easiest way to write a paper on literally anything :
1. leave your intro and conclusion for the end, I mean it don’t try to write your intro until the end, just trust me.
2. figure out your main point and get at least three defensible (credible) reasons to argue that point.
3. start your body like this:
introduce what you’re gonna say. Provide evidence (citation). Connect it to the bigger picture. Show your understanding. [add in transitions for fluff]
-> sentences for each if you need your paper short, paragraphs for each of you need your paper long
4. then rinse and repeat
5. need to add in other sections like a rebuttal or gaps in the literature? do the same paragraph format :
intro sentence. main discussion (citations as needed). connection to bigger picture. show your understanding.
6. now write your intro :
first get the readers attention, idc how just hook em. what the hell are you talking about? why does it matter beyond your main point? what do you want the reader to be thinking about as they read your paper? what is your main point? summarize your evidence.
-> again sentences = short, paragraphs = long & transition statements for fluff.
7. the conclusion is basically the introduction but ordered differently and use different wording - you can literally just copy and paste what you wrote in the intro, use a thesaurus and rewrite it.
What the hell were you talking about? what evidence did you give? what was your main point? why does it matter in a broader scope? What did you want the reader to think about?
Language Apps Suck, Now What?: A Guide to Actually Becoming "Fluent"
The much requested sequel to my DL post that was promised almost a year ago.
I'm going to address all of the techniques that have helped me in my language learning journeys. Since 95% of these came from the fact that in a past language learning mistake, they are titled as my mistakes (and how I would/did things differently going forward). For those that read to the bottom there is a "best universal resources" list.
Disclaimers:
"Fluency" is hard to define and everyone has their own goals. So for the purpose of this post, "fluency" will be defined as "your personal mastery target of the language".
If you just want to pick up a bit of a language to not sound like a total foreigner on vacation or just exchange a few words in a friend's native language, feel free to ignore what doesn't apply, but maybe something here could help make it a little easier.
This is based on my own personal experience and (some) research.
Mistake 1: Asymmetrical Studying
Assuming you don't just want to do a single activity in a language, or are learning a language like ASL, a language requires 4 parts to be studied: Speaking, Listening, Writing, Reading. While these have overlap, you can't learn speaking from reading, or even learn speaking from just listening. One of my first Chinese teachers told me how he would listen to the textbook dialogues while he was biking to classes and it helped him. I took this information, thought "Yeah that's an idea, but sounds boring" and now regret not taking his advice nearly every day.
I think a lot of us find methods we enjoy to study (mine was reading) and assume that if we just do that method more ™ it will eventually help us in other areas (sometimes it does, but that's only sometimes). Find a method that works for you for each area of study, even better find more than one method since we use these skills in a variety of manners! I can understand a TV program pretty well since I have a lot of context clues and body language to fill in any gaps of understanding, but taking a phone call is much harder—the audio is rougher, there's no body language to read, and since most Chinese programs have hard coded subtitles, no subtitles to fall back on either. If I were to compare the number of hours I spent reading in Chinese to (actively) training my listening? Probably a ratio of 100 to 1. When I started to learn Korean, the first thing I did was find a variety of listening resources for my level.
Fix: Find a variety of study methods that challenge all aspects of the language in different ways.
A variety of methods will help you develop a more well-rounded level of mastery, and probably help you keep from getting bored. Which is important because...
Mistake 2: Inconsistent Studying
If there is one positive to a language app, it is the pressure it puts on keeping a streak. Making studying a part of your everyday routine is the best thing you can do. I benefited a lot from taking a college language course since I had a dedicated time to study and practice Chinese 5 days out of the week (and homework usually filled the other two). Memorization is a huge part of language learning, and stopping and starting is terrible for memorization. When I was in elementary school, we had Spanish maybe a couple times a month. Looking back, it seems like it was the first class to be cut if we needed to catch up on a more important course. Needless to say, I can't even speak Spanish at an elementary level.
