#online classes notes pdf

[classicslesbianopinions]

any tips for teaching yourself ancient greek? I can't take a class rn (schedule overlap) and I just got a student assistant position and my professor said it would be good if I could for now learn to read terms in greek,, I want to learn it at a later point properly but for now, any tips or resources?

hi okay sorry to take so long on this i wrote out a whole response and thought i'd posted it and then i woke up the next day and realized i had not. and then i had things happening constantly

anyway! if you mostly just need to read individual terms, the most important part is learning the alphabet, which you can almost definitely do online, but also any good textbook should start with an alphabet/pronunciation guide. i would also look up videos of people pronouncing ancient greek to make sure you're understanding the textbook--i had some funny accent confusion in my first greek class that was easily resolved because we were speaking out loud, but if you're studying independently you might not get corrections until too late. (note that most people pronounce ancient and modern greek differently, although i've come across people who were taught ancient greek with modern pronunciation, and of course people whose ancient greek pronunciation is influenced by their knowledge of modern greek.)

personally what i would do is find a textbook and work through it. you want to make sure whatever book you use has tons of drills and passages to read for practice--the real way to get good is just to get a ton of practice, and get as much as you can as early as you can so then it'll be easier later. (i just googled out of curiosity and i found this pdf of hansen and quinn free on archive.org--i haven't used this textbook yet but i know it has a lot of drills/practice. you can almost definitely find other intro textbooks for free/cheap, and even more for expensive, but again, make sure there's lots of practice!) once you get further along, you can start finding easy texts to read. i recommend geoffrey steadman as a starting point there--he has a bunch of commentaries on both greek and latin texts that give a ton of grammar and vocab notes. also, intermediate ancient greek language is a super cool textbook that covers higher-level grammar and the pdf is free.

there are probably other online resources that might be helpful to you, but i'll leave it up to my followers to recommend those. in particular i'm sure there are people who do youtube instruction and stuff but i so prefer to learn by reading so i've never looked. there might also be online courses that would work for you.

also, if you want to read/practice with people, you are always welcome to join the book club discord server, where we do language study--i've been slacking on this, but at one point i was taking the server through a chapter each of intro textbooks in both greek and latin each week, and i'd like to keep going with that and when we're done start through more and more books so people can always jump in if they want to start learning/reviewing. we also read primary texts in greek and latin. (the "book club" itself involves reading texts in translation/in english--if you join the server, you're welcome to join those readings, but you don't have to! currently we're finishing up the iliad and once that's done we start the metamorphoses.)

[tele-portal]

Chapters 351-870 of s classes that I raised translated/edited by me and chatgpt.

Only took months and nearly failing midterms to complete. 😭😭

The first 350 chapters have already been more accurately translated online.

Do note this was mainly just meant for me and my friends so it's not completely consistent esp with the honorifics appearing and disappearing.

(There were previously some loading errors for some chapters. Both links have now been updated.)

[after-hours-art]

The good, the wrong, and the right

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x f!reader

Genre: forbidden romance, professor x student

Warnings:

*The good*

It felt good to Levi to have Y/N by his side. Not literary speaking, but the front seat in the row by the window - that is, right in front of his desk - fall pretty close under the term 'by ones side'. It never occurred to him that he might like one of his students. The majority of them were showing, more or less, a lack of general interest in his classes. Not that he was ever surprised, lecturing about linguistics nor ethics were written under a 'dream job' on his papers either when he was their age. And somehow, he ended up there, by the desk of his late teacher. With a weirdly shy, yet smart and attentive young woman in front of him. So much for executing his field of work when having an interest in one's student is, if not unethical, then at least highly inappropriate. Obviously, he never showed off with his interest. After all, he never planned to tarnish his or Y/N's reputation. Yet, it felt good, satisfying even, when she openly tried to answer his question, how she brought slight upturn in corner of his lips when she read answers from her notebook thinking that he can't see it. There was something about her that made him crack a smile every time she said 'hello' or 'goodbye' or merely walked past him on the corridor, doing the little polite bow.

It felt good to watch her take notes, the blue pen rushing across the notebook's pages as she tried to capture both his commentary and explanations and text on the screen. He felt a slight bit of pride every time she tried to answer his question.

- Every X has a Y that it loves? - she muttered, trying to read a logical formula from the screen. Levi smiled when she got it right. He nodded gently and clicked to another slide. His eyes focused on her, hoping that she'll read another formula, but this time, another student took the laur. Levi, not wanting to be unfair or show any favouritism, praised the student, equally happy that more than one person actually focused on his attempts to explain a little bit of logic that is in this curriculum. He went on with the class, still sometimes crossing his gaze with hers. He wanted to talk to her, recommend her a book on logic used by law students, it's not like he believed that she'd buy it or read it, but he just wanted to talk and get an ounce of her attention as a person not as her teacher. Before he got a chance, other students approached him, asking something about some summer language program. That is what he has for being a dean of the department. Not a second of free time. Yet, the second she said quite goodbye and smiled at him, his heart stopping for a fraction of a second, corners of his lips lifting in his regular smile when he saw her. Her eyes shined in the sun that fell into the classroom through the window. It made him feel like spring and summer are definitely times when she shined the brighter. She looked less tired than she used to during the winter semester.

*The right*

It felt right to ask her out. Inappropriate, scary as he knew that if she'd feel uncomfortable, she could report the incident to the dean and ultimately end his education career, but somehow, it felt right. His heart was racing the day she walked up to his desk.

- Mr. Ackerman? - she asked, smiling, her own voice shaking a little as if she was equally nervous as he was.

- Yes? - he looked up at her. If he could, he'd drown in her eyes the second their made eye contact, yet again that day.

- I just wanted to ask if you could maybe send us the PDF you we're showing today?

