#learnt so much vocab!!

[chryso-chryso]

人是__ / man is __

(spotify / youtube)

singer: Zhou Shen 周深 lyrics: Tang Tian 唐恬 score + arrangement: Qian Lei 钱雷

in honour of it being september, i thought i'd start posting my zhou shen song translations. can you tell i like diacope

very nervous! disclaimer: artistic liberties have been taken! first time doing song translation!

去往所有命运 风暴之中的盲童

go in the direction of destiny – a blind child in a windstorm

你来之火山炙热 与苦寒的深海

you come from scorching volcanoes, the bitter depths of deep sea

生本就是意外 硬币反选为尘埃

life was always an accident – the dust of a coin toss 

为侥幸可以相爱 造了船 移着山

you can fall in love with chance – build a boat, move a mountain  

出征是古老的宿命 人将赤足踏入夜晚

expedition is an ancient predestination, men walk barefoot into the night

只有我可以来决定 

only i have the ability to decide 

我以何种姿态

what will be my own posture 

让死亡觊觎我 让恐惧亲吻我

let death covet me / let fear kiss me sweetly 

来摧毁我深爱的一切

come destroy all i love deeply 

可仍夺不走我的选择

you cannot take away my choice 

弹指间湮灭我  但命运打不败活着

destroy me in the moment of a finger snap / but destiny defeats not the action of life 

让生命如剧烈的烟火 璀璨熄灭前也将点亮

life, like a violent firework, doused radiantly / but first setting alight

孩童的双眸

the eyes of a child 

未知摊开棋局 舍弃昨日才可破

the unknown sets out a chessboard / just yesterday, surrender was destroyed

再见了我的月光 我的蓝 我的爱

goodbye, my moonlight, my firmament, my love

钢铁的巨兽在轰鸣 我们拒绝走入夜晚

the beast of iron is howling, men refuse to walk into the night 

破碎是新生的约定 我便愿为尘埃

destruction is new life’s consultation / i am thus willing to become dust 

让死亡觊觎我 让恐惧亲吻我

let death covet me / let fear kiss me sweetly 

来摧毁我深爱的一切

come destroy all i love deeply 

可仍夺不走我的选择

you cannot take away my choice 

弹指间湮灭我 但命运打不败活着

destroy me in the moment of a finger snap / but destiny defeats not the action of life 

让生命如剧烈的烟火 璀璨熄灭前也将点亮

life, like a violent firework, doused radiantly / but first setting alight

孩童的双眸

the eyes of a child 

若巨浪已淹没了来路

like a vast wave has drowned out our origin 

我是帆 亦是舟

i am a sail – i am a boat 

是微妙的希望

it’s an indistinct hope 

我们依然前行 没有光指引

we still move forward – without the light to guide us 

往前吧 失去吧 不要停留

(come forward / be lost / do not stop moving) 

让时空消亡我 你无需记得我

let space and time wither me / you don't need to remember me

来摧毁我深爱的一切

come destroy all i love deeply 

可仍夺不走我的选择

you cannot take away my choice 

弹指间湮灭我 但命运打不败活着

destroy me in the moment of a finger snap / but destiny defeats not the action of life 

是微茫中高歌的族类

in the indistinctness, a race singing heartily 

生命像烟火那就点亮

life, like a firework, then sets alight 

孩童的双眸

the eyes of a child

未来的瞳孔

the eyes of the future 

[florawrites-blog]

Our way of making up

-Making up with enhypen members after a argument

(side note: I learnt new vocabs so needed to use them)

Lee heeseung - 이희승

The night had settled in, casting long shadows across the apartment as you sat on the couch, arms crossed, your mind still replaying the argument you had with Heeseung. It had been hours since he stormed out, needing space, and your pride wouldn’t let you be the one to reach out first. You told yourself he’d come back eventually, that he just needed time to cool off.

But as the minutes turned into hours, a gnawing sense of unease started creeping in. The once comforting silence of the apartment now felt suffocating, and every little sound seemed amplified. The clock ticking on the wall, the creak of the floorboards, and then… something else. A noise outside, subtle at first but growing louder, closer. Your heart rate quickened, your mind racing with thoughts of what could be out there.

What if it’s a thief? you thought, your anxiety spiking. Alone in the apartment, the fear was almost tangible, wrapping around you like a cold blanket. You tried to dismiss it, telling yourself that you were being paranoid, that it was probably just the wind or an animal. But then, the noise came again, clearer this time, and much closer.

Your breath hitched, and the hairs on the back of your neck stood up. Heeseung should have been back by now, you thought, frustration mingling with your fear. If he hadn’t been so stubborn, so determined to stay out for six hours, you wouldn’t be alone right now, feeling vulnerable and exposed.

Unable to shake the fear, you grabbed the closest thing to a weapon you could find—a pan from the kitchen. Your hands trembled slightly as you gripped it, trying to muster the courage to face whatever was making those noises. Slowly, you made your way to the door, your heart pounding so loudly in your ears that it drowned out almost everything else.

As you reached the door, you heard footsteps just outside. Your grip tightened on the pan, muscles tensed, ready to defend yourself. The door creaked open, and you swung the pan with all your might—only to have it stopped mid-air.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Heeseung’s voice broke through the fog of fear, his reflexes quick enough to catch the pan just before it could connect with his head.

Your breath caught in your throat, your eyes wide with shock and relief as you realized what had almost happened. “Heeseung!” you exclaimed, your voice a mix of anger, relief, and guilt.

He slowly lowered the pan, his expression shifting from surprise to a more serious one as he looked at you. “What were you doing?” he asked, his voice still tinged with the lingering tension from your earlier fight.

“What was I doing? What were you doing?” you shot back, your voice trembling as the adrenaline still coursed through your veins. “I thought you were a thief or something! You’ve been gone for hours, Heeseung! I—”

“I’m sorry,” he cut you off, his voice softer now, the anger from before dissipating as he realized just how scared you’d been. “I just needed some time to think… but I didn’t mean to be gone this long.”

You looked at him, your emotions all tangled up—frustration at his disappearance, relief that he was back, and a lingering fear from the strange noises outside. “You scared me,” you admitted quietly, your voice losing its earlier edge.

Heeseung’s expression softened as he stepped closer, pulling you into a hug that you hadn’t realized you needed. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, his arms tightening around you, his voice filled with genuine regret. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

You sighed into his chest, the fear finally ebbing away as you felt the familiar warmth of his embrace. “Let’s not fight like that again,” you murmured, burying your face in his shirt, the earlier argument now feeling trivial compared to the relief of having him back.

He nodded, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “Agreed. I’m not going anywhere, okay? We’ll talk through things next time.”

The tension between you dissolved as you stood there, wrapped up in each other, the pan long forgotten on the floor as the night quietly continued around you.

Park jongseong - 박종성

The argument with Jay had been brief but sharp, a rare occurrence between the two of you. Usually, you could talk things out before they even escalated into something serious, but this time was different. He had to leave for work, cutting the conversation short and leaving you alone with your thoughts. As the door closed behind him, a heavy feeling settled in your chest. The unresolved tension gnawed at you, making you feel queasy, or maybe you really were getting sick.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. You didn’t have the energy to do anything, and the apartment seemed too quiet without Jay’s presence. You couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, that maybe the argument had been more significant than either of you realized. As the hours dragged on, you felt worse and worse, both physically and emotionally. By the time night fell, you had retreated to the bedroom, the curtains drawn tightly shut, blocking out any light.

You lay in bed, curled up under the covers as the TV blared at full volume, but you weren’t really watching it. The sound was more of a distraction, something to drown out the silence and the thoughts racing through your mind. Eventually, exhaustion took over, and you drifted into a fitful sleep, the weight of the argument still pressing heavily on you.

When Jay finally came home the next morning, the apartment was eerily quiet. He had tried calling you several times throughout the day, but there had been no answer. Worry gnawed at him as he walked through the apartment, noticing that nothing seemed to have changed since he left. Dishes were still in the sink, your belongings were scattered around, and the atmosphere felt strangely stagnant, as if time had stopped.

He pushed open the door to the bedroom, only to be met with darkness. The curtains were still closed, and the room was pitch black, save for the harsh glow of the TV, which was still on the loudest setting. His heart skipped a beat as he saw you lying there, unmoving, buried under the blankets. The sight sent a jolt of fear through him, and he quickly crossed the room, pulling open the curtains to let in some light.

