EXCELSIOR

charlene | 2020

[svensklangblr]

hottest language learning tip

write a diary

literally

just write a diary, it has helped me sooo much and i dare say it has been the most developing thing i’ve done while learning french, nothing else compares

1. you’re exposed to the language daily

2. you quickly see which words are missing from your vocabulary

3. you learn to write about the things you think about a lot

4. learning to actually think in your target language

5. having to look up words and when reading the entry back a couple of days later you can’t even remember which words you didn’t know

6. going back to the earlier entries and seeing all the mistakes and knowing how much better you’ve become

7. when you’ve been writing for a few months and your target language becomes a natural way for expressing yourself

8. when you’ve been writing for a few months and you start seeing the diary writing as a way of self-expression and stressrelief, and the language learning aspect becomes natural and secondary

9. filling out a whole book using only your target language and physically seeing how much you’ve accomplished

[valtsv]

getting approached by an animal that wants you to pet them is such a magical feeling. like they saw you and went "yeah there's love in there"

[michaelbjorkwrites]

How to easily improve the flow of your writing

When writing a story, your prose can often feel jumbled.

Muddled.

Disconnected.

Like it just doesn’t flow.

And for a long time, I never knew a clear, tangible tactic for fixing that problem, except by feel or by trial and error. Then I learned a simple, but effective trick for improving flow:

Go from the known to the unknown: use the last few words of one sentence to set up the information that’s about to appear at the beginning of the next one.

Here’s what I mean:

Think of it like crossing a stream, hopping from rock to rock — each rock acts as both a landing spot and a launching point. Writing and revising your sentences to serve a similar purpose can go a long way in improving the flow of your prose.

Let’s start by taking a look at a paragraph (prepared by yours truly) that doesn’t do this, resulting in a somewhat bumpy flow:

Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” had always inexplicably drawn Henry in. The painting was framed as a poster on his wall, and he often stared into its dizzying swirls of blue and yellow, and its fiery cypress tree — marveling at the chaos that entrenched the village scene. Henry had always hoped that Vincent was able to find some peace in expelling this vision from his mind and onto the canvas.

Feels a bit disconnected, doesn’t it? It’s still readable, but there isn’t much of a continuity of ideas bridging the sentences — no connective tissue to smooth out your journey through the prose. 

Now let’s look at the same paragraph again, but with some simple rearranging done to ensure that the information that ends each sentence also kicks off the next one (I put these hand-offs in bold):

Henry had always felt inexplicably drawn to Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” The painting was framed as a poster on his wall, and he often stared into its dizzying swirls of blue and yellow, and its fiery cypress tree — marveling at the chaos that entrenched the village scene. With such a vision expelled from the mind and onto the canvas, Henry had always hoped that Vincent was able to find some peace.

Now that reads a little better, doesn’t it? You’ll notice I didn’t even change up my word choice. Sometimes you’ll have to swap out words or change the order of your sentences, but even just rearranging information can often add a lot connectivity.

This obviously won’t be possible in every sentence and paragraph, but it’s a great rule of thumb when you want to smooth out your prose. I hope this proves as helpful to you all as it has been for me!

Good luck, and good writing, everybody.

— — —

Everyone has stories worth telling — including you. For tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog or check out my new Instagram.

[noodledesk]

a lot of you have asked how I actually use notion in my day to day life, so I’ve broken down my task manager for all of you! hope this helps :) happy notion-ing! 💖

my other posts on notion: goal setting 📚

entire post below!

Keep reading

[studiesofamarinebiologist]

Online class tips for those who hate online classes:

Get blue light blocking glasses if you can. Or sunglasses. They will help eye strain and headaches

Actually listen to lectures and pay attention

Try doing classes when you normally would in person

Textbooks! They are great to help

Take notes during lectures. Treat online lectures like an actual in person class.

Don't sit in bed all day. Be active. It helps you focus when you actually sit down for class.

Listen to the lectures outside if you can!

Start a drinking game with your friends in the class

Get your pets involved!

For people like me who are super anxious and hate talking in class, this is a perfect opportunity to participate and ask question without being in the spotlight

Get cute stationary. You aren't spending on gas and eating out so invest in some cute stationary!

Reach out to your virtual communities for help and interaction, like studyblr

Reward yourself!

Schedule time to sit and focus on school work

Dress up! Be dramatic!

Don't want to sit still? Desk excercises!

Mentors and people in the field!! Find them and email them!

Make bets with yourself

Make your notes into art and hang them around

Have nerdy conversations with the people lucky enough to be stuck with you

Write notes in a foreign language you want to learn

Clean your room so it's suitable for education

Learn that you can cus out your teachers now and they can't hear you

Educational podcasts

See if you can download lectures as mp.3 files so you can listen instead of staring at a screen

It's ok to cry during class

Sit somewhere with a wall that you can blank out at when your eyes get tired

Stretch breaks

Playlists for classes to play when doing work

Naps are valid

Cold, damp rags work wonders for hurting eyes and headaches. Lay back, close your eyes, put the rag over your eyes, and maybe nap

Burn some incense to add liveliness to a boring class

Everyone will love if you send pictures of your pets

Keep snacks and water nearby you during class to avoid getting up and leaving

Print out materials if you can

Get ahead when you can. Do things early. I have a friend who has already finished her classes a month early

CALENDARS

Study break where you don't use electronics or read

Make sure you charge everything over night

Treat it like actual class

Tests are probably open book so organize those notes!!!

