chvryblzxsom

she/her || minor || IB student

[blossomx2107]

beginning my IB journey

My HLs : english literature & language , maths AI , psychology

My SLs : history , biology , b french

I've never taken History before. I took Geography at GCSE and quickly realised the department at my school isn't really good so I definitely don't want to continue it at IB.

gonna use this blog as a way to track, hold myself accountable, and motivate me to do well in my subjects.

[blossomx2107]

23/11/2025

havent posted in forever so im gonna aim for once a week if i can.

I kind of worked out a system for me to get everyting done...kind of....

I'm doing okay on all my classes. I had a mock english IO which will contribute to my grade card. I also got the highest score in the IB y12 cohort of my school in psychology, which is quite an achievement.

Now all I have left is maths and french for my end of term assessments.

today i will do some CAS, homework, and study :)

[blossomx2107]

02/10/25

i got the flu and was out of commission for a while

I have all my half-term assessments - literally all of them - next week. I JUST recovered so I have to speed study this thing.

I still have NO IDEA how to study history but I started making flashcards? I'm gonna use the half-term break to make all my missed resources.

[blossomx2107]

21/09

I studied! I got thru quite a number of different things. the chart is wrong bc i accidentally clicked the wrong subject a couple times

[blossomx2107]

17/09

hhhhhhhhhh

I have so much homework sob

it's my own responsibility to do it before the deadline but I have such a bad procrastination problem

WHY DO ALL MY TEACHERS SAY U NEED TO SPEND AT LEAST AN HOUR ON THEIR SUBJECT EVERY DAY. PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE

my French teacher often gives homework for the next class (we have 3 days with French in a row)

then there's history which is due tomorrow...

gulps wish me luck

[blossomx2107]

3/09/2025

I have a lot of homework (french, history, psych). I spent about an hour on history.

this is my first time actually studying history! please give me tips!! Im doing civil rights in America and the cold war

[blossomx2107]

02/09/2025

I quit Yeolpumpta groups today because I realised I don't like comparing myself to others; I feel bad after and I'm sure most people just leave it running, even when they're not studying. I still have the app though. I like to track and keep off my phone with it.

I started using Anki for biology and I really like it. I also started revising French grammar and am looking into getting myself a tutor because I know French will be what gets me 😭

as for school itself, I don't like it. the days are too long and they implemented some very silly rule about no school on site at all, so not even in the gates (outdoors in the summer where its a 45°C heatwave?). particularly, I've been struggling with waking up at 5am. i stay up late reading fanfic, in fairness, so maybe it's my own fault.

[pinkstripedpajamas]

[blossomx2107]

school has officially started and they're all telling me that the IB is gonna suck.

they also horrendously messed up my entire year group's time tables; i know multiple people who were given a completely BLANK ONE

i also dont wear uniform anymore, which is a weird change. i feel so out of place...and i'm constantly cautious about getting dresscoded for being too informal. uniform was easier because i had nothing to be worried about

my teachers seem good so far. we mostly had introductions today.

i'm separated from a lot of my friends who do A Levels because they placed us in different forms (pathway specific forms) and, more obviously, we do not share classes

[thebeyyza]

[juliaxyn]

surviving on caffeine and novels. ...

[professor-winter]

ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ꜰᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ

[sanegreen]

when you start having an academic comeback and it’s like oh. oh. oh. the sun actually does still shine

[justlifewelle]

Cigarette smoke and old books. Faded sketches and rain-soaked streets. The poetry of solitude written in sepia tones.

[freakcentral525]

my ib tips (as a ib year 1 survivor)

my subjects (for reference):

HL: Chemistry, Biology, Maths AA

SL: English A, Czech A, History

Do your research the summer before year 1, find out what unis want and adjust your subjects accordingly (this mainly applies to HL AA, but a lot of engineering programs will want chemistry along with physics).

Contradiction to my last point, but go off of subjects you're at least confident in, and that you enjoy (i.e. if you suck at physics, don't take it, even if you want to do something physics related, it'll just be hellish)

Don't let what you think you want to do in the future limit your choices. Sure, it's good to keep it in mind, but people change, so it is more important to take subjects you want to study rather than what you need for a career you think you want.

Start thinking about your EE early, and try to talk to your subject teacher (there is a large chance they will be your supervisor, and if not, it's still good to get an idea of what is expected of you).

SPACE.OUT.YOUR.IAS!!! My school does this for us, but it's better to do your ias during your first year and one at a time rather than cramming them all in year 2.

Get as much feedback from your teachers as you can!! It can be hard to hear critiques of your work, but trust me, it'll help you a lot in the long run.

Continue with your extracurriculars, I know a lot of people will quit or limit their ECs during the IB, but imo, there's nothing worse you can do. ECs keep you grounded and help you focus on stuff that isn't the ib.

Don't be afraid to switch subjects/levels, if you finf out something isn't working for you, it's always easier to switch than to tough it out, trust me, your future self will thank you!

Don't take it too seriously, sure, it determines your future, but you also need to chill the hell out, because the only person your stress is hurting is you.

The IB is only as hard as you make it!

Good luck! Feel free to ask me anything in the submission box on my profile!

-kat

[selenocysteine]

Tips to learn a new language

The 75 most common words make up 40% of occurrences The 200 most common words make up 50% of occurrences The 524 most common words make up 60% of occurrences The 1257 most common words make up 70% of occurrences The 2925 most common words make up 80% of occurrences The 7444 most common words make up 90% of occurrences The 13374 most common words make up 95% of occurrences The 25508 most common words make up 99% of occurrences

(Source: 5 Steps to Speak a New Language by Hung Quang Pham)

This article has an excellent summary on how to rapidly learn a new language within 90 days.

