, to be fair to myself; but the habit comes out every once in a while and I always end up kicking myself in the ass for not already knowing any better.

What are you afraid to lose? Hmm...probably people, especially my friends. I’ve been starting to think more about this these days. My two best friends are in very good, committed relationships, and I know that one day they’ll have lives and families of their own, maybe even move out of the country. I’m finally acknowledging the fact that maybe I am afraid of getting left behind and ending up alone. Those thoughts make me sad, though, and I hate being stuck in feeling sad, so I try to shake them off and focus on my happiness in the present.

What’s one of the hardest decisions you’ve had to make? Agreeing to break up with Gabie. I never liked admitting defeat, so that was a particularly brutal afternoon.

Have you ever gave up on a love interest as they acted differently around other people? I’ve never been in this situation.

Do you think you’re ready for love? What does love even mean to you? I’m taking a break from it, actually. I was in a relationship that I put a lot of effort in for a long time, and I don’t mind focusing on myself for now especially considering I put myself in the backseat for the entirety of said relationship. I feel no need to jump into another relationship any time soon.

What was the last thing you turned down doing? Angela was showing me some shops that were starting to put up offers for the new BTS Hybe Insight photocards. Those photocards are only being given away to visitors who go to the new Hybe museum, and we didn’t want to technically pirate them, so we both chose not to buy. We can wait till we can travel to South Korea together and get the photocards for ourselves :)

Have you ever fell for someone who was clearly bad for you? Technically...yeah? She eventually ended up being bad for me, but I didn’t know it at the time.

Are you a party animal? No. I like attending parties, but I never want to be the center of attention.

Who are you the biggest fan of? My best friends.

When was the last time someone really let you down? I haven’t felt that disappointed in anyone in a while. 

What song can you not help but dance to? Mic Drop.

You’re DJ for the night - first track to get everyone going? ...Now that I mentioned it, Mic Drop. The Steve Aoki remix in particular. Sorry folks, y’all are getting K-Pop tonight.

Have you ever been too scared to tell someone how you felt about them? Yes.

Where do you feel the most inspired and creative? Erm, never? I never feel creative. But when it comes to being inspired, I usually feel it when I have one-on-one talks with Bea. She schedules a brief talk with me once every few months just to catch up and ask me how I’m doing, work-wise and growth-wise. I find that it really helps and I always exit the call wanting to perform better at work.

Have you ever been hit on by a pushy person? No.

When’s the last time you met someone for a coffee? I’ve never done that.

Describe the ideal man or woman for you: Kim Taehyung. That man is doing a stupid great job ruining everyone else for me.

What place in nature would you love to visit one day? Somewhere with auroras.

What accent do you find attractive? Like I’ve said on previous answers, I like Florence Pugh’s accent, whatever it is. I could listen to it all day.

What do you think you’re really good at? I’ve always loved writing and I’m pretty confident in my skills.

Do you have something you’d like to tell someone right now? I know Jo is going through a breakup and I want to reach out and share a few reassuring words, but I’m not very good at that kind of stuff. And since she isn’t initiating, it might mean she wants her own space for now too.

Have you ever had feelings for a friends partner? Never.

What career would you love to pursue: I’m more than okay with my current field. But had things turned out differently, I’d most likely be taking up law.

What was the biggest lies you’ve told? I never like lying so I try to make the ones I make as trivial as possible.

How can you tell if someone loves you? Idk for the most part I believe people have different love languages, so expression is always different for everyone. I don’t wait for people to act a certain way for me to deduce that they love me.

What’s one of your fondest memories? Front row at a Paramore concert, 2017. I went alone and danced without a care in the world and sang along to every song, and it was one of the nicest couple hours of my life.

What’s your favourite thing to do that doesn’t cost much? Taking surveys is literally free.

What do you feel unnecessarily judged for? I feel like I would be judged for having an entire blog just for surveys, which is exactly why I don’t share about this hobby with anyone. Not even my ex knew about it until much later on in our relationship.

What are you proud of yourself for? Still being here is a big thing.

What relaxes you after a busy day? As is pretty obvious already at this point, BTS. I like looking for funny compilations or interviews of theirs to watch to de-stress.

Have you ever known someone who suffered from drug addiction? Nope. Not that I know of, at least.

Why did your last relationship end? She wasn’t in it anymore.

Who do you have a crush on? Taehyung :/

When was the last time you stayed up all night? I was up until 4 AM earlier, if that counts. I don’t really do entire all-nighters anymore; latest I can do is either 4 or 5 AM.

Have you ever been someone’s rebound? No.

What would you fight LTR for the right to do? I don’t know what that is or who they are.

When did you last apologise? What was it for and was it accepted? Some work stuff came up today and it was something I needed to ask my manager about, so I had to message her. I apologized profusely before and after my main message since it’s a weekend and I HATE making my co-workers think about work on weekends, but the matter was a little urgent and it couldn’t wait. But eventually the thing got sorted out, so I followed up with a message asking her to disregard my question, and I sent her a heart GIF as well.

Have you ever been to Cuba? I haven’t, but I’d like to visit.

What do you feel positive about? That I am most likely ordering Frankie’s tonight because I’m having a serious craving for spicy Korean wings that I can’t ignore anymore.

Do you know any Spanish? I’ve retained the words, sentences, and verb tenses I was able to learn when I was still training on Duolingo; and Filipino has a lot of Spanish influences, so I wouldn’t say I’m completely unfamiliar with Spanish. I wouldn’t be able to last a conversation, though.

If you could go on a road trip now, where’s you go? Continued from this morning. I’d probably just go back to Tagaytay. La Union could be a great road trip spot as well.

When in danger are you more fight or flight? Flight. What makes you irrationally angry? When people speak excessive Taglish, especially in a work setting. Most Filipinos are fluent in both, so I’d wish they’d pick one and stick to it. I find code-switching pretty unprofessional for the most part.

Do you feel self conscious about a certain body part? Sure.

Is there someone you’ll always be there for? If so, who? My best friends.

Have you been accused of being manipulative? Gab probably did a few times, but I barely remember those memories anymore.

What’s the most romantic thing someone has done for you? I literally can’t remember anymore.

What or who do you miss from your childhood? The ability to be carefree and the greater space to make mistakes.

Do you miss late night calls with a certain somrone? No, I hate calls.

What would you like to do again some time? Be able to go back to coffee shops.

What’s your least favourite season? Summer.

Do you know someone who’s ridiculously arrogant and entitled? A lot of boomers and older Gen X-ers.

Have you ever considered violence to solve your problem? No.

Who’s the best dancer you know? That I know in real life? Aubrey. Overall, Park Jimin.

What’s the best bit of advice you’ve received? I can’t seem to remember the exact same quote they gave me, but it was Andi telling me a few months ago not to rush my healing so I can avoid potentially harming myself in the process.

How good a swimmer are you? Not very good. I just like swimming leisurely.

What’s your favourite baby animal? Puppies and baby elephants.

What’s the best compliment you have received? It’s always nice to be told I’m strong.

What’s your favourite gemstone? Don’t have one.

Do you bounce back well when things go wrong or does it take a while? It takes a while, but I always get there eventually.

What’s an underrated colour/shade you really like? Not sure; the colors I tend to lean towards I think are pretty popular choices.

What insult or label would hurt you the most to recieve? Being told I’m useless or a burden.

How often do you notice the attractiveness of strangers? I rarely find strangers attractive.

Are you good at hiding your emotions? No, I practically wear them on my face.

Are you romantic? More than I’d like to admit.

[fallingin-like]

november 19

tenuous by undertow

see which other fics i’m reviewing this month! / my review request post!

this is one of my favourite fics in the fandom. it has DID!neil and features a really great relationship between him and aaron, and him and andrew. i love their style of writing. please read this fic

I want to start and just say that this is one of my favourite fics, and by far one of my most-reread fics. i love so many parts of it, but most of all i love the tone of this fic. it shapes all the sentences and gives it something that makes it so special. it makes me feel something and i love this glimpse of a softer neil who really is trying his best.

parts that stood out to me:

”he considers this. this week has been full of nightmares… and it’s making the lines blur, part of him terrified and the other parts struggling to control it. ‘neil,’ he decides. he’s too anxious to be anyone else.” i really like this because it does a great job of introducing the idea of neil’s different identities, but, more importantly i think, how similar they are. because really, they all originated from the same person and likely share traits and emotions. the idea of the transition between identities being blurry and motivated by his fear and trying to protect himself is well explained. you also are able to establish some of the main characteristics of neil.

”he keeps waiting for her to sound like she doesn’t believe him, for her to tell him that he’s lying for attention, but she hasn’t yet” i think this is really interesting because we really don’t see much interaction between betsy and neil in the series. i like that, even though you imply they have an ongoing relationship (aka that this isn’t one of the first few meetings) you still communicate neil’s underlying wariness of her, of his tendency to always expect the worst of people

”last time she saw him was two weeks ago; last week it had been nate sitting in the chair, sullen and mostly silent” this does a good job in showing that while these are both still ‘neil’ (as in, his body), they are still considered to be two different people. it’s always interesting for me to see how DID is portrayed in different stories, and i like that neil has an understanding of what happened while nate was ‘in charge’ (for lack of a better word)

”she has a cup of hot chocolate in front of her, probably from her previous session” anDREW??

”his skin crawls at the admission. he’s trying to get better at telling the trust, but it makes him feel-exposed, like he’s offering his head on the chopping block.” i love the way that you describe this. it gives me a great look into neil’s perspective and also i am immediately so interesting in learning about what his childhood was like, how similar it was to canon, how ingrained lying is in compared to in the books. 

”that’s why his uncle is forcing him to go to therapy, he guesses” woohoo! for some reason i really enjoy fics where stuart takes care of neil

”’he lives with his brother,’ he says, slowly, trying to pick out how he feels. ‘i haven’t-i haven’t interacted with him much. so i’m nervous about that.” okay so i don’t know why, but i like this sentence. something about the wording that you use feels so right, i can so clearly hear the way that neil is saying this. i like the way that you break up what he says. that, and the short sentences changes how i read this dialogue in a good way

neil recognizing right away that andrew is not aaron? amazing! what were andrew’s thoughts when this happened? it seems that he is at least interested enough to not immediately scare neil away (although i’m not sure if neil can be scared away)

”he shrugs, a bare twitch of his shoulders. he doesn’t know when he stopped tapping his thigh, but he starts up again, still looking at the figurines. ‘i just. don’t know what to expect.’” and also the bit on neil’s reaction to betsy suggesting that he ask aaron what to expect. i really like these lines because they feel so real. the dialogue feels so natural

”betsy’s voice remains gentle as she persists; she has learned that although he appreciates firmness in his friends, his therapist is an entirely different matter” ooh this is great. i like that neil has so much self-awareness in this fic

”the bee on the shelf is nearly translucent; he can see through it into the dark stain of the wood.  he splays his hands across his thighs, hard, the curves of his fingers lifting off his jeans. ‘yeah,’ he whispers. he becomes aware of a creeping heat around his jaw and ears, a weakness around his upper arms.” okay so this is one of the paragraphs that is really memorable to me. i think it’s because i really understand how neil is feeling. the focus on the bee, the awareness of heat and what his hands are doing, the fact that he whispers in response.

”he likes that she knows when to stop pushing. he likes that she remains patient with him, although he rarely stays stays for the entire session and talks tiltedly about his past. he sinks into his chair and nods.” i think this is probably the reason that he has been able to continue going to therapy (other than stuart forcing him) because on some level, he knows that betsy will be respectful of him and that he can trust her.

”he lets out a breath and glances away; he had been hoping that he would be able to leave without speaking up agian. ‘uh,’ he says, and stops. it takes him a moment to remember what she had been talking about.” oh. this is something that happens to me so often

”[andrew] flicks his fingers at neil as he passes by, carefully skirting around him. it might be a shoo. it might be a hello.” ahh!! this is really cute. although neil might not realise it, i think it’s telling that andrew even acknowledges neil outside of their usual cafeteria interaction

”he represses the urge with a shudder, unsure of the reason for the impulse” woah i really like this.

okay i don’t want to copy down all of it, but this interaction between andrew and neil in the cafeteria is so amazing. it’s in all the little things, neil grabbing a fork instead of a spoon, andrew cutting his pizza, “‘granola bars,’ andrew repeats flatly”, neil’s memory of the tacos. but most of all i love the part about the brownies, and how the intentionality of them changes everything, how it feels like a shift in their relationship. these boys are so interesting because they’re so intentional with everything that they do, to other people this gift would not be quite as significant. i love the way that you write andrew and his mannerisms. “that makes andrew pause; the scraping of his knife stops, then begins again”, “andrew says slowly, each word deliberate”, 

”he chews another strawberry and licks at the bit of yogurt that had smeared across his lip, kisses it off his thumb” ahh this little detail is one of many that really adds to the fic. it’s not necessary, not really, but it changes something. makes it better. i am able to picture the scene so much more clearly when i see these little things that are happening during this conversation.