- I'm a-afraid that it won't be possible, Miss Y/N. However, the book should be av-available online to download or in our library. - the typical for him stoic tone cracked under her presence, causing him to stutter, something he hasn't done in years.

- Oh... okay, then...

His heart clenched slightly at how disappointed she looked. Before he could think or consider his words, he heard his own voice.

- I-I can help you look for it. O-Only you want, of course.

The silence fell in the classroom as neither of them believed what just had happened. Her eyes widened as she felt the temperature of her cheeks rise. Levi looked equally shocked by his own words, his cheeks flushed with pink as well. She has never seen Professor Ackerman looking so confused and even... scared. Something in his gray eyes gave away that the simple question he asked himself startled him. She blinked a few times, snapping back from her thoughts.

- S-sure... - she muttered. Levi's eyes lightened up, his jaw, that he didn't realise he was clenching, relaxed.

- Okay. Then... email me when you have time and... and... and we will meet. - he stuttered, cursing himself for letting his nervousness show.

It felt right when a week later he walked her through the labirynt of shelves. He talked constantly, always throwing a word in about any book that remotely caught her attention. Her knowledge about linguistics expanded more during this short walk than it did during a semester of classes. By the time he shows her the hardback copy of the book he used during classes, Y/N felt prepared for the final exam, even when it was still weeks away. Yet, she drank every word that came out of his mouth. She couldn't help but find it adorable how Mr. Ackerman's eyes lightened up when he spoke about differences between French and Japanese, two languages he used most when stating examples during his lectures.

*The wrong*

It felt wrong to save her number on his phone. It felt even worse to text her during the day, when she was out of the college, doing her own things, probably not even wanting to think about her professor.

It felt wrong, like not only breaking a sort of a social taboo - a student , potentially dating her teacher - but also violating his teachings. Because, in what world, professor teaching ethics does something so unethical, from the point of the third person seeming like taking advantage of a vulnerable female student? Apparently, in this world.

But he still opened the door, letting her enter first in the cafe. This one is further from the campus, closer to where she lives. It's small, in one of the side alleys. He pulled the chair for her to sit, judging from her expression she had never encountered such chivarly before. He took a seat across the table, pretending that he's looking at the menu. Y/N looked different that day. Her hair less messy, as if she took a lot of time to style them. Not that he ever complained about her hairstyles before. He loved her messy hair, though the bags under her eyes always worried him during exam sessions. Her outfit also looked different - a nice knee-length skirt and delicate sweater were quite an upgrade from jeans and hoodies. Not that he ever complained. Y/N has always looked cute, but that day she looked... feminine for the first time since he met her.

If felt wrong, having her on the bed at his place. It's nothing fancy, just a two bedroom apartment in the older district that he inherited from his grandmother. Mahon furniture, bookshelves bending underneath the weight of books collected by five generations of Ackermans. And her. His Y/N, his Y/N in elegant black lingerie, sat at the edge of his bed. Her cheeks flushed with blush as he knelt in front of her, as if she was a goddess and he was a mere worshipper. His lips kissed her calf. He didn't dare to even suggest any intimate activity that went beyond stolen kisses, dates, or movie nights when they ended up falling asleep on the couch together. But she said she wanted to celebrate the end of the finals week. His kisses slowly moved up to her knee caps, his fingers toying with the edge of her lacy underwear. He never thought that she'd wear something like that. She seemed too shy for that. Even when she wore dresses, she looked modest to the power of ten. He gently spread her legs, his lips continuing the ministrations on her skin, his fingers gently pulling the lacy panties down. He looked up, searching her gaze. He asked her if she was sure of a million times. When she suggested it, when they came to his apartment, when she undressed, when he undressed. His gray eyes, filled with adoration that could be found only in most devoted lovers, the most religious believers when they stand in front of the object of their worship.

- Are you sure, Y/N? - he asked, his voice hoarse, deeper than usually, dripping with desire mixed with uncertainty. His hand dangerously close to your virtue.

- I'm sure... - her voice was quiet, not wanting to disturb the heating up atmosphere they created. The bedroom suddenly felt warmer when the matter of ethical behaviour mixed with desire that lingered between them two.

It felt good to run his fingers through her hair, his lips lingered against her temple, his hands gently tracing circles on her stomach. The hot water in the bathtub gently washed off the sweat and high emotions of their love-making.

- How are you feeling? - he asked, his voice deeper than before, possibly from the intensivity of their previous action. It's not like abscinated from physical intimacy. He simply had too much respect for women to contribute to the so-called 'hook-up' culture. Not only is that against his values, but also, contrary to how it was marketed, found it was more oppressive to women than liberating.

- Fine. Tired. - her quiet voice broke the silence in the bathroom.

- Are you sure you feel fine? - he asked in concern. After all, hurting his dear Y/N, even by accident, was the last thing he wanted.

- I promise that I'm fine, Mr. Ackerma- - her words got cut off by a deep kiss on her lips as he gently tilted her head back, closer to him.

- Call me... Levi - he said quietly against her lips. - P-please.

He stuttered a little for the first time in weeks.

- Levi... - she said carefully, as if savouring the word on her tongue. Levi splayed one of his hands on her stomach, the other one gently squeezing her thigh.

It felt wrong to feel so right having her in his arms.

***

- Je t'aime.

Those little words slipped through his mouth by accident, somewhere between their night in, medical drama playing on TV, and the weight on Y/N's head on his chest. Upon hearing himself say the declaration of love, he froze, his hand still on Y/N's head, as he was playing with her hair to sooth her and help her relax after her last final she wrote that day. She finished the freshman year of university with GPA 4.5, not what she wanted, so being the perfectionist she was, she spiralled into self-pity for the whole day. And Levi just wanted to make her feel better. With her favourite show marathon, her favourite food, lots and lots of cuddling.

