Kia Ora 🙌🏼

I am Madison, this is my langblr, English is my first language, Māori is my Native language (was my first alongside English but life happened), i've learnt a lot of Spanish, Welsh, German. Little bit of Italian, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Arabic and Hebrew. For now I am studying Māori Language/studies at University and Spanish in my own time

[introvert-unicorn-deactivated20]

Words to describe facial expressions

Absent: preoccupied 

Agonized: as if in pain or tormented

Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire

Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest

Beatific: blissful

Black: angry or sad, or hostile

Bleak: hopeless

Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern

Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent

Brooding: anxious and gloomy

Bug eyed: frightened or surprised

Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed

Cheeky: cocky, insolent

Cheerless: sad

Choleric: hot-tempered, irate

Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings

Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor

Despondent: depressed or discouraged

Doleful: sad or afflicted

Dour: stern or obstinate

Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing

Ecstatic: delighted or entranced

Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible

Fixed: concentrated or immobile

Gazing: staring intently

Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive

Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion

Grim: fatalistic or pessimistic

Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness

Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty

Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism

Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant

Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit

Jeering: insulting or mocking

Languid: lazy or weak

Leering: sexually suggestive

Mild: easygoing

Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful

Pained: affected with discomfort or pain

Peering: with curiosity or suspicion

Peeved: annoyed

Pleading: seeking apology or assistance

Quizzical: questioning or confused

Radiant: bright, happy

Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident

Sardonic: mocking

Sour: unpleasant

Sullen: resentful

Vacant: blank or stupid looking

Wan: pale, sickly

Wary: cautious or cunning

Wide eyed: frightened or surprised

Withering: devastating

Wrathful: indignant or vengeful

Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

[nordic-language-love]

Immersion: how to immerse yourself in a language when you don’t live in that country

By someone who spends their life trying to convince themself they live in Norway

Put on background noise in your TL. Stick the radio on while you’re studying, listen to a podcast while you’re doing housework, listen to an audiobook while on the bus, whatever. Don’t worry about understanding it all - heck, you don’t even have to pay full attention. Even passively listening will improve your comprehension skills as you get used to the language’s melody (and also find yourself catching the occasional word/phrase).

Change the language of all your devices to your TL. Personally, I don’t recommend doing this until you’ve got a good grip on your basic vocab because getting a pop-up message on your phone that you don’t understand at all can be quite alarming! At least learn how to say confirm, cancel, delete, share and save.

Set your homepage to a news or webzine in your TL. I have NRK as my homepage, so whenever I open my browser I can read the headlines (and then maybe an article).

Watch the news in your TL. I highly recommend watching the news because then you get to know what issues are current in that area of the world, so then you’re learning about the culture too. (It’s also really interesting to see how world events are reported on in other countries and cultures!)

Follow people on social media who post in your TL. Not sure who to follow? News sites, TV show accounts, musicians, actors, athletes etc are always a good starting point. Also search hashtags in your TL (eg #gymnastikk #sminke #treningsglede or whatever you’re interested in)

Music. Find a playlist on spotify of your favourite genre and get listening (do the search in your TL - so for example, if you type in “norwegian rock” you may get a mixture of Norwegian and English songs by Norwegian bands, but if you type in “norsk rock” you’re more likely to get songs in Norwegian)

Video games. If you play ‘em and you have the option, change them into your target language!

Find recipes in your TL. Bonus points if they’re traditional recipes from that country because then you get to learn about the culture too! But anything that looks interesting/tasty is good.

Write lists in your TL. I write most of my shopping lists and to-do lists in Norwegian (and sometimes I post them to my blog so I can get feedback). Then, while I’m at the shop, I’ll think to myself in Norwegian: “where is the cat food? There is the cat food. Now I need soap. Where is the soap? Oh no, the soap is sold out!” Or while I’m doing my chores I’ll try to think, “now I’m washing my clothes. Next I need to clean the kitchen, and then I’ll make lunch.”