”he’s good at picking up languages, finds school-taught spanish to be challenging but not impossible, not after learning two languages through immersion and terror” ah i love this, i think a lot of fics write neil as just having a natural affinity for languages, and while that may be true, i think that a lot of it is due to the immense amount of pressure he must have been under to become fluent.

this scene is great because it’s our first real glance into seeing neil and aaron together (and katelyn and marissa). you do an amazing job at establishing the easy relationship that they have, complaining about homework together, and helping each other out. the familiarity of them is shown through the coffee orders, the way that they all just invite themselves over to neil’s place and he lets them

”’andrew drinks whiskey?’ neil asks. it’s the only thing that catches his attention. whiskey, from what he remembers, smells like rubbing alcohol and burns like ice on its way down” okay first, so so cute to hear about neil’s interest in andrew and how he associates him with smoke and chocolate. second, neil, you walking tragedy, i bet you only have had whiskey as a way to dull pain and clean wounds

”aaron flicks his gaze toward him, a little surprised by the interest” i like that you used flicks! no idea why, but i like it!

LOL AARON TALKING TO NEIL IN BAD SPANISH BECAUSE HE WANTS TO TALK WITHOUT ANDREW LISTENING IN. i love that we really get to see Neil Oblivious Josten at full force here. ahh i like so many sentences in this scene, i just can’t explain why. your writing is just so easy and wonderful to read.

boo! so precious, i love her so much. 

andrew! picking up food for neil! ahhh it’s so cute and it’s really in tune with the way that andrew shows his care

”’yeah,’ he echoes, swallowing the taste. ‘no syrup’” woah this is so lovely

”(he still glances up when andrew crosses into the living room again, and if his gaze lingers because andrew is eating one of the marbled brownies-well. neither of the twins are looking at him, anyway.)” i really really appreciate the use of parentheses here and the tone that it helps create

”neil doesn’t feel up to shrugging, yet, so he looks at andrew for a moment longer before closing his eyes and tilting his head against the back of the couch.” ahh okay this, and the parts before just on neil’s kind of dissociation is really familiar to me. you do a great job of describing it, putting words to something i have only ever felt before

”the sink turns on; water smacks against the bottom of its metallic basin. it feels-well. it just feels” OKAY THIS IS MY FAVOURITE PART OF THE WHOLE FIC. which. i know is kind of weird, but i think of these sentences so so often. the last two sentences resonates with me so much, the description of the water is so vivid, i can hear it so clearly in my mind.

”aaron curls two fingers around the back of neil’s shin and pulls it forward, and neil follows the movement, stretching his legs into aaron’s lap. aaron keeps his hand on neil’s ankle, below the rolled-up hem of his sweatpants” ahh it’s so nice to see these casual displays of affection between aaron and neil, it really shows how close they are, especially given both their childhoods

“the bed-sharing is something that makes neil feel safe because it reminds him of his mother, who had spent sixteen years trying to keep him alive, and nate is-well, he is not entirely his father’s son, but he is very much not his mother’s” you do a really good job of explaining the differences between neil and nate and why they exist and i’m curious as to what nathaniel is like. ruthless, i would guess, and cruel.

”andrew huffs in what could be a laugh or what could be derision. ‘and you calling aaron the street is meant to be you asking nicely?’ ‘yes,’ neil says, unperturbed. ‘it’s all in the tone.’” the dynamic that you have between andrew and neil is so well established

ANDREW AND NEIL AND THE CIGARETTE honestly it kills me each time i read this part, everything that andrew does is so deliberate and well thought out, at least on the outside. i’d love to see what he’s thinking

”he is no longer thinking about his mother. he is thinking about andrew” AHHHH

”another two cars pass through the street in the time that it takes for the cigarette to burn down to his fingertips. one of the cars is from this house” there’s this sense of detachment that fits the tone of the writing and the way you write the characters so well. it matches the kind of 

”what’s up with you and my brother? aaron had asked two days ago in his kitchen, and neil realizes, with a kind of dizzy swoop in his stomach, that if aaron asks him again, he might have a different answer” oh my goodness what a wonderful way to end this fic.

i love the idea of aaron and neil having a friendship like this, the easy relationship that they have. i wonder, how much does neil know about tilda and how much does aaron know about mary? they’re so similar in certain ways and i love that you explore how this brings them together, instead of breaking them apart. and andrew in the middle of this all. it’s always interesting when aaron does the protecting. we know he’s capable of it in canon, with drake and everything, but this feels different. softer.

i’m always interested in neil with DID, it seems like exactly the kind of coping mechanism that he could have fallen upon, because we all know that Neil I’m Fine Josten is really the expert in repression. i’d love to see more of this, especially a scene where andrew has a chance to meet nate. i’d be curious what his reaction to that would be, without thinking too much, i would say he would be suspicious or feel threatened?, but when i think about it more, i’m unsure. they’ve shared so many lunches together, andrew knows that neil would never hurt aaron. but i guess, nate is not neil.

oh and i love your aro/ace neil. this representation is so important, and it always makes me feel good when it’s included.

the way that you write is so immersive, i feel like i’m actually there with the characters, and everything else kind of fades away. your characterization is wonderful and i love the way you describe everything. i would love to see another part to this series, if you are still working on it. i keep coming back to this fic and each time i do, i fall in love with it, over and over and over. thank you so much for writing this!!

[adventuresabroadblogs-blog]

Cultural Immersion

No matter where your final destination is, I highly encourage everyone to attempt and immerse themself in that particular culture. Life is different within every country and this is because of the differences in culture. Culture is essentially defined as the beliefs, norms and values that are shared by a body of people. These aspects can be very evident within some cultures, however other cultures may not show it as much or their culture shares some characteristics as our own which makes it harder to notice. While traveling, it is important to immerse yourself in cultural elements because you may never have the chance again to experience that specific culture. Some cultural elements can be represented within a population through language, behavior, food, entertainment and many more. These are the elements that most travelers are likely to experience while, making them the most relevant to discuss. Take my advice and it can be useful as a learning experience and a life lesson. I promise it will also make your trip more memorable.

Although you wish to experience these elements first hand, it is extremely important to prepare beforehand. Since all cultures have differing characteristics, you should be aware of what they are. This will prevent you from offending anyone in anyway. You are within their borders and need to be respectful to those there as if you are a guest. For example, in Islamic culture, the pig is sacred which makes eating pork highly offensive. In addition, many don’t drink alcohol either. It may not be offensive to drink as it is to eat pork, however both should be considered before traveling to a country with muslim presence. A similar example of this is in regard to India. Their major religion is Hinduism which finds the cow sacred. This makes beef products taboo and they are never eaten. You should modify your actions if you are in a country with highly different cultures. Modifications may even need to be made in regard to your greeting. Greetings are different from culture to culture and you should be aware of the proper way to greet people of that culture. Handshakes are not universal across cultures and often times the gender will play a role on how you greet. Often times you may not be able to communicate with the locals because the language will be foreign to you. This is also something you may want to consider looking into beforehand.

Learning a new language can be nearly impossible and shouldn’t be expected of travelers who aren’t staying a significant amount of time. It can play in your favor to do some research on some of the main phrases. It would be very helpful to know the phrases: hello, goodbye, thank you, sorry and excuse me. It is polite and respectful to learn these phrases so you can treat people appropriately. That does not mean you need to stop here. If it is a language you are interested in, take this as an opportunity to learn it at the introductory level and then test your knowledge in real life on someone who fluently speaks it as their main language. On top of this, you will also be exposed to the language on menus or any sort of reading you might do. There is no better way to learn a language than being immersed within it completely. I took this advice recently when I was spending a semester in Spain. Even though I had been taking spanish classes since elementary school, I stopped in high school and forgot the vast majority of what I once knew. Instead of preparing myself by practicing the language, I waited until I arrived in Spain to do that. I used my previous knowledge for main phrases, food, actions and the handful of other things I remembered. By the time I left Spain, not only did I know three times the amount of words, but I also was able to structure my sentences properly so that it was fluent and grammatically correct. I am nowhere near being fluent, however my spanish speaking skill increased three fold and that allowed me to take charge in many scenarios. The majority of my friends didn't speak much spanish so they often looked to me to help facilitate conversation with locals. In addition to spanish, I attempted to learn the main introductory level phrases in every country I visited. I can now say that I speak a slight amount of french, italian, german, and greek and it took only a slight amount of memorization.  

One of my favorite ways that culture is expressed is through local cuisine. Each culture is known for specific dishes and many have perfected these dishes and coined them as a dish of their culture. Some cultures use a large amount of spices, others may enjoy a more sweet taste. The diet can be entirely different as well. For example, I was studying in Barcelona, Spain and this city is located on the Mediterranean Sea. This causes their diet to be considered a Mediterranean diet. If you have never heard of this phrase, it basically means that their diet consists of a large amount of seafood as well as fruits and vegetables. This is considered one of the more healthy diets and this is reflected on the health of the population. There were a significantly less amount of overweight people in southern Europe and I believe the diet is one of the major factors that contribute to this. Regardless of what the diet is in your travel destination, I highly encourage you indulge. You don’t always get the chance to experience authentic foreign food inside of an authentic restaurant. By engaging in the same diet as locals, you are taking one step deeper into their culture. Who knows, you may end up discovering a new favorite dish and a reason to return to this destination. For me, it was the Spanish paella, a rice and seafood dish, that makes me miss Barcelona the most.

The last evident aspect of culture you may encounter comes in the form of entertainment. This is a broad topic that can consist of many things including art, literature, music, theatre, sports and several others. These are the main aspects that are noticeable as a newcomer in a foreign land. In much of Europe, especially countries like France and Italy, art and literature are very prominent. They cherish the renaissance and still adore the many works of art created during this time period. This adoration is shared amongst the entire population and serves as a form of entertainment. If you plan to travel to an European country, research their history first and see if you are able to locate a famous work of art or literature. While art and literature are still prominent in Spain, there are a couple other forms of entertainment that may reign supreme within the country. Music and dance are very popular and practiced in a certain style. This style is called flamenco and it is a Spanish tradition that has been around for centuries. It consists of a large amount of hip, arm and leg movement. In addition, the dancers wear very flowy and pretty dresses with a certain type of shoes that allows for them to tap their feet. It is still widely used today considering you are able to see a flamenco performance in many locations, every night of the week. Flamenco is popular, however there is something else that is grabbing just as much attention from the locals.

Across all of Europe, soccer is the most popular sport. It is highly competitive and played at every level. Many children join a team as soon as they are old enough to qualify and have high hopes for themself. Everyone wishes to be like one of Europe’s many soccer stars. You will notice it more so in the countries that have powerhouse teams such as Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and the UK. I was lucky enough to experience a few games in person at Camp Nou in Barcelona. This stadium is home to FC Barcelona and the legend Lionel Messi. Fans at these games are much more interactive and loud compared to many of the sporting events here in the United States. Now that you know this, if you wish to impress a local just show your appreciation for the cities team. Also keep in mind that soccer jerseys make for a great gift or memorabilia from your travels.

Every culture is different in their own way and it is crucial that you are aware of this before traveling to a different country. The last thing you want to do is offend a local when you are visiting their home. On another note, it is beneficial to know the culture because it will allow you to immerse yourself in ways that you are comfortable with. By doing this, you will be guaranteeing yourself a memorable trip and a life-changing experience.

[ridiculousn3sswrites]

French

*Lafayette x Reader

*Summary: Reader is failing French and the teacher assigns the actual French guy in class to help her.

*Warnings: None I think, maybe a bit of jealous Laf? Does bad French count?