- What? - she tilted her head, looking up at him. In the dim light of the living room, she couldn't see the blush on his pale skin. Maybe that's better, saved him even more blushing.

- N-nothing. - he muttered, trying to save his face. Maybe she didn't like him like that. It wasn't like she had to. They sort of flirted for four months, dated in an unofficial manner for another three months. He couldn't... couldn't just expect her to feel the same. Forcing his feelings on others wasn't in Levi's book, or at least that's what he always told himself. A quiet chuckle from Y/N made him blink twice. Her hand found his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

- I... I think I love you too, Mr. Ackerman. - she said, flinching when he pinched her side.

- I told you to call me by my name, ma lumière d'étoile. Especially now, when we said 'I love you' to each other. - he pulled her closer, kissing the side of her neck, his warm breath hitting her delicate skin. - And please, no more Mr. Ackerman. I checked your syllabus, and we won't have more classes together. Not that I'm not sad about losing your presence for those half an hour per week, but... I'm glad I'll be having you around my place more often.

- We'll still have to not show off with us at school. - she pointed out. He placed a kiss on her neck, gently sucking on the skin till there was a small, pink love bite formed.

- There. Now we won't have to show off to make everyone understand that you're taken. And when this pretty one will go down... - he leaned to the coffee table and took a small box from it. He opened it, showing a necklace with a silver book pendant. - You can just look at this and think of me. I... I-f you think it's cheesy or too much. It just seemed so straight out of those books you love I just... - he started to stutter again. Y/N slowly sat up, taking the necklace in her hand.

- It's beautiful, Levi. I promise it's not cheesy. Sometimes.... all the romance needs to spark is a little cliché. - she smiled. Her expression lightened up even more when she saw a silver necklace with a star pendant around his neck. Ma lumière d'étoile.

[readingloveswounds]

French (teaching) resources

Hi everyone! I've taught beginning and intermediate french at the college level for the past two years and have accumulated a lot of PDFs that may be helpful + made some reading/listening activities that I wanted to share.

if you self-study, this may be helpful as well, especially when it comes to grammar practice.

Here is the link to the google drive folder

I am happy to answer questions as I am able.

Some notes:

grammar:

largely from: Grammaire progressive du français, (niveau avancé) | Contrastes : Grammaire du Français Courant | some (rather old) McGraw Hill French 2 and 3 texts | and various places online

SOME of these have answers. some do not. unfortunately, I don't have access to Contrastes right now to scan the answers. When I do, I'll try to upload them.

Sorted generally by what they are (adv/adj, articles, pronouns etc) however, the file names are NOT the clearest. i'll try to go through and fix those when I have time.

You'll notice that the two named texts are advanced grammar books - I adapted these when I used them in class if I needed to, or just used some of the activities on the page.

I also highly suggest UT Austin's resources here

activities:

WARNING: I created these myself so there may be the occasional error or weird phrasing in questions etc. Phrasing may also be strange due to the level it was created for.

The formatting may be a bit funky because I copied from word so my full name wouldn't be on them.

song activities are fill in the blank or comprehension question exercises. they have the lyrics and some vocabulary translations with them.

song activities - I often showed the music video but you could just play the music if that works better for you

song activities - these are typically excerpts and not the whole song. most do not have the time stamps, but the lyrics should help you figure that out.

video or reading activities are typically comprehension questions. some have my instructions for using them in class, others are just the text/video and questions.

Some of these are harder than others (songs go faster/grammar involved is more difficult) so check before you use.

[boyfhee]

hello (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) i just read your carrd you speak korean? if yes is it okay for me to send asks in korean? i'm self-studying it and am looking for someone to talk to😖 also can you tell me where i can learn it from? there are not a lot of free resources (；′⌒`)

yes i do ! i can speak basic to intermediate korean but i'm not super good with slangs TT you can definitely send asks in korean if you wish to, i'll use it as an excuse to revise my notes and practice it as well since i have no one to talk to in korean either. as for resources :

how to study korean offers a lot of free pdfs and practice sheets. their content is easy to understand, it's good if you're a beginner

talk to me in korean is also a good alternative and honestly better than htsk but it charges the learner so if you're down to spend some money, better spend it on ttmik than htsk. or you can watch their yt videos to help yourself with pronunciation as well ^_^

a friend of mine referred to learn korean 24 before joining paid courses offline and online, their content is also free. although, i never really used that site, she said it's helps but again, idk how credible that is so take it with a grain of salt

i rarely recommend apps but drops / duolingo helps with vocabulary and grammar, especially drops ( the free version can be dissatisfying but it's not completely worthless )

pinterest is a good alternative if you want to expand your vocabulary. i won't recommend it for grammer and all because you might want to study that from more credible sources

a pop of korean, honeyhangukeo, learninghangukeo are some blogs that might help too

alternatively, you can try joining a language community on discord. the servers offer free resources most of the time and you can find people to talk to as well. it sort of creates a learning environment since there are a lot of other people learning the language as well

lastly, watch content without subtitles at times. i used to, and still do, pause mvs, dramas, shows, etc. to learn certain phrases or words, or even just the pronunciation. it's a slow process, but it works.

tip : talk to yourself in korean. as crazy as this sounds, i used to do this a LOT when i took classes in hs. i have a habit of studying things while explaining them to myself, so i just tried to explain myself to me in korean. it's hard if you're a beginner but will get better later on. you can start by translating simple sentences from your daily life to korean

good luck w studying !!

[boreal-sea]

We were talking about "kids these days", but not in a "fuck them" kind of way, in a "jfc they desperately need help and I guess that's gotta be me" kind of way.

This fall was the first group of incoming college freshman who'd spent most of their highschool years in COVID lockdown, and y'all. You struggled. And I'm sad you struggled. I didn't have a lot of control over the class I taught this semester, it was all online and the content was pre-made.