Even with the sunlight streaming in, you didn’t stir. Concern etched deep lines into Jay’s face as he knelt beside the bed, reaching out to touch your forehead. The heat radiating from your skin shocked him; you were burning up, sweat clinging to your skin. He shook you gently, his voice tinged with worry as he called your name.

“Hey, wake up… please wake up,” he pleaded, his mind racing with thoughts of guilt and fear. Had you been like this all day? How had he not noticed something was wrong before he left? The argument replayed in his mind, but it seemed so insignificant now compared to the sight of you lying there, sick and vulnerable.

Slowly, you began to stir, your eyes fluttering open. They were swollen, red, evidence of the tears you had shed before finally succumbing to sleep. Seeing Jay’s face hovering over you, filled with concern, brought a fresh wave of guilt crashing over you, and tears welled up in your eyes once more.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, your voice hoarse from crying. “I… I didn’t mean to—”

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jay interrupted gently, brushing your hair back from your forehead. “You’re burning up. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. Let me take care of you, okay?”

Despite your weakened state, the guilt gnawed at you. You felt responsible for the argument, for not resolving things before he left, for getting sick and making him worry. But as Jay carefully helped you sit up, his touch tender and reassuring, those feelings began to melt away, replaced by a deep sense of relief that he was there, that he still cared.

Jay left the room briefly, returning with a glass of water and some fever medicine. He helped you take the pills, his hand steady as he held the glass to your lips. “Drink slowly,” he murmured, his voice soothing as he watched you, making sure you were okay. He then disappeared into the kitchen, where he began cooking something simple yet comforting.

The smell of food soon filled the apartment, and despite your sickness, it stirred a faint hunger in you. When Jay returned with a bowl of warm soup, the sight of it made your eyes water again. He set the tray down beside you, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Eat a little bit, okay? You need your strength,” he urged, his voice gentle.

As you sipped the soup, the warmth spread through your body, a stark contrast to the cold fear that had gripped you earlier. Jay watched you closely, his guilt evident in his eyes. “I’m so sorry for leaving like that,” he said quietly, his hand resting on your knee. “I should have stayed. I should have checked on you.”

You shook your head, your voice barely a whisper. “No, it’s my fault. I didn’t… I didn’t handle things well. I should have just talked to you.”

Jay squeezed your knee gently, his eyes softening. “We both could have done things differently. But right now, the important thing is that you get better. We can talk about everything later.”

That was all it took to break down the remaining walls. The tears flowed freely as you leaned into him, the emotions of the past day pouring out. Jay held you close, his arms wrapping around you protectively, his own tears threatening to spill over as he whispered reassurances in your ear.

“I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere,” he promised, holding you tightly. “We’ll get through this together, okay?”

In that moment, the argument, the sickness, all of it seemed to fade away. All that mattered was the two of you, together, ready to face whatever came next. And as you clung to him, the warmth of his embrace chased away the lingering cold of the night before, leaving only the comforting presence of the person you loved more than anything in the world.

Sim jaeyun = 심재윤

The day had been tense, to say the least. The argument with Jake had left a heavy cloud hanging over the apartment, and you both retreated to different corners of the house to cool off. It wasn’t like you to argue, but today, emotions had gotten the better of you. Now, as you sat on the edge of the bed, replaying the heated words in your mind, you felt the sting of regret.

Jake, meanwhile, had taken a long, hot shower, hoping to wash away the frustration that had built up between you two. He was still lost in thought as he stepped out of the bathroom, a towel slung low around his hips, droplets of water clinging to his chest and dampening his hair. But in his distracted state, he didn’t notice the pile of laundry you’d thrown earlier in a fit of irritation.

One misstep was all it took. His foot caught on a stray shirt, and before he knew it, he was stumbling forward. You barely had time to register what was happening before Jake was tumbling onto the bed, landing right on top of you with a soft thud. The unexpected weight of him knocked the breath out of you, and you instinctively turned your head to the side, avoiding his gaze.

Jake froze, his arms on either side of your head, holding himself up so he wouldn’t crush you completely. His wet hair hung down, dripping cold water onto your cheek. For a moment, neither of you moved, the tension from earlier still lingering in the air. Jake was the first to break the silence, his voice soft and hesitant.

“Uh… sorry,” he mumbled, clearly embarrassed by the situation. His cheeks were flushed, whether from the heat of the shower or the awkwardness of the moment, you weren’t sure. He looked down at you, his usual confident demeanor replaced by the confused, almost puppy-like expression he wore whenever he was at a loss for words.

You could feel his warm breath against your skin, the closeness making your heart race despite the lingering irritation from the argument. But you still refused to look at him, your pride keeping you from acknowledging the accidental intimacy of the moment. Instead, you focused on the sensation of his wet hair dripping onto your face, each drop sending a shiver down your spine.

Jake, sensing your discomfort but not quite knowing how to fix it, shifted slightly, inadvertently causing his towel to slip just a little lower. You felt the movement, and your eyes widened in response, though you still stubbornly refused to meet his gaze.

“I, uh, didn’t mean to—” Jake started, but his words trailed off as he struggled to figure out how to salvage the situation. He looked down at you, seeing the way your lips were pressed into a thin line, your brows furrowed in a mix of annoyance and something else he couldn’t quite place. His heart clenched at the thought that he might have made things worse between you two.

The sight of you beneath him, so close yet so distant, was enough to make him realize just how much he hated the tension that had built up between you. He missed the easygoing laughter, the playful teasing, and most of all, the warmth that you always brought into his life. And now, here he was, in one of the most compromising positions imaginable, and he felt completely helpless.

A drop of water fell from his hair, landing on your lips this time. You finally couldn’t resist anymore and turned your head back to face him, meeting his gaze for the first time since he’d fallen on you. Jake’s eyes widened slightly, and for a moment, the two of you just stared at each other, the earlier argument seeming almost insignificant in the face of this unexpected closeness.

Neither of you spoke, the silence filled with unspoken apologies and lingering feelings. Jake’s confusion gradually melted into something softer as he looked at you, realizing that maybe this ridiculous situation was exactly what you needed to break the tension. A small, hesitant smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he tried to gauge your reaction.

“I really didn’t mean to fall on you,” he said again, his voice lighter this time, with a hint of amusement creeping in. “I just… well, I’m a klutz, I guess.”

You couldn’t help the small smile that finally broke through your stern expression, the absurdity of the situation starting to get to you. The sight of Jake, usually so put-together, looking down at you with his wet hair and sheepish grin was enough to chip away at your lingering annoyance.

“It’s fine,” you muttered, your voice softer now. “Just… watch where you’re going next time.”

Jake let out a small laugh, the tension between you slowly dissolving as you both began to relax. “Yeah, I’ll try,” he said, his voice warm. He carefully shifted his weight, making sure his towel stayed in place, and rolled off of you, sitting up beside you on the bed.

The two of you sat there in silence for a moment, the remnants of the argument lingering in the background but no longer the focal point. Jake reached out, his hand brushing against yours as if testing the waters. When you didn’t pull away, he intertwined his fingers with yours, squeezing gently.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said quietly, his voice sincere. “I didn’t want to leave things like that between us.”

You looked at him, the sincerity in his eyes making your heart ache. “I’m sorry too,” you replied, squeezing his hand back. “Let’s not fight like that again, okay?”

Jake nodded, his eyes softening as he leaned in to press a gentle kiss to your forehead. “Deal,” he whispered, pulling you into a warm embrace. The wetness of his hair was still a little annoying, but you didn’t mind so much now, especially as he held you close, making everything else seem so small in comparison.

In that moment, with Jake’s arms wrapped around you and the argument behind you, you felt the tension completely fade away, replaced by the familiar comfort of being with the person you loved.

Park sunghoon - 박성훈

The argument with Sunghoon earlier had been a rare occurrence. You were both introverts, and conflicts were usually avoided rather than confronted head-on. This time, though, something had snapped, and the two of you had exchanged a few terse words before he went completely silent. The lack of communication only made things more awkward, neither of you knowing how to bridge the gap that had suddenly formed between you.

Throughout the day, you both tried to go about your usual routines, but the tension was palpable. Sunghoon had eventually left the house without a word, and you didn’t have the energy to ask where he was going. Instead, you focused on trying to reclaim your cool, but the unresolved argument kept nagging at you, making it impossible to fully relax.

By the time night fell, you were emotionally drained. Rather than face the cold emptiness of your shared bed, you decided to crash on the couch for the night. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but it felt easier than being alone in the room where the argument had started. You curled up in a crooked position, trying to find some semblance of comfort, but exhaustion eventually pulled you into a restless sleep.

