Tsw’s language learning journeys

currently starting to learn mandarin and slowly navigating my rusty french for the delf b2 / i follow from @feelingcauliflower

[bhashashikhi]

ALSO, if you’re anything like me and cannot focus, make yourself sit to study and start a stopwatch, stop it after your mind starts wandering or your brain comes to a halt with its activities. even if you end up only focusing for 2 minutes like i first did, you can schedule your study sessions accordingly and slowly build up the time!

note: none of this worked on me when my depression and anxiety was untreated so that should definitely be considered. the only reason i can even think of studying is because of the stage my meds have helped me reach

[golden-bubblebee]

Image id: a screenshot of notes taken in white text on a black background. The notes state:

download pdfs of books on ur phone cuz sometimes the mere thought of getting up to find and hold a physical book then turn its endless pages is too overwhelming

make flashcards during lectures and from lecture slides/notes when u cannot concentrate on studying

go through past exam papers and revise each topic alongside

watch videos if starting to study from a book seems too boring, can try to google key words from topic and see if you can find interesting articles related to it, this might help stick things to your brain better

common tip but after the study day, vomit everything u remember before you go to sleep or right before the next day's studying

immerse yourself in related podcasts, tv shows, films etc.

if you cannot prioritise for the love of god, ask yourself if the exam were tomorrow, which topic you'd be least happy about

[todayontumblr]

Wednesday, September 27.

Langblr.

If ever you're in France, accompanied by your kitty cat, and you find yourself unintentionally (and quite unexpectedly) projecting intestinal gas produced within the body by bacteria that has broken down food, and said kitty cat looks a little alarmed, and you don't know what to say, well. Fortune smiles upon you this day. Consider #langblr your knight in shining linguistic armor. Chat, j'ai pété.

It really can happen to anyone. But langblr is here for all your polyglot needs: learning how to say chai tea in Czech, the frankly adorable etymology of peninsula, Greek paleographic fonts, for words of support for those underway with their language-learning adventures, or if you're in need of some support yourself. It is a particularly wholesome corner of Tumblr, for those with an interest in the slow-burn magic of learning another language. 

[bhashashikhi]

Thank you to everyone who got me to 250 likes!

[lovelybluepanda]

100 Goals you can have as a language learner

A follower of mine asked me what are some realistic goals when you’re learning languages but before giving you 100 examples, i want to mention that you can have daily, weekly, monthly or/and yearly goals. If you get easily distracted and need motivation, set goals for each category; however, if you can focus and be motivated for a longer period of time, you might not need daily or/and weekly goals.

Also, the numbers/minutes/hours are an example, you can change them according to your time, resources, motivation etc.

Daily goals

Read 1 article in your target language.

Learn 10 words.

Learn 1 poem in your target language.

Learn a song  in your target language.

Watch a movie.

Read 1 page from a book in your target language.

Sing 1 song in your target language.

Talk with a native for 10 minutes.

Learn 2 idioms.

Translate 1 song.

Translate 1 poem.

Write 1 short text about anything.

Watch 1 episode from your favourite show dubbed/subbed.

Get 50points on duolingo.

Make a vocab list.

Learn 1 new grammatical concept.

Think in your target language for 10 minutes

Read to a podcast for 15 minutes.

Learn 1 tongue twister.

Spend 15 minutes on WordBrewery.

Play on Babadum for 15 minutes.

Use Clozemaster for 15 minutes.

Listen to an audio book for 10 minutes.

Revise your notes for 20 minutes.

Learn 1 vocab list.

Weekly

Read 10 articles in your target language.

Read 2 books for children.

Learn 5 poems.

Learn 3 songs.

Watch 3 movies.

Learn 10 grammatical concepts.

Talk for 2 hours in your target language.

Learn 5 vocab lists.

Learn 100 new words.

Finish 8 lessons on duolingo. (i mean the entire bullet/dot/set of mini-lessons)

Watch 10 episodes from your favourite show  in your target language subbed/dubbed.

Learn 30 idioms.

Write 3 A4 pages about anything.

Translate 5 songs.

Learn 3 vocab lists.

Revise with the help of some tests online for 2 hours.

Change your phone settings to be in your target language.

Make a summary for the books you’ve read.

Read 10 pages from a complex book in your target language. 

Make 5 vocab lists.

Write a motivation text of 10 lines for your in your target language about why you enjoy learning languages.

Think for 2 hours in your target language.

Translate 3 pages from a book in your native language.

Translate 3 pages from a book in your target language.

Discover 10 new songs in your target language.

Monthly

Learn 350 new words.