But I'm getting hired (I hope) as a full professor next fall, and I have many ideas.

Week 1, we're going to learn how to use the online learning tools, even if it's an in-person class. A lot of students this semester missed 10% of their grade because they couldn't find some of the content. So you guys need help learning how to use these systems, and that's definitely my job.

Also Week 1, I'm going to introduce note-taking tools, methods, and techniques. A lot of kids have no idea how to take notes. It's a skill you have to be taught.

Week 2, I'm going to start them on how to find real sources online, and how to vet the sources they're reading. Someone I talked to today said "the problem isn't that they can't find information, it's that there's too much information, and most of it isn't true". So that's going to be a theme for the whole semester.

Some time before the first test I'm going to teach studying techniques. Again - a lot of kids just don't know how to study. How can I expect them to do well on a test if they can't study for it??

And then, throughout the semester, I'm going to teach a mix of computer skills, including file structure and navigating the system, saving files as PDFs, using Acrobat, Word, Excel, PPT, and programs like that. I'm going to introduce them to Zotero and how to integrate it into Word because the sooner you learn how to do that the happier you will be when you're writing big term papers in your 400 level courses.

Anyway. Those are my starting ideas.

Did anyone else struggle this semester? What do you wish someone had taught you how to do?

[alittlebitofloveliness]

5, 14, 15, 17

More outsiders asks? Heck yeah!

5. What are your favourite ships?

a) Curly Shepard x Ponyboy Curtis- idk why other than the fact that fanon Curly seems to balance out Ponyboy perfectly, and that I read a Curly fit on ffn when I was like fifteen that fundamentally changed my brain chemistry

b) Steve Randle x Sodapop Curtis- I don’t like any other within gang ship but Soda and Steve make sense to me and ngl my closeted ass clocked them as gay when I was reading the book because of the ‘pillow fight’ scene. I genuinely answered a comprehension question in class like ‘Ponyboy’s naïveté is shown through the fact he believes soda never drinks and that Soda and Steve were having a pillow fight when they slept together’ and my teacher had to be like oh sweetie no….

c) Marcia x Two-bit Matthews- Not a HUGE fan but they had such chemistry and I wish that could’ve been explored. I’m actually working on a fit about them rn, just because I wanna explore Marcia’s psyche. She was fun :)

14. Five headcanons I basically see as canon

a) Steve is secretly SUPER protective of Ponyboy, partially because he knows Sodapop would never be ok if something ever happened to Pony and he couldn’t stand it if Soda’s spark ever went out, but also because he wants Ponyboy to have the happy childhood he never had.

b) Darry absolutely dotes on Ponyboy, even though he’s strict, he’s lenient about letting Pony go places and works overtime to make sure he can afford to get Ponyboy everything he needs (and some stuff he simply wants), especially after Windrixville.

c) Johnny Cade is scary looking. Full stop. The gang just doesn’t see him that way so it doesn’t show in Ponyboy’s narration

d) Dallas Winston had a good mom and a happy childhood and her death was the catalyst that made him into the hoodlum he was.

e) Sodapop Curtis absolutely drinks, Ponyboy just doesn’t believe he does and Soda is not anxious to correct him because he doesn’t want Ponyboy to see him differently

15. Five headcanons that are entirely self-indulgent

a) Angela Shepard and Curly Shepard have to share a room because Tim refuses to share with anyone. Neither of them actually hates it half as much as they pretend they do.

b) Part of why Curly and Ponyboy became close was because Ponyboy was struggling with getting over his concussion, and the side effects were really stressful for him (dizzy spells, blurry vision, absentmindedness) and Curly kinda helped him with it because Curly spent 90% of his childhood concussed so he knew what Pony was going through

c) Tim Shepard and Sylvia are best friends and would kill for each other but not die for each other. However, they would avenge each other’s deaths.

d) Steve Randle wishes more than anything in the world that Darry Curtis was actually his irl older brother 

e) Two-bit’s little sister HATES Ponyboy Curtis because her older brother spends more time playing older brother to him than he spends actually being an older brother to her.

17. Are there any criticisms or salt you have with the book?

My criticisms with the book lie with the author. SE Hinton has proven to be homophobic and racist, and its written into the book, which is my biggest issue. I love the story of The Outsiders but do not want to support Hinton or her harmful, bigoted ideology under any circumstances. (For anyone out there who wants a copy of the book but doesn’t want to support Hinton, you can find a free pdf online, all you gotta do is google it)

On a slightly lighter note, I would have loved to have seen more of the female characters in the book. Marcia in particular had so much potential, and I wish we’d seen one actual scene with Sandy or Sylvia.

Thanks for the ask!!!!!

[nanonana39]

Language learning – Introductory tips for self taught beginners

Warning, this is a loooong read. Feel free to skip to the TL;DR at the end.

In this post, I will detail a few tips which have helped me (a self taught language hobbyist) with the beginning steps of learning languages such as English, Korean and Japanese. This is not a guide on how to achieve fluency quickly, it is meant to be an introduction to language learning. This is also based on my own experiences; feel free to disagree or correct me.

We will go over these points:

How do I start learning a language?

What should I use? Is an app better than online courses?

Do I learn grammar or vocabulary first?

How much should I study?

Should I practice immersion?

Where do I find resources/books?

I feel frustrated. / I am not learning anything. /This is too hard, maybe it's not for me.

How do I start learning a language?

This is the first thing you will ask yourself when you decide you want to start learning a language. Whether it is for work, for studying, traveling or just for fun, most people feel overwhelmed at the thought of how or where to start.