When Sunghoon returned home late that night, the apartment was quiet, save for the soft hum of the refrigerator. He walked through the living room, intending to head straight to bed, but stopped in his tracks when he saw you on the couch. You looked so small and peaceful, even in the uncomfortable position you had curled yourself into. His heart clenched at the sight, a mix of guilt and longing washing over him.

He couldn’t stand to see you like that. The argument had already made him feel like he’d failed you, and now, seeing you sleeping on the couch because of it, he felt even worse. Silently, he knelt beside you, carefully adjusting your posture to make you more comfortable. As he did, you instinctively clung to him, your arms wrapping around his waist, seeking warmth and comfort even in your sleep.

Sunghoon froze, his heart pounding in his chest. The simple act of you holding onto him, even unconsciously, drove him crazy. He needed you—more than he could ever put into words. He craved your presence, your touch, your voice, and the thought of being apart from you, even emotionally, was unbearable.

Without a second thought, he slipped his arms under you, lifting you slightly so that your head rested against his neck, your cheek pressed against his Adam’s apple. You sighed softly in your sleep, your body relaxing into him, and he felt a surge of affection so strong it almost hurt. He stayed there, holding you close, his mind racing with everything he wanted to say but couldn’t find the words for.

Eventually, the exhaustion from the day caught up with him, and he felt his eyes growing heavy. He didn’t want to move—didn’t want to risk waking you or breaking the fragile peace that had settled over the room. So, he let himself sink into the couch beside you, his arms still wrapped around you protectively. Sleep claimed him before he could even think about it, pulling him into a deep, dreamless slumber.

When you woke up the next morning, it took you a moment to register where you were. The couch was even more uncomfortable than you remembered, and there was a weight pressing down on you that made it hard to move. It took another moment to realize that Sunghoon was there, his body draped over yours, his head nestled against your chest. He was still in his outwear, his soft snores escaping from his slightly parted lips.

The sight of him like that—so vulnerable and peaceful—melted away the lingering anger from the previous day. Despite everything, he looked so much like a child in that moment, his hand twitching slightly as he slept, and you couldn’t help but smile. You reached up, gently brushing his hair out of his face, and pulled him closer, his cheek resting against your chest.

Sunghoon stirred slightly, nuzzling into you, but he didn’t wake. His presence, his warmth, made it impossible to stay mad at him. Whatever tension had been between you the day before seemed so insignificant now, compared to the simple fact that you were here, together, holding each other close.

As you lay there, watching him sleep, you realized that nothing mattered more than this—than being with him, even when things weren’t perfect. You pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head, letting the last of your anger fade away. Sunghoon was your man-baby, after all, and as he lay there, snuggled up against you, you couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

Kim sunoo - 김순우

You and Sunoo had a silly argument earlier in the day, something trivial that spiraled into a playful spat. The kind of argument where neither of you could stay mad for long, but still, it left a bit of tension in the air. Both of you had your pride, and neither wanted to be the first to break the silence.

Hours passed, and you busied yourself with other things, trying to shake off the lingering awkwardness. Then, as the evening began to settle in, you heard a soft knock on your door. You opened it to find Sunoo standing there, looking at the ground with his usual mischievous yet adorable expression. His eyes, usually so bright, were now big and doe-like, his lips pressed into a small pout.

In his hands, he held a large bucket of mint chocolate ice cream—your favorite. The sight of him standing there, looking like an upset sly fox, immediately melted your heart. Without thinking twice, you ran to him with open arms, pulling him into a tight hug. Sunoo let out a little laugh as he wrapped his arms around you, the tension between you evaporating in an instant.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his voice soft as he rested his chin on your shoulder.

You pulled back just enough to look at him, your heart swelling with affection. “I’m sorry too,” you replied with a smile, “and you didn’t have to bring me this, but I’m glad you did.”

Sunoo grinned, his eyes lighting up again as he handed you the ice cream. “Well, I knew this would make everything better.”

You both headed to the kitchen, grabbing spoons as you sat on the floor, the bucket of ice cream between you. The argument was long forgotten as you both dug in, laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing had been. Sunoo, ever the entertainer, started making funny faces and telling stories, making you laugh so hard that you nearly choked on your ice cream.

Before you knew it, the ice cream was almost gone, and you were both lying on the kitchen floor, your stomachs full and your hearts light. Sunoo turned his head to look at you, a soft smile on his lips as he reached over to squeeze your hand. “You know, even when we argue, I can’t imagine not having you around,” he said, his voice sincere.

You squeezed his hand back, your heart fluttering at his words. “I feel the same way, Sunoo. I’m glad we have each other.”

The two of you spent the rest of the evening there, on the kitchen floor, talking, laughing, and just enjoying each other’s company. The earlier argument seemed so silly now, just another small bump in the road that you both knew would always lead back to moments like this—filled with love, laughter, and of course, a lot of mint chocolate ice cream.

Yang jungwon - 양중원

After a heated argument, you slumped on the couch, frustrated and hurt. Jungwon, equally upset, grabbed his jacket and made his way to the door. You expected him to storm out, but instead, he paused and looked back at you, confusion flickering in his eyes. He seemed to hesitate before walking back over to you, his expression softening slightly.

Without a word, he reached down and pulled you off the couch, gently but firmly. Your confusion grew as he knelt to slip your shoes onto your feet. “Jungwon, where are we going?” you asked, but he didn’t answer. He just took your wrist in his hand and led you out of the house, still in your pajamas.

He walked with purpose, and it wasn’t until you reached a familiar spot that you realized where he had taken you. It was the place where he had first confessed his love to you. The memories of that day flooded back, and you felt a mix of emotions—confusion, love, and the remnants of your earlier argument.

Jungwon finally stopped and turned to face you, his eyes serious but filled with the deep affection you had always known. “Every time we argue, I want you to remember this place,” he began, his voice soft but steady. “This place is special because it’s where I first told you how much you mean to me. It won’t have the same spark if we’re not together anymore.”

His words struck a chord in you, and you realized that despite the argument, he was trying to remind you of what truly mattered. The tension between you slowly dissolved as the significance of the moment washed over you. Jungwon’s expression softened further as he gently pulled you into his arms, holding you close.

“I don’t want us to forget this,” he murmured against your hair. “No matter what happens, I don’t want to lose this.” You hugged him tightly, feeling the warmth of his love and the importance of the place you both stood in. The argument seemed trivial now, overshadowed by the depth of your connection.

As you stood there together, you knew that no matter what challenges came your way, the love you shared would always bring you back to this place, both physically and emotionally.

Ni- ki -남편

You and Ni-ki had argued earlier in the day, and while the fight wasn't serious, both of you were too stubborn to back down. Instead of talking it out, you decided to ignore him completely, which he took as a challenge. He ignored you right back, and now, both of you were locked in a silent treatment battle.

As the night wore on, you decided to take things a step further by going to bed without saying goodnight to him. Instead, you kissed your Puma plushie, whispering a soft "Goodnight" to it as you pulled the covers over yourself. Ni-ki saw this from the corner of his eye and tried to act nonchalant, wanting to seem mature and unaffected. But as the minutes passed, the bruising of his pride started to gnaw at him.

Unable to take it any longer, he stormed into the room, the tension in his movements betraying the calm façade he was trying to maintain. Without saying a word, he crawled onto the bed next to you, wrapping his arms around your figure from behind. His grip was tight, desperate, as if he was trying to silently convey what he couldn't say out loud.

You could feel his warm breath against your neck, and the tension slowly melted away. Despite the stubbornness that had driven you both earlier, you couldn't resist any longer. You turned around to face him, his arms still wrapped around you, and sighed softly.

"Who's my big baby?" you teased, your voice gentle as you cupped his cheeks.

He looked at you, his expression a mix of annoyance and longing, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he leaned into your touch, allowing you to smother his cheeks with kisses. As much as he pretended to hate it, you could see the way his eyes softened, the way he let down his guard just for you.

Maybe the argument had been silly, but it had led to this moment, a reminder of how much he loved being babied by you, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

[solkatts-svenska]

Hej! Hur mår du? I'm trying to learn swedish for my partner, would you happen to have any tips? Babbel is very useful, but I loved your blog so much I scrolled all the way to the bottom last night so I wanted to ask you. Tack (so? Sa?) Tack sa mycke!