Read 1 advanced book in your target language.

Finish a grammar book.

Finish 10 stories for kids.

Learn 80 idioms.

Learn 20 vocab lists.

Finish 35 lessons on duolingo. (the bullets/dots/set of mini lessons)

Make 20 vocab lists.

Watch 10 movies in your target language subbed/dubbed.

Translate 10 songs.

Learn 10 poems.

Learn 5 songs.

Talk to natives for 10 hours. 

Write summaries for every chapter/article you’ve read.

Watch 15 youtube videos in your target language .

Make a story of 5 minutes while looking at a random picture on google.

Understand a song (that you don’t know) without checking the lyrics too often.

Read 20 articles.

Make a dish while reading the recipe in your target language

Revise for 20 hours.

Keep a journal with your daily progress and at the end of the month, read how many things you achieved.

Read to a podcast for 24 hours.

Think in your target language for 24 hours.

Play babadum/wordbrewery/clozemaster for 10 hours.

Yearly

Be mistaken for a native.

Know 50 poems.

Be able to sing most Disney songs in your target language.

Watch movies without subs.

Learn 10.000 words.

Read 10 advanced books.

Finish duolingo/whatever course you use.

Be able to think in your target language effortlessly.

Master irregular verbs.

Have at least 5 native friends that talk to you in your target language.

Be proud you didn’t give up.

Study a bit daily.

Finish 3 grammar books/workbooks/books for advanced learners.

Have a decent accent.

Be able to read without translating anything.

Watch more movies in your target language than your native one/English.

Have favourite youtubers that are native of your target language.

Keep a diary and read how your year has been.

Be able to talk about advanced stuff.

Have very detailed descriptions.

Know the most popular songs in your target language.

Read mostly in your target language.

Know several new recipes that cooked only in the country where your target language is spoken.

Being able to say that you’re bilingual/multilingual/a polyglot.

Learn your next language through the one that you mastered already.

[bhashashikhi]

I just came across this article on my DELF French book. It mentions how numerous studies have shown that associating a word with its translation is not the most efficient way to learn it. It then gives us alternative ways to learn vocab. Since I think these tips can be helpful for all languages, here’s a small summary of them:

We can learn words better if we organize them into sets.

-Associate words with scenarios already existing in your memory.

-Some words are parts of descriptive sets such as ‘shower’ is a part of the set ‘bathroom’.

-Words can also have synonyms or antonyms.

Different words of the same meaning are often used in certain scenarios such as a different version for professional and informal settings. They may also vary from culture to culture. The more we are able to associate words with strong images and ideas, the easier it is to learn them.

[loish]

She is brightness, she is luminance. She will hypnotize you and drag you into her world. Her name...

... is Light Mode. 

This drawing turned out a little more serious than I had originally intended. I get so many comments about using light mode for my computer and phone that it became the inspiration for some new artwork!

[jonahmagnus]

"I cant draw" then do it bad who gives a fuck.....

[jonahmagnus]

Partake in the joy of creation just for the fun of it. Just for a laff.

[thememedaddy]

[pinbones]

Wanted to write stories, wrote a bunch, learned how to write. In that order.

Wanted to crochet toys, crocheted a bunch, learned to crochet. In that order.

Want to learn a language... try to learn that language... struggle and quit.

What's the "do" that comes before the "learn" in languages?

[rixgreenlife]

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

more people would exercise if this culture didn't make it absolute hell

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

I teach martial arts. we play games with the little kids. they swordfight with noodles and throw foam balls at each other. in the summer, we take them out into the parking lot with water guns. in the winter, we have snowball fights.

the teenagers get swords and staffs and practice knives. we teach them moves from marvel movies that they ask about. they get squirt guns and snowball fights too. we let them goof off and climb the support beams and charge directly at each other in padded suits.

sometimes parents say they miss doing things like that. I tell them, "stay for an adult class. just try it out." we build obstacle courses and let them mess around with training rifles. they chat while sparring. we scream and cheer for them when they're in the middle of a circle. and then we send them out to the parking lot with squirt guns and snowballs.

it's exercise. it's healthy. it's an important life skill. and it's fun as fuck.

[taiyuanese-deactivated20210811]

Sino films on youtube

English name (Chinese name) year, director. Languages.

Will be updated as I find more / Please message me if there are issues!