A/N: Jfc I know Spanish not French why did I do this. I used like three different translators to try to get the French right but sorry in advance if it isn’t. Written by Admin R

You had no idea what was going on, it was like the teacher was speaking a foreign language. And, well, she was. You didn’t know how you managed to make it to French III, especially since you passed your previous French classes without doing any work during class. All you knew was that you needed to start paying attention and pass this year and next, just so you could get that stupid bilinguality stamp on your diploma to show off for colleges. It hadn’t even been your idea, your counselor had forced you onto that path, and now you were paying the price for that. “Mademoiselle (l/n), faites attention,” the teacher spoke, snapping you out of your pity party.

“Uh, oui?” you responded, phrasing it as more of a question since you didn’t know what was going on. There were snickers from throughout the room, making your face heat up as you prayed for the ground to just swallow you whole.

“Ne vous inquiétez pas, je vais m'assurer qu'elle accorde de l'attention,” someone spoke from beside you, their French fluent. You snuck a peek from the corner of your eye, spying Lafayette’s bright smile and somehow perfect bun. Of course it was him, he was the only one in the class that spoke perfect French. He’d moved to New York from France and for some reason was taking French III instead of something else. Not that you wanted him in another class, but he definitely could’ve been learning something more useful.

“Merci, Monsieur Lafayette. Mademoiselle (l/n), see me after class,” the teacher said, tapping her fingers lightly on your desk before walking away. You tried not to openly sigh, knowing the conversation would turn back on your grades. You’d spoken with the Mademoiselle before, her suggesting online programs and workbooks to help with your French, but they never actually helped. You looked down at your notebook, seeing more doodles than actual classwork. You knew that you needed to stop it and try to learn, but how could you follow the lesson when you barely understood half of what the teacher was saying?

When the bell rang, you walked up to the teacher’s desk, waiting as she said goodbye to everyone else. What you hadn’t expected was Lafayette coming up beside you, waiting as well. “So, uh, why?” You asked, slightly uncomfortable with his proximity. You mentally facepalmed, just loving your eloquence.

“The Mademoiselle wished to speak with me, too,” Lafayette replied, taking a small step back when he noticed your discomfort.

“Again, any idea why?” You questioned. You knew why you were here, but you had no idea why she needed to speak with her top student. There was no French you could teach someone from France, and it wasn’t uncommon for Lafayette to actually correct her on some things.

“Probably the same reason as you,” Lafayette said with a shrug. You tilted your head in confusion, not entirely sure what he meant by that. Just as you were going to question him further, the teacher walked up. She began speaking in rapid-fire French with Lafayette, leaving you completely lost once again. Lafayette was smiling and nodding in agreement with whatever she was saying, confusing you even further.

“Hey, uh, I might be in this class but I still don't follow when it's that fast,” you spoke up, rubbing the back of your neck as you fidgeted slightly. It made you nervous, especially since you knew they were talking about you.

“Sorry, (y/n), but I’m not exactly sure how I can further help you. Luckily, Lafayette here has offered to help you,” she told you, motioning to the boy. Lafayette smiled softly at you, easing your nerves slightly. “Maybe you’d benefit from having a personal teacher, not just websites.”

“I mean, that’d be great, but don’t you have like other things to be doing, Laf?” You asked, face growing warm. You liked Lafayette, perhaps a bit more than what was considered friendly, but you weren’t sure how you’d deal with him if the two of you were alone. You were at least ninety-percent sure you would spontaneously combust.

“Non, I’m generally free after school and mes amis will not miss me during lunch,” Lafayette replied, smile growing brighter. “So, would you like the help?”

“Yes, please. Thank you, Mademoiselle, Lafayette. I need to get to my next class,” you said, nodding at the both of them before hurrying out the door. ‘Eliza is gonna freak when I tell her,’ you thought, thinking of your best friend. Even though she hung out with Lafayette’s group often with her boyfriend, she was still excited to hear any news of your little crush. The minute bell rang, making you curse softly as you hurried to your class, avoiding any proctors.

“So, you’re not late today,” Eliza commented as you sat next to her, slightly out of breath.

“Just barely,” you told her with a roll of her eyes. “Hey, has Laf said anything about what’s going on in French when all of you hang out?”

“No, normally he just tells Alex he should’ve taken the class with him. Why? What’s going on?” Eliza asked, leaning towards you eagerly. Damn, you’d had high hopes that she had some sort of information for you.

“Well, apparently him and the teacher made an agreement for him to tutor me,” you told her. By the way her eyes lit up, you weren’t sure if this was better news for her or you.

“That’s great! You and Frenchie can finally get together after this,” Eliza teased.

“Shut up, I barely even talk to him. What makes you think he’s even into me?” you asked with a roll of your eyes. Despite your sarcasm, you were actually curious. Had he talked about you to his friends? What did he say? Were they bad things? Did he find you annoying?

“I mean, he’s called you cute a few times,” Eliza commented nonchalantly, smiling at your reddening face. “And I wouldn’t put it past him to finally make a move, the guys’ve been hyping him up for it for almost a month now.

“You’re kidding, right? Wait, no, don’t answer that. That’d be messed up if you just played with me like that,” you rambled, mind racing as you processed the information. There was no way Lafayette was into you, it just didn’t make sense. He was always so suave around you, never stuttering or giving any indications that he liked you. You, however, turned into a blushing mess, never able to express what you were thinking without embarrassing yourself in one way or another. It didn’t make sense.

“I cross my heart. Last week John warned Laf that if Laf didn’t ask you out soon, or at least flirt with you, he was going to,” Eliza explained, leaning closer so no one would eavesdrop. “And Laf got all serious, saying that John better not. I could’ve sworn Laf was going to deck him.”

“No,” you gasped in disbelief. “There is no way that happened.”

“Hey, don’t believe me. But if John starts flirting with you, don’t be surprised,” Eliza replied with a knowing smile and a shrug.

“Miss Schuyler, Miss (l/n), something you’d like to share with the class?” the teacher asked, crooking a brow.

“No, Mr. Greene. Promise it won’t happen again,” Eliza replied easily while you turned into a tomato once again. Getting called out twice in the same day seriously wasn’t working for you, especially since you didn’t like the attention.

“I expect it won’t,” Mr. Greene said, giving you both a stern look before turning back to his lecture.

“You’re a bad influence,” you jokingly scolded Eliza.

“As if, I was quiet before I met you,” Eliza laughed softly, rolling her eyes. “Blame the counselors, they’re the ones that put us in the same class.”

“My counselor’s also the reason I even need Lafayette to tutor me,” you added, groaning slightly. “Just saying, I wouldn’t mind a bit of flirting from John if it gets Laf to even notice me. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s a bit of a cutie.” Eliza just laughed, earning another pointed look from Mr. Greene. The two of you looked at each other, trying not to laugh even more at that.

A few weeks passed, Lafayette and you meeting up for tutoring every Monday and Wednesday during lunch. You were still struggling, but now you could talk to Lafayette like he was a normal person. “Wait, your real name is Gilbert?” you asked, face scrunching up slightly as you looked over at him.

“You didn’t know that?” Laf asked with a small laugh.

“No, everyone calls you Lafayette so I just kinda assumed!” you argued, smiling slightly. “I mean, with a name like Gilbert, it’s understandable.”

“C'est impoli,” Lafayette replied. “But my name is actually longer, which is why I go by Lafayette.”

“What? Okay, hit me with the entire thing,” you told him, pausing for a second. “That sounded worse than I intended, but what’s your name?”

“Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette,” he said after a bit of hesitation.

“Marie-Joseph Paul what?” You trailed off, struggling to remember the middle parts.

“Seriously, just call me Lafayette,” he laughed it off. “Hey, would you like to come with us later? We’re getting dinner with the Schuylers, and then I’m not sure what Alexander has planned after that.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun! I’ll just need to call my parents beforehand, but I’m sure they’ll let me go. They trust Eliza a lot for some reason,” you joked, rolling your eyes slightly. “I wonder why she didn’t mention it to me though.”

“To be fair, Alexander didn’t tell me we were doing anything until this morning,” Lafayette replied, placing his hand on your shoulder. “Now, savez-vous ce que nous sommes censés avoir pour la présentation la semaine prochaine?”

“Uh, oui. We’re ordering in a restaurant and need to correct a mistake that’s been made,” you read from your notes. The dialogues were your least favorite part of class, especially since they happened at least once a month. You were fine with memorization, but the pronunciation got you every time.

“Right, do you want to work on it together or just have me write it all out and then practice it?” Lafayette offered. You wanted to have him just write it, but you knew you needed the practice.

“Let’s just work on it together,” you sighed, already knowing that you’d probably work on your part the day before it was due. “You’ll help me with the pronunciations and stuff, right?”

“That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” Laf asked with a cocked brow.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” you replied. “Now, faisons cela.”

“That’s the spirit,” Lafayette laughed, taking out the assignment and turning to a new page in his notebook.

After lunch, you found yourself unable to focus on anything else other than your plans. Sure, you’d hung out with the Schuylers often, and you’d met the Hamilsquad, as they’d been dubbed, but this was the first time you’d be with them for an extended time period. Once your last two classes finally ended, you were free to freak out in the privacy of your own home. Well, until Eliza showed up at your door with no warning, pulling you to your room to get you ready. “Eliza, why are you freaking out about this more than I am?” You questioned as you watched her tear apart your closet in search of something for you to wear.

“Because this is your first time hanging out with Lafayette outside of French tutoring and you don’t seem to understand how major that is,” Eliza stressed, holding a dress out to you.

“No way, it’s still cold outside,” you said, pushing the dress back towards her. Eliza pouted slightly before going back to your closet, pulling out a (f/c) pullover striped sweater that you thought you had lost.

“This with some jeans and a t-shirt. Bam, instantly better than what you wore to school while still being simple,” Eliza said proudly.

“Rude,” you said, rolling your eyes as you went into the bathroom to change. You tried to ignore Eliza’s smug look when you came out. Sure, she had good taste and seemed to know more than you did about everything, but she could still be a bit much at times.

Alexander had picked up the two of you soon after, driving to a small diner not too far from the school. When you walked in, you saw Angelica, Peggy, and the rest of the guys sitting at a large table near the back of the room. Lafayette perked up when he saw you, waving your small group over to the table. You didn’t see the small look that Eliza and Alexander shared behind you, nor the one that John shared with Hercules. “(y/n)! You made it, mon ami!” Lafayette said, standing up and hugging you as you approached.

“Eliza showed up at my house, so I doubt she would’ve let me skip out anyways,” you laughed. Lafayette pulled out a chair for you, right between him and John.

“(y/n), looking as beautiful as ever,” John said with a cheeky smile, winking.

“Thanks, John. How’ve things been?” you asked, trying to ignore your warming face. You hated that you responded like that with any flirting, even if you didn’t like the guy.

“Good, but better now that you’re here,” John replied smoothly. Peggy made a gagging sound from across the table, making you burst into giggles. John continued throughout dinner, flirting steadily and holding your attention for the most part. Lafayette stole your attention back a few times, but John made sure it never lasted for long.

“Alexander, dire à John d'arrêter tout de suite avant de le frapper,” Lafayette practically growled.

“Je vous ai dit que si vous ne l'entendez pas, je le ferais,” John spoke up, talking across you.

“Pouvez vous les gars se calmer?” Alexander asked, eyeing his two friends warily. You looked across to Hercules, hoping he’d provide some form of clarity.

“Don’t look at me, I’m just as confused as you,” Hercules shrugged. “Don’t you take French?”

“Yeah, but I’m not passing,” you told him.

“Ensuite effectuer votre déménagement! Ce n'est pas ma faute vous n'avez pas encore dit!” John stressed to Laf.

“He’s not wrong,” Alexander backed him up. Lafayette just shook his head, huffing slightly.

“Je ne vais pas prendre le risque,” Lafayette told them, turning back to talk to Peggy instead. You and Hercules looked to John, hoping that he’d explain what just happened. Instead, he said nothing and smiled, going back to his flirtations. This continued for maybe ten more minutes before Lafayette hit his palms on the table, standing up and leaving. Everyone looked at each other, stunned into silence before Angelica finally spoke up.

“Someone should go check on him,” she said, looking at everyone.

“I’ll do it,” you told her, standing up. You left the same way as Lafayette, scanning the parking lot before you spotted him sitting on a bench a few feet from the entrance. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Juste parfait,” Lafayette huffed.

“No you’re not, what happened in there with John?” You pushed, sitting beside him, knees almost touching.

