keep it real

linguist & tolkien nerd | 中文 • español • français • deutsch • svenska | main: @xointrovert

[cozyism]

i'm working late, because i'm a master's student

[helenstudies]

People always ask me how I learn languages! Well, I sit down and study. Sometimes I stand up and study. And no, there are no shortcuts. You actually have to engage with a language for hours to learn it. Even people who learn how to speak languages by speaking have to go up to other people and talk at length. Also, knowing how to speak 20 phrases you've memorized is not speaking a language. That's what people selling phrasebooks and premium study plans on youtube wants you to believe. Sorry. It actually takes years for you to become good at a target language. You'll just have to find a way to make those years bearable. Sorry again.

[dostoyevsky-official]

just one more graduate degree bro. i promise bro just one more graduate degree bro and it'll fix everything bro. bro. just one more degree bro. please just one more. one more graduate degree and we can fix this whole problem bro. bro cmon just get one more graduate degree bro i promise bro. bro bro please you jsut need one more degree

[phledgeling]

15 | 05 | 2020

finished referencing the care plans, and threw myself into a little more Swedish practice with general questions. I also found out that Past Me had annotated the last care plan so that I didn’t have to figure out which information matched up where - what a babe 😍

Fri - Would you rather speak all languages or be able to speak to all animals?

Humans are animals (and we’d do well to remember it) so I’d say I’d like to speak to all animals please 🐾

[soap-stones]

y'all ever have a granola bowl that hits so perfectly you almost start crying

[soap-stones]

i know i have proselytized abt that granola before. you've heard it before and you'll hear it again!! this time with a recipe tho, because i don't thiiiink i've ever posted it to this blog. ok here we go. this takes like 15 minutes of active cooking time, max, and most of that is measuring ingredients.

dry ingredients!! in a big bowl, mix

350g oats! i use half oats and half flaked spelt but that's just me, you don't have to.

200g mixed raw nuts, chopped! i put whatever i have on hand (usually almonds, walnuts, and macadamia nuts) in a food processor and pulse a few times.

50g raw pepitas

50g coconut flakes

honestly i tend to pre-measure the dry stuff and just stick it in a cabinet until i'm ready to actually make the granola.

wet ingredients! in a little saucepan, combine about

half a cup of honey (i eyeball the wet ingredients... the internet says this is about 170g)

a few big spoonfuls of coconut oil (abt 40g)

and a big pinch of salt

heat those, stirring regularly, until they melt together; once it's cooled a little, pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until it's all covered. you can also whisk some egg whites until they're nice and frothy and mix those in too, if you want your granola to cohere a little more (which i always do).

preheat the oven to 275f; while it's heating, line 2 trays with parchment paper and spread the granola out evenly. cook for 30 minutes and leave out to cool before you put it away!

[rozentias-deactivated20240103]

in the latest cyber-news: the internet archive has lost their case against 4 major publishing houses (verge article). they’re going to appeal, but this is still a bad outcome. the fate of the internet is currently hanging in the balance because 4 multibillionare publishing groups missed out on like $15 of combined revenue during the pandemic because of the archive’s online library service. it’s so fucking stupid.

for those who don’t know what the internet archive is, it’s a virtual library full of media. books, magazines, recordings, visuals, flash games, websites - a lot of these things either don’t exist anymore or cannot be found & bought. heard of the wayback machine? that’s part of the internet archive. it is the most important website to exist, and i don’t say that lightly. if the internet archive goes down, the cultural loss will be immeasurable.

so how can you help?

boycott the publishing companies involved in this. they’re absolute ghouls, frankly, and don’t deserve a penny. the companies involved are harpercollins (imprints), wiley (imprints), penguin random house llc (imprints), and hachette book group (imprints). make sure the websites are set to your location as it may differ worldwide.