The truth is that there is no set path to start learning a language, but researching the language before studying can help relieve your worries over it and give you an idea of how to start. Keep in mind that languages which have different alphabets/writing systems (i.e. Japanese, Chinese, Arabic) take longer for a native Germanic/Romance language speaker (i.e. English, French) to learn and achieve fluency, and vice versa, so if you do not have a second language as of yet, consider choosing a Germanic/Romance language as a soft start. I'll detail a suggestion as to where to start in point 3.

What should I use? Is an app better than language courses?

The current language learning app ecosystem is a far cry from what it used to be (yes, I'm talking about Duolingo and Memrise), but they are still your main allies if you have a busy schedule and want to learn a language. However what I've found is that simply tapping away in an app and taking notes isn't enough – sometimes the apps don't explain certain grammar rules, or they're locked behind monthly paywalls. As such, you have to find the answers elsewhere.

Here are some things which will make your life and your studying much easier if you are self taught and on a budget: books on the language (for grammar, you can find PDFs online), language channels (for more thorough and practical explanations, YouTube is the main hub for it), and regular media in the language of your choosing (for vocabulary, it can range from music to series/movies). If you have a friend who speaks the language, or perhaps is learning it with you, that also works. In my opinion, learning is better when you have other people to share it with.

There are also websites such as japanesetest4you.com which compile words and their meanings, just like a dictionary. The one I've mentioned not only displays kanji and its meanings, but also shows its variants in Korean and Chinese. There are many others in this same vein for other languages.

Do I learn grammar or vocabulary first?

When learning a language, most courses and classes will focus on teaching you the grammar and the writing system, which while helpful, can sometimes feel like you are going nowhere, as you know how to build a sentence, but don't have words to form it with, or can't pronounce it correctly. This is a common problem among beginners (and sometimes even more experienced language learners), don't let it discourage you.

A personal example I like to use is: To say "the sky is blue", you have to first learn what the sky is, then learn the color blue, and then learn the structure to be able to say "the sky is blue". Vocabulary is just as important as learning the grammar rules in any language; don't limit yourself to only learning how to write. So the answer is: Build a small vocabulary, learn the grammar, and then apply it in practice. It doesn't have to be correct on the first try, we've all been there. Though people learn in different ways, so perhaps you might feel like the opposite works for you. That's also completely fine.

This is another point where engaging with the language's culture and media outside of classes comes to play. Even watching a TV program during your free time and writing down words is enough, since you're also practicing listening, which is also very important and looked over. Try incorporating pronunciation and listening into your studying routines.

How much should I study?

This is a point of much debate within language learning spaces because there is no answer for it. Some might learn a language in 3 months, others might learn it in 10 years, a few can learn it in 3 weeks. It depends on what language you've chosen and the time you are able to dedicate to the language.

The best tip I can give is: if you can dedicate even just 10-15 minutes of learning each day, you can achieve the results you desire. Of course, you should increase that amount if you're able to in the future, but it's already an effort.

Consider your schedule and refer back to the first point, as the time you'll take to achieve conversational/fluency levels can vary depending on the language you choose.

Should I practice immersion?

The common view of immersion is: "speak the language at every opportunity, only engage with media in that language, and write only in that language". This is what you'll see in some of those "I learned (language) in only 3 months" videos.

Let's be realistic though, no one can start speaking German at all times when they live in the US, or Spanish when they live in France, and you'll only feel more frustrated if you force yourself to watch k-dramas without subtitles and nothing else, expecting to absorb it through osmosis. And also, you only now started learning how to say "the sky is blue".

Immersion comes in many forms, though. If you listen to a song in the language you want to learn and read the lyrics while listening, that counts as immersion. If you write a few phrases describing your day in that language as a dynamic exercise, it also counts as immersion. Immersion is what says on the tin – immersing yourself in the language – but it shouldn't bring you unnecessary stress. Also, contrary to what some might say, I do recommend you use translators, if it helps you associate words with their meanings. Don't just rely on them, though, since Google Translate can be unreliable with certain translations and meanings.

Where do I find resources/books?

This requires digging around, but I recommend you check sites like as WebArchive and YouTube. If you can, buy the books online, or borrow some from your local library. I recommend looking for actual textbooks, mainly because some of them include tidbits about the culture itself, like Genki. If you're on a budget, Reddit has a few threads which recommend apps/books, but be very careful with downloading things from random Google Drives or other file hosting websites.

Tumblr is also a very good place for learning new vocabulary. I see some blogs dedicated to sharing kanji and grammar rules, and it can be good to follow such blogs to build your vocabulary.

I feel frustrated. / I'm not learning anything! / This is too hard, maybe this is not for me.

Rome wasn't built in one day, and you definitely won't learn a language in a month or two if you are someone who is in school or has a job with long working hours. YouTube has made language learning easy, but it also has given the illusion that if you follow X method or study an N number of hours, you'll achieve fluency. That is not the case. It fails to take into account the nature of the language, its grammar rules, the writing systems, and everything else.

You don't realize this, but you definitely didn't learn how to speak in just 3 months when you were a child. Everyone learns differently, some faster than others, some slower, some have more time to study, others don't. Some people have difficulty concentrating and don't know how to make learning more fun. All I can say is: don't give up. As long as you put in some effort, even if it seems insignificant to you, you can achieve your results.

Don't feel obligated to continue learning a language if it is bothering you, though. Remember you can always take a break and come back to it another time. Who knows, maybe even during that break, you'll still be learning new words, and feel more motivated to go back.

TL;DR: Language learning is something which is more accessible now than ever, but you might find yourself confused on where or even how to begin learning a language. The key tip for learning any language is to do research, gather resources, know your own limits and how much dedication, time and energy you can invest into learning, and most important of all, to have fun with it.

I hope this can help some beginners in their journey into language learning. Thank you for reading this far!

