anxhel’s studies

anxhel | 23 | she/her | product designer | studying chinese and korean

[anxhelstudies]

happy 2025 to everyone!

life has been difficult lately but i hope the new year it will be better. recently i started working as a waitress full time to save as much money as i can for a master to see if this year (or maybe next considering early the deadline for applying to uni in the uk is so close compared to the italian one) i can make it. because of this i didn’t have a lot of time to study or focus on myself since right now money is more important.

anyway here are my (study) goals for 2025

reach hsk3

pass hsk1 exam

pass hsk2 exam

re-learning korean (i will not put any level to reach because i just want to do it for fun so anything will be fine for now)

improve my english (especially my writing)

as for the more design study goals

learn blender

do a course about design and innovation patents (idk how to transla it better in english sorry)

make a good portfolio (web and pdf)

learn java

improve my drawing skills

read 20 articles of design journals

write an article about a design topic (i want to learn how to write articles like academics because i would like in the future do a phd if i have tha chance, time and money)

how is your 2025 going so far? what are your goals?

[anxhelstudies]

not me going on dates on london just for fun and then having to much fun in a date with a japanese guy and starting a situationship with him 2 weeks before going back to italy just to find out that he broke up with his girlfriend of 6years this summer so my chances that this thing between us can become something more is like 0%. anyway i think i might go back to italy with a broken heart, but i like our dates and spending time with him that i might just enjoy our last dates and deal with the consequences later.

i think someone may have cursed me because why every time i like someone they like someone else and when i finally find a guy who as so many things in common with my ideal type there is a chance that he isn’t over his ex and doesn’t want a long term relationship and let alone a long distance one.

anyway pray for my little hearts.

just a little rant because this days i’m not studying anything rip

[anxhelstudies]

Hi! I was wondering if I might ask where you got your planner? It looks super cute and I love that it has the entire week displayed on one page :)

hi! the planner is a weekly hobonichi i bought it from an italian stationery shop online so i recommend u search on google if there are any stationary shops in your country that sell them. but if u have a muji store you can find something similar there just the size will be different since hobonichi is slim while the muji one are normal A5/A6 but the concept is the same weekly on the left and a grid page for notes on the right

[anxhelstudies]

hiiii ur blog is so pretty!! any tips on how to stay productive? I've only been back to uni for a short but but Im already burnt out :((

thank you!

i think i’m the last person to ask about productivity, what helped me in uni was either to go to the library or study with some friends, i couldn’t do, and still can’t, anything at home because i get distracted way too easily and always think about the things i could do like cleaning the house. Most of the time i stayed out all day to study and when i returned home i didn’t study, maybe try to find a place when u can study and always go there so you know that when u are there u have to study. Also if u get easily distracted by your thoughts try to have a passport sized notebook always with you so if u get distracted by something you think is good just write it down this way you know you won’t forget and get it later when u need it.

also remember that productivity doesn’t mean doing a lot but just doing the right things. In my first year of uni i spent a lot of time making notes about a course and i had like 30 pages and thought that i was productive, the week before the end of the semester i talked with the professor asked her how the exam was going to be structured and what type of question could she ask us since i was kinda overwhelmed about the amount of things that to me weren’t necessary to my knowledge turn out i was right she didn’t care about some thin she only did them for our knowledge so we understood better the other things. in the end the important thing could be more or less 5 pages and while some of my classmates where being productive studying everyday and knowing a lot more than me i ended up getting almost the maximum while those classmates got less than me.

so don’t overdo it right now since you just started, maybe ask some students that already took your classes so you can plan your study based on what they say, in my uni we used to do this a lot when we could and helped us to prioritise what to study during the semester and what u can leave for last because one week of study (if u followed the lessons) can be enough.

[anxhelstudies]

3 photos of my first week in london!

i really like the city it’s beautiful but i miss the italian food and coffee. this first week i visited a little the city but i went mostly to see the London design festival since it’s only for a week and the monuments and museums won’t go anywhere.

i studied a little chinese but i need to practice more because monday i have the lesson with thee tutor and i don’t want to lose time with her with thing i can do alone.

[anxhelstudies]

120924

today i just did some preparation for tomorrow, i needed to clean the house and prepare the suitcase for london this way tomorrow morning i can just take a shower, relax and do some chinese study.

today i went through the chinese textbook to see the contents of all chapters and native notes of the things i don’t know so i call tell my tutor about it and in the first half of the book i studied most of those alone, there are only a few things that i didn’t study so i will ask her to do those things and review some of the things that i did have some problems this way after the next level we can start with the second half of the textbook. also i need to do an anti desk with all the vocabulary and study the new vocabulary in the first half.

[anxhelstudies]

110924

it’s been a while but i went in albania for 2,5 weeks, went to 2 weddings, go out with my friends since one of them was going back to ireland and i am going to london in 2 days.

so the rankings for the uni i applied got released (idk if it’s the correct therm for this but idc) and surprise!! i didn’t get in… so anyway i’m going to london as a consolation prize! i’m really excited and grateful for this opportunity because it’s all thanks to my aunt who invited me (and my mother who is supporting me since she doesn’t want me to give her back the money she gave me in advance for milan). i hope i will take the most from this opportunity, i’m going to the london design festival and have some days to visit the tourist spots while sending cv and portfolio hoping to do some networking and have some job interview (crossing my fingers). all of this because i applied for the passport in time!! and it’s my first time having a strong passport, i could go to a lot of countries and not worrying for a visa meanwhile in high school i was known in my class and an other class to be the girl who always has problems in international school trips because of my nationality.