Hej, tack så jättemycket för dina snälla ord! :) I’m really glad if you liked my blog.

I’m not sure I can give much useful advice, but I’ll do my best to describe what worked for me. So, here’s how I’ve been teaching myself Swedish:

I used several grammar reference books at the same time, to get a fuller overview of the language + get to do as many exercises as possible haha. The ones I used were the Routledge essential grammar and comprehensive grammar (as well as one in my own native language but well, that probably won’t be useful to you…). They’re all available as pdfs online. I would pick a grammar topic, scan all my books and do an additional internet search if necessary to compile and condense the information in my notes, then do some exercises. Initially I tried to do one or more topics every day but then found it more productive to alternate “grammar days” with “vocabulary days”

Speaking of which, I approached vocab in a similar way in the beginning: pick a topic, like colours or numerals or body parts, make a list and cram it. For adjectives, I found it an efficient strategy to learn them in pairs of antonyms

I kept a diary in Swedish for some time, which was helpful because that way I learnt and used specific vocabulary relevant to me and my life

I started reading, watching and listening stuff in Swedish quite early on, which I highly recommend to get comfortable with the language. To translate new words, I tried to refer to a monolingual Swedish dictionary as much as possible. Note: I could post a list of particular podcasts/YouTube channels/news resources etc that I liked if you guys want me too! But obviously it largely boils down to what you’re interested in.

Related to the previous point, I follow both teachers of Swedish and Swedish natives on social media to increase immersion

Good old Duolingo was rather nice, especially early on, to get the basic vocab and some grammar down

Quizlet and thematic Tumblr vocab lists proved rather useful too, especially when I wasn’t too lazy to review them

+ Some cool resources I use for Swedish as well as other languages:

Omniglot (a great place to start with any language: basic info + resources)

Glosbe (Reverso context but make it better)

obviously, Wiktionary (useful to look up declensions)

Last but not least, I encourage my followers to add their tips too!

Jag hoppas att det hjälper dig :)

[doitinanotherlanguage]

2024 Mid-Year Language Learning Recap

中文 / Mandarin Chinese

🎉 Goals reached so far: I got back to studying Chinese! I reviewed New Practical Chinese Reader 1 and 2. Now, I'm starting on the third book in the series. 🎯 Further goals for the rest of the year: My primary goal is to reach A2(/B1) level in Chinese (~HSK3). To do that, I'm planning to finish New Practical Chinese Reader 3, and start on New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (hopefully, I'll be able to complete that one entirely too this year).

Español / Spanish

🎉 Goals reached so far: I did a lot of revision for Spanish in 2023, so for the first half of this year I've basically just been chilling when it comes to Spanish, not doing much active studying (just watching youtube and movies). 🎯 Further goals for the rest of the year: Continue to keep up my Spanish level (~B1) with Spanish readers (Better Reading Spanish and Read & Think Spanish).

Français / French

🎉 Goals reached so far: I basically spent the entire spring in revising my French, because I had a short trip to Paris (!!!) in May. I revised all my study materials from A1 to A2/B1 in preparation. 🎯 Further goals for the rest of the year: Right now, I feel like I'm somewhere around the A2 level maybe - my speaking is only so-so, but my reading is very good (probably my English and Spanish help a lot!). For the rest of the year, I just want to concentrate on upkeep because the spring revision was quite intense. So, I'm predicting a lot of French movies and youtube in my near future lol.

ภาษาไทย / Thai

🎉 Goals reached so far: I just started learning Thai in late spring this year! So far, I've learned to read and write, and I'm now starting on the basics. 🎯 Further goals for the rest of the year: Attain the A1 level by completing Easy Thai. Although, honestly, I'm learning Thai just for fun right now, so I'm mostly studying it this year when/if I have the time.

한국어 / Korean

🎉 Goals reached so far: I revised my A1(/A2) materials. I haven't really touched Korean in a while, so I'm really looking forward to getting back to it! 🎯 Further goals for the rest of the year: I want to finally finish Continuing Korean so badly! I've been picking it up and putting it down for several years now, and I really need to just stick with it for once and just get it done. So, if I have the time this year, that's my goal for Korean.

English

🎉 Goals reached so far: I haven't really been actively studying English for years now, so I didn't have any goals for English this year. Although, I do now have a job where I get to use English from time to time and that's fun. 🎯 Further goals for the rest of the year: Basically, just keep getting better at using English at my job (e.g. there's a lot of specific vocab related to the field, and sometimes calls with English-speaking clients are a bit of a mess because neither of us knows the right words in English lmao). I also really want to get better at "Simple English/Plain English". Because a lot of my clients are immigrants and our only common language is English (which is a second language to both of us), I'd like to be able to speak more clearly and understandably.

Svenska / Swedish

🎉 Goals reached so far: I did a bit of Swedish revision in the beginning of this year (for job purposes) but I'm really lacking in motivation for Swedish... I need to use Swedish a little bit in my job so I'm trying to let that push me a bit to try to do at least something related to Swedish sometimes, but it really is hard when I just don't feel like it at all. 🎯 Further goals for the rest of the year: I guess my biggest goal is to find motivation for learning Swedish. It's never been a language I've been interested to learn for it's own sake (it was an obligatory subject at school), but it's useful for job prospects so... I'd really like to be able to use it more fluently because I've learnt it for so many years. I just need to get myself more hyped to be learning Swedish.

[mrsackermannx]

hi!! where did you learn Japanese? 🥺 ive only just started so im trying to improve as i go. any tips?

hello! so, i self-studied for about 8 months before i started studying it at university!

my tips are!

-learn hiragana and katakana make sure they’re solid! probably take about 3 weeks! but you might’ve already learnt them.

-increase input of the language! so watch and listen to more japanese, music etc. when i first started studying i would play this city pop playlist and this one, so now whenever i play it i can focus on japanese and study cos my brain is used to hearing it when studying it if that makes sense!

-i used memrise for a few months but Duolingo is good too, just to slowly implement the language before learning any grammar! in this time i suggest starting to learn some light vocab, like Quizlet>> N5 japanese vocabulary.

- to start learning grammar i started with the app, tae kim’s guide to japanese and then some minna no nigongo books, i also used an italki tutor for a few months (quite cheap language teacher online over video call).

- my other tips are make sheets of basic things like hello, how are you, the weather is nice etc, i feel like it really helps you get used to the basic structure of sentences and i felt like memrise was really good at this and that’s why i suggest using it over Duolingo because it teaches you things like “he likes books etc.” “cherry blossoms are pretty etc etc.”

- then when you’re feeling good with the basics start with some kanji! i was lucky enough to study japanese in lockdown where I could study 2-4 hours a day.

i will now show you all the resources i used like apps and books!

-best app for learning katakana and kanji!

-the Japanese app is great and I still use it now! so, i input kanji I’ve learnt onto a list and you can study it in flash cards! i even have a list for words and phrases i hear in anime and dramas and films, and interesting dictionary sentence examples.

-the grammar guide i used loosely at first and the vocab stack i used!

- the yellow textbook is the most important bc it has the grammar summarised

if you’d like to see what my notes looked like in the beginning or anything else please let me know I’d be happy to help! try your best! I’m not sure of your experience of language learning but it’s not always linear and some days you feel you’ve learnt so much and others like you’re set back and there’s a wall, if you feel a wall, take a break, take a few days, a week, your brain is like a sponge and I always feel like it soaks in and then you can continue when you take a break hehe, good luck <3

[legallysoup]

21.10.23 - saturday, samedi, lørdag 9/31 of the studyblr community challenge

decided to mess around with pictures to make my posts look nicer! unfortunately i cant take photos of the excellent haze (sarcasm) outside because my camera broke :/ so we'll have to settle for screenshots of somewhat aesthetic things on my laptop

things i did today:

some of my economics key terms research french vocab learnt a little of my chinese, not very much finally found a minerals document that has managed to escape me the past two days but i hunted it down thankfully

things i will try to do tomorrow:

the rest of my chinese start blocking in my minerals research more of my french the rest of my economics brainstorm more of my photography logo (but i dont really have to do this)

things i did for me today:

i finally played video games again after a very long hard week!! went on a run (whoa im outside) today was really just a chill day, i watched youtube and ate food lol

day nine: what is the worst thing about studyblr in your opinion?

i think while studyblr has a great community where they welcome people regardless of their age or study, users can be subject to a lot of comparison. even though that is common on any social media platform, studyblr seems to operate in a way that shows success stories while sugarcoating failures, which can be harmful.

there's been a lot of irl acquaintance drama recently!!!! shock! horror! i also went through my backlog of tag games on my main lmfao

lots of notion pics because i dont have much else aesthetic sorry ;-; please let me know what you think of the (slightly new) format! itll likely change more this week :]

[crackedpumpkin]

I need to ask have you ever thought about making an underground racing au for the ninjago boys 🥹 I think it'd be interesting, I'd write it myself, but I always end up writing gibberish 😭

hmmm i dont think ive ever thought about that au before, but it sounds super interesting!!! id love to see how that plays out tbh, u shld def give a try at writing it!! dont worry about whether or not its gibberish, we all always have something to improve on!! people have different writinf styles and ways of perceiving characters and i think thats amazing in itself!

if youd like some writing advice (lol look at my audacity) id recommend these:

- readability is something i prioritize at all costs. having a hugeass paragraph with too much information is much harder to read and understand compared to smaller paragraphs with the same information, but broken down effectively to make it smoother.