“J'aime vraiment vous et John pense qu'il peut juste en piqué et prendre vous. Et il travaillait, il était de vous faire rire et sourire et je veux juste être en mesure de le faire. Vous êtes si beau, et intelligent, et drôle, et parfait, et je ne peux même pas vous dire ceci quand vous serez capable de comprendre,” Lafayette rambled, you only being able to understand bits and pieces.

“Laf, please, in English?” You pleaded, searching his eyes for what you were hoping was there. Lafayette took a breath before starting.

“(Y/n), I like you a lot. And seeing John making you laugh and smile with his flirting, it got to me. I want to be the only one to make you like that, and I didn’t realize how much until tonight. You’re beautiful, and smart, and funny, and just perfect, and I hope I didn’t just ruin everything,” Lafayette said, eyes searching yours for any reaction. You didn’t know how to react. It was everything you hoped for, but you still didn’t know how to process it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Lafayette began rambling.

“Laf,” you cut him off.

“Yes?”

“Shut up and kiss me,” you told him, voice only slightly louder than a whisper. And he did, cupping your face in his hands as he kissed you, slowly at first, but becoming more passionate as it went on. You finally broke the kiss when oxygen became a necessity, Lafayette resting his forehead on yours as he looked into your eyes.

“As cute as this is, you guys need to pay your parts of the check,” Alexander said, breaking you and Laf out of your bubble. Lafayette nodded, standing up and offering you his hand. His fingers intertwined with yours as he lead you back to the table with your friends. You noted John’s large smile and knowing look shared with Eliza.

“Finally!” John cheered when you and Lafayette sat back down. “Hey, no hard feelings, right? I just needed to give you a little push in the right direction, you know?”

“Maybe, but I’ll have to think about it,” Lafayette replied. He pressed a kiss to your cheek, adding in a whisper, “Parce que tu es à moi maintenant.”

[fluentlanguage]

9 of the Best Podcasts for Learning Spanish

Imagine what you would do if you could easily understand spoken Spanish.

You could finally travel to the Spanish-speaking countries you’ve dreamed of, watch foreign films and addictive telenovelas, or understand a paella recommendation from the _menu del día_on a Thursday in Valencia.

Best of all, you’d be prepared for real conversations with native Spanish-speakers. The only question is: how do you find the time to practice your Spanish listening skills?

Podcasts are a great way to add a little Spanish listening practice into your day-to-day life. They are free, and can accompany any part of your day: driving a car, washing your dishes, doing laundry, working out, reading, and more.

The Fluent Show

In addition to the Spanish podcasts you’ll find in this article, check out the Fluent Show. That’s my own show, co-hosted by Lindsay Williams, where we discuss languages, learning methods, and how to live a multilingual life.Click here to listen and subscribe.

Quick Primer: How Do Podcasts Work?

If you're curious about podcasts, but not quite sure how they work, here's what you need to know:

You can subscribe for free to podcasts on your phone, tablet, or computer.

If you use an iPhone or iPad, go to the Podcasts app. If you're on a Mac, use theiTunes directory.

On a PC or Android device, try theStitcher app for a quick and easy start.

Subscribing means you'll always have the latest episode ready and waiting for you as soon as it's published.

The 9 Best Spanish Podcasts for Learners

In this article, you’ll find:

Spanish Podcasts for Beginners

Spanish Podcasts for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

Spanish Video Resources

Story-Based Shows

A Special Tip for Advanced Learners

To help you target your Spanish learning goals, this list also specifies whether a podcast uses Castilian Spanish, Latin American Spanish, or offers options for both.

Spanish Podcasts for Beginners

Castilian Spanish

Notes in Spanish

Notes in Spanish is a podcast run by Marina, a native speaker from Spain, and Ben, an Englishman. Each episode is actually a conversation between the two. There are episodes dedicated to beginners as well as intermediate and advanced learners. For beginners, the hosts also go over key vocabulary, phrases, and basic grammar points both before and after their conversations.

Since Ben is also a Spanish learner, he offers a lot of useful tips for listeners while Marina often provides corrections and points out common mistakes. They speak clearly, making it easy for beginners to follow along.

Castilian and Latin American Spanish

SpanishPod101

SpanishPod101 from InnovativeLanguage covers the basic through advanced levels of Spanish. The episodes are exciting and immersive. Plus, you can find episodes for both Castilian and Latin American Spanish along with the differences between them. There are even episodes that explain some of the regional vocabulary from places like Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, and Spain.

The dialogues are presented by engaging hosts in a clear, concise way covering many grammatical features and cultural topics. On the website you can sign up for premium content to access spaced repetition flashcards, PDF lesson notes, and a community forum.

Spanish Podcasts for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

Castilian Spanish

Unlimited Spanish

Unlimited Spanish with Òscar Pellus uses a unique storytelling technique based on Òscar’s method of learning Spanish through exposure and repetition. Every episode includes a quick story followed by a question and answer session that encourages listeners to practice their speaking skills as well. It’s also a great option for anyone who doesn’t care for lengthy grammar explanations.

Podcast topics include various aspects of Spanish culture, including places and food, as well as social topics and situations. When necessary Òscar touches on some relevant vocabulary and grammar, but it isn’t overwhelming. The podcast is entirely in Spanish, but if you have any trouble understanding, you can download transcripts of every episode in PDF format.

Español Automático

Done entirely in Spanish, this podcast is meant to provide an immersive experience for intermediate to advanced learners. The host, Karo Martínez, is lively, engaging, and speaks both clearly and naturally.

There are over 100 episodes to choose from, some of which explore grammar concepts, offer tips to improve your pronunciation, or explain colloquial expressions. Other episodes talk about different parts of Spain or even how to learn Spanish with popular shows like Game of Thrones.

The Español Automático site offers episode transcripts along with additional guides and resources.

Latin American Spanish

15 Minute Spanish for Your Job

Though this podcast is directed towards those learning Spanish for work, its main goal is to help listeners get used to and understand native, spoken Spanish.

The host, Miguel Lira, is a native Spanish speaker from Mexico and a Spanish learning coach. Each episode goes over a particular conversation exchange in Spanish, such as conversations between workers or while simply ordering coffee. Miguel, as the sole host, uses a different tone of voice for each speaker, which is both entertaining and helpful as you follow along. There are also a few episodes on cultural subjects, like The Day of the Dead in Mexico.

In addition, the website offers notes, transcripts, and other resources to help you review the conversations.

Castilian and Latin American Spanish

News in Slow Spanish

News in Slow Spanish is an intermediate level podcast. This podcast covers world news, grammar, and expressions and slows down all the dialogue to make it easier to process what you hear. Every episode breaks down a point on grammar and vocabulary. It also lets you choose between Castilian and Latin American Spanish.

The audio is very clear and easy to follow. On the website, there are transcripts for each episode available with grammar, expressions, pronunciation, and quizzes.

Spanish Video Resources

Yabla Spanish

Yabla is a video-based learning platform with bilingual subtitles and integrated dictionaries. The subtitles are interactive, which is a really cool concept! Check out how Yabla works in detail by reading myfull review.

Yabla is great for all levels from basic to advanced. You can check out their podcast and choose between videos from Spain and Latin America for hours of entertainment.

Story-Based Shows

Castilian Spanish

Coffee Break Spanish

Coffee Break Spanish, a podcast from Radio Lingua Network, combines Spanish language lessons with a lot of useful information about Spanish food, culture, Spanish speaking countries, and so on.

My favourite part of the podcast is the chemistry between relaxed and charismatic host Mark from Scotland (who is fluent in Spanish) and Spanish learner Kara from Scotland. Mark guides both Kara and listeners through Spanish grammar, conversation, culture, and society.

The dialogues are presented in a clear, concise way, covering many grammatical features and cultural topics. On the website you can sign up for the premium content to access spaced repetition flashcards, PDF lesson notes, and a community forum for a subscription fee.

Latin American Spanish

Duolingo Spanish Podcast

The Duolingo Spanish Podcast tells real-life stories from all across Latin America. Some of the stories are uplifting and inspiring while others are suspenseful and heartrending. Either way, they really make you want to hear more!

The stories are done partially in Spanish and partially in English, which makes it a great option for more advanced beginners who want to get used to spoken Spanish while still understanding what’s going on.

Advanced Learner Tip: Native Spanish Podcasts

If you’re interested in a more immersive experience, there are plenty of podcasts intended for native Spanish speakers available.

One great option is the Radio Ambulante podcast. Radio Ambulante is a longform journalism podcast that shares real-life Latin American stories. There are stories about language, sports, education, events, and more. Plus, there are both English and Spanish transcripts available for every episode.

If you want an easy way to access even more Spanish podcasts, go to iTunes and switch your country setting to Spain, Mexico, or any other Spanish speaking country. There’s no restriction on your switch and you’ll be able to access all podcasts in the same way that listeners from those countries can.

This article was written by Cassie Wright and me. She’s a freelance writer who loves languages. Thanks Cassie!

Looking for more Spanish resources?

Click here to get my top tips for Spanish learners.

Which podcasts do you listen to for practicing your Spanish? Leave a comment below and share your tips.

[idolizerp]

LOADING INFORMATION ON NITRO’S MAIN DANCE, LEAD VOCAL LEE TAEWOO...

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: n/a CURRENT AGE: 26 DEBUT AGE: 19 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 14 COMPANY: Koala.T SECONDARY SKILL: Choreography

IDOL PROFILE

NICKNAME(S): n/a INSPIRATION: He is inspired by the support, hard work and dedication of his family (Especially his mother) as well as Gens. Stylistically he takes inspiration from 4ce, POWer and other second generation groups. SPECIAL TALENTS:

Can speak multiple languages (Fluent Korean, conversational English & Japanese, beginner Mandarin)

Skilled freestyle dancer

Can perform a backflip from both a standing and seated position

NOTABLE FACTS:

He has two younger sisters

Worked a number of part time jobs whilst training, including stacking shelves at a local convenience store and washing dishes.

Has a quiet and collect demeanour. The silent guardian of the group, always looking out for the other members and ensuring that things run smoothly.

Plans to learn more languages in the future, beginning with Spanish.

Has contributed to Nitro choregraphy in the past as a collaborator on two songs

IDOL GOALS

SHORT-TERM GOALS:

Though their rise through the ranks has taken a little longer than some of their peers, Taewoo is happy with where they are now and their trajectory going forwards. His goal is simply to carry on moving down that path, perhaps by putting greater emphasis on their international appeal and fanbase. He would also like to become further involved with production, choreographing a release on his own rather than as a collaborator.

LONG-TERM GOALS:

It’s an unfortunate truth that all idols have a shelf life, and Taewoo is fully aware of that. Though his focus right now is on increasing Nitro’s popularity, he knows that he should begin laying down plans for the future if he is to continue being a pillar of support for those he cares about. What form that takes is still a mystery, and he intends to explore a couple of different options, but right now a production path is appealing.

IDOL IMAGE

Idol life has never come naturally to Taewoo. He doesn’t have the same charisma and towering personality shared by many of his peers, nor the looks to be considered a visual or the commanding presence of a leader. The years of training have helped to hone his natural talent as a performer, but that alone makes him no better or worse than any other idol. This is an industry as cut throat as any other, and on the surface not one that he’s cut out for. His nature has always been soft and gentle, defined by his willingness to do whatever is necessary and value others needs above his own. A doormat in nearly every sense of the word. He may not be innately superior, but he’s more willing than most to put the work in to surpass them. 

Despite his flaws, the company know that they can take advantage of that. Yes, he’s an exceptionally talented dancer with a recognizable voice, but his true strength lies in his versatility and malleability. Nitro has been an ever-morphing beast, beginning with intense edginess before softening their corners and becoming a quirkier entity, and currently walking a tightrope between the two. He is ready and willing to be whatever is needed, and do whatever needs to be done to push the group forwards. Need someone step in and embarrass themselves on a variety show? Taewoo is your guy. Learn a foreign language to appease overseas fans? Done. Rehearse until you’re literally on the verge of hospitalization? Who needs to sleep anyway? No matter what Koala T throws at them, he has learned to adapt on a whim.