Read books. Children’s books are a good starting point if you’re a low level. Also books you’ve read in your native language, especially if you still have the original copy. (Tip: don’t get bogged down trying to translate every word you don’t know. If you can work it out from context, leave it. If you’re unsure about it and it keeps cropping up, look it up. If the sentence doesn’t make sense without it, look it up. If you wanna note down useful phrases do it, but don’t do it for every new word/phrase)

Find youtubers who create content in your TL. Again, do the search in your TL. So instead of typing “norwegian makeup videos” search for “sminkevideo norsk”

While we’re talking about youtube, try to find grammar videos in your TL, searching in your TL rather than in your native language (eg instead of searching ‘present perfect spanish’ try typing ‘el préterito perfecto español’)

Watch TV shows and movies in your TL. You can start by watching with subtitles in your native language, then move to subtitles in your TL, then eventually switch them off. (tip: watch with subtitles in your TL and then note down words/phrases that recur or words/phrases that you like. As with reading, don’t bother noting down everything you don’t know - just the odd one or two here and there that you’re like “oh hey that’s useful I wanna remember that”). You can use the Language Learning With Netflix browser extension, or google news stations in a country where your TL is spoken if you don’t know where to start.

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

“As time goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn’t, doesn’t. Time solves most things. And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself”

— Haruki Murakami

[useduppaper]

Contrast words, Swedish vocabulary

Big and small-Stor och liten

Tall and short-Lång och kort

Wet and dry-Blöt och torr

Light and dark-Ljus och mörk

Happy and sad-Glad och ledsen

Fast and slow-Snabb och långsam

High and low-Hög och låg

Hungry and full-Hungrig och mätt

Pretty and ugly-Snygg och ful

Smart and stupid-Smart och dum

Old and new/young-Gammal och ny/ung

Sit and stand-Sitta och stå

Black and white-Svart och vit

Laugh and cry-Skratta och gråta

Give and take-Ge och ta

Scream and whisper-Skrika och viska

Ask and answer-Fråga och svara

Funny and sad-Roligt och tråkigt

Here and there-Här och där

Boring and interesting-Tråkigt och intressant

A little and a lot-Lite och mycket

Cold and warm-Kall och varm

Summer and winter-Sommar och vinter

Morning and evening-Morgon och kväll

Remember and forget-Minnas och glömma

Expensive and cheap-Dyr och billig

Kind and mean-Snäll och elak

Heavy and light-Tung och lätt

Sick and healthy-Sjuk och frisk

To and from-Till och från

With and without-Med och utan

As always, if you have questions or additions, you’re welcome to asking/adding :) and if you have requests, make them!

[eintsein]

Quick Tips for Learning Languages on Your Own

Here are some mindsets and techniques that helped me study Italian on my own after classes ended. Hope this helps :)

Also, I’m trying out a new format for shorter posts–let me know what you think!

Text format below.

Keep reading

[polyglotfantasy]

Mandarin Time Vocab

Because to speak more freely when talking about events, life, etc., a good grasp of time related terms is necessary!

春季 - spring [chūnjì] 夏季 - summer [xiàjì] 秋季 - autumn [qiūjì] 在秋季 - in the autumn [zài qiūjì] 冬季 - winter [dōngjì] 季节 - season [jìjié] 早晨 - early morning [zǎochén] 上午 - late morning [shàngwǔ] 下午 - afternoon [xiàwǔ] 今天下午 - this afternoon [jīntiān xiàwǔ] 傍晚 - early evening [bàngwǎn] 晚上 - late evening [wǎnshang] 在晚上 - in the evening [zài wǎnshang] 今晚 - this evening [jīnwǎn] 天 - day [tiān] 在白天 - during the day [zài báitiān] 后天 -  the day after tomorrow [hòutiān] 一天天地 - day by day [yī tiāntiān de] 现在 -  nowadays [xiànzài] 前天 - the day before yesterday [qiántiān] 晚上 - night [wǎnshang] 夜里 - during the night [yèlǐ] 前天晚上 - the night before last [qiántiān wǎnshang] 早 - early [zǎo] 迟的 / 稍晚的 - late [chí de / shāowǎn de] 准时 -  on time [zhǔnshí] 时间 -  time [shíjiān] 片刻 - second [piànkè] 分钟 - minute [fēnzhōng] 小时 - hour [xiǎoshí] 钟 - clock [zhōng] 黎明 - dawn [límíng] 黄昏 -  dusk [huánghūn] 黄昏时刻 - at dusk [huánghūn shíkè] 从早到晚 -  from dawn to dusk [cóng zǎo dào wǎn]