Bold = very very recommended

Angel Warriors (铁血娇娃之丛林日记) 2013, Fu Huayang, English dub, Chinese & English subs

Ashes of Time (东邪西毒) 1994, Wong Kar-Wai. Cantonese/Mandarin, Chinese subs

Assembly (集结号) 2007, Feng Xiaogang. Mandarin, Chinese subs

Back to 1942 (一九四二) 2012, Feng Xiaogang. Mandarin/English, Chinese subs

The Banquet (夜宴) 2006, Feng Xiaogang, Mandarin, no subs

Be There or Squared (不见不散) 1998, Feng Xiaogang, Mandarin/English. *NB: Link in title is HQ with no subs. Here is a link for LQ with English &　Chinese subs

Black and White Episode 1: Dawn of Assault (痞子英雄) 2012, Tsai Yueh-Hsun. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Blind Shaft (盲井) 2002, Li Yang. Mandarin, Chinese subs

The Blue Kite (蓝风筝) 1992, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Caught in the Web (搜索) 2012, Chen Kaige. Mandarin, Chinese subs

Chungking Express (重庆森林) 1994, Wong Kar-Wai. Cantonese/Mandarin, English subs. *NB: split into 10 parts

City of Sadness (悲情城市) 1989, Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Taiwanese/Japanese, Chinese subs

Crazy New Year’s Eve (一路惊喜) 2015. Mandarin, Chinese & English & Vietnamese subs. 

Crazy Stone (疯狂的石头) 2006, Ning Hao. Mandarin/Sichuanese, Chinese subs

Dangerous Liaisons (危险关系) 2012 Jin-Ho Hur, Mandarin, Chinese &　English subs

Detective Chinatown (唐人街侦探) 2015, Chen Sicheng. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs. NB: filmed illegally in the cinema

Double Xposure (二次曝光) 2012, Li Yu. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

The Eagle Shooting Heroes (东成西就) 1993, Jeffrey Lau. Cantonese originally but this version is in Mandarin, Chinese subs

Fall in Love Like A Star (怦然星动) 2015, Tony Chan. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬) 1992, Chen Kaige. Mandarin, English subs

Fist of Fury 1991 (新精武门1991) 1991, Cho Chung-sing, Cantonese, English subs

Fist of Fury II (精武门续集) 1992, Iksan Lahardi & Tso-nam Lee, Cantonese, English subs

The Fox Lover (白狐) 2013, Niu Chaoyang, Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

The God of Cookery (食神) 1996, Stephen Chow. Cantonese, Chinese subs

Happy Together (春光乍泄) 1997, Wong Kar-Wai. Cantonese, English & Spanish subs

I Am Somebody (我是路人甲) 2015, Derek Yee. Mandarin, Chinese subs

If You Are The One (非诚勿扰) 2008, Feng Xiaogang. Mandarin, English subs

Impossible (不可思议) 2015, Sun Zhou. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (西游：降魔篇) 2013, Stephen Chow. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Ju Dou (菊豆) 1990, Zhang Yimou, Mandarin, English subs

Lady of the Dynasty (王朝的女人：杨贵妃) 2015, Shi Qing. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Lost on Journey (人在囧途) 2010, Raymond Yip. Mandarin, Chinese subs

Lost on Journey 2: Lost in Thailand (人在囧途之泰囧) 2012, Xu Zheng. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Lost on Journey 3: Lost in Hong Kong (人在囧途之港囧) 2015, Xu Zheng. Mandarin/Cantonese, Chinese subs

Love Actually (真爱至上), Mandarin, Chinese subs. NB: What the hell? I stumbled upon this film when looking for a different one, and can barely find any information about it anywhere. Nonetheless, it looks like an actual film so I’m putting it here… but I’m so confused lol. If anyone actually watches this please tell me what’s going on.

Love Is Not Blind (失恋33天) 2011, Teng Huatao. Mandarin, Chinese subs

Monster Hunt (捉妖记) 2015, Raman Hui. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Mr. Six (老炮儿) 2015, Guan Hu. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs. 

Mulan: Rise of a Warrior (花木兰) 2009, Jingle Ma, Mandarin, no subs

Peking Opera Blues (刀马旦) 1986, Tsui Hark, Cantonese, English subs

Platform (站台) 2000, Jia Zhangke. Jin/Mandarin, Chinese subs

Raise the Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂) 1991, Zhang Yimou. Mandarin, Arabic & Chinese & Czech & Dutch & English & Finnish & French & German & Greek & Hebrew & Indoniesian & Korean & Persian & Portuguese & Spanish & Swedish & Turkish & Vietnamese subs

Red Sorghum (红高粱) 1987, Zhang Yimou, Mandarin, Chinese subs

Suzhou River (苏州河) 2000, Lou Ye. Mandarin, no subs

Tiny Times (小时代) 2013, Guo Jingming. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Tiny Times 2 (小时代：青木时代) 2013, Guo Jingming. Mandarin, Chinese & Russian (?) subs