Given the chance though, he takes a backseat role in promotions and other appearances. Years on the job have helped his personality to more fully bloom, but he’s still a reserved and nervous person who’s just as happy in the background as the foreground. Taking advantage of his quiet nature he was initially pushed as edgy and mysterious, a man of few words who exuded cool with no effort (ironically, the complete antithesis of his off-stage persona), but as the group has changed so has his role. There are some who argue about the change, decrying it as fake and a ploy to try and increase the group’s appeal, something that bothers him far more than any criticism of his talent. Though he’s still far and away the least outwardly charismatic member, his unique brand of unwavering positivity in the face of adversity and uncertainty is utilized as a selling point. Rather than sullen and brooding, which much to his dismay was often misinterpreted as arrogance, he’s seen as warm and reliable. A pillar of the group who values his members and fans above all else. He’s the reliable one whose compassion shines through his quietness, and despite not being the most popular amongst fans, will always go the extra mile.

Away from the spotlight though? He’s barely holding himself together. The hectic schedule is finally beginning to take its toll, and the weight of responsibility piling on his shoulders is slowly causing him to falter. For better or worse, through thick and thin, he’s always been an unbreakable rock. Anything will crack when put under enough pressure though, and the dark circles that appear below his eyes are the first fault lines to appear. Exhaustion is not an unfamiliar feeling, but where before he’s been able to power through, now he is on the cusp of burning out. Despite those around him voicing their concerns, he can’t address it though. If a single cog in the machine stops turning the whole thing stops working, and he’s little more than a cog. He can’t afford to stop. For the sake of the company, for the sake of his members and for the sake of his family he needs this to work, no matter the cost.

IDOL HISTORY

There was never anything extraordinary to be said about Lee Sooyoung and Lee Hyunseung. They were just and unremarkable couple in love with a tiny house on the outskirts of Seoul, a tinier dog and three equally unremarkable children. The eldest is Lee Taewoo, a quiet kid enamoured by the world with a perpetual smile, who would go on to be more than anyone could reasonably have expected. 

Being a line cook and a waitress by trade meant that money was never particularly forthcoming. Even before his birth purse strings were pulled tight, what little remained of their wages after bills being squirrelled away in savings accounts for the future, and with every passing birth the bet was pulled tighter. By the time of the third the cashflow is non-existent. They do their best to provide, and for the most part manage to struggle on, but food is often in shirt supply, clothes are second hand without fail and basic utilities are cut off at least twice a year.

Not that Taewoo cares, or even really notices. His parents are swans gliding gracefully across the water, and he’s too young or too naïve to see the legs scrambling beneath the ripples keeping them all afloat. To him, dinner by candlelight, freezing cold baths and clothes three sizes too large are all entirely normal, and even when his peers question it, he reasons that his family are just strange rather than struggling.

That has always been his way: to search for positivity in any person or situation, even when there’s none to be found. His optimism is unwavering, even in the face of tragedy or overwhelming adversity. “You have to laugh, or you’ll only cry” is the mantra that he lives by, and one that has dragged him from the darker corners of his mind on many an occasion. Though quiet, reserved and bordering on timid he was able to light up the room with a wide smile and an infectious laugh.

He was never an especially social animal, focussing instead on pushing himself in both and academic and athletic sense. Lacking the natural charm and charisma of many of his peers, it was his hope that doing so would win him friends, or at the very least acceptance. Rather than drawing them closer though it only seemed to push them away. He was, and still is, for all intents and purposes a doormat. He will let you step all over him, push him into doing anything and be whatever you need him to be just to be accepted. The reason was never really clear: perhaps his reclusiveness was mistaken for arrogance, or the rumours that swirled about his family’s financial situation. More likely though, it was because he had all the social skills of a baked potato, and no book was likely to change that.

And so, his quest for acceptance continues once more in vain, until one day, aged ten, he comes across a street performer. A dancer, to be precise. The way that the man moves is unlike anything he’s ever seen, the fluidity of motion completely hypnotic. Of course, he’s heard of idols, but this… this is something else entirely. He’s completely enraptured, unable to tear his eyes away until thunderous applause brings him back to reality. That was the moment that he knew: this was the answer he was looking for. A path lying in plain sight that had remained completely unexplored.

Even in the early days, the internet was a wonderful tool. Every video he could find was studied in microscopic detail, every book or article on theory and technique analysed multiple times. The depths of the family financial crisis are still a mystery, but he’s no idiot. He knows they can’t afford professional training, so to begin with he’s self-taught. It takes months, but his innate athleticism helps him to master the basics.

By this point the Park’s situation has only gotten worse. The tipping point had come when they’d made the questionable (see: terrible) decision to buy out the restaurant that employed them both with the aid of their savings as well as a complex and deadly cocktail of their savings, grants and multiple private loans. By putting themselves at the top of the chain, they reasoned, they would reap the most rewards. It was not a decision made on a whim, but rather one that Taewoo would later learn had been years in the making.

Business under the new owners ground to a halt, and by the time Taewoo is thirteen it is nearly none-existent. His parents, for all their good intentions were not business people and had no clue how to run a restaurant. His father hid away in the kitchen, his mother in the office as things spiralled further and further out of control. Back home it’s never mentioned, never discussed. Instead there’s only tension hanging thick in the air, withering glares and the quiet sound of crying in the dead of night as things spiral closer to rock bottom.

The failure of the business has repercussions. Where in the past they’d been forced to skip a meal here or there, now there were days when food was forgone entirely. There were more days without power than with and mortgage payments are consistently late. In hindsight, it was perhaps not the best moment to tell his parents his grand plans for the future.

Not a doctor like they’d hoped, nor a lawyer or anything of the sort. He wanted to perform. What form that took, he didn’t know yet, and didn’t care, but he had to at least try. Silence. You can hear their hearts crack as their faces sink. They’d always had high hopes that his dedication to his schooling would take him to higher places, and give him an opportunity to be better than them. They’d never been able to say no. After reassurances that he’ll continue his studies and laying out a clear plan b that ends with him in medical school, as well as paying for his own tutoring “Okay.” Is all they manage, the silence hanging heavy before they both leave the room hoping that it’s nothing more than a phase.

And so, he scrambles to gather funds from any direction he can. Favours from friends, odd jobs that need doing in the neighbourhood. He can barely afford a session a month, but surprisingly he’s pretty good. Being self-taught he’ picked up some bad habits but that foundation allows him to move at a much faster pace. Images of the man flash through his mind as he moves; a constant reminder of the level he wants to reach.

It isn’t long before he begins to emulate the stranger that he’s seen no more than a handful of times and begins street performing himself. Though it doesn’t have quite the same fluidity or precision of his memory of that performance it’s decent enough to warrant some attention and a faint smattering of applause. A small amount of money even finds its way onto his jacket laying nearby, which is pleasant and put towards more lessons, though ultimately superfluous. The rush he gets is reason enough to carry on.

Taewoo becomes a regular fixture of street corners around the city, and pops up at least once or twice a month in different locations, every performance better than the last. At this point in time he’s still a kid, with no plans for the future or any idea how to translate this into a career. He isn’t idol material, and that’s a fact that has been subtly drilled into him over time. “The industry is cut throat and you’re… too nice…. Too good” people say, cynicism glossed over with the illusion of good intentions. It’s something that he’s resigned himself too, an idea that he’s slowly grown to believe. Self confidence has never been a strength.

So, it comes as a surprise when he’s approached by a frantic man after finishing for the day, shrugging the jacket laid out on the floor over his shoulders and preparing himself for the dark, icy (in every conceivable way) confines of the home that feels more like a prison with every passing day. The words are a blur, and he’s completely blindsided. Representative, Koala T, scout, trainee, idol. He simply laughs nervously and walks away, assuming it’s a joke.

Except the man finds him again. This time even more frantic than before, he eventually beats Taewoo down and convinces him to come to an audition. It can’t be real, it’s just some crazy dude in the streets. He agrees, mostly just to make the other leave, with no intention of actually attending. Time passes as usual and he carries on attending school, attending dance classes and performing in public.

When the day finally comes, he wakes up and goes on as if it were any other. A notification on his phone reminds him of the audition but is dismissed without a second thought. He’s still convinced that it was nothing more than a cruel joke. But then, an hour before, it dawns on him. This is not a chance that will come around again. Yes, it could just be a man being senselessly cruel just to get a cheap laugh… but it could also be the golden ticket he’s been looking for.

It turns out that, unbelievably to him, the latter is true. After scrambling to get there and arriving at the last possible minute, he’s gobsmacked. Even more astonishingly he gets through the audition mostly unprepared without a hitch and gets the greenlight to proceed. His charisma is severely lacking, they say, but it can be worked on and his other skills will be enough to carry him. For now, at least. He leaves dumbfounded, mind moving at a thousand miles a minute and unable to process the news. He thinks he might collapse when the cool air hits his face as he exits and the bus buckles his knees on the journey home.

The wide-eyed joy that has been painted on his animated face all day fades when he gets home to find his mother sat at the table, tears in her eyes. Letters are scattered around her, red and black ink screaming from the paper. Final notice, they blare.

For the first time he finds out just how much trouble they’re in, his heart sinking like a lead balloon as she tries to hold herself together. The restaurant is lost, but the debts incurred and loan repayments remain. Their home is under threat, and utilities about to be cut off indefinitely. Where before they’d been swans, grace and elegance hiding chaos, they were now a sinking ship, the passengers screaming in panic as the descent quickens. She tries to feign happiness when she finds out the news about her son, but her worry is obvious.

And so, when he begins his training, he also begins working. Some nights he follows his mothers’ example and waits tables, some nights he follows his fathers and washes dishes. Some nights he stacks shelves and others he sweeps floors. The pay is never great, but it’s funnelled almost entirely back to his family. Though they’ve not been rescued from the sinking ship, the three have slowly managed to inflate a lifeboat just big enough for five.

Training begins well, but as it grows more complex and intense, he begins to fall in the ranks. Between maintaining his grades, working most every night and trying to keep pace with the schedule he never meets his full potential. Never the best but never the worst, he’s once more unremarkable.

Faces come and faces go, each one a little more disheartening than the last. He’s a good dancer and a decent singer, but that isn’t enough anymore. He needs an edge. Something to make him a more appealing prospect, something to make him useful. Languages is what he settles on, already knowing basic Japanese. Again self-taught, he begins with English. Koala T have artists with international appeal, so maybe this would be enough to tip the scales in his favour.

The second big blow comes a little later. His father falls ill, having a stroke at work that has a severe impact on his speech and movement. The news is devastating, and it takes him a few days to process. The temptation is there to quit, to work full time to support his family in their hour of need, but on his father’s insistence he stays. “You’ve come too far to stop now. You Can do this.”

That’s the first time that anyone has said that to him other than the scout, and it acts as a shot of adrenaline. He works harder in training and takes on extra hours at work, his grades taking a hit in the process. For this to work, he needs absolute dedication, but he can’t just leave them to fend for themselves.

Finally, his debut date is set, but just a month before he burns out. During training he collapses, vision fading to black as he crumples to the floor, the strain of exhaustion on his body overwhelming him. Pure terror overcomes him when he awakens, the fear that he’s blown his one shot running rampant. He has to fight a long and arduous battle to convince the company to allow him to join the group, but eventually he manages it. Perhaps they just took pity on him, sensing the desperation, but for once he couldn’t care less.

In the early days Nitro was an ever-morphing beast, going from edgy to quirky at the drop of a hat. He was always one of the quieter members, especially during their more serious concepts, and this innate introversion was misinterpreted by some as arrogance. Seeing this the company tried to rebrand him, using that naïve innocence and infallible positivity that he’s somehow managed to maintain as his main selling point. He’s still not the centre of attention and often has to fight of the arrogance label, but his new role fits like a glove.

In an attempt to be seen as more personable and genuine, he established a presence on YouTube. His demeanour on camera is still awkward and his lack of natural charisma and confidence translates on screen, but enough people seem to find it endearing enough to warrant its continued existence. Clips from the studio, Q&As as well as some of his early dancing and choreography are all featured. He has also been known to return to his roots and perform on the streets, footage of which is available here.

More recently his focus has turned more and more towards choreography. In his eyes that is the easiest path to take when Nitro comes to an end, and a solid foundation for the future. For now, he’s happy collaborating with others for the company, learning everything that there is to know before stepping out solo.

Which brings us to now. Nitro are finally making waves, and though they’re not the most popular group in the world, Taewoo is happy with where they are and their future trajectory. Everything that he has is poured into this group, every waking second used to help push them further. With their recent Global Popular Artist win under their belts there is a new fire inside of him to be the best he can possibly be.

Or at least that’s what he’ll tell people. In reality the blood, sweat and tears are slowly begin to take their toll once more. Black bags under his eyes and the same exhausted melancholy that plagued his mothers face that day now play on his own, betraying the next burnout rumbling in the distance. For now, though, he’ll cover it with makeup and smile for the masses. Because this has to work out. He has to make this work.