[bethdehart]

heya! i have a question.

ive been drawing for about 13 years. im mostly self taught, so my art really isnt that great. but lately ive been really wanting to improve so i can feel confident enough in my art skills to be able to post online. in specific, i would really like to work on anatomy. and you're one of my favorite artists, so i wanted to ask you if you had any tips for learning anatomy!

thank you for your time (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ���♡

you dont have to answer this if you dont want to!

Hi! Sorry this took so long to answer, I wanted to give it some thought and spend time on it.

Anatomy! It's a bit scary to delve into, but very fascinating to learn about. For me, the best way I've improved anatomy is by learning how to draw the specific parts of the body and learning how to combine them. This involves a lot of research!

My biggest resource is 'Basic Human Anatomy: an essential guide for artists' by Roberto Osti. When I was in art college, this was a book I had to get for my figure drawing class, and everyone (myself included) kept the book even after the class was over. Granted it's not the cheapest book in the world, but there's probably a pdf out there somewhere. The Morpho books are really good too, especially the one on drawing fat and skin folds (the internet's favorite and mine).

That being said, you can absolutely practice anatomy without a fancy college book.

What I've done for practicing anatomy is this: I find a diagram of either skeletal structures or muscular structures of either the whole body or a part of the body in particular. And then I copy (not trace, copy) them, noting where muscles attach to bone, how bone joints connect, the general shape of muscles and bone structures. One of the exercises I've enjoyed is using colored pencils to denote the different muscles, to REALLY get my head around what the muscles look like and how they work. Of course, it's best to start this off with a static T- or A-pose figure, but once you feel like you've got the hang of the general shapes of various body parts, you can apply that knowledge to dynamic poses.

Observing from life is a great way to improve too– if you have the opportunity to take a figure drawing class, I would absolutely take it. It's one of the best ways to learn how skin folds and how fat and skin and muscle and bone interact (with lighting too!). One of my local art supply stores hosts regular figure drawing classes, so it's good to look out for things like that! idk how old you are tho so if you're under 18 they probably won't let you in lol. But still, it's invaluable imo, to observe/draw from life if you have the chance.

Also, websites like adorkastock and fatphotoref are absolute godsends for dynamic pose references and fat body references!

Anyway, that was a lot of words, and I hope this helps? I never really know how to give art advice being mostly self taught myself. A lot of stuff just comes naturally to me, which is awesome, but leads to me not being able to put into words why I do things sometimes (and making silly mistakes). If you have any more questions about anatomy or art, though, I'd be happy to answer them :) And aa I hope u see this anon I feel bad for taking so long to answer!!!!

[bobastudy]

Things I did last semester that boosted my average:

I don’t really like to toot my own horn but I see these posts a lot and I thought I’d share what really worked for me personally :)

•took both handwritten and typed notes (minimized hand fatigue so my notes were actually good lol) (also it’s far easier to take extensive notes and delete them later than to take minimal notes and be stuck trying to remember what was said)

•before an exam: created flashcards, diagrams, and rewrote or fleshed out notes on a word doc in a simulated exam atmosphere to enhance later recall

•planned a month at a time so I knew in advance when I could socialize and when I had to Grind™️ to prevent burnout

•made friends in my classes!! genuinely makes a big difference

•annotated the hell out of everything (pencil or post in textbooks to resell, pen and highlighters in books I knew I’d keep, all online readings were converted to PDFS and I scribbled all over them)

•annotated with jokes this is maybe unorthodox but I swear it worked for me- I’d laugh at the wording, draw emojis, reference memes, and crack jokes in the margins of my books and it made it so much easier to remember key points of the readings later on

•cut off toxic friends. self explanatory lol but stress impacts your grades!

[rcntlydcccased]

hi! first of all thank you so much for keeping my chemical dependency (cough silco cough) always watered and fertilized and properly sunlit and pollinized <3<3<3

but anyway, can I ask you about your art journey? Like how long you've been drawing, if you have a set routine or learning methods? books or videos or whatever you'd recommend?

I'm looking at the journeys of artists I love to see if I there's anything I can apply to my own learning process!

Waaa thank you anon, appreciate that! Silco has reawakened my muse and I’m always so grateful that there seems to be a little community who feels the same way. Very interesting question, glad to share! Sorry if this is long and convoluted, I’m a professional yapper:

I’ve been drawing forever but I started taking it seriously maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I went to an arts college for two years which helped me brush up on my fundamentals (figure drawing, observational sketching, traditional painting techniques with acrylic and oils etc.) and then I took a year out of full time education and employment to work on building up a portfolio of artwork, and now I tattoo full time for a living. Tattooing is obviously a very VERY different medium and style to what I post on here, however it does mean I’m drawing for at LEAST 3-4 hours quite literally every single day of the week; and all practice is good practice.

I will say, starting out at college, the figure drawing was probably what helped me progress the most in a short amount of time. If you can master the human form then you can master anything. (To be clear, I don’t think I’ve mastered the human form AT ALL, lol, but I certainly try my best). Live drawing is the absolute best and there are usually classes you can sign up to join in most cities, but if that’s not a possibility then the website line of action is the next best thing. I like to try and do a couple of gestural sketches a day just to keep myself sharp. This YouTube video is a good start guide on how to approach gesture drawing.

General observation sketches are great too: buy a little sketchbook and a mechanical pencil and take them everywhere, and draw everything you see. Don’t be afraid to draw badly, or to draw things that don’t seem “artistic.” I have genuinely hundreds of pages of the most awful, shitty, unintelligible sketches you’ve ever seen but it’s alllll part of learning. Every morning on my commute I’ll sit at the train station and sketch the people on the platform, or the pigeons, or the trains. Just draw, draw, draw, draw, draw as much as you can.

