An Aroace Pride Flag?

if you ever feel like you're not "smart enough" for STEM or didn't do that great in school, i just wanna let you know that i failed algebra 2 THREE TIMES and dropped my high school physics class the FIRST WEEK...

and NASA chose me to student research with them.

so what i'm trying to say is that STEM is for EVERYONE. if school wasn't the easiest for you and you're not the strongest in math, don't let that stop you from pursuing STEM. working hard for goals makes you a great scientist.

screw that stereotype that all STEM majors are geniuses who were building robots and knew how to work a microscope at 3 years old.

STEM IS FOR EVERYONE! BECOME A FREAKING SCIENTIST! YOU CAN DO IT!

Learning by doing: my approach to self-studying languages

Hi! I have a very short attention span, and I have never really been able to make it through a course or textbook without giving up straight away, so I have never really been able to learn languages in the traditional way. I also very easily get bored with learners material, so I mostly stick to native material to consume my target language. Here is how I do it at the beginner level! 

I usually start off with an app to learn the basics of the alphabet,  vocabulary and grammar. Most of the times, I use Duolingo. I rarely get past the first few units before I jump into native material. Still, this is a good jumping off point.

When I start with native material, I usually use YouTube videos (with subtitles in the target language), and focus on spoken language, because spoken language is less overwhelming, and involves less complex language and grammar. At this point, I find that books are far too dense and complex for me to handle. Others might enjoy the challenge. My current favourites for this are LingoPie (for French, Spanish, German, Italian and Russian) and Viki (for Korean, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese).

I learn the most important words and phrases as I go. I do NOT look up every word, unless I can understand at least 70% of the language. For this, I will try and write the words and phrases down, and memorise them. I might use a flashcard app too (Anki is my fave, but Quizlet and Memrise are good too). For languages like Japanese and Chinese that have lots of characters to memorise, I will use an app (wanikani and chineasy are my faves). I always make sure that I know how to pronounce and understand each word or phrase.

I will start texting native speakers in my target language on apps like Tandem and HelloTalk. I look up words as I go, and will ocasionally try speaking.

I start shadowing (i.e. repeat after native speakers, imitating the intonation and pronunciation). I use Easy Languages for this.

After a while, I start reading. I’ll usually start with wikihow articles, or fluentu articles in my target language. I’ll write down new words, test myself on them until I get them correct, and then put them into anki to review.

After a while, I’ll formally study some grammar. I’ll usually use a textbook for this. However, I don’t necessarily do it in a traditional way. I go through the entire textbook and make a cheat sheet which condenses all the information in it to a few pages. I’ll review it regularly, and do LOTS of writing practice. For irregular verbs, I’ll just use flashcards, and write them down repeatedly.

Then, I’ll get a speaking buddy (I usually find one on discord) and speak with them a few times a week.

After a while of doing all of this, I start reading fanfiction (usually translations of my faves). It’s difficult, but I try to read intensively (i.e. look up every word).

At this point, I start journaling, and posting on the website journaly.

I’ll listen to podcasts like innovative languages, coffee break languages and language transfer. These are usually good for learning about grammar.

I start intensively reading serious content once I feel like I’m at a confident B1 level. I would suggest using proper newspapers (like le monde for French or BBC for English) and try studying one article daily. After a while, you can start reading a YA book (try something you’ve never read before in any language). Study it chapter by chapter fairly intensively, and then reread it again and again until you understand the story. After you’re finished with a chapter, put the new vocabulary into an app and review fairly regularly.

At the B1 level, listen using two sources: intermediate podcasts and native material. Intermediate podcasts are usually labelled as such, and are IN the target language, but about various topics, like culture or history (innovative languages have some, for french there is inner french, piece of french, news in slow french and RFI:Savoirs, for Spanish there is dreaming Spanish and news in slow spanish, and for Korean there is Iyagi). For native material, continue watching youtube videos about topics that interest you, and consider watching both the news and films/TV shows.

At this point you should be able to construct gramatically correct (mostly - if you still have problems then go through a grammar course, or work through a textbook) and fairly complex texts. I would suggest now learning some essay phrases and writing an essay. You’ll be terrible at first, BELIEVE me, but the more you practice the better you get. You could also start trying to write fanfiction (tip: use full phrases you have found in other books or fanfiction).

Continue doing what you are doing (reading intensively and widely, speaking with your buddy, listening, writing essays and short stories) and I think that after a while you will be able to say you are conversational in another language.

Thanks for reading this post! I hope it was useful! (Also haha ig my break from langblr is over lol).

spalted wood - discoloured patterns in the wood that occur naturally when an infestation of fungus colonise a tree and extract nutrients from it, leaving behind a map of their battlefield

Lolo: [Thoughtfully] The problem with animism, really, is that once you start considering its implications, everything around you becomes both stranger and more terrifying. It unveils the predatory nature of our existence.

Mabel episode 48

Hey did you know I keep a google drive folder with linguistics and language books  that I try to update regularly 

UPDATE because apparently not everyone has seen this yet the new and improved version of this is a MEGA folder

I know there’s so many more urgent things but if you like this resource you may consider buying me a ko-fi to keep this project alive

But I protect myself, I surround myself with books, their silence does not demand anything, they exist , they are alive , they are for anyone to open, unlike us human being.

–Bo Carpelan, tr. by David McDuff , from "Urwind". Published c. 1993

As an autistic person, talking to programmers is so nice. They know how to be direct, literal and specific. If you know how to communicate with a computer you will probably communicate well with me as well.

So I got this app, NHK for school, and it’s wonderful immersion for Japanese learners.

It’s made for school kids. It goes from grade one to middle/high school. (I’m using grade one, personally.)

They have a variety of school subjects. My favourite are the grammar and vocab ones, specifically these guys

Although I don’t understand a lot of what’s happening (I’m a TOTAL newbie. Only three weeks of Japanese under my belt) the little practice exercises after each section is so helpful!

I’m sure it would be fun for a high level learner as well, and it’s a nice way to get some insight into what kind of stuff Japanese children are taught, ahaha.

indeed

queerplatonic in a "i feel a deep desire for an intimate but non-romantic/sexual life partnership" way, but also queerplatonic in a "i take all my platonic relationships way more seriously than most people do and this has led to so much heartache oh god" way