- grammar can be learnt, so dont be afraid to make mistakes.

- one piece of advice a friend gave me is basically: when writing in 3rd person pov, replace 'You/Your' with 'The' so that it doesnt get too repetitive. i abuse the SHIT out of this advice

- you don't need to have so much vocabulary under your sleeve to write. i like to keep this simple and easy to understand. yes, vocab does make a difference depending on how you use it, but for new writers, making sure that people understand your story is what i think matters most

- if you have an idea, write it down somewhere in your notes. i had a shit ton of ideas that came to me and my google notes were FILLED with random blurbos. be it good or bad, you never know if you might use it.

- dont be afraid to get feedback!!! literally every single writer ive met or chatted with on tumblr are the SWEETEST human beings alive. theyve all been there. they know how it feels, and the feedback theyve given me has been nothing short of amazing

- last but not least, write for YOU. i used to think getting recognition for my work was SO IMPORTANT but honestly? u shld write because it makes you happy, not the other way round. be proud of whatever youve written, and if u think u can do better, go for it! write it again!

love u loads and make sure u tag me if u ever write it. give me more thoughts on this au, im genuinely intrigued now!!!

[studyaxis]

‎‧₊˚✧ Japanese Resource Masterlist ✧˚₊‧

A little Japanese resource master list mostly for me to keep track. It'll be updated as I find useful books/sites/apps.

Sites

These are a list of websites that have been useful for me over the course of my studying so far. These are just what I found on the internet, or sites that my Japanese teacher/classmates have recommended.

Irodori by The Japan Foundation: I love this so much I think I might make a separate post about it. This is a website that currently has 2 levels (A1 and A2), and teaches Japanese in a situational manner. It has textbooks and a whole array of other resources. I would recommend it if you are someone with any exposure to Japanese.

Lexilogos Japanese Online Keyboard : This is a good online keyboard for Japanese. I find that it is easier for me to use an online keyboard than install a Japanese keyboard, and this one translates the romanized version to Japanese characters. It types Hiragana by default, but you can scroll downwards for easy-to-follow instructions on typing Kanji and Katakana.

Jisho : Life-saving online dictionary. A classic in the Japanese learning community, I'm sure. It's easy to use, and since I'm just a baby learner anyway, I use this every three words. All round great site.

JTest4You : As it says, its a site that has tests for all levels of JLPT, along with plenty of resources for vocabulary and grammar. And I kind of like how simple the website looks.

YouTube

A list of YouTube channels that either teach Japanese or are fun to listen to. I don't watch a lot of Japanese youtubers, but I want to, and I figured I might as well start from the ones that are teaching Japanese.

TOMO sensei : This channel has really good test resources for every JLPT level! He's got everything from listening tests, grammar and kanji.

Dogen : Learnt the Japanese pitch-accent from his channel! More of a channel for advice on learning Japanese, he also has a lot of other content about his life in Japan.

Japanese Everyday : She has 8hr videos where she's narrating vocabulary or grammar. Sometimes I just have it running in the background while I do something else.

Comprehensible Japanese : A great channel for listening practice. It's targeted towards complete beginners and intermediate learners, so it's slow, clear diction using simple topics.

Apps

I'm currently swearing by these two apps for Kanji and Vocabulary, both premium versions, and I would strongly recommend if you are looking for something long-term!

Learn Japanese! - Kanji Study by Luli Languages LLC : ₹750 INR for the premium version, one-time only. The one time payment unlocks all the kanji up to JLPT N1. The app itself very barebones and is dedicated solely to Kanji with little to no customization options. Great for people that get distracted easily (me) and is very straightforward. Has a good spaced repetition system that you can increase or decrease in frequency.

Learn Japanese JLPT vocabulary by POAS Apps : ₹430 INR for the premium "forever" version, one-time only. It also provides an option for monthly subscription. Good flashcard system to learn vocab on the go, and to get to know new words quickly.

[above cut divider by @cafekitsune from this post.]

[wizisbored]

in the bj/nimona au, where did Lydia learn latin, did her mom teach her some, or did she learn some in a book she read? Or a combination of those two and school, because I just remembered you mentioned it came from school, and forgot some school did have a class for that.

i think im going to say either she has it as an actual class and chalk it up to her going to private school (i feel like thats a private school thing? idk the only time ive heard of it being an actual class is in a documentary about eaton) or it was extracurricular, which is how i learnt it. if im remembering right my secondary school only offered it to ''''gifted'''' students, and had an outside teacher who came in for like an hour or so after school on mondays to teach it. i liked that guy, he was very soft spoken, little brown mouse with glasses who lives in a library vibes on that man. i actually got the option to take a gcse exam on it and i remember doing it twice but i have no idea if that means i have two seperate qualifications or one was a mock and i just dont remember that or what. i got like an A in it somehow even though i never really learnt the grammar rules properly just translated on vibes and some vocab memorisation alone and since you never really have to translate the other way because its a dead language it was kinda easy to bullshit to a point. but that means im now having to learn it from the ground up again. tbh using it in the crossover is partially just a way to keep myself interested enough to relearn it because its something i keep meaning to do.

ANYWAY this post is supposed to be about bj/nimona au not my secondary school latin experience. the idea that her mum taught her some is pretty interesting actually that is something to consider but im pretty set on the bulk of it coming from school. and her school uses the cambridge latin course 4th edition because how could i deny her such a banger. as i said though its not the exact same latin the kingdom uses (although any 'kingdom latin' i write will probably just be regular latin) and shes not really learnt to speak it or understand it being spoken because it was thought to be dead so its more a case she has a pretty good starting point for nimona to teach her from than her knowing the language from the start. but as well as nimona having the best english out of her ambrosius and ballister, shes also old enough that she was around when classical latin (as i think its called?) was being spoken in the kingdom so nimona is in a very good position to teach her. unfortuately this actually makes latin class at school harder in a way, because shes having to constantly make sure shes using the right dialect. her teacher (very much inspired by mine) is very excited about the existance of kingdom latin and is trying to learn some themself, so mix-ups just lead to conversations about the neuances of the two dialects more often than not.

i have already run into a problem that i could chalk up to the dialect difference, which is interesting. i figured that since nimona uses 'boss' almost like a nickname she probably wouldnt translate it, so i went looking for what it would be in latin. from what i can tell the best translation is 'dominus' (though if im understanding my cases right shed say 'domine'), which would make lydia do a double take if she heard it because its first translation given in the cambridge latin course is 'master'. not sure if i want to use dominus and point out the difference there or just use 'dux' which to my understanding is a slightly weaker translation, but either way neither is perfect. i do want to have vocabulary differences like that but i might just use 'dux' and leave the vocab stuff to something less important and with lighter implications. plus, dux keeps the same sylables as boss which i like. i think i just talked myself into using dux.

[wodenscild]

Gods language exchange is so so sooo much fun & actually so useful for picking up a language! I have recently gotten back into Indonesian & been talking to people from Indonesia, & I have learnt so much & honestly more useful vocab than that found in my textbooks!

Like pria & wanita for laki-laki & perempuan (male & female), & jika (meaning if, or provided that, & is used over kalau when talking about a hypothetical situation from what ive seen). You learn fun interjections like semangat (enthusiasm, spirit: used as a term of encouragement) or astaga (oh my god!). & you learn sweet phrases like “Hati-hati di jalan” (Travel safely!) & “Selalu jaga kesehatanmu” (Always look after your health - this one was said to me after I said how much I work wkwkwkwk). & oh! You learn some interesting constructions! Like for example, to say something looks like something else you use a literal translation of “It’s appearance is like…” - “Kelihatannya seperti…” which is just so interesting!! Then I can extend this to other comparisons! Like using my knowledge of clitics I can say “You look like…” - “Kelihatanmu seperti…”, or I can say “It smells like…” - “Kebuaannya seperti…” or “It tastes like…” - “Rasanya seperti”.