Arcane has actually improved my art a lot, too. I really recommend either buying the art book or finding the pdf online (it’s pretty easy to find, but drop me a dm if you want the direct link) because there’s loads of great concept art in there and it’s genuinely a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to learn how to illustrate in a slightly more cartoonish, stylised timbre. REALLY sit down and analyse every single little frame- take note of the way the animators and artists at fortiche render and use colour, perspective and form. It’s super unique and has massively changed the way I render!

That’s pretty much all I’ve got, I think? Gonna link some more resources here but hopefully you find something useful buried in here lolol.

• A MASSIVE Reddit post with a fuck ton of resources

• A really great YouTube channel with a bunch of art tutorials / starting points / resources

• Subreddit with daily drawing prompts to get the creative juices flowing

• An excellent tutorial blog post that covers painting and concept art.

[minglana]

thank you @ashbakche for the tag <3

last song: Guilty Conscience by KNEECAP. i tried listening to them yesterday and theyve stuck! so theyre mostly what ill be listening to for a while now😌

favorite colo: red! (if it wasnt obvious😭)

last book: last one i attempted reading is notes of a crocodile. its been a very slow read unfortunately

last movie: the thin man (1934). i wanna try watching the other thin man films as well, hopefully soon

last show: last one i "binged" was heartstopper s3, but the last episode i watched was abbott elementary, which i usually watch every week while having lunch

sweet/spicy/savoury: definitely savory!!! with a bit of spice from time to time as well <3

current obsession: watching old (hollywood) movies, and knitting. sometimes doing both at the same time as well (<-perfect conditions if im honest)

last thing i searched online: "miguel sorribes ronda de boltaña". i was trying to see if this man truly was in ronda de boltaña. im in class so i dont wanna do a deep dive but he might be one of the 'main' singers/musicians in the group. and this search is because of the pdf ive been liveblogging all morning while im in class

looking forward to: 1. getting out of this class and 2. more long-term: finishing my degree (god knows when that will be). theres also more short term stuff im looking forward to but i dont think theyre worth mentioning here

tagging @quatregats @petxina @kindlichekaiserins @baynamp3 @al-mayriti @slavicvampiregf

[themasterpostblog]

Pencil/2D Animation Resources Masterpost

5/10/24:

Hello, I broke into my old account so I could make a little masterpost of resources I come across for learning pencil/2D animation. (Free or affordable classes, places to get tools, videos to give insider insight, etc.) I may not be able to get everything included, so if you think of something, you can reach out and suggest things to add! I will be updating this over time, with notes on when it was last recently updated. And maybe I'll end up giving the old blog a refresh too. I likely won't be making new masterposts outside of this one any time soon, nor updating any old ones. It's been SEVERAL years, and the internet is a different place. I would assume most of the old links are out of date by now, unfortunately. I hope that this list is helpful to you as well, and if I'm incorrect in anything I list, I'm learning too! So please be patient with me and feel free to reach out with a correction. It's not finished yet, but Tumblr deletes my posts before I finish them, so I'm starting with posting the skeleton and slowly updating this)

Find a Community to Learn From!

(recommended groups to lurk/join/make connections and ask questions)

What Tools Do I Need?

PDF Guide to Animation Desks, as written by David Nethry

(next line)

Where Do I Get Tools?

(Places where you can buy art supplies, software, etc)

Cartoon Supplies

(Online seller who carries Ingram Bond paper, lightboxes, storyboard pads, blank cels, etc. See also: Lightfoot LTD, which is identical in every way to Cartoon Supplies and for the life of me I'm not sure the difference, though both are equally recommended along side each other.)

Jet Pens

(Ah... I love window-shopping this site. If you love stationary like I do, you'll be on this site for hours adding things to your cart... and inevitably removing them because it's not feasible to spend hundreds on pens and sticky-note pads.)

Dickblick

(I've found they have good prices on name brands, but I haven't purchased from them yet. Often, I'm too overwhelmed by all the choices.)

Improve Your Art/Learn the Basics!

(anatomy classes, starter tools, etc)

Aaron Blaise (Co-Director of Brother Bear)'s Online Classes

He runs very good deals on the classes occasional, but you can also do a year's access to all classes and keep what you download, which is very useful! They're short, quick lessons, and tend to veer into more "helpful tips" than teaching, from what I've personally noticed, but it's well worth the price if you get them at a good deal!

Inside Look at the Industry -- aka: the Special Features:

(behind the scenes stuff, etc)

Books are more useful than you might think!

(Richard Williams Animator's Survival Toolkit, etc) (check out gently used copies of these books on Thriftbooks for a good deal!)

Nifty Free Resources

(Things like height charts, references, color wheels, blog posts, videos, etc)

What Artists Can Learn From Aladdin's Incredible Color by J. Holt [VIDEO]

(spacing for formatting)

The Art of Color Theory: Guide for Animators, Designers, and Artists (Animator Artist Life)

(space for formatting)

Free software!

GIMP

(A classic, GIMP is an old friend of mine. The first software I downloaded for art, I used to use it almost entirely to create animated GIFs for the Warrior Cat forums. Ah, how time has passed. Nowadays I can't even remember how to animate a GIF on there, but such is life. I still use it to this day for digital art, even having Corel Painter. Before GIMP, I animated the old fashioned way -- MS paint and Windows Movie Maker. With determination, I scripted and animated a handful of Warrior Cat characters frame by frame. Each frame of Hollyleaf or whoever it was blinking was the likely source of death for our old computer, may she rest in peace.)

Storyboarder

(Storyboarder is a free software with which you can use to create professional and clean storyboards. It also provides printable storyboard templates so you can do you work traditionally and re-upload it easily into the software! It also works with Wacom tablets. Check it out! It's actually super cool.)

Pencil 2D

(A free, open source software. Simplistic design, switch between raster and vector, and best of all, again, it's free. I haven't used this one much yet, but I've seen it positively talked about by many! I'll update with more research when I have the chance.)