We can begin with studying the first 600 words. Of course chucking is an effective way to memorize words readily. Here’s a list to translate into the language you desire to learn that Derek Roger suggested! :)

EXPRESSIONS OF POLITENESS (about 50 expressions)      

‘Yes’ and 'no’: yes, no, absolutely, no way, exactly.    

Question words: when? where? how? how much? how many? why? what? who? which? whose?    

Apologizing: excuse me, sorry to interrupt, well now, I’m afraid so, I’m afraid not.    

Meeting and parting: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello, goodbye, cheers, see you later, pleased to meet you, nice to have met.    

Interjections: please, thank you, don’t mention it, sorry, it’ll be done, I agree, congratulations, thank heavens, nonsense.    

NOUNS (about 120 words)

Time: morning, afternoon, evening, night; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; spring, summer, autumn, winter; time, occasion, minute, half-hour, hour, day, week, month, year.    

People: family, relative, mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, husband, wife; colleague, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend; people, person, human being, man, woman, lady, gentleman, boy, girl, child.    

Objects: address, bag, book, car, clothes, key, letter (=to post), light (=lamp), money, name, newspaper, pen, pencil, picture, suitcase, thing, ticket.    

Places: place, world, country, town, street, road, school, shop, house, apartment, room, ground; Britain, name of the foreign country, British town-names, foreign town-names.    

Abstract: accident, beginning, change, color, damage, fun, half, help, joke, journey, language, English, name of the foreign language, letter (of alphabet), life, love, mistake, news, page, pain, part, question, reason, sort, surprise, way (=method), weather, work.    

Other: hand, foot, head, eye, mouth, voice; the left, the right; the top, the bottom, the side; air, water, sun, bread, food, paper, noise.    

PREPOSITIONS (about 40 words)    

General: of, to, at, for, from, in, on.    

Logical: about, according-to, except, like, against, with, without, by, despite, instead of.    

Space: into, out of, outside, towards, away from, behind, in front of, beside, next to, between, above, on top of, below, under, underneath, near to, a long way from, through.    

Time: after, ago, before, during, since, until.    

DETERMINERS (about 80 words)  

Articles and numbers: a, the; nos. 0–20; nos. 30–100; nos. 200–1000; last, next, 1st–12th.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.    

Quantifiers: all, some, no, any, many, much, more, less, a few, several, whole, a little, a lot of.    

Comparators: both, neither, each, every, other, another, same, different, such.    

ADJECTIVES (about 80 words)    

Color: black, blue, green, red, white, yellow.    

Evaluative: bad, good, terrible; important, urgent, necessary; possible, impossible; right, wrong, true.    

General: big, little, small, heavy; high, low; hot, cold, warm; easy, difficult; cheap, expensive; clean, dirty; beautiful, funny (=comical), funny (=odd), usual, common (=shared), nice, pretty, wonderful; boring, interesting, dangerous, safe; short, tall, long; new, old; calm, clear, dry; fast, slow; finished, free, full, light (=not dark), open, quiet, ready, strong.    

Personal: afraid, alone, angry, certain, cheerful, dead, famous, glad, happy, ill, kind, married, pleased, sorry, stupid, surprised, tired, well, worried, young.    

VERBS (about 100 words)    

arrive, ask, be, be able to, become, begin, believe, borrow, bring, buy, can, change, check, collect, come, continue, cry, do, drop, eat, fall, feel, find, finish, forget, give, going to, have, have to, hear, help, hold, hope, hurt (oneself), hurt (someone else), keep, know, laugh, learn, leave, lend, let (=allow), lie down, like, listen, live (=be alive), live (=reside), look (at), look for, lose, love, make, may (=permission), may (=possibility), mean, meet, must, need, obtain, open, ought to, pay, play, put, read, remember, say, see, sell, send, should, show, shut, sing, sleep, speak, stand, stay, stop, suggest, take, talk, teach, think, travel, try, understand, use, used to, wait for, walk, want, watch, will, work (=operate), work (=toil), worry, would, write.    

PRONOUNS (about 40 words)

Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, one; myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.    

Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Universal: everyone, everybody, everything, each, both, all, one, another.

Indefinite: someone, somebody, something, some, a few, a little, more, less; anyone, anybody, anything, any, either, much, many.    

Negative: no-one, nobody, nothing, none, neither.    

ADVERBS (about 60 words)

Place: here, there, above, over, below, in front, behind, nearby, a long way away, inside, outside, to the right, to the left, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, home, upstairs, downstairs.    

Time: now, soon, immediately, quickly, finally, again, once, for a long time, today, generally, sometimes, always, often, before, after, early, late, never, not yet, still, already, then (=at that time), then (=next), yesterday, tomorrow, tonight.    

Quantifiers: a little, about (=approximately), almost, at least, completely, very, enough, exactly, just, not, too much, more, less.    

Manner: also, especially, gradually, of course, only, otherwise, perhaps, probably, quite, so, then (=therefore), too (=also), unfortunately, very much, well.    

CONJUNCTIONS (about 30 words)

Coordinating: and, but, or; as, than, like.    

Time & Place: when, while, before, after, since (=time), until; where.    

Manner & Logic: how, why, because, since (=because), although, if; what, who, whom, whose, which, that.