Both as a resource for other people and a reminder to myself of habits to pick back up as I’m going into a Ph.D. program this fall.
This can all help cheat the executive function and focus challenges that trip up ADHD people in school and at work.
Here’s the short list of tips. They’re all explained and elaborated on after the cut!
Manage energy, not time
Treat motivation like inertia
Diversify productivity time
Use baby stimuli while studying
Learn the brain’s quirks
Maintain yourself and your environment
Keep tasks small
Exploit impulsivity
Don’t memorize, use
Keep reading
compiling some resources for all those students who have to keep up on their own <3 this was originally meant for GCSE / A2 language level but is helpful for all i think
This online resource has tons of resources for lots of different languages, and it is totally free!
There are lots of lessons catered to different levels which tailor vocab practice as well as listening and reading comprehension. I would say that the vocabulary and scenarios are generally more geared up towards security/defence and diplomacy, so if you are studying international relations or something geared towards the international sphere, this may be particularly interesting!
Then you can select different types of activities, which you can download onto your computer as MP3s and PDFs. The activities are categorised based on what skill they train. There are reading and vocab activities that help build up knowledge. Although the topics are pretty specific, they are really useful for getting vocab practice in areas that you are not so familiar with!
The activities are diverse and varied, with explanations for answers that were not correct!
There is also a glossary for all the new words, which has an audio file to listen to the pronunciation by a native speaker. This is particularly useful for self study, especially when contact with native speakers is less frequent.
All in all I really rate the website, the resources are a really great compliment to language studies, and although they are kind of ‘old school’ in their approach, they seem really effective!
***The link***
https://gloss.dliflc.edu/
Hello :)
Listening to music in my target language(s) always helped me a lot with pronunciation, vocabulary and use of language, so i’ve decided to share my spotify playlists that each focus on one language!
Some of them are still under construction and don’t have a lot of songs, but they will grow, I promise!
Links:
Arabic Bulgarian Chinese Estonian Finnish French Georgian German Hungarian Italian Japanese Korean Lithuanian Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Sámi Slovene Spanish Tagalog Thai Turkish Ukrainian
Big playlist with non-English songs only: click here
If the playlist links do not work, this link will lead you to my page!
❗ The Russian and German playlists are now also available on YouTube ❗
Note: These playlists are sorted by language, not by country! You might notice different accents!
Bonjour! Is there a list of things that a french beginner should learn, is there a specific order to learn topics in french? Also, love your blog, it helps me a lot.
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Hello, thanks love you too! Here's roughly how to proceed:
Nouns, adjectives, determiners and past participles in French are either masculine or feminine. There is no neutral.
Known: LE/LA/L’ (+ vowel) + singular, LES + plural (The girl)
Unknown: UN/UNE + singular, DES + plural (A cat)
Uncountable: DU/DE LA + singular, DES + plural (Sugar)
How do I know what gender an item is?
Those that end with a consonant are likely masculine (Un éléphant), those that end with an -e likely feminine (Une girafe), especially if it follows a couple of the same consonant (Une tasse). A noun or adjective can be ‘gender-neutral’, or épicène (Juge, Drôle). There are obviously exceptions (Nation, Incendie).
What’s an uncountable item?
It’s a group of items that are either too small or too large to be counted: fruit, sugar, flour, people, etc (ex: Du sable, Des gens).
Let’s practice: Le facteur et la boulangère sont mariés. La ministre est sortie. Un chien aboie dehors. J’ai mangé du pain.
To turn a singular into a plural, adding an -s is your most popular option. It can also be an -x (Bijou, Feu), nothing if the singular ends in -z, -s, -x (Nez); some words only exist as plurals (Ciseaux). There are a few irregulars (Oeil/yeux, Monsieur/messieurs, Madame/mesdames, Animal/animaux).
Let’s practice: J’ai deux petits frères qui sont nés (past participle) en 1998. J’ai un chat sur les genoux. Il y a des noix dans mes gâteaux. Mes yeux sont noirs.
Verbs belong to one of three groups: -er except Aller (90%), -ir with a few exceptions, and the bin (auxiliaries Être and Avoir, Aller, -re, -oir, -ir exceptions). They can be modal (Should) or reflexive: preceded by an object pronoun (Je m’appelle).
The most useful verbs are:
Être: to be, avoir: to have, faire: to do/make, dire: to say, pouvoir: can, aller: to go, voir: to see, savoir: to know, vouloir: want, venir: to come, falloir: to have to, devoir: must, croire: to believe, trouver: to find, donner: to give, prendre: to take, mettre: to put down/place, laisser: to let, to need: avoir besoin de (...)
The most useful tenses are:
Indicative present (J'aime le fromage - I like cheese)
Imperfect (J'aimais le fromage - I liked cheese)
Perfect (J'ai aimé le fromage - I have liked cheese)
Future (J'aimerai le fromage - I will like cheese)
Present conditional (J'aimerais le fromage - I would like cheese)
Present subjunctive (Je veux que tu prennes le fromage - I want you to take the cheese) triggered by certain verbs + que.
N.B.: There are irregular past participles (Être: été, Avoir: eu, Voir: vu, etc.).
Let’s practice: Je ne sais pas. Il dessinait bien. Nous sommes venus. Ils te verront quand ils reviendront. Vous seriez partis tôt.
Personal pronouns: Tu manges du pain
Demonstrative pronouns: Celui de ma soeur est mieux
Possessive determiners: C'est ton chien
Contracted words: Elle est au parc
Coordinating conjunctions: J'y vais mais j'ai peur
Subordinating conjunctions: Je demanderai quand il rentrera
Linkers: On se voit plus tard
Let’s practice: Je crois qu’elle sera à l’heure mais je peux me tromper. Pourquoi est-ce que tu pars? Nous reviendrons plus tard, quand il fera plus beau. Vous ne devez pas être en retard sans raison. C’est là, celle à droite.