Krita

(I haven't used this one yet, so I can't speak on it either! But it's going on the list so I can come back and research it later. My poor laptop is not going to handle this many downloads lol.)

OpenToonz

(I also haven't tried this, but see above, haha.)

Blender - Grease Pencil

(Blender is well known for 3D animation, but they added a 2D feature called Grease Pencil as well.)

WriterDuet

(Free for up to 3 projects, very simple, but upgrades to a $10 a month plan, which is... eh, I'll keep my Scrivener for now. I used to write scripts in Microsoft Word or the Notepad on PC back in the day, I don't think I personally need the fancy features.)

Trelby

(A free screenwriting software, very basic and simple, good for beginners.)

Keep an eye out for

(Humblebundle occasionally does software deals -- a good art bundle at a discount can give you an easy start!)

[anotheruserwithnoname]

All Clara-era scripts now online at BBC Writers Room

It's possible it's been this way for a while, but the BBC Writers' Room website has done a massive upload of Doctor Who scripts to its Script Library in PDF format.

Basically, every script for every episode produced since 2005 is now online, as well as complete scripts for Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, Class, and some other spin-off works like the animated episodes. Even the BBC Radio produced Torchwood audio dramas (which predated Big Finish getting the TW licence) that were made to promote I think Children of Earth (which is included too for Capaldi completists). More than 200 in total.

Of course this also includes all the Series 7, 8 and 9 episodes featuring Clara, including some alternate shooting and "picture lock" scripts.

A number of these have been online for a while, but a number haven't been previously. And it's interesting to see what's in these scripts. As noted by another poster, the infamous "I love you" is not in the script for Mummy on the Orient Express, but in the script for Before the Flood Clara's plea "If you love me in any way you'll come back" IS (though the "I don't want to think about that" part does explicitly reference Danny in a sentence that was removed when the scene was shot).

I also note with interest that the Doctor Who scripts are divided into two sections: one covering 2005-2022 and the other covering 2023 onwards, adding credence to the reports that the BBC are treating the current iteration as a restart, not a continuation per se.

Anyway, head to the Script Library and start digging!

CORRECTION: Not all the nuWho era scripts are up. Only a couple of scripts from Series 1 (Eccleston) have been posted as yet.

[mirastudiesphysics]

Obsidian.md Workflow

Introduction

Obsidian.md is a note taking app that is slowly starting to gain popularity (though notion is what I usually see in the studyblr community). There's plenty of resources online and this isn't really an introduction and assumes basic knowledge; rather, I wanted to write up my current academic workflow for using it because I almost never see obsidian workflows used for STEM related work (so if you see any others please please send them my way because I'm just making this up as I go).

Let's assume now we have a new topic/project that I want to start studying/working on.

Make a new page

Create a new page with whatever the topic is. Maybe this is for a class, a project, or some other topic that has caught your interest. I will give this page a descriptive title and add "- Main" at the end, as a way to indicate that this is more of a landing page than for note taking. For example, I could have something like "Galactic motion project - Main" or "Book Notes - Main".

I will also tag my main pages as #Main (creative, I know), just so I can quickly index my projects. An index page that links to all other main pages could also be helpful! I'm sure there could be a way to automatically index all main pages with the Dataview plugin, though I have not done this myself.

General outline

Outline your main page with things you might find immediately helpful when working on this topic. I like to have the following sections: to-dos, resources, general thoughts, questions, and current issues. I also have a "completed to-do list" at the bottom of the page so I can look back and see what I have accomplished.

Start writing!

Take notes of things that work or that you've learned. I like to write down how I troubleshoot code so that if I come across a similar issue I know how to fix it from last time. If there's a section of your main page that you find yourself referencing more than others, it might be time to make a new page for that section so you can easily link it to other pages.

If I'm studying from a book, I like to make a main page and link additional pages for each chapter.

Weekly Notes

Obsidian comes with Daily notes, but I personally prefer a weekly note. I like to write my weekly to-dos at the top for research, classes, and more general tasks. I then make a header for each day and list out my goals for each day. As the week goes on, I write up what I actually accomplished that day, even if I didn't list a task originally. Some people like to put all of their notes into their daily or weekly notes and organize later, but I just do that in a paper notebook and transfer later.

Literature

I actually don't have a setup that I'm happy with in regards to reading papers within Obsidian and I write most of my thoughts in Zotero annotations. However, I wanted to write it here regardless because it's still a part of my workflow. Zotero has a really nice feature where if you have the arxiv link to a paper, you can enter that link and Zotero will 1) read in the bibliographic information and 2) download the pdf of the paper into your library. I make a note in Zotero for each paper and note down the relevance for why I have this paper in my library. I then read through the paper in Zotero and hightlight important bits, and annotate those highlights with my own thoughts. The nice thing about Zotero is that there are several highlight colors, which I have another note on my own color code (e.g. purple for definitions or red for things I have questions on).

Plugins

Here's the list of plugins I have currently and how I use them.

Dataview: very useful for automatically organizing pages as you create them. I honestly have not used it much but I plan to as my vault grows in size.

Latex Suite: nicely formatted Latex within your notes. I enjoy using it, though my current gripes are that I can't find a way to default pairing $, so you have to manually enter a second $ and then go back inside the pair to see a preview. I also turned off the snippets, because it automatically overriding a lot of things I was writing with snippets that I did not want.

Periodic notes: The plugin I use to get Weekly notes.

Tasks: adds more features for writing to-do lists in Obsidian. You can query to-dos across your vault to list them within a single page, and organize based on due date and priority level.

Zotero Integration: Another plugin that I have honestly not used much, but I hope it will be useful as I read more literature.

Current vault view

Generally the local graph view is more useful while writing (to see immediate connections to your current page), but the vault-wide graph view is just fun to look at.