learn to torrent. download a torrent client (i recommend transmission), a vpn (i recommend protonvpn - sign up and choose the area that’s closest to your continent/country), and hit up /r/piracy on reddit for websites. with torrenting, you can get (almost) any media you want for free in high quality, with add-ons such as subtitles, and with no risks of loss. i would also recommend getting into the habit of watching stuff online for free. the less you can pay to a giant corporation, the better.

get into the habit of downloading and archiving materials. find a TB external hard drive, ideally the higher the better. it’ll probably cost around $60 for 1TB and continue to go up, but they’re so so useful. if you can’t afford a drive, look for any GB harddrives or memory sticks you have lying around and just fill them up. videos, pdfs, magazines, songs, movies, games - anything you can rip and download and fit on there, do it, because nothing is permanent.

donate to the internet archive. this is the most important option on the list. the IA relies entirely on funding, and it’s going to need more to fight this case. whatever you can donate, do it. i promise it’s helpful.

and finally…

[charaznablescanontoyota]

cannot stress enough that donating to the internet archive to help them appeal this without going broke is the most important thing you can do right now. my day job revolves around fulfilling digital article and book scan requests at an academic library and a huge part of that is borrowing from other libraries that do controlled digital lending (incl. the internet archive!). copyright law is already hugely restrictive on what we can and can't lend, and we absolutely don't have the option to pirate anything for our patrons due to being a large academic institution. it's difficult to overstate just how bad this ruling could end up being for libraries that have digital lending programs, esp ones that rely on CDR for old/archival/hard-to-find texts.

[drunk-poets-society]

People learning multiple languages will be like “I’m sorry I’m not fluent I’ve been learning this for months but my level is that of a six year old”

My brother in Christ how long do you think it took the six year old

[logogreffe]

How to use "chier" in French

If you have to learn one bad word in French, I'll recommend "chier" (to shit). Even though it's a bad word, people that usually don't swear still use it in a few expressions. (to be used in informal settings only) 1) faire chier quelqu'un : (lit. to make someone shit) = to annoy somebody / to piss off somebody - Tu me fais chier ! // You're pissing me off ! - Cet exo* me fait chier // This exercise is pissing me off *exo = shortened version of exercice - Arrête de le faire chier ! // Stop pissing him off ! - Thomas fait chier Stéphanie // Thomas is pissing off Stéphanie 2) se faire chier : (lit. to make oneself shit) = to be bored Je me fais chier // I'm bored (The formal way of saying this would be "Je m'ennuie") tu te fais chier, il/elle/on se fait chier, nous nous faisons chier, vous vous faites chier, ils/elles se font chier. 3) se faire chier (à faire quelque chose) = to make a tiring effort (to do something) for nothing - Je me suis fait chier à aller jusque chez lui à l'autre bout de la ville et je ne l'ai même pas vu. // I made the fucking effort of going to his house across town and I didn't even see him. A : Je vais faire les courses, t'as besoin de quelque chose ? B : Te fais pas chier, j'irai moi même cet aprèm * ! *aprèm = shortened version of après-midi A : I'm going grocery shopping, do you need anything ? B : Don't bother, I'll go myself this afternoon ! Note : Be careful with this one ! If you want to say : "I've helped you for nothing then" and you say "je me suis fait chier à t'aider pour rien alors" it implies that helping that person was a really tiring effort that you didn't want to do in the first place (not really nice) "Je t'ai aidé pour rien alors" is more neutral 4) Chiant (lit. to have the ability of making somebody shit) = boring or annoying Ce film est trop chiant // This movie is so boring Note : if you're talking about a person, it will mean (for most people) that this person is really annoying (and not boring), unless the context implies otherwise. - Il est trop chiant, il parle super fort, ça me donne mal à la tête // He's so annoying, he talks really loudly, it gives me headaches. - Il est super chiant, il ne parle que de lui et de ses compléments alimentaires // He's so boring, he only talks about himself and his supplements. Final Notes : - (There are a few other expressions using "chier" but I don't like them so ...) - Of course, "chier" can also be used if you want to say "to shit" "I have to shit" = "J'ai envie de chier". As mentionned in the intro the expressions I've presented are really common, (still slang), I would recommend that you learn them. BUT "chier" to say "to shit" is another level of slang. I personnaly never use it . Growing up I could say "c'est chiant" in front of my parents without them batting an eye, but if I had said " j'ai envie de chier" ............🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️💀⚰️💀⚰️💀

[optimistic-nihilist]

[bibliophilebynight-deactivated2]

•12 Months, 12 Themes•

I love, love, love how this has turned out! I decided last year to track all my 2022 themes in one spread and it’s so cool looking back at this now.