& this is all without saying how language exchange is also to some extent a cultural exchange! In the past week of my exchanges, I have learnt about Indonesian weddings (which sounds super fun & I want to be at one some day!!) or about the five salat! Subuh, Lohor, Asar, Mahgrib, dan Isya (which also explains why a lot of my partners are up so early in the morning XD I couldn’t do Subuh for the life of me I’d be way too sleepy!)

Through this exchange I feel like I am making so much more progress than elsewise! I feel it is one of the most important part of learning a language, because speaking the language with others is the ultimate end goal so it is helpful to get right into it!

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

Could you give some advice for your language learning journey (material wise and also how you stay motivated)?

Hello! ^^ Well I'm not an expert but I will try to help. So, to get something clear about my journey, I didn't get a good start by myself.

Journey part (feel free to skip it if you wish, I just felt some context might help with motivation cause I'm a slow learner and struggled to find my pace, as well)

I started listening to Japanese music in 2012, but only found the motivation to start learning the language in 2015. I'd already heard I needed to learn hiragana and katakana first so I was discussing that with a friend, who had then suggested me a YT channel, which I unfortunately no longer follow, but basically there was a dude who taught people how to play Shogi, the Japanese chess, and just so happened to have a playlist with teaching people how to write hiragana and katakana. The reason why she suggested that guy was because she too wanted to learn obviously and found that his explanations were very good and he also wrote the actual characters during the recording so that you could copy it. Nowadays that is so easy to find though, like, I don't know if you've already learnt yours, but if you haven't, try "how to write hiragana & katakana" or sth similar. There are so many Japanese people teaching stuff on YT nowadays that will be the easiest thing to find. After that, I wanted to learn some kanji obviously and get into grammar. That's how I had learnt English too, so essentially, my thought process was trying to imitate what my English teacher had done while teaching me when I was little (In Greece we learn foreign languages in more detail in separate schools from our main ones hence why I personally went for that.) So I kept searching and found JapanesePod101 but quickly realized any free materials were limited so I kept looking and found a grammar guide which I still have and I could mail it to you if you want, but it was a bit too much, I have to warn you. I also found a list of kanji for N5 level and started copying them in a notebook. Some people learn easier by just repeating stuff out loud, personally I am the copy paste type, so I wrote for example one kanji, then covered it with another object and tried to write it from memory and then again and again. 10-15 times depending on how difficult I considered the kanji. But then came the problem of motivation. I wasn't studying as much as I wanted and I felt I needed a teacher, not only so that I studied more but also because I needed sb to tell me when I am doing sth right or wrong since I had 0 knowledge of the language. I got lucky and there was 1 Japanese woman who was teaching in my island and her prices were low so I discussed it with my family and we agreed I could give it a try. All that happened in 2018, so I kept trying by myself for 3 years without significant progress. So this woman had me sit a test to see what I knew so far and then we started having lessons in a class normally. And that's how I actually got to learn part of the language well. In 2020 it was I think, that she decided to drop teaching for JLPT and do only speaking cause she herself learnt any languages she spoke without learning grammar, or writing and yeah we had a big disagreement on that and well I left cause I wanted to learn the language as a whole. That woman could speak 4 languages but all broken and I wanted to be fluent. So then I looked around, found nth on my island, but thanks to the whole Covid situation more schools in my country had started distant learning programs so I found another school in Athens within the same year and continued with them. The lady teaching me there was more of my kind of educator so I kept learning with her until last September. The reason I stopped was for finances and also because I had learnt all the grammar I needed for N3 but lacked severely in kanji and vocab so I felt it was better to take sometime to enrich those and keep revising my grammar until this December when I hope to eventually try the test.

Advice

I will list materials in the next paragraph, I will stick to motivation and advice for this one. Unfortunately I can't be very spot on this, cause each person learns differently, but I think that if you lack motivation there are 2 ways to approach it: The romantic one and the logical one. The romantic one is finding a passion around the language to keep you going and the logical is to find an affordable teacher online.

When it comes to passion, this is what drives me in life and I don't know if I should suggest it to others, but passion has taken many people far in life, and the fact I am personally failing doesn't mean it's a bad approach xD. That's how I learnt English too. It is expected from every kid in Greece to learn it, but I was begging my parents before I even knew that was expected of me cause I absolutely loved foreign music and I wanted to understand the lyrics. I was obsessed and still am. Just the thought of being able to understand all those songs, and later, when I realized how commonly used it is, that I could explore stuff and meet people from every place in the world only added fuel to my fire. And the same thing happened with Japanese. I was soooo mad I couldn't understand what my favorites said, not every band had translated material online and I needed to know. Although, to be fair, there was more to it, it's my dream to work with these people so if I wanted to be serious with my goal, I had to learn the language and be able to communicate with them. So yeah, if you have any passion around your target language it helps. Be it arts, travelling, making friends, you name it. Only you know your own desires. However yeah, if you are dealing with mental illnesses or ADHD or several other factors that can affect your mood and learning flow, passion alone can be tough to use, hence why I too needed sth more than my romanticism to get a solid start.

As for the logical part, I think it speaks for itself. It's so much better to have sb keeping you on track and that I think is sth that worldwide approach to education is responsible for. We weren't taught many things by ourselves as children, there was always someone more knowledgable leading the way. So yeah I think it's important to have sb, either local or not who knows the language better than you, around, at first at least, so that you get a feeling of the language, if you know what I mean. Japanese is a language with completely different writing system and grammar rules than most western languages so, it's really hard expecting your brain to figure everything out by itself. Part of me thinks it's easier for Chinese people, because their writing system is similar (I could be wrong) but for a person not born around Asia, I think we all struggle, especially those of us with motivation and self-discipline, when it comes to education, issues.

So yeah, all in all I'd suggest you did both, like find sth that you know will benefit greatly from your learning the language and a teacher. However, if you are as shy as me or freaking out as much as me about how legit some online app with teachers is, I'd suggest you looked for either institutes or solo teachers in your region first, and only if you find nth, proceed with online stuff. I am in no way saying that you can't find a good teacher living somewhere else, I just personally freak out about money transactions with other countries, or if I don't know how legit the app is, fearing I will get scammed and stuff like that. Mostly irrational fears. ^^' And don't get too stressed about doing this long term. Even 1 year of studying with someone else might give you enough of a gist to continue by yourself. ^^ You will have established a routine with them, which you could then continue on your own instead of trying to make up a routine blindly.

Materials

Let's talk materials now.

If you are the book type, like me, you might benefit from a Genki book. Now you've probably heard of people tearing this book apart about how "not good" it is, but I learnt quite a lot from it and it's very beginner friendly imo. I have an archive link with both the 1st and 2nd Genki (https://archive.org/details/Genki/Genki-ElementaryJapaneseWorkbookI).

But these are just for some basic grammar and reading. You can't learn only with those. When it comes to your kanji, sure you can learn from Genki's list, but they are not very accurate to the level of the book. For example, the first Genki book has kanji I came across with my 2nd teacher in N4 class and she was shocked I knew them already xD. I was like "It was in Genki!" and she was so mad xD. She was making her own content for her lessons and using some photocopies from another beginner Japanese book I forget rn. But yeah your go-to for Kanji for N5 and N4 is "Nihongo Challenge N5-N4". For higher, I'm afraid there isn't one of the same name and you will have to turn elsewhere. (I have a pdf of that book if you want it too, feel free to send me your email address and I will send it ^^) As for vocabulary, I'd suggest "Tango 1000 Essential Vocabulary for the JLPT N5". Very good book. There was sb who had uploaded it on YT and I'd swear I had the link to it but can't find it in my bookmarks for some reason. That I have only in physical form I'm afraid and it's a bit tough to find for free somewhere, but if you find a link or choose to buy it, it's so good!