Don't want to do work? Just do 10 minutes of it

[smartspo]

now that most of us are at home, i thought this could be useful to the ones who aren't that used to learning material on their own and aren’t sure where to start, or which order of steps to follow. happy studying! 💗

studygram

[queen-of-apricity]

I wish you

Clear skin

4.0 GPA

Focus

Clear goals

Love

Affection

Peace

Self love

Good things from the universe

[adelinestudiess]

Hey so, I decided to do another masterpost. This time on exams. Some tips for studying at the very last minute if you are like me, disclaimer: I am not in any way supporting cramming but this is just to help you through if you are left with no choice other than cramming.

Cramming

Cramming tips that actually work by @optomstudies

The night before the exam

What to do the night before an exam by @beautifullearning

The night before your exam by @tiny-personal-university-thing

The night before exam and I didn’t study guide by @renaistudying

The night before test and I haven’t started studying by @getstudyblr

Revision methods

Revision methods that actually work by @alimastudies

The 5 Best Revision Methods by @bstudies

Study tips

More unconventional study tips by @minimaliststudy

A stash of tiny study tips by @justestjarchives

College study tips that actually help by @samsstudygram

Five tips for study marathons by @booksavolonte

General study tips by @plantednotes

More study tips

My study tips by @anatomyandcappuccini

My study tips

Personal study tips

Quickfire study tips by @annabaestudying

Quick study tip by @studyspiratiom-coffee

Rare study tips by @studybllog

Scientifically proven study tips by @swankiegrades

Secret study tips I wish someone would have told me by @fearlessroadtomd

Some rare study tips by @organisedorgana

Top 5 study tips by @studyign

Weird study tip by @artemissstudies

101 study tips by @study-early

Study tips by @howtohighschool

Study tips from someone who has already been there by @haylstudies

Study tips straight from my professor by @just-refuse-to-be-stopped

Study tips that helped me get back on my feet by @sillydaisies

Study tips that aren’t bullshit by @thebitchwhomadeit

Tips for effective study by @kimtented

How I write revision summaries by @athenastudying

Ways to study for exams that are actually productive

10 mistakes when studying by @howtostudyquick

Memorising information

How to memorise information by @monetstudy

How to memorise information faster by @qxzu

Memorization tips by @aescademic

Memorization tips by @determinationandcaffeine

Memorization tips by @studyquill

Exam tips

How to cope with exams by @uk-studying

How to revise for exams by @a-pro-s-studyblr

Studying for exams by @orangeblossomstudies

Tips for doing well on your exams by @aboysstudyblr

Tips for doing well on your exams by @thepeachystudies

Exam tips by @studywithmaggie

Exam guides

Finals: study guide for the brave by @educatier

Pennyfynotes guide to exam season by @pennyfynotes

Quick guide to doing the finals by @inkskinned

Test taking tips

How I revise for exams + tests

How to study for a test by @tbhstudying

My test taking tips by @55studies

Test taking tips

Exam preparation

How to make a stress free exam plan by @marias-studyblr

How to mentally prep yourself for a test by @eruditicn

Procrastination

How to beat procrastination by @eintsein

Types of procrastination and how to deal with them by @emmastudies

Time management

Time management by @academiceve

Time management tips for busy students

Motivation

My motivation tag

Other masterposts by me

Notetaking masterpost

College advice masterpost

Apps for students masterpost

Icon credits to @rhubarbstudies

[crazyaboutlanguages]

[studie-s]

do u guys ever worry about the future? because i do, a lot. i always feel guilty that i’m not working hard enough thus i won’t be good enough for anything.

[shortiestudies]

how to study anything, really:

1. read up, learn more about this particular subject/topic/skill

2. practice, practice, practice !!!

3. scream

4. cry

5. repeat steps 2-4 until you’re good at said subject/topic/skill

6. congrats you’re now a smarty pants

[sumrsgirl]

student mood: I could easily sleep for 3 weeks

[cotton2am]

26.08.18

My goal is to finish at least 80% of my History homework. It’s currently 2 in the morning and I’m not even halfway finished. Not the best decision, but I’m committed enough to push through (that is… if I don’t fall asleep).

[studyblr]

me: i’m so motivated. i’m gonna do this. i will achieve everything

me, a second later: you know my bed is actually just…. better

[yournewapartment]

*urgent* sorry this is short notice but do you have a template for asking teachers for recommendation letters for college apps?

Here’s the exact email I used!

Hi Mr/Ms/Dr. XYZ,I am in the process of finalizing my list of colleges to apply to, and I was wondering if you would be willing to write a letter of recommendation for me. I’ve really enjoyed working in your class and learning from you these past few years, and I’m excited to be moving on to new pursuits in college.  If you are willing, I will be able to send you more information once I have determined which schools I am definitely applying to, and I would be glad to give you more details about my work and experience in classes, research, and extracurriculars. I aim to have all of my applications done before XYZ date. Please let me know if this would work for you, and I look forward to talking with you soon.Best,

Your Name

Pro tip: it’s nice to give them a little handwritten thank you card or even a small (i.e. $10 or less) gift after! And don’t feel bad about sending reminders and follow ups!!

[helpmewithmykorean]

If only I studied for school like I studied my target language I would be a straight A student

[maanstudies]

friendly reminder for the SAT

collegereadiness.collegeboard.org literally outlines every skill and concept tested on the SAT. it also has tons of resources and access to practice problems.  Khan Academy has also partnered with College Board to provide FREE personalized SAT prep. they have given Khan Academy eight original unreleased exams for practice.