[spanishskulduggery]

Buenas! Tengo problemas con volver y regresar... Siempre quiero decir regresar, tal vez porque me recuerda a "regress" en inglés... ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre los dos? ¿Estoy loca por usar solo regresar? Gracias 🙏🏻

La respuesta simple: Las dos funcionan para “to return”

The complicated part I’ll say in English because there’s some nuance and it’s not easy to explain.

So like I said, they’re both fine as “to return” or “to go back”; though “to regress” in a medical or clinical field is usually retroceder which is kind of like “to be pushed back” in a way

In terms of etymology, you’re right; the -gress in “regress” is the same one you see in “progress”, “ingress”, “digress”... that -gress is related to a word that means “to walk”. The verb volver on the other hand is related to “turning” as in “revolution” or “involve”, “revolve”, “evolve”

In a sense, one is “to go back” and the other is “to turn (around)” or “to return”

I will say that volver has more uses than regresar but that’s part of the nuance of the verb. If you were saying ya vuelvo or ya regreso it’s sort of like the difference between saying “I’ve returned” and “I’m back now”

With volver, it’s more commonly used in transportation, particularly in words related to it... so la vuelta “return” or de ida y vuelta “return (trip)”

Other than that, volver when used with the prepositon a and infinitive is used as “to do something again”:

Vuelvo a hablar con ella. = I’m talking to her again.

Vuelvo a jugar al béisbol con el equipo. = I’m playing baseball with the team again.

Vuelven a florecer las rosas. = The roses are blooming again.

The other more idiomatic use of volver is when you see it as volverse which is normally “to become”.

The use of volverse as “to become” is primarily used with emotions or extreme states of being [usually loco/a “crazy”], indicating some kind of suddenness and typically in a very negative way. You frequently see it as “turning” or “went” in translation:

La gente se ha vuelto loca. = People went crazy.

Ellos se volvieron locos. = They went crazy.

Empezó a volverse violento. = He started to get violent. / He started to become violent.

Though not super common, you could use it with more basic emotions and things like that.

For example if someone “becomes sad” you normally use ponerse triste “to become sad”. Saying volverse triste is uncommon but I wouldn’t say it’s technically wrong, but it would to me indicate that someone was suddenly distraught, not just a regular kind of sad.

I also remember in the Spanish version of Willy Wonka they say Violet, te vuelves violeta to translate the line “Violet, you’re turning violet” when the girl turns into a blueberry.

With regresar it’s usually physical movement, and it’s a very simple verb by comparison. I think both make sense and are understood, though volver might be a bit more commonplace just because it’s more versatile.

[damnselfly-b-deactivated2022042]

quick protip: if someone is crying or freaking out over something minor, eg wifi not connecting, can’t find their hat, people talking too loud, do NOT tell them how small or petty the problem is to make it better. they know. they would probably love to calm down. you are doing the furthest possible thing from helping. people don’t have to earn expressions of feelings.

[shoren18]

I’m just gonna put it out there that if someone’s freaking about something small, they’re really freaking out about something big that they’re trying to deal with, or something long term that’s been building up, and that little thing is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I don’t know, try and give people the benefit of the doubt. Don’t be the next straw on their broken back.