For listening, I'd suggest you started with a few simple ones like those in JP Launch (https://www.youtube.com/@JpLaunch). I haven't tried their grammar videos so I dunno how helpful those are, but their listenings are nice for a start, after you've learnt some basic vocabulary and grammar. You can search their channel for N5 listening or N4 or whichever is your level and you will get plenty of stuff. ^^ And each listening includes unknown words you might hear during the exercise so that you can jot it down and learn them. ^^ That is another big thing I'd suggest btw. Apart from a notebook for copying kanji and words however many times you need to learn them, I'd suggest you had one more, preferrably with many sections, I forget their name in English, in which you will be noting every new word you find. Cause learning vocab from lists is one thing but you might find many new words through texts you read and listening exercises. Keep track of them and learn them whenever you can. I personally have mine separated by hiragana so that if I ever find a word that looks familiar but can't remember if I've learnt it before, I can go to the hiragana it starts with and find it easier. That way I also know which words I need to revise. When you've learnt everything from these books and want to try mockup tests, straight up search JLPT N5/4/3 whatever and listening next to it on Youtube. There are many of them and, even though they are a bit simpler than the originals, they help a lot with testing what you get by ear. And they also have the solutions after each question or at the end of the video so that you know how well you did. ^^

For full mockup test papers I don't know what to suggest. I must have some in pdf still but most stuff I have are N4 if you want them.

As for where to look for teachers in case you find nth closeby, I found several on a site called italki. I eventually never contacted anyone but my first teacher had told me to search there so I bet they are legit. I remember there was a specific system with which I had to pay that I didn't like but you might not mind it.

What else.....I think I covered everything. You might find useful material in the official JLPT page too, for each level. I remember searching there before. Oh and try to write sentences. When you learn sth grammatical for example, try to write 5-10 sentences using it. You won't be able to test how well you did without a teacher but it's important to try, imo.

But yeah if you are an audio learner, do consider Japanese cinema and series as well. Anime can be fun but they usually speak slang or ways that most Japanese people don't use. Both my teachers had told me that. When you get more familiar with the language sure, try them without subs, but as your starting listening material, nope. Jrockers do tend to speak in ways you'd see in anime, and so do people in the gaming and anime fandoms too, but outside of those spaces not so many do it.

As for a dictionary for words and how to write each word: https://jisho.org/ It's super good! It has words, it has conjugations, sentence examples, little gif-style video for how you write each kanji to know with what turns you write each line, etc. Amazing site!

Aaaand finally for the speaking part, I have 0 suggestions. I too agree with people saying you need sb else to talk with to get used to it. So yeah if you can approach sb on social media, good, otherwise try Hellotalk (app) or Tandem (another app for language exchange)(haven't tried them yet but people on reddit say they are good).

ps: don't go hard on yourself if you can't study for hours on end. Just make sure you can free 30 minutes for it every day at first and with time you can get to more. I started with 20 minutes a day due to trauma, I used to study way more when I was still at school but being forced into a uni i didn't want ended up with me having hard time studying for even 10 minutes, but then slowly through learning Japanese, because I liked studying it too, it got to 20, then 30 and now I can read from 1-2 hours a day. Take it slow if you have to, just don't skip days unless you absolutely have to, cause that's how you break a routine and can be tempted to not go back to it.

-----------------------

That was too long, I apologize, but I really hope sth out of everything I mentioned helps. It's a tough language and keeping up greatly depends on sth that keeps you going back to it, I believe. If you are not naturally drawn to learning many languages for the fun of it, you need sth to hold on to it, so do look for it and hang on it for dear life. Also, I came across this video the other day, I've yet to check the list she mentions, I don't know if it's free, but she also mentions a site named Refold that has many free resources if you want to check it out. Here's the vid I'm talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyEioinPKvk

Best of luck and I hope you find the type of resources that are more of your type asap so that you get to learning asap too! ^o^/

[sayitalianolearns]

Hey, I'd like to know how you teach yourself korean?🙃

안녕! :)

Well ofc it depends on the way you generally like to study (you can try different methods and see which one works better for you if you're still unsure). What I did generally works for learning languages in general (at least for me), but yeah.... (there are some different approaches in this masterpost)

First of all I learnt hangul, then moved onto basic grammar sentences/structure and vocabs... daily stuff mostly, like a kid. And tried to practice writing (both on computer and handwriting) while exercising (relying on Papago too). My resources were/are langblrs on here like @bieups @a-pop-of-korean (TY! Their resources are organized also by levels which is so useful -despite I tend to wander at times lol but WHATEVER) and some others I cannot remember but will try to add (or you can check my reblogs anyway under the tag #ref) and grammar videos on youtube in ENG-KOR or (more recently tho) KOR with ENG/KOR subs. TBH I started with a very basic yt course in Italian for free which offered also explanations by natives/people living in Korea for years + exercises. Anyway when studying grammar, I also take notes actively on paper (I have a bunch of notebooks for grammar and vocabs or other stuff that may be useful -I'm personally badly organized but you can divide notebooks according on your needs like one for exercises, another for grammar, one for vocabs, one for music and so on).

I used to follow a Memrise course (which I totally should start doing again): I found this website/app to be very good for me personally when it comes to learn languages (I studied Russian as well on there). I'm not a Duo fan: their course (especially the Korean one) is not well organized imo... Memrise has good vocabulary but also natives short videos useful for pronunciation/listening (there are many courses there, you can choose any you rather... I think there's a Topik -Korean language exam- one too). I add to this (when I can, that's why I'm lacking a bit in this skill) watching Korean videos on YT (information/news, interviews, lives, tv shows, cooking/recipes videos, or shows like Going Seventeen and Run BTS...) and listening to podcasts (both on yt and spotify) and Kpop (translating songs -some can be found online already translated, also on here ofc which you can use both to learn directly and to check if you did your translation well).

I read Korean texts, even more if from natives (I joined Weverse for example for listening too, but also on here I try to read as much as I can). The only books I bought myself are these two in the pic below (and I bought them on Amazon for like around... 30 euros both? Idr sorry). The visual dictionary has a bit of grammar and general infos here and there too but I admit I am not using it as much as I tought: I learn vocabs more often through sentences/music or texts. The Folktales book instead is like my fav thing rn as it has KOR&ENG texts + vocabulary lists and also exercises/comprehension tests at the end of each story + Korean culture notes that are so very cool. I can read Korean (and also listen: there are audios online for each story) and practice all at once (I also write summaries of those folktales and it's good for fixing certain idiomatic expressions/words too). Disclaimer: it doesn't have much for beginners TBH so wait a little before buying it (if you are thinking about this chance ofc). I think that to learn a language, one needs to understand the culture and traditions (history/development, celebrations, dishes and how they originated too, hot takes/povs on stuff) of the country speaking it as well so I've been trying to learn about this too. And on this matter I find very useful to watch also videos of Italian youtubers living in Korea (a better pov for me since it's by people who were basically raised with my same habits and traditions, at least for most part).

What else...? Well, I've been writing daily a diary on here for more than a year now (mostly to practice and collect resources) and whenever I get the chance, I try to put myself out there and send asks or reply to people's posts or anything in Korean (ofc to langblr/studyblr/people that know the language LOL -and yeah I'm ANNOYING but... yeah). The only way to learn is to try and make mistakes, hopefully someone will answer me and/or correct me :P

OFC if you can join a proper course or find an online teacher/study buddy on some good app or on here too (@booksbluegurl was up to something, not sure how it ended TBH), probably that would help you better. Interactions are so fundamental, as they help us think in another language more easily and more often imo (and Korean grammar works totally differently from English or Italian, we need to think in a different way when expressing ourselves: "I do this" VS "I this do", eg.). But if you are uncomfortable, take your time by focusing on your learning process... the rest will come with time :) And when you feel okay to, talk out loud in Korean or read out loud: it makes a huge difference as it helps you fix words in your mind and realize where you lack so to work better on that (it's not that easy to pronounce every word/combination correctly at first, I often find myself having to repeat some sentences more than once to be able to say them "decently").

Best of luck on your journey~

[communist-ojou-sama]

hello ojou-sama! I’m really interested in your language journey and i would love more posts about it! Also, for all the languages you are learning/already learnt: what were your fav resources, app-wise? (i remember you use duolingo and clozemaster) i’m asking about apps only bc i feel listing books and other stuff would be too much hassle.