[envirotravel]

Surprises From Six Weeks in Brazil

As my biggest getaway of 2016, I spent plenty of time meticulously planning my six week trip to Brazil. And yet for all my research and reading, nothing can actually prepare you for the culture shock of completely immersing yourself in a new country, new language, and new lifestyle.

So many aspects of Brazil took me completely by surprise — both good and bad! While I’ve sprinkled in plenty of stray observations throughout my coverage, here are a few final thoughts on the biggest bombshells of my trip. Of course, in the end these are just the musings of a tourist — my experience was shaded heavily by my luck and by my mood. Others might have a different take. Brazilians, feel free to set me straight if I’ve misinterpreted your culture in any way.

How safe we felt

One of our pleasant surprises of the trip was how comfortable Heather and I felt as two women traveling alone through what is often considered a very dangerous county. I should note that we had very low expectations in this regard. Stories of theft in Brazil are so rampant that I literally considered buying a backup iPhone before this trip, because that’s how much I had pre-accepted that I was going to be robbed blind. My first day in São Paulo was a hilarious wake up call that I really needed to chill.

While we were constantly — like literally, constantly — warned by everyone we encountered to be careful with our cameras (to which we were like, yeah, duh), we were vigilant and cautious and had zero issues and really felt surprisingly safe and secure throughout our time in Brazil, with a few uneasy but brief exceptions. Of course many travelers do experience crime in this country, hence the constant warnings, but our experience was a reminder that there are plenty of travelers who move through the country grief-free, too.

How no one gave a flip about Zika

Our trip was at the HEIGHT of Zika mania. My dad, a busy CEO who probably isn’t really sure what country I am in the vast majority of the time, called me specifically to ask if I might consider postponing or canceling my trip — Heather’s parents did the same.

So I arrived half-expecting some sort of Hazmat-covered country under quarantine. And seriously? No one cared. No. one. cared. The first few times Heather or I casually brought up Zika to Brazilians, they looked at us like we were paranoid nutjobs. When we told them that Zika was still headline news every night in the US, they were baffled. “Oh yes, Zika. I had it last year. Dengue is much worse,” a doctor we met at Tomorrowland told us flippantly before casually ordering up another caipirinha. As someone who is kind of the opposite of a hypochondriac, I found the whole attitude very refreshing.

Also? We literally did not see one mosquito. Anywhere. Ironically, our two biggest fears before arriving in Brazil could not have been less of an issue.

How hard it was to communicate

Yet the thing I didn’t think to fear left me so frustrated I nearly flew home early. Living in Thailand, a country where I speak no more than a pitiful few throwaway phrases in the country’s notoriously difficult and tonal language, I have done plenty of pantomiming and getting by with little-to-no shared vocabulary. I’ve traveled to 37 countries now and before Brazil, communication has never been an issue beyond a passing flicker of frustration — I certainly never imagined that a language barrier would negatively influence one of my trips.

It started with a very misplaced sense of confidence. I like to classify myself as a “blissfully barely-competent Spanish speaker.” Which is a winking way of saying that while I’m far from fluent, I love speaking Spanish and embrace the challenge with gusto, never letting an improperly conjugated verb get in the way of a productive conversation in Latin America. And I thought, how different can Spanish and Portuguese be?

Ha! That false sense of security was only heightened by the planning stage of our trip, in which I was able to fairly easily understand several all-Portuguese websites. Oh, how naive I was! I’d soon learn that written Portuguese and spoken Portuguese are two entirely different beasts. While the former is quite similar to its Spanish cousin, the ladder was unlike anything I’d ever heard. “When we first boarded our plan to Brazil for Argentina, we wondered why they were giving the announcements in Russian,” confessed my Israeli travel companions in Jericoacoara. At the risk of offending my Portuguese-speaking readers, the primary adjective I’d use to describe Brazilian Portuguese was mushy. Without the sharp clarifying corners I’d grown to love in the Spanish language, I couldn’t even pick up the different words when spoken to in Brazilian Portuguese. And again, I greatly hesitate to write this and offend any Portuguese speaking readers, but the truth is the language didn’t agree with my ears. In the same way that some people’s taste buds are predisposed to certain foods, the sound of different languages appeal to different people. Portuguese just isn’t my jam.

Of course, I accept full responsibility for not knowing more than the basic guidebook phrases when I arrived in Brazil. Translation apps can only go so far, and I should have been better prepared.

But regardless, you must be thinking, surely there are plenty of Brazilians who speak English? Nao muitos! Studies claim only 3% of Brazilians speak English as a second language. And I found that those who might were extremely reluctant to speak it.

In Southeast Asia, for comparison, my experience has been that there is no expectation among locals that foreigners will speak Thai, Khmer, or Laotian. Fluency in English is also a rare trait in this region, though communication between traveler and local is generally light-hearted and earnest. There’s a sense of, we’re in this together, and neither of us is leaving until we figure out how many papayas I want to buy and how much you’re going to charge me for them, gosh darn it. 

But I found that in Brazil, it was harder to get anyone to even attempt to communicate — my apologetic English or hapless attempts at Portuguese were frequently met with terror, blank stares, and the person I was speaking to simply walking away from me. At Tomorrowland Brazil, I was unable to hear an employee at the information booth’s hesitant reply to me in English due to the loud music playing; when I asked her to repeat herself, she shook her head over and over again in mortified horror until I finally gave up and walked away. In Duty Free at São Paulo’s international airport, multiple employees practically sprinted from me in fear when I, again, always apologetically, requested assistance in English. When I wrote emails to hostels with English websites, they went unanswered. And more than once, I called a business and was told harshly, in perfect English, “we don’t speak any English,” before being hung up on. Needless to say my attempts to politely ask, “puedo hablar in Español?” were, with a few exceptions, also a giant flop.

I don’t think any of the people — just a few random examples plucked from six weeks of exasperation — were trying to be rude or unhelpful (in fact, the Brazilians we met who were comfortable speaking English were overwhelmingly warm and bubbly.) It was explained to me that many Brazilians are simply embarrassed by their lack of English abilities. In fact, one Brazilian I met explained that the reason we’d encountered so many domestic travelers at the hostels we stayed at was that Brazilians are often hesitant to travel to other countries, given their limited English abilities. It affects not just travel but business, too. And while many articles I’ve read in researching the lack of English speaking in Brazil assured me that locals would go out of their way to help me despite our lack of shared languages, I unfortunately did not find that to be the case. Maybe we just had bad luck.

Heather and I spent a lot of time reflecting on why we personally found the language barrier in Brazil so upsetting. We met quite a few men on the road (women traveling without male companions in Brazil were rare from our observation) who were basically like, “ha ha yeah we don’t understand anything! Who cares!”

Is it that as women we have to be more concerned about our physical safety? Is it that we are highly attuned to being talked over and brushed off? Do we just find communication to be more important? Whatever it was, I found myself very on edge knowing that I was unable to express myself in the local language, and that if I were to try to use body language or, heaven forbid, my mother tongue, I’d clear the room. I felt invisible and vulnerable in a way I never have before while traveling.

The champagne campaign

On a lighter note, I couldn’t believe how much Brazilians LOVE bubbly. I was extremely onboard with this. Tomorrowland Brasil had more champagne tents than beer ones, our brunch restaurant in Rio de Janeiro had a DIY Bubbles Bar for creative mimosas, and at three out of the five hotels I stayed at on the trip, sparkling wine was handed to us at check-in — at in some cases, again at check-out!

We learned at our cooking class in Paraty that the sparkling wine industry in Brazil is booming, which made it all click.

How diverse it is

One thing that struck me immediately is how many nationalities Brazil encompasses, especially coming from uber-homogonous Thailand. Brazil is enormous and incredibly ethnically diverse, and there is no one way to look Brazilian.

From the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, German-descended Brazilians of the south to the Afro-Caribbean Brazilians of the northeast to the indigenous tribes of the Amazon and everyone inbetween, Brazil is a really beautiful mosaic of different faces.

What novelties we were

I mean hello — this is the country that has hosted the World Cup and the Olympics in just a few short years! Surely a few blonde gringas wandering around would be no big deal? Yet even in one of the most famous cities in the world, we were blessed with some very authentic little interactions that reminded us that we were a fairly exotic sight to some, and provided a sweet and refreshing counter-point to the frustrating anecdotes I outlined above.

It started with the dozens of Brazilians whose eyes lit up with excitement when they saw the American flag I was waving at Tomorrowland and came over to give me a high five — a refreshing reaction, as a citizen of a country that tends to take a lot of international flack.

And it continued with the hilarious National Park Ranger at Christo Redentor who whipped out a notebook and solemnly quizzed us on random English slang and insults after hearing us chatting; furrowing his brow and taking detailed notes at each of our replies. The employees at the pet supply shop it Botafogo who were very indiscreetly taking photos of us with their cell phone until we started chatting in broken Spanish and showing them pictures of our dogs, at which point they dropped the secrecy and each took turns taking photos with us and shyly gifting each of us a special free dog toy to bring home to our pups. The man in the favela who waved us over and insisted I try his BBQ meat straight off the grill, wanting only a smile in return. The salesgirl who sold me a $12 dress and gave me a huge, heart-felt hug before I left the store.

The Uber driver who saved us from disaster and drove us all the way from Rio to Buzios, calling everyone in his phonebook and excitedly repeating the same story — we got the gist of it when we heard “Americanos!” sprinkled in over and over again. Though he didn’t speak a single word of English, he chivalrously tried to be of assistance when we stopped at a rest area for snacks, hugged and kissed us when we got to Buzios, and looked back at his star fares with pride as he started the long three-hour drive back to Rio.

How much I loved São Paulo

While planning this trip I kind of considered São Paulo a necessary evil; a place we had to fly into and out of and stop in on the way to and from Tomorrowland. And yet it literally turned out to be one of my top two favorite destinations of the trip (alongside Jericoacoara, its polar opposite).However, while São Paulo might have been the greatest surprise, all the destinations I visited were great in their own ways. There’s not one stop on our trip that was a disappointment in and of itself, though some were somewhat marred by terrible weather and other circumstances.

I originally only planned four nights in São Paulo, but it was long enough to have lingering moments of wondering what it might be like to move there. (And also to my great surprise, I never once had that “if I lived here…” daydream in Rio.) I loved South America’s largest city so much, however, that I ended up stopping there for three more nights on my way back out of the country.

I spent most of it chilling out and reflecting on the six weeks behind me and little else (hence the lack of a blog post on this time), and what a better place to do so than Hotel Unique, where I wildly splurged on one last night of luxury. One of the most architecturally distinctive hotels I’ve ever stayed in, Hotel Unique summed up the cutting edge art, stylish design and bold style that made me fall for São Paulo in the first place — what a perfect note to say goodbye to the city, and the country, on.

The crazy kissing culture

Heather and I didn’t go out much for the first five weeks we were traveling together (my final week, when I was itinerary-less in Jericoacoara, I let loose a bit more.) However, we had one big night out in Rio and one big night out in Buzios, and both of them had one common theme — we were fending off random liplocks left and right!

In Buzios, we actually ended up chatting to a group of guys away on a bachelor weekend who spoke great English, and playfully confronted them about the apparent Brazilian preference for kissing first, asking names second. They conceded with a laugh that it was true, but countered with a scandalized observation of their own. “But American women… it’s crazy… they dance like they want to [redacted term for intimate activities]!” 

The finer nuances of twerking, it seems, have not reached the shores of Brazil. We couldn’t stop laughing. But it’s true — in the US, it’s fairly common sight in nightclubs for people to wordlessly approach each other and dance pretty intimately, which we were learning was as shocking to Brazilians as their saying-hi-with-a-snog was to us.

That Brazil is not a year-round tropical paradise

Perhaps some of you will read this and say “duh.” But Heather and I were ridiculously unprepared for the weather we encountered throughout April and May in Brazil, which is their autumn. Our first week was glorious (residents of São Paulo complained of a heatwave but it felt great to us!), our second was a disaster (it downpoured in Paraty non-stop for days), and the two weeks that followed were mostly nice with a few full days of rain tossed in to keep us on our toes. We had to cancel a bunch of activities as a result, which was a bummer.