[wanderlustlanguages]

TEDTalks related to language (learning)

because (sometimes) they motivate me

How language shapes the way we think | Lera Boroditsky

The secrets of learning a new language | Lýdia Machová

How to learn any language in six months | Chris Lonsdale | TEDxLingnanUniversity

Learning a language? Speak it like you’re playing a video game | Marianna Pascal | TEDxPenangRoad

Why We Struggle Learning Languages | Gabriel Wyner | TEDxNewBedford

5 techniques to speak any language | Sid Efromovich | TEDxUpperEastSide

Breaking the language barrier | Tim Doner | TEDxTeen 2014

How to learn any language easily | Matthew Youlden | TEDxClapham

The Irish Language and Beauty | Dónall Ó Héalaí | TEDxBerkeley

How to Talk Like a Native Speaker | Marc Green | TEDxHeidelberg

How the language you speak affects your thoughts

Hacking Language Learning: Dr. Conor Quinn at TEDxDirigo

How learning German taught me the link between maths and poetry | Harry Baker | TEDxVienna

We'r Needin tae Talk Aboot Wir Language | Michael Dempster | TEDxInverness

One Simple Method to Learn Any Language | Scott Young & Vat Jaiswal | TEDxEastsidePrep

Learning a Second Language | Shinyoung Grace Kim | TEDxYouth@AISR

Let me know if I missed your favourite!

[wombshaker]

i love speaking with people who are more intelligent in a certain field than i am, like it’s just great to sit back and listen to somebody educate you on shit they’re passionate about

[cartnsncreal]

Reblog and you might save someone’s life, especially with all our Black Girls going missing #ProtectBlackGirls #SaveLife

[lazorsandparadox]

For those who don’t know what’s happening in the video, she untied her shoelaces, pulled one through the inside of the zip tie binding her hands, then tied the shoelaces together. Then, by pulling downward and back and forth on the shoelaces with her feet, she created enough friction to wear away part of the ziptie, making it weak enough to snap right off her hands.

[m3rcykill]

SIGNAL BOOST

SIGNAL BOOST

SIGNAL BOOST

[jewel-charisse-deactivated20181]

Will always reblog

[yourladyindank]

Protect all the ladies and the dudes

[your-naked-magic-oh-dear-lord]

Damn

[fenway03]

For those who don’t have shoelaces and for those who do but don’t want to trip over their own feet in case something goes wrong, here’s another way:

It’s all about quick, determined movement of your arms. To see it in action, watch the video at https://youtu.be/0Gr6HX_IKpw?t=9m – the zip ties part starts around the 8:00 min mark. The video also shows how to escape handcuffs and duct tape. And if you’re wondering what to do when you’ve got your hands behind your back, go to approx. the 0:20 min mark of the following video: “Moving cuffs from behind back to front position” (taken from thrillwriting.blogspot.de/2013/05/credit-wikipedia-disclaimer-this-is-non.html, where you’ll also find additional information on how to escape handcuffs). 

[8thwonderful]

For teach this to your kids….boys too. We don’t need to lose noone

[the-backspin-alchemist]

Every so often Brian Brushwood makes a video on something that’s not just “hey look guys fun magic stuff!” and that could actually be useful in case (god forbid) you find yourself in a hairy situation.

He’s got a few videos on lock-picking and improvised weapons on his YouTube channels, Scam School and The Modern Rogue. I might link them later after work if I can find them (and remember to do so).

[the-backspin-alchemist]

Okay, so, a few additions to this post now that I’ve remembered I said I’d add things:

Lock-picking with a paperclip

Dependent on people using an older lock, but on the off chance it becomes necessary, picking a bike lock with a pen

Picking a padlock (a bit specific on the lock type, but it’s relevant in case you’ve gotta get out of any place held closed with one of these)

And they have a bunch of martial arts/self-defense stuff on The Modern Rogue:

Blocking a haymaker

Chocking an assailant with their jacket 

The wrist-lock and the wrist-lock takedown

The Gable Grip

Getting out of a knife attack, krav-maga-style

More krav maga, this time dealing with assault rifles

Fighting with a quarterstaff (These HURT, but are also EVERYWHERE)

[realsocialskills]

ASL is a language

American Sign Language and other signed languages are languages. It’s important to respect them as languages.

ASL is not English. It is a completely different language. Similarly, signed languages aren’t all the same. British Sign Language is completely different from ASL.