Tiny Times 3 (小时代：刺金时代) 2014, Guo Jingming. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Tiny Times 4 (小时代：灵魂尽头) 2015, Guo Jingming. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

To Live (活着) 1994, Zhang Yimou. Mandarin, English subs

What Time Is It There? (你那边几点？) 2001, Tsai Ming-Liang. Mandarin/Taiwanese, English subs

White Vengeance (鸿门宴) 2011, Daniel Lee, Mandarin, Chinese subs

World (世界) 2004, Jia Zhangke. Mandarin, Chinese & English subs

Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (天浴) 1998, Joan Chen. Mandarin, Chinese subs

Yellow Earth (黄土地) 1984, Chen Kaige, Mandarin, English subs

Yi Yi: A One and a Two (一一) 2000, Edward Yang. Mandarin/Taiwanese, Chinese & English subs

Special thanks to @fallingforsincerity​ for contributing! 

Last updated 16/02/2016

[sujialidefuyun-blog]

哇噻~

[zzzzzestforlife]

how to not be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work you need to do this week 🥺😰👩‍💻

ℹ️ questionable advice from a working student who is very. very. tired.

for when there are too many things 🤯

mark everything as "read" — if it's actually important, you'll hear about it anyway, so don't waste your limited time and energy reading emails that have little to no bearing on your day to day.

don't do anything — unless someone tells you to and even then, make them work for it. "if you want me to do x, you need to take y off my plate," "x person already asked me to do y, so if you want me to do z, let's coordinate with them," etc.

bare minimum rule — what's the absolute least you can do to not get fired/fail your course? just do that. overachieving is overrated.

for when you don't know what's going on 👀

small talk will save your life — it makes you seem engaged even if you don't know the meat of the matter (yet)

"i just want to clarify/confirm" will also save your life — it makes you sound really thorough and conscientious while also making people repeat what they just said when you weren't paying attention

agree to everything — as long as it doesn't contradict the don't do anything part, it will make you seem like an easygoing team player

for when you want to give up but it's not even lunch time yet 💀

actually give up — there's no point in fighting it (more detailed options below)

watch a favorite comedy/comfort show for 30 minutes or so. that should give you enough energy to work/study again for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, so a pretty good investment!

follow the bare minimum rule, then go take a nap without an alarm.

call in sick. get a doctor's note. do what you have to do to be able to not do anything for real, i'm begging you.

[linghxr]

My 2023 in Mandopop/Chinese music (update & recs)

It’s been too long since I last shared some music recommendations/updates on what I’m listening to! Admittedly, I haven’t been discovering as many new artists because I’m busy listening to 薛之谦 on repeat. But we'll focus on the new.

You can check out my Spotify playlist featuring these songs (plus bonus ones). In addition, I’ve included YouTube links below.

五月天 / Mayday 五月天 is a legendary band, so of course I knew of them and had heard a few of their songs over the years. But I never proactively sought out their music until recently. I still haven’t had time to dive into their back catalog, but I’ve already found some songs I really love.

《我又初恋了》 I actually really didn’t like this song the first time I heard it, but it wormed its way into my brain. It’s just a lot of fun! Non-serious songs can be good too.

《转眼》 My favorite 五月天 song <3. I’m probably too young to fully appreciate the lyrics, but they make me feel so nostalgic and bittersweet, like transitioning to a new chapter of life and leaving the old behind.

《因为你 所以我》 This song didn’t stand out to me at first, but it grew on me! I caught myself humming it a lot. It‘s kind of corny, but it sounds so full of hope.

陈奕迅 / Eason Chan I first started listening to 陈奕迅 a couple years ago after my Album a Day August challenge, but I’ve found that his music has grown on me over time. I believe I’ve only mentioned him once before, so I thought now was a good time to highlight my favorite of his songs.

《之外》 This is probably my favorite 陈奕迅 song. The lyrics convey a sense of hopelessness, but the overall song has a smooth, light sound.

《娱乐天空》 You know a song is good when it’s over 6 minutes long but feels like it flies by! It makes me want to get up, get moving, and be productive.

《烟味》 This song is dramatic, and I love it for that. Also has a hint of orchestral flavor.

《淘汰》 One of 陈奕迅’s most well-known songs—for a good reason. It has big Cpop ballad vibes but is definitely livelier.

白举纲 / Bai Jugang You’re going to notice several mentions of 披荆斩棘 in this post. That’s where I “met” 白举纲. I instantly liked his voice and loved seeing him with his “brother” 高瀚宇 and “dad” 张晋! You may also see his music under his English name, Pax Congo.