Accents
Adverbs
Calendar
Colours
Conversation
En + Y
Family
Food
Negations
Numbers
Prepositions
Questions
Relative pronouns
Terminations
Time
Tu or Vous
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As you're mastering those, start practising.
Listen to music, podcasts, books while looking at the transcription - don't translate, get used to the pronunciation and the word chewing. Record yourself reading.
Then, start reading. I recommend starting with children's literature, especially books you already know in English. Things like Le petit prince or Perrault's fairytales should be accessible.
Use Reverso and Deepl as if you were paid to.
Study the pronunciation posts. The devil is in the details.
Learn vocabulary every week. Avoid translating English word by word, it's often a fool's bet; make a simpler sentence instead.
Explore my grammar tag once in a while.
16/3/2019
In English, possessive adjectives function differently than they do in French. In French, the adjective has to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. For example, the word “maison” is feminine so the possessive adjective is going to use the feminine version of the adjective. First, we take the version of “my” and translate it: “mon” (m.), “ma” (f.), or “mes” (m.&f.pl.). Now you have to choose which one to modify the noun with since the noun is feminine. The correct choice is “ma maison.” Here is a list of the possessive adjectives.
Mon (m.)
Ma (f.)
Mes (m.&f.pl.)
Ton (m.)
Ta (f.)
Tes (m.&f.pl.)
Son (m.)
Sa (f.)
Ses (m.&f.pl.)
Notre (m.&f.)
Nos (m.&f.pl.)
Votre (m.&f.)
Vos (m.&f.pl.)
Leur (m.&f.)
Leurs (m.&f.pl.)
In my opinion, the trickiest one to remember is “leur/leurs” because you have to make sure the possessive adjective agrees with the noun it modifies and not the people involved.
Example: Ils ont leur propre maison. > They have their own house.
Example: Ils ont leurs propres maisons. > They have their own houses.
Bien à vous !
How are you learning ASL? My local colleges don't offer any classes :(
That's a great question lmao! I'm currently on a break from active review and new vocabulary. But I have resources I can offer you.
Here’s emmastudies’ resource post
Here’s someone you can follow on instagram: Nyle DiMarco
Rochelle Barlow has a lot of resources. I caution this one, just because I’m genuinely wary of people who sell their method as being above all methods. She has some good points--language learning should be fun--but it also does take work and practice. You can just make those things a little less painful.
My old ass post about ASL still have a lot of resources I use, and the top one I recommend is ASL University. That’s where I got the majority of my basic vocab.
I am fortunate that we have Deaf Studies at this university, but it doesn’t have to be the only way. I would try to find a study buddy to hold you accountable--I’ve found, especially in the pandemic, it’s sooo hard and sooo isolating to endeavor with this kind of stuff alone.
Please let me know if you need more resources/help!
Hello! I've just started learning French and I'd like to try reading something. A whole novel sounds quite intimidating, so do you know of any short stories with simple language?
Hello,
My mind goes to :
Les lettres de mon moulin by Alphonse Daudet
Trois contes by Gustave Flaubert
Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès by Maurice Leblanc (ha!)
Les diaboliques by Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (pretty)
Le sommeil de la raison by Gabrielle Wittkop
Contes de l’Absurde + Histoires perfides by Pierre Boulle (emo)
Je voudrais que quelqu’un m’attende quelque part by Anna Gavalda
Les filles du Feu by Gérard de Nerval (v pretty)
Le mur by Jean-Paul Sartre (classic)
La Fontaine aux Fées by Chantal Robillard
L’Exil et Le Royaume + L’Étranger by Albert Camus (classic)
Solitude de la Pitié by jean Giono
Des Filles bien élevées by Anne Wiazemski
La Rêveuse d’Ostende by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
La Chapelle Sextine by Hervé Le Tellier (naughty)
Le Ratichon Baigneur by Boris Vian
Poussières d’anges by Ann Scott
Contes cruels by Octave Mirbeau (weirdo)
L’arbre des Possibles by Bernard Werber
Mordre au travers by Virginie Despentes (feminist, weird)
Clair de Lune + L’Inutile Beauté + Boule de Suif + Le Horla (has a slight Dorian Gray vibe, classic) by Guy de Maupassant
Les Plaisirs et les Jours by Marcel Proust,
L’Heptaméron by Marguerite de Navarre,
Cantatrix sopranica by George Pérec,
Deux et deux font cinq by Alphone Allais
Religere + Déchirures by Sir Cédric (goth)
Gloire à nos Illustres Pionniers by Romain Gary
Les Vrilles de la Ligne by Colette (badass lady)
Nouvelles sous Extasy by Frédéric Beigbeder (v weird/edgy)
La Botte Secrète by Éric Boisset
And that’s probably enough. Hope this helps! x
i finally managed to get my favourite asmr/ambience/soundscape videos into a neat list. i use these while i study, and they also help me get to sleep. since i cannot do anything without some sort of background noise on, they are a lifesaver for me; they’re also great for daydreaming purposes. if you have any that you like, please share!
Victorian London
Baker Street 221B
Hogwarts Express
Library
Victorian Office
Cottage Kitchen
Library Room with Fireplace
Potion Shop
Hobbit Hole
Autumn Village
Shell Cottage
Seaside Art Room
Italian Cafe
French Cafe
Autumn Coffee Shop with Jazz
Enchanted Forest (with music)
Forest (without music)
Spaceship Library
Pirate Ship