Signs are not universal, any more than spoken words are universal. The meaning of a sign isn’t always obvious just by watching; many signs are completely arbitrary.

Sign is not pantomime, and it’s not ad hoc gesture. It’s also not like symbolic gestures that are sometimes made up to accompany kids songs either. It’s a language, with all the complexities of language. The difference is important, and it needs to be respected. 

In order to know what signs mean, you have to learn them. (Just like in order to know what spoken words mean, you have to learn them.)

ASL is not just gestures, any more than spoken languages are just sounds. ASL has grammar, vocabulary, and culture. It’s important to respect this and not erase it.  

[athenastudying-deactivated20220]

I was wondering if you had any tips on immersing yourself in a language without being in the country. I am going to Germany this summer for two months. I want to go there to get an idea before I apply to uni over there or even move there. I will be taking a course through the goethe institute and at the end of the summer take an exam through them to get a certificate. I live in the us and my german feels like it is lacking. I'm working on duolingo, reading books and listening to podcasts.

I mean you’re already doing a lot! If you want to do even more, here are some ideas: 

Try watching German TV shows and movies in the original. Youtube has a bunch of ZDF shows, for example. That’ll get you used to normal speed and articulation, both of which are sometimes off in shows that are dubbed in German. 

German newspapers are also a good source. A fun activity that I also like to do with English is seeing how another country reports about what’s happening in my own country - for example, here are all the Trump articles from the Süddeutsche. 

Small changes can do a lot - change your settings to German and talk to Siri/Voiceover in German. 

Idk what books you’re reading, but same as with the TV shows, I’d recommend reading German originals rather than translations of English books. We have some really cool classics that’ll certainly challenge you! Try dramas by Schiller or Goethe (they also have some dope poetry), maybe an annotated or bilingual version so you don’t get discouraged. 

Hope this helped! Good luck x

[nordic-language-love]

Podcasts, radio and audiobooks are awesome for immersion! I pretty much always have Norwegian radio as background noise whenever I’m studying, or I’ll listen to an audiobook or podcast while I’m doing housework, walking somewhere, driving etc. You don’t even have to be paying full attention - just having it as background noise helps you get used to the rhythm of the language and you start picking out phrases and words you recognise.

Also, follow people on social media who post in German. My instagram feed is full of Norwegian pole dancers, musicians, snowboarders and athletes and it really helps you get a feel for natural everyday language.

If you cook or bake, you can try finding some German recipes to follow too.

If you play video games, change the language to German.

[obe]

[itbrennan-deactivated20190203]

[catchymemes]

[midwestlaw]

IF YOU STUDY FRENCH, LISTEN UP:

 Bon Patron will save your life. 

What is it?

 a free grammar checker that was developed by French professors

 not extremely sophisticated and won’t catch all of your errors 

but WILL prevent you from making dumb conjugation or agreement mistakes. 

MUCH BETTER THAN MICROSOFT WORD

What does it look like?

What’s it do?

it marks what mistakes you made (writes them out and you can also hover over them - I couldn’t screenshot the entire list because it is VERY THOROUGH) 

(I feel like I need to mention this is an automatically generated example, I’m bad at french but I’m not that bad)

says what type of mistake it is 

and what you can do to fix them.

What do I do with it?

Obviously don’t rely on it 100%, but if you’ve been staring at an essay for five hours it’s so nice to be able to run it through and have it catch the article you misused in the middle of the fourth paragraph. 

make sure you check again after correcting the errors because sometimes new ones will be flagged 

double check your work, sometimes it suggests corrections that you don’t need to make (since it’s a computer program and you’re a person)

BUT GO FORTH AND IMPROVE YOUR FRENCH GRADES (& share the good news)

[inlanguagewedontsay]

In Mexican Spanish we don’t say “To spare no expense” or “To pour money down the drain“ we say “Tirar la casa por la ventana” which translates to “Throw the house out of the window” and I think that’s beautiful.

Seriously tho, that’s a thing.

Submitted by Christian