However, the larger issue is that we were just completely unprepared for the evening temperatures. During the day, these two Southeast-Asia expats were happy and smiling in sleeveless tops and sundresses. But as soon as the sun went down at 5:30pm, the temperature would drop down to the fifties — omg! — and we would literally be sent into a frenzied cold panic. Neither of us had anything more substantial than jeans and a cardigan, and I kid you not when I say there were multiple people in Paraty wearing puffy coats and winter hats to keep warm. There were many days where we’d make big plans to go out for a few drinks in the evening and as soon as we felt that chill in the air we would freak out, run back to our rooms, put on as many layers and possible, make ourselves into bedding burritos and wish for for the warmth of the sun until morning. Dramatic? Abso-freaking-lutely. But there is very little that I loathe more than being cold — I’ve literally designed my entire life around avoiding it. And I didn’t do a very good job in Brazil.

Don’t let the pictures of palm trees fool you. Brazil is an enormous country with four seasons and a major range of eco-systems. Do your research and pack accordingly!

How carefully you need to pack

In addition to the weather wake-up call above, we also discovered a few other surprises that make packing well essential for a happy trip to Brazil. First of all? Laundry is surprisingly tough to do. Hostels don’t offer per-kilo laundry service like travelers might be used to in Southeast Asia or other parts of Latin America, and laundromats are few and far between.

Second? Electronics are insanely taxed and tough to track down. For long trips, bring extra camera batteries, a spare laptop chargers, the works. I got the shock of my life when my MacBook charger fried and it was going to cost a cool $17oUSD to replace it. No joke! I heard at least one Brazilian explain that Apple products in particular are harshly marked up by both authorized and off-the-books retailers — one of the reasons iPhones are one of the prime targets for street snatchings.

How few backpackers we met

I’ve touched on this before, but in our weeks of traveling through Brazil, I was absolutely blown away by the lack of English-speaking travelers we encountered (which meant, compounded with our issues communicating with locals, Heather and I got to have a lot of deep and meaningful conversations with each other. I’m pretty sure she was ready to never, ever hear the sound of my voice again by the time she headed home.)

Having experienced the Gringo Trail full blast in Peru and Ecuador and throughout Central America, I found it baffling at first. Hello… where are all the battered-passport, backpack-toting Europeans, Australians, and North Americans on long haul trips around the continent?! Where are the retirees in zip-off pants? Where are the honeymooners? I didn’t find a heavy concentration of any of them, or any sort of traditional backpacker scene, until I hit Jericoacoara.

Why? Brazil has more visa restrictions than its neighboring countries, it is bigger and more expensive and thus a bit more intimidating to travel. Plus, six of the seven hostels I stayed in throughout my six weeks in Brazil were overwhelmingly populated by domestic Brazilian travelers. The cool thing is that the Brazilians staying in hostels are more likely than the rest of the population to speak a bit of English, and getting to bond with locals who are also traveling is pretty unique and fun — I went to the beach and to dinner with Brazilians in Jeri, we partied with Brazilians at Tomorrowland and I had some awesome chats over breakfast with Brazilians in São Paulo. However, those were kind of the exceptions and for the most part, everyone in the hostels spoke Portuguese and it was hard to break into that clique as an English speaker. Speaking Spanish does help, as many non-domestic travelers hail from neighboring Spanish-speaking countries, specifically Argentina.

Typically I love traveling alone, however in this case I was incredibly grateful to be on the road with Heather for the majority of my trip, lest I feel totally linguistically isolated from the world for six weeks straight.

How unique the beach culture was

As a certified beach girl, I thought I knew a think or two about spending a day on the sand. Nah. Brazilians have the most unique beach culture I’ve encountered anywhere in the world — I wrote a whole post about it! People always talk about how Brazilians can teach the world a thing or two about how to party. I think they can also show us how to go to the beach!

How tough it was to get a visa

Seriously, hats off to those of you who have to go through the difficult process of procuring a visa for every country you travel to. As a US citizen, most of the visas I’ve applied for in my life have been because I have desired to stay in a specific country longer than the standard visa-waiver would allow. And while they’ve often been a headache to procure, Brazil was the biggest eye opener by far.

First, I had to travel in-person to Bangkok to apply, and by that point I’d already gone back and forth with the embassy multiple times with questions about the application questions and procedure and other logistical issues. The amount of information I had to procure was astounding and I felt like I had assembled approximately twenty-seven documents by the time I was finished. My appointment was stressful, with my interviewer grilling me on minute details of my trip, cross checking my application with Heather’s (who had gone in separately) and berated me for not photocopying my passport ahead of time to the point that I broke down after my appointment worried that my application was going to be denied.

And it was expensive! The whole shebang set me back about $230, not including the cost of a trip to Bangkok, where thankfully I was going to be anyway. I was definitely left with a newfound respect for my fellow travelers who have to cut through this much red tape and more for every trip.

Have you been to Brazil? If so, what surprised you about your trip? If not, which of these would catch you off guard?

Surprises From Six Weeks in Brazil posted first on http://ift.tt/2k2mjrD

[beingmad2017-blog]

11 Ways to Market Your iPhone and iPod Contact App

New Post has been published on https://beingmad.org/11-ways-to-market-your-iphone-and-ipod-contact-app/

11 Ways to Market Your iPhone and iPod Contact App

While there may be no magic formula or single marketing motion that can do the trick for you, those strategies can provide you with a framework to help you growth corporation exposure, income, and earnings. Market advertising your iPhone/Contact app is sincerely a manner that could take time.

I’m able to let you understand that we’ve now not found charge reductions to be the high-quality strategy. We first of all thought this is probably very powerful as the free apps save shape is an installation to rank applications by the variety of overall downloads. Better overall sales and total downloads by means of rate class are not currently diagnosed with Apple’s system.

Preserve in mind for example that if your app changed into $5 and you made a decision to lower it to $0.99, you’ll have informed promote five times as many just to interrupt even. Now you would possibly temporarily increase publicity this manner, however at the expense of maximizing your earnings margins while you are most apt to do well at the start of your product existence cycle. Customer support issues may increase via an issue of five as nicely.

That being stated, there is nothing wrong with adjusting your app’s fee in the starting to discover its high-quality Market price (which would possibly exchange over time).

There are 24,455 free apps and counting, so allow’s soar in and get began!

1. The sector (iTunes App store) Is Flat

Recollect your capability worldwide Marketplace right from the moment of conceptualization. There are humans all over the planet keen to use and advantage from satisfactory applications. initially, we intended to consist of the metric system and nearby currency in our free apps , however, determined to push it again till model 1.1. We had been so eager to start the submission system with Apple and this ended up negatively affected our sales without query. I endorse taking that more time to make your app useful to the worldwide network, or even a few key markets (China, Russia, Significant and South America, Japan, and Germany come to thoughts).

What does this suggest? If currencies are used, vehicle-discover the consumer’s local foreign money beneath their device’s fashionable settings; and if applicable take care of currency conversions. Make your internet site, instructions, and income pages smooth to apprehend and use pix to help your text. Remember that for lots human beings, English may be their second or third language. Make your software program extra intuitive with the aid of choosing symbols over text anywhere viable. Reach out to bloggers on your niche Market in Europe and Asia. consist of a complimentary promo code for your correspondence. It cannot hurt.

Bear in mind this: we obtained almost $1,000 in sales from Italy due to an unmarried on line put up written in Italian! Now you could cross further with this and feature your sales page and help instructions translated into major languages like Spanish or Chinese. Charges for high-quality work vary and you may need to get someone fluent inside the language to double take a look at their paintings.

Take into account there are 65 exclusive variations of iTunes around The arena and counting. single apps may be advanced to be used on the iPhone and the iPod Contact. How large is the Market for each? Apple does not breakdown income of character product lines. A conservative estimate with four.4 million iPhone sales and 22.7 million iPod sales for the closing zone might be about 7 million in three months. That is a median of 78,000 new devices coming online each day. Top notch and nearly frightening. It can’t last all the time, but wow!

2. Create a Lite or Demo version

Apple lets builders provide both a unfastened and paid version of the same app, and a loose sample is probably the maximum a success advertising strategy ever. humans need to strive things. There are lots of CrApps (crappy apps) available, so why should humans chance money on an app they recognize not anything approximately from an organization they know even less approximately? If you could supply people a flavor that is just sufficient, they’ll purchase the complete meal from you! This way you take away an awful lot of the hazard.

There are various techniques for this, however, make sure the lite version sales web page is obvious in its barriers vs. The paid or full model. If you truncate the free apps too much, people might imagine it is an entire dud and notice no cost in paying you something for the premium launch. give humans a clear idea of what they’re moving into and this method ought to make you wealthy. Developer Ethan Nicholas gives the motivation to head this route in a latest Wired piece:

Whilst iShoot launched in October, commercial enterprise become gradual for a while. After which Nicholas determined some spare time to code a loose model of the free apps – iShoot Lite, which he released January. Right here’s how that helped: Interior iShoot Lite he advertised the $three, the full version of iShoot. Customers downloaded the unfastened model 2.four million instances. And that led 320,000 glad iShoot Lite gamers to pay for iShoot.

three. go loose

Now, this is something that may be considered for unique reasons. proper now “in app” advertising lacks sophistication. Once I say that I suggest we do not have Google AdSense yet. I am positive it’s coming, but embedded advertising that doesn’t relate to the content in any manner is sincerely intrusive in my non-public opinion. I nonetheless examine approximately sure builders making tons of money with embedded app advertising, however, it’s hard sufficient to get people to click on advertisements if they are applicable. When they’re no longer, the click-through fee is pretty low. in case your app is something that human beings use, again and again, advertising and marketing can still paintings. We for my part did not discover it a success as it’s lots less difficult to make about 70 cents off of a ninety-nine cent app than to earn the identical quantity with advertisements. you can also upload a PayPal donation button as AppCubby did, but this in all likelihood won’t work for you unless you’ve got a large pre-present consumer or fan base.

you could additionally introduce your app free of charge. Get humans using it, speak approximately it, and get hold of high-quality remarks. Then begin charging human beings. Flawlessly applicable with Apple.

Looking at it from a long-time period attitude, you would possibly completely give away the first app to get humans speak, create a base and build your brand. In any case, nothing spreads like loose (specifically appropriate unfastened). you may use this to acquire touch info and comments out of your initial Users and flip them into customers in your next app or product. Be sure to consist of a “proportion” feature Inside your free app (Inside all your apps!). Make sharing as clean as possible.

four. Send Out a Press launch

PRMac, a loose (or almost unfastened) press launch distribution service, and the MacNN (Macintosh News Community) syndicate (loose to publish) are truely well worth the price of submission. Competing offerings can price over $600 for distribution inside the America on my own, so those are precious and much less pricey alternatives. They say the press release is lifeless, however, these offerings at once focused your capacity customers. You never understand who you might Reach, and it’s important to provide a press launch Whilst soliciting all types of media.

five. contact the Pinnacle a hundred Blogs

Technorati can offer you with the contemporary listing. Use a conversational style, get proper to the factor and encompass a promo code. Figure out what should promote them on your business enterprise. If there may be an interesting attitude or tale round your app, this can boom your chances. Ask them if you may do a visitor submit. Who knows? If you have websites like Gizmodo that get three million pageviews in line with the day, this may certainly turbocharge income!

6. Continuously Improve Your income web page

This one is quite simple, however often omitted. Examine the income pages of other Top apps. What are they doing? Emulate what works and Maintain gaining knowledge of to spark thoughts. you could display as much as 5 photographs as of this writing, so use them! Use the pix that promote your product satisfactorily. Ask different human beings what grabs their interest. Use rates from reviewers; proportion blessings first and principal. clients aren’t constantly logical, so don’t bore them with statistics. How will your application make their lives better?

7. Use client remarks to construct a better Product

that is components. First, well-timed reply to client emails and recognize that every interplay with clients, whether or not accurate or horrific, is a marketing opportunity. whilst you get comments thru electronic mail or thru your patron evaluations, Consider and comprise these enhancements. You cannot please absolutely everyone all of the time, and you could have restricted assets, so that you may not be capable of add everything. a few extraordinary thoughts are sure to come your way. First-time Users can also help you see how your software program is getting used from a newbie’s perspective.

The second one manner to receive client feedback is to embed analytics code to your software. Flurry Analytics and Pinch Media each offer monitoring software program with the intention to offer insight into how customers are interacting along with your software, which includes real-time download records, all free of charge. this may be particularly beneficial if ninety% of your customers aren’t the use of a particular feature. Perhaps they don’t know it is even there!