Stickers from: @littlemissrose and @planningwithkay Journal from: @archerandolive

#bulletjournal #bujo #bujoideas #bulletjournalideas #journal #journaling #planner #planneraddict #bujocommunity #bulletjournalnz #archerandolive (at Wellington, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmM_f4BSeWr/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[benkyoutobentou]

I don’t normally make these kinds of posts, but I’m looking for some more blogs to follow so please interact with this post if you’re a langblr blog that studies Mandarin!

[gizkalord]

actually toxic masculinity was permanently defeated when aragorn cradled boromir’s face and said “be at peace son of gondor” and then tenderly kissed him on the forehead

[luminous-studiess]

i struggle getting things done on some days. it’s very hard. but i think of how lapsing into habits or behaviors that you thought you’d overgrown is often seen as regressing— but i’ve come to see it as a natural cyclic part of life. like spring and winter, death and rebirth. 

[exisdreadgrl]

[neenarchive]

(through gritted teeth) i love being out of my comfort zone it is necessary for my personal development

[linguistness]

Learning a language = learning a culture

To truly understand a language and the people speaking that language, you also have to make a conscious effort to learn about the culture and history of these people. I know that the cultures of the countries where a language is spoken can be very different (e.g. Mexico vs. Spain, France vs. all African states where French is spoken, and even England vs. Ireland vs. Australia), so these suggestions work best if you have a specific target country in mind.

Here are some ideas on where to start: 

look at the political system of your target country/culture: how does it work? Who are the most important people right now? Is there a monarchy? 

look at the (broad) history of your target country/culture: since when is it an official country? Has it been in any wars? If so, with who and why? Was this country ever colonised or a coloniser? 

research the most popular TV shows from the last 20 - 30 years and watch some of them

find out the most popular sport of this target country/culture and the culture surrounding it 

research the holidays and how they are celebrated and whether there are any special holidays & what they mean to your target country/culture

watch some movies and TV shows that were made in your target country/culture, so you can get insights into the everyday lives of these people and how they interact

watch/read some news of your target country to find out what’s happening there right now & what the most important topics are for them

research how the school & education system works

research how the healthcare system works

research the typical cuisine of your target country/culture

find out whether there is some kind of traditional wear, its history, and what it means to the people

find out whether there are any indigenous people living in your target country, what their history is, and how they are perceived/treated in the country’s society nowadays

are there any stereotypes about this country/culture? Research whether or not they are true and why they exist in the first place

find out whether there is some kind of traditional folk music. Listen to it and find out its history and what it means to your target country/culture

what are the main religions of your target country/culture and how incorporated are their practices in society?

are there any social divides in your target country/culture? If so, what are they based on?

how is your target country’s relationship to its neighbouring countries?

.

If you have any other ideas or suggestions, feel free to comment or reblog!

.

[honest-studies]

Goncharov (1973) International Posters

Translation Credits Serbo-Croatian (Croatian/Bosnian) - Katarina Kačevac Hadžihmetović Serbo-Croatian (Serbian/Montenegrin) - Katarina Kačevac Hadžihmetović Chinese (Traditional) - CMH (@honest-studies) Spanish - Nadia C., Dante S., Cristobal B. French - Anonymous Hindi - Anonymous Russian - Haze German - Prinzessin der Spinnen Portuguese (Brazilian) - Anonymous

Original poster design credits to @beelzeebub, Photoshop editing work by me.