Ty for your time ❤️

ooh it's no problem! As far as apps I'm an old-head so what I used to use a lot is memrise but that's gone to shit since the changes a couple years ago. What I'd recommend now in its place is anki, though the out-of the box experience isn't as good and you need to do work to set up the experience you want from it; that said i think customizeability is always preferable to ease of experience out the gate as for resources, well:

for Russian I always found the simply-titled Russian Podcast to be a good resource, with dialogues performed first slow, and then fast, entirely in russian, including vocab explanations. For grammar I remember using AlphaDictionary's Interactive Online Russian Reference Grammar, which is very thorough if a bit dry. For Persian, while the site layout has changed quite a bit since I first used it in like 2015, PersianLanguageOnline has been a very simple and straightforward resource for especially the early steps of learning, while Jahanshiri has served as an indispensible reference resource.

For the fact that I'm now very fluent in Japanese I actually don't have much in the way of specific recommendations for Japanese learning outside of Tae Kim's Grammar Guide. Other than that I can mostly give the advice that you should not tell yourself that you don't need to learn kanji at first. Start learning kanji right away when you start learning and you'll thank yourself later. Also contrary to the bizarre narratives floating around, unless you only watch shonen anime, japanese popular entertainment is perfectly adequate input for someone learning to learn the language, so long as you pay attention to what contexts what language is being used in, and develop a sense then for what is and isn't appropriate where.

For Korean I owe a lot to HowToStudyKorean, both for the grammar explanations on the site, and for the accompanying Memrise courses, while TalkToMeInKorean has a very nice podcast that's a nice supplement to it. For Chinese I actually have used very little formal resources, though back in the early days I did download the texbook Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar somewhere off the internet, though most of my language practice has consisted of reading chinese yuri manhuas alongside their translations if I'm gonna be honest with you.

And that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Hope this helps! :)

[battlemaiden13]

Hi maiden! i have a question regarding how you practice writing the way that you do. i like to imagine scenes in my head but i fail miserably to reflect that onto words (mainly for me, i can never have the motivation to publish anything 😭😭) and i really adore your writing style! Im wondering, do you lowkey find asks n stuff to be good practice material? especially w like more x rated stuff?

i tried making a short angst+smut imagine w syrup and my oc. The angst was passable but the smut💀 awkward, unorganized, repetitive just not at ALL what i had imagined but my vocab is very limited😭

i know that you also expressed that you don't have lots of experience in that area (if im not mistaken), but alll of your suggestive asked are so damn good!?? like HOWWW got me kicking my feet, giggling, twirling my hair and everything.

I want to write like you, help pls 🙏🏾🥹

This is so nice! Like especially because your right, full smut is not something I'm very confident with.

Imagines are 100% amazing practice for my writing even with the more spicier things. The first time I answered more suggestive ask I was defiantly shyer about it but through writing it more and more I've found I've gotten much better. I Also attempted my first full smut recently (It's on my AO3) and it is horrible!

It is so clunky and repetitive and the timing is off and the dynamic didn't come out exactly how I wanted and its there for the public to see and I'm so happy! Even though my first smut attempt has so much wrong with it, so much off about it, it was amazing practice. I learnt a lot. Plus no ones actually said anything about it. Like no negative or good comments on it but I took that to mean it wasn't the worst thing ever.

I think the thing I discovered the most is that you don't have to describe everything in a smut scene. like the build up and the suggestiveness is what makes it so hot and excited. I have a part in the next chapter of HND, it's 50 words at most and I think it's so fucking hot even if the context around it is angsty. Will anyone else think it is? Maybe like one other person and they won't mention it but I wrote it for me. Write for you! Suggest stuff for you and write smut as a way to explore different things. But like I don't think you need to describe what someones cock looks like or count the thrust to a certain beat. it's the build up, the sounds, the pacing!

You'd probably get sick of hearing practice makes perfect but it helps so much. Write small scenes that end just before the 'good stuff', practice describing the important things like an orgasm, find out what's important to you and what you find sexy and write that! Aftercare, dirty talk, bondage, praise doesn't matter. If you find it hot someone else will too but write for you first. PRACTICE

Also like read and take note of what you like about that authors writing. Like do you like mine because it's first person? because I describe things in a certain way? because of what I left out? Taking note of the things you like in others writing will also help you with yours. This also helps with vocab in those situations.

Anyway that was a bit of a rant I was just very excited to talk about writing. I am also so curious about this angst smut with Syrup! Like this whole ask and comments are really nice and I hope I've helped sort of?? No idea. If I haven't you could send in a snippet of the writing that you don't like and I could write it how I would, that could be fun practice. You said you don't have the motivation to publish your stuff so don't like send it all in or any of it if your nervous of it being on my page or anything but I would 100% practice rewrites or just show you how I would write something. that sounds fun and like good practice.

I'm sure your writing is better than you think it is too! Keep up the great work! and thank you for sending the ask in and letting me rant.

[meichenxi]

short update / hello / not dead etc

she lives!

...the reason I have not been very active here is quite simply Shame. I have been living in korea for 9 months and have not learnt ANY korean, and then I felt too embarrassed about that fact to come back to langblr. this is unfortunately proof of something I have known for a while: that my reasons and motivations for learning languages are 100% intrinsic. I can’t force it. 

not speaking korean has made my life about 90% worse. I am very capable of learning languages quickly. there are many resources available for learning korean VERSUS

‘but it’s not my special interest :((((((((’

...apparently the latter wins. so what have I been doing instead? I’ve nearly finished a 4-month daily intensive chinese course from east china normal university. haven’t done much self-studying. I put off chinese for a few months because I felt so indescribably bad about not doing korean that I ended up just doing nothing at all. 

anyway. I’m now thinking a lot about next year and yes I am planning to maybe go to taiwan and I AM applying for A Thing. (more details later if Thing happens; I know now not to jinx anything and talk about it on the blog)

but I’m also so very lonely / in need of friends so I might??? stay in the uk for a year instead??? what I want to do really changes daily. which is stupid. but I miss my family and friends, it feels like I haven’t seen anyone since the beginning of covid, which as people REMIND me is 3 years ago almost. I also very much need help for mental health stuff because in this house we spiral and I need an ahdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhd diagnosis otherwise I will never ever get anything done ever for the rest of my life, ze self hatred etc etc

so

to wit

I may be spending much more time doing german (and possibly french OR spanish) in the next year. why? because my chinese sadly is not good enough to bag me a job yet - another year of study at least - and I want to do something that involves languages SOMEHOW. which is kind of exciting and kind of fun and will be SUCH a different way of studying to the way I study chinese, which is all media-centric. 

german is definitely my best foreign language passively - though it’s been a while since I’ve spoken it actively - and I also hugely enjoy it. no big problems there. 

choosing between french and spanish however is proving difficult. pros and cons of each:

FRENCH: - passive understanding higher than spanish - better foundation - my partner speaks it very well so could practice with her - my father ALSO speaks it very well so could practice with him - ....and my friend (you get the picture) - am more likely to get to an employable level within 6 months - I Do Not Actually Like French. crucially though since I already can understand it to a passive c1 level however, it would mostly just include reactivating prior knowledge and learning new vocab, which would be Fine and would not hurt me as much as learning korean

SPANISH: - I prefer it objectively speaking over French. this is the BIGGIE. I like spanish more - my foundation is much worse, and I have spent less time with the language / generally feel more uncertain - my passive comprehension is not as high (maybe b2 if people speak at a reasonable speed?) - potential for more media - mouth feel speaking spanish good - would need to actually relearn a load of grammar things - less likely to get to an employable level in six months. 

hmm. will continue to think.

[legallysoup]

23.10.23 - monday, lundi, mandag 11/31 of the studyblr community challenge

i had a day off school today (lets goooo) because of a 'development day' or whatever so i spent it playing video games :D

things i did today:

🌼 more of my french vocab 🌼 read through my mineral assessment 🌼 started researching for above mineral assessment

things i will try to do tomorrow:

🍃 more french vocab (if you're wondering why its taking so long, there's not much point to doing it all in one go bc ill just forget so) 🍃 fill out a section of my mineral research 🍃 check my economics assignment

things i did for me today:

🌧️ just chilled out and play video games 🌧️ played with one of my friends 🌧️ drew some stuff

day eleven: what is something you have learnt from studyblr?

i have learnt so much in my short time, but mostly study tips and tricks. one especially that i've been using forever is writing down a to do list, and then another, smaller to do list for each individual pomorodo timer. personally, when i have a list, im more focused instead of floundering and kinda going 'what now?'

loving halloween everything at the moment! i did a bunch of picrews (one is shown above). im going trick or treating with some friends, and i know what im going as but... i dont have my costume done yet i. i really need to fix that. i was also planning on carving some almonds but im not sure if ill have time.

oh look its my cat <33

love you all!