8. Always Update Your application

Here’s an amazing feature of the App store. New versions circulate returned to the Top of what is new to your category. Incorporating capabilities your clients need, thereby making your product better, coupled with maintaining visibility, can help increase or at least hold constant sales. don’t abuse this by means of changing a few phrases in your help phase After which resubmitting or you may damage this for absolutely everyone. In case you are running hard to make your product higher, the distribution channel can reward you with improved publicity because you are renewing.

nine. Put it on the market

Google AdWords and AdMob are feasible alternatives. I agree with we’re no longer there but, however, we’re quite near. AdWords does offer the capacity to Promote it on mobile gadgets with a complete net browser, however that doesn’t just consist of the iPhone and Touch. You’ll get Androids and extra relying on which territory you Put it up for sale. right now they have not evolved conversion monitoring for apps both, and without this, you may simply burn thru coins with little results to reveal for your efforts. You might not understand which keywords are working or aren’t running. there may be one manner to music sales the usage of this technique: grow to be an iTunes associate by means of becoming a member of LinkShare. you could create a hyperlink in your income page inside the App keep and obtain a 5% fee on qualifying purchases.

AdMob has app advertising down better than Google to this point. you are capable of a song your conversions and target relevant Apple devices. you may even target the ones which are both on or off the WiFi Community, that’s quite cool. The downside to this is that you are paying a minimum 10 cents a click to Ship someone on your App shop income web page. No guarantee of sales Here and depending on the rate of your application, this leaves the very little margin to spend on advertising. It may take one hundred clicks just to get a real sale, so Keep that in thoughts. additionally, since AdMob does not target your advertisements thoroughly, the humans clicking aren’t without a doubt looking for what you’re offering as they might on a Google search.

Right here are a few examples of Google AdWords commercials below from groups with cash to burn; this luxurious is not something everyone can have the funds for and it may not be worthwhile anyway.

GOOGLE ADWORDS advertisements:

Example #1

Kraft iPhone application

No-Hassle Cooking w/Recipes And

Buying Lists At Your Fingertips.

Www.Apple.Com/Kraft

Example #2

loose iPhone download

Get local search Electricity on your

iPhone These days! find. Map. Shop. pass.

YellowPages.Com/iPhone

One remaining attention: even If you break even from your marketing, you may boom your ranking in the store, and thereby receive greater sales from the multiplied publicity. If you are popular, income can feed off them. Itunes is a distribution channel, however so is Walmart. In case you are featured subsequent to the register, you’re gonna get more income. In case you’re at the lowest of the shelf on aisle 34, proper success!

10. Use Social Networks

Fb Fan pages, on-line forums, and nice comments on Pinnacle blogs and Information websites assist you to get conversations began about your company. comments are even crawled and tracked by way of the important search engines like google. Be part of the dialogue and actually proportion something applicable or this can paintings in opposition to you. you may fast become being considered junk mail (and despised or banished by means of your fellow netizens). Subtlety Right here will convey you far. additionally, create profiles to further your cause.

[giveuselife-blog]

11 Ways to Market Your iPhone and iPod Touch App And Service

New Post has been published on https://giveuselife.org/11-ways-to-market-your-iphone-and-ipod-touch-app-and-service/

11 Ways to Market Your iPhone and iPod Touch App And Service

At the same time as there may be no magic system or unmarried advertising motion which could do the trick for you, those techniques can provide you with a framework to help you growth corporation exposure, sales, and profit. marketing your iPhone/Touch app is surely a technique that can take time.

I will-will let you recognize that we’ve no longer determined rate reductions to be the excellent method. We initially thought this might be very powerful because the App save structure is set up to rank packages by using the variety of total downloads. Better overall income and overall downloads via charge class aren’t presently identified with Apple’s gadget.

Maintain in mind as an example that in case your app become $five and you decided to lower it to $0.99, you would have to tell sell five times as many simply to interrupt even. Now you might briefly boom exposure this way, but at the rate of maximizing your income margins whilst you are most apt to do nicely at the start of your product life cycle. Customer service issues may growth through a thing of 5 as nicely.

That being said, there’s nothing incorrect with adjusting your app’s charge in the starting to discover its nice Market price (which might change over the years).

There are 24,455 apps and counting, so allow’s soar in and get commenced!

1. The sector (iTunes App keep) Is Flat

Remember your capability worldwide Marketplace proper from the moment of conceptualization. There are people everywhere in the planet keen to apply and advantage from pleasant programs. initially, we meant to encompass the metric gadget and local currency in our app but determined to push it back until version 1.1. We were so keen to begin the submission procedure with Apple and this ended up negatively affected our sales without question. I suggest taking that more time to make your app beneficial to the international network, or maybe some key marworld market kets (China, Russia, Critical and South America, Japan, and Germany come to mind).

What does this suggest? If currencies are used, automobile-discover the person’s local currency below their tool’s standard settings; and if relevant take care of currency conversions. Make your internet site, commands, and sales pages clean to apprehend and use pics to guide your text. Remember that for plenty people, English may be their 2d or 0.33 language. Make your software program greater intuitive through deciding on symbols over textual content anyplace feasible. Attain out to bloggers for your niche world market in Europe and Asia. consist of a complimentary promo code for your correspondence. It can not harm.

Remember this: we received almost $1,000 in income from Italy because of a single online post was written in Italian! Now you may move similarly with this and have your income web page and help commands translated into primary languages like Spanish or Chinese language. Costs for nice work range and you’ll want to get a person fluent within the language to double check their paintings.

Don’t forget there are sixty-five one-of-a-kind variations of iTunes around The arena and counting. unmarried apps may be advanced to be used on the iPhone and the iPod Contact. How big is the Market for both? Apple does not break down sales of man or woman product strains. A conservative estimate with four.four million iPhone sales and 22.7 million iPod sales for an ultimate zone might be about 7 million in three months. That is a mean of seventy-eight,000 new devices coming online every day. Excellent and almost horrifying. It can not be remaining for all time, but wow!

2. Create a Lite or Demo model

Apple we could developers offer both a loose and paid version of the equal app, and a unfastened pattern is probably the maximum successful marketing method ever. humans need to try things. There are plenty of Crapps (crappy apps) accessible, so why should people hazard money on an app they know not anything approximately from an organization they recognize even less approximately? If you could give people a flavor this is just enough, they will buy the complete meal from you! This manner you dispose of a lot of the hazard.

There are numerous strategies for this, but make sure the lite model sales web page is apparent in its obstacles vs. The paid or full model. If you truncate the app an excessive amount of, people might imagine it’s an entire dud and spot no fee in paying you anything for the top class release. provide human beings a clean idea of what they’re moving into and this strategy could make you wealthy. Developer Ethan Nicholas gives the motivation to go this course in a latest Wired piece:

Whilst iShoot released in October, the commercial enterprise was slow for some time. And then Nicholas located a few spare time to code a unfastened model of the app – iShoot Lite, which he released January. Here’s how that helped: Inside iShoot Lite he marketed the $three, a full model of iShoot. Users downloaded the unfastened model 2.4 million instances. And that led 320,000 happy iShoot Lite gamers to pay for iShoot.

three. cross free

Now that is something that can be considered for distinct reasons. proper now “in-app” advertising lacks sophistication. When I say that, I suggest we do not have Google AdSense yet. I am sure it is coming, but embedded advertising and marketing that doesn’t relate to the content material in any way is sincerely intrusive in my private opinion. I nonetheless study about sure builders making tons of cash with embedded app advertising and marketing, however, it is tough sufficient to get humans to click on ads if they’re applicable. While they are not, the press-thru price is quite low. if your app is something that humans use, again and again, advertising can nevertheless work. We individually did now not find it successful because it’s plenty easier to make about 70 cents off of a ninety-nine cent app than to earn the same amount with ads. you could also upload a PayPal donation button as AppCubby did, but this possibly won’t be just right for you until you have a large pre-current customer or fan base.

you could also introduce your app at no cost. Get humans using it, speak about it, and receive tremendous comments. Then begin charging human beings. Flawlessly acceptable with Apple.

Looking at it from an extended-time period perspective, you might completely deliver away the primary app to get human beings speaking, create a base and construct your brand. In spite of everything, not anything spreads like free (in particular excellent unfastened). you could use this to gather touch info and feedback from your preliminary Customers and turn them into clients to your next app or product. Be sure to encompass a “proportion” characteristic Inner your loose app (Inner all of your apps!). Make sharing as easy as possible.

four. Ship Out a Press launch

PRMac, a loose (or almost loose) press launch distribution service, and the MacNN (Macintosh News Network) syndicate (unfastened to publish) are genuinely worth the rate of submission. Competing services can price over $six hundred for distribution in the America alone, so those are treasured and much less costly alternatives. They are saying the clicking launch is dead, but those offerings without delay centered your potential customers. You in no way understand who you might Attain, and it is vital to provide a press release While soliciting all styles of media.

5. touch the Pinnacle a hundred Blogs

Technorati can offer you with the present day list. Use a conversational style, get proper to the point and encompass a promo code. Parent out what may want to sell them for your business enterprise. If there’s an exciting perspective or story around your app, this will boom your chances. Ask them if you could do a visitor submit. Who knows? If you have websites like Gizmodo that get 3 million page views in line with a day, this may actually turbocharge income!

6. Constantly Improve Your income web page

This one is pretty fundamental but often left out. Observe the income pages of different Pinnacle apps. What are they doing? Emulate what works and Maintain researching to spark thoughts. you could show up to 5 photos as of this writing, so use them! Use the pics that promote your product first-rate. Ask different humans what grabs their attention. Use charges from reviewers; proportion blessings first and major. customers aren’t constantly logical, so don’t bore them with facts. How will your application make their lives higher?

7. Use customer remarks to build a better Product

that is two parts. First, well-timed reply to client emails and comprehend that each interplay with clients, whether or not exact or horrific, is an advertising opportunity. when you get comments thru electronic mail or thru your purchaser reviews, Don’t forget and contain these enhancements. You cannot please absolutely everyone all of the time, and you can have limited assets, so you may not be capable of add the entirety. a few awesome thoughts are sure to come back your way. First-time Users also can assist you to see how your software is getting used from a beginner’s perspective.

The second manner to receive purchaser feedback is to embed analytics code for your software. Flurry Analytics and Pinch Media each provide tracking software a good way to offer insight into how customers are interacting along with your application, such as real-time download statistics, all totally free. this may be mainly useful if 90% of your clients aren’t the usage of a specific function. Perhaps they do not know it is even there!

8. Constantly Replace Your utility

Here is a brilliant function of the App keep. New versions pass again to the Pinnacle of what is new for your class. Incorporating functions your clients want, thereby making your product higher, coupled with preserving visibility, can help boom or at least preserve regular sales. don’t abuse this through converting a few words for your help segment And then resubmitting or you could wreck this for absolutely everyone. In case you are working hard to make your product better, the distribution channel can reward you with elevated exposure because you are renewing.

9. Market it

Google AdWords and AdMob are feasible alternatives. I consider we’re no longer there but, but we are pretty near. AdWords does offer the ability to Put it on the market on cell devices with a complete net browser service app, however that doesn’t simply encompass the iPhone and Touch. You may get Androids and greater depending on which territory you Market it. proper now they haven’t advanced conversion tracking for apps both, and without this, you could just burn thru coins with little consequences to expose on your efforts. You won’t realize which keywords are working or aren’t working. there is one way to tune sales the usage of this technique: become an iTunes affiliate by way of joining LinkShare. you may create a hyperlink to your sales web page inside the App shop and receive a five% fee on qualifying purchases.

AdMob has app marketing down better than Google thus far. you are capable of track your conversions and target applicable Apple gadgets. you may even target the ones which can be either on or off the WiFi Community, that’s quite cool. The disadvantage to this is that you are paying at the least 10 cents a click on to Ship a person to your App keeps income page. No assure of sales Here and relying on the charge of your application, this leaves a very little margin to spend on marketing. It could take a hundred clicks just to get a real sale, so Keep that in thoughts. additionally, considering AdMob does not goal your commercials very well, the humans clicking are not absolutely in search of what you’re presenting as they would on a Google seek.

Right here are a few examples of Google AdWords advertisements below from agencies with money to burn; this luxurious is not something all and sundry can manage to pay for and it may now not be profitable besides.