《被动失控》 This is the only song on the list you could headbang to.

《Shy Boy》 I love this song because it’s cute and includes a children’s rhyme that I learned as a kid: 找啊找啊找朋友 找到一个好朋友.

苏诗丁 / Su Shiding At some point last year I did a one-month free trial of Apple Music. It was an interesting experience because the recommendations were very different from what Spotify tends to show me. I’m glad Apple Music led me to 苏诗丁!

《LUCIFER（傲慢宗罪）》 All I can say is that this song exudes coolness and confidence. It also has a fair bit of English, but honestly I had to look up the lyrics to tell what some of it was.

《梦幻病》 This song is from the same album. It’s dreamlike but gets more frantic as it builds. Overall, it’s just a bit…unsettling.

队长 / Young Captain I learned about 队长 from a random post on Instagram about his concert in Malaysia. I think these songs might have gone viral on 抖音 or something. I was surprised I liked them so much because they both have some rap (I’m not a rap fan), but it was love at first listen.

《11》 I love how this song builds towards the end. I spend the whole song waiting for the crescendo, and it’s great payoff.

《楼顶上的小斑鸠》 This song is like the slightly mellower sibling of the one above. But I ended up liking this one even more.

金志文 / Jin Zhiwen 金志文 was another artist who Apple Music recommended to me. I definitely need to explore his discography more but haven’t had the chance to do so yet. But he has some good stuff so far!

《自娱自乐》 Smooth and relaxing but in a fun way. Simple and no-frills but will put a smile on your face!

《远走高飞》 This one feels like enjoying the breeze on a beautiful sunny day. I also enjoy the duet with 徐佳莹 version.

163braces 163braces started out as a YouTuber posting song covers. I have watched a couple of her covers, but they didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I was pleasantly surprised by her foray into original music. I look forward to hearing what she does next!

《控制》 The song I would want as my “soundtrack” if I were a video game character. It’s energetic and loud.

《murmur》 Honestly this song is pretty similar to the first one. Sometimes I have trouble distinguishing them. But hey, if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

小鬼 / Lil Ghost 小鬼 did what I can best describe as “pulling an MGK” by going from more rap to kinda pop-punk? That MGK album was my guilty pleasure when in came out, so I’m all for 小鬼’s new direction.

《Last Day》 This song really gave me MGK vibes. It’s about half in English, but I often don't even notice when he switches between languages.

《不良少年》 I just know I would have loved this song so much in high school. It’s an angsty teen anthem. 

《为明天写封信》 I can totally imagine this song playing at the end of a 2000s teen movie! Maybe while showing a montage of the main characters graduating.

《无所求必满载而归》 by 陈粒 / Chen Li This is technically cheating because I have recommended 陈粒 songs before, but it was at least a couple years ago. I heard this song covered on 披荆斩棘的哥哥 and immediately looked up the original. Honestly I should have known it was a 陈粒 song because you can totally tell it’s her style.

《轻红》 by 曹杨 / Young I keep coming back to this song! It’s from a drama soundtrack. I was super surprised the first time I listened to it because I thought it was going to be a typical ballad based on the first ~45 seconds or so—it wasn’t. There is also another version by 陈雪燃 (the king of cdrama OSTs). But I actually prefer the 曹杨 version.

《时光机》 by 吴克群 / Kenji Wu I was introduced to 吴克群 via 披荆斩棘2. He was instantly one of my favorite contestants after his team’s amazing 《新地球》 performance (check it out). This song is bouncy and a little dreamy. I kinda want to hear a remix with Harry Styles’ As It Was. I just wish it were longer than 3 minutes!

My Spotify Wrapped

I have a tradition of sharing my Spotify Wrapped, and I wanted to continue the streak in some form. So here's a quick rundown.

Top genre: 华语流行音乐 Representative city: Taipei Minutes: 21,750

Top artists

薛之谦 / Xue Zhiqian

林宥嘉 / Yoga Lin

五月天 / Mayday

李荣浩 / Li Ronghao

陈奕迅 / Eason Chan 

Top songs

《木偶人》 - 薛之谦

《狐狸》 - 薛之谦

《骆驼》 - 薛之谦

《转眼》 - 五月天

《后来的我们》 - 五月天

Also, fellow Mandopop fans should check out the Mando Gap newsletter. I stumbled upon it this year, and I know it’s going to be a great resource for discovering new artists in 2024!

[millthompson]

[puppygirl-hornyposting2]

@thefoxineer

[theoneofwhomisblue]

Okie rule