anyway i decided to do the #100daysofproductivity challenge starting today, hoping i can finish it. so today i did some laundry and took my first chinese lesson with a tutor! i was a little anxious since i always studied alone but i went well. the teacher is very nice and i really liked her and the price per hour is good so i think i will be able to have 1h lesson a week. since i told her i already self studied something this first lesson was more of a recap this way she could understand my level and adjust the next lessons accordingly. we decided together the book that we were going to use and after that we started with reading pinying, i was really nervous because i never read in in chinese with someone listening but in the end my reading/pronunciation skills were actually good for someone who self studied and i didn’t make the errors some of her students at hsk4 level makes so she was happy and told me to practice more the fourth tone and the pronunciation of p and b because i make some mistakes there but it’s not a big deal since this are the same problem for italian so i just have to practice more. other than that she made me read some words and ask some question about words and radicals to see my situation. At the end she asked me to take a look at the textbook see what i know and don’t know and the text her to let her know what i wanted for next lesson: continue with the review or start something new. Next lesson will probably be a review for the things that i had difficulties studying alone and the few things in the firsts chapters i didn’t do. overall i really liked studying with a tutor, since it’s one on one the focus is all on me and it’s really good to have someone to tell u what u need to practice more. i can totally see the benefits of this and for me its money spent wisely and will be a really good investment for my future.

anyway if u have some good spot to visit or try in london leave it in the comments (especially for asian skincare and makeup and stationary!)

[anxhelstudies]

080724

yesterday i went to milan to see my friends, originally i had to go to see a studio flat but since i don’t even know if i will need it the the landlord has other people who are inter i cancelled the visit and just hang out with my friends.

during the train ride i studied a little chinese and did some research for job hunting in the field i’m interested, think i will do a notion page where i analyse job and the skills they require so i know what to focus on, i already noticed that i really need to invest in learning chinese since i found more than one job as a product designer that asked as an additional language chinese or german so i think after i return from holiday i will search for a chinese teacher, this way i will learn faster and really see if i’m making real progress. if any of u know a good website/app where to find a teacher please let me know!

now i’m waiting in a cafe for a friend and studying a little chinese.

[marilearnsmandarin]

I have group classes with the Confucius Institute.

Most people use iTalki to find private tutors; I've been meaning to try it for conversation classes for ages but still haven't for a combination of busy schedule + introversion + limited budget...

It's good to complement classes with apps (I use SuperChinese), graded readers, podcasts and/or youtube videos.

[anxhelstudies]

i used superchinese too but my problem was that i was going ahead with the levels without learning too much and since the exercise were the same at the end i just memorised how to solve it and after redoing some levels for a few times i just gave up, at least for now i will just do graded reading and coursera.

for italkie my problem is the budget because most of my problem is the budget the teacher i saw had 30min lesson at 15€ and it’s too expensive for me right now and the courses of confucio institute in my city don’t have the level A2, i think last semester they didn’t have enough students for level A1 so they didn’t open the course and this semester won’t be a level A2

my only hope is going to london hoping i can do a chinese course there as a standard visitor without a student visa TT

[anxhelstudies]

080724

yesterday i went to milan to see my friends, originally i had to go to see a studio flat but since i don’t even know if i will need it the the landlord has other people who are inter i cancelled the visit and just hang out with my friends.

during the train ride i studied a little chinese and did some research for job hunting in the field i’m interested, think i will do a notion page where i analyse job and the skills they require so i know what to focus on, i already noticed that i really need to invest in learning chinese since i found more than one job as a product designer that asked as an additional language chinese or german so i think after i return from holiday i will search for a chinese teacher, this way i will learn faster and really see if i’m making real progress. if any of u know a good website/app where to find a teacher please let me know!

now i’m waiting in a cafe for a friend and studying a little chinese.

[anxhelstudies]

hello!

so since my life is kinda a disaster right now i decided to “reopen” this account because i want to share my study journay (but not only) and have positive vibes. i had this page i believe in my first and second and second year of uni and now i’m not a student anymore since i graduated in february, i did spend a lot of money on taking the ielts test to apply for a master in communication design in my dream uni just to think i made it in and realised the day after that i did not and i was just in the waiting list and right know i have little to no plans for my future because i do not know if i’m going to be in and to find a reasonable priced studio flat in the most expensive city of italy.

my only good news is that my aunt when found out that i did not get in told me to go and live with her family in london for some months this way since i already have a bachelor degree can apply for jobs in the design fields and do some networking. it’s sounds like a dream if only my heart wasn’t broken from the fact that i will not go to milan and live the life me and my friends where imagining.

i know what’s the right thing to do and it all seem i sign from the universe: passing the ielts test with a band 7.5 while i was expecting a band 6, failing to get in the master of my dream and living in milan, found a spot to do my passport so it will be ready for september, my aunt asking me to go to london right when there will be a design festival and then apply for jobs there. i’m torn apart and don’t know what to do so while i decide what i want to do with my life i’m going to post here my post-uni studies like language learning (chinese and korean) and design courses to add to my cv and make new projects.

so how are you doing?

[anxhelstudies]

Hi! Just poking my head in here really quick to say that it's lovely to see a fellow PD student out here (posting this from my main not the studyblr side blog.) There's nowhere near enough STEM (at least my uni classifies product design as STEM) blogs in the studyblr community. Also, your aesthetic is super cute! Looking forward to following you!

hi, thank u!! i'm really happy to see other design students. i don't really think in italy is considered stem but to enter at my uni i had to took the same entrance exam of stem students and i have some stem exam (but i think, and hope, easier) so i consider it more near stem than arts, but here it really depand on the university (or academy) u go.