However, I'm sure many people reading this don't have the time to do ultra-immersion 4-hour study sessions every day either. Find what days during the week you have time to focus on learning new vocab and grammar, and use the rest of the week to review. This can be done on your commute to school/work, while you do the dishes, or as a part of your morning/evening routine. Making this as realistic as possible will help you actually succeed in making this a habit. (Check this out for how to set realistic study goals)
Fix: Study regularly (ideally daily) by setting realistic goals. Avoid "binge" studying since remembering requires consistent repetition to be most effective.
Mistake 3: Resource Choice
This is really composed of two mistakes, but I have a good example that will cover them both.
First, finding resources that are at or slightly above your level is the most important thing. Easy resources will not challenge you enough and difficult resources will overwhelm you. The ideal is n+1, with n as what you know plus 1 new thing.
Second, getting distracted by fancy, new technology. Newer isn't always better, and there are often advantages that are lost when we've made technological developments. I often found myself wanting to try out new browser extensions or organizational methods and honestly I would've benefitted from just using that time to study. (Also, you're probably reading this because of my DL post so I don't think it has to be said that AI resources suck.)
A good example of this was my time using Clozemaster. I had actually recommended it when I first started using it since I thought the foundation was really solid. However, after long term use, I found that it just wasn't a good fit. The sentences were often too simple or too long and strange for memorization at higher levels or were too difficult at lower levels. I think that taking my textbook's example sentences from dialogues into something like Anki would've been a far better use of my time (and money) as they were already designed to be at that n+1 level.
Fix: "Vet" your resources—make sure they will actually help you. If something is working for you, then keep using it! You don't always have to upgrade to the newest tool/method.
Mistake 3.5: Classrooms and Textbooks
A .5 since it's not my mistake, but an addendum of caution. I think there is a significant part of the language learning community that views textbooks and classroom learning as the worst possible resource. They are "boring", "outdated", and "ineffective" (ironically one of the most interesting modern language learning methods, ALG, is only done in a classroom setting). Classrooms and textbooks bring back memories of being surrounded by mostly uninterested classmates, minimal priority, and a focus on grades rather than personal achievement (imagine the difference between a class of middle schoolers who were forced to choose a foreign language vs. adult learners who self-selected!) People have used these exact methods, or even "cruder" methods, to successfully learn a language. It all comes down to what works best for you. I specifically recommend textbooks for learning grammar and the plentiful number of dialogues and written passages that can function great as graded readers and listening resources. (Also the distinction made between "a youtube lesson on a grammatical principle" which is totally cool, and "a passage in a grammar textbook" is more one of tone and audio/written than efficacy).
Classrooms can be really great for speaking practice since they can be a lot less intimidating speaking to someone who is also learning while receiving corrections. Speech can be awkward to train on your own (not impossible if you're good at just talking aloud to yourself!), and classrooms can work nicely for this. Homework and class schedules also have built in accountability!
Fix: Explore resources available to you and try to think holistically about your approach. CI+Traditional Methods is my go to "Learning Cocktail"
Mistake 4: Yes, Immersion, But...
I realized this relatively quickly while learning Chinese, but immersion at a level much higher than your current level will do very little for you. What is sometimes left out of those "Just watch anime to learn Japanese" discussions is that you first need to have a chance at understanding what is being said. Choosing materials that are much higher than your level will not teach you the language. It doesn't matter how many times someone at HSK 1 hears “他是甘露之惠，我并无此水可还”, they will not get very far. Actual deduction and learning comes from having enough familiar components to be able to make deductions—something different than guessing. An HSK 1 learner, never having heard the word 老虎 will be able to understand "tiger" if someone says “这是我的老虎” while standing next to a tiger. This is not to say you can never try something more difficult—things should be challenging—but if you can't make heads or tails of what's being said, then it's time to find something a bit easier. If mistake 2 is about the type of method, this is about the level. If you wouldn't give a kindergartener The Great Gatsby to learn how to read, why would you watch Full Metal Alchemist to start learning a language?
Side note: Interesting video here on the Comprehensible Input hypothesis and how it relates to neurodivergence.
Fix: Immerse yourself in appropriate content for your level. It's called comprehensible input for a reason.
Mistake 5: On Translation
I work as a translator, so do you really think I'm going to say translation is all bad? Of course not. It's a separate skill that can be added on to the basic skills, but is really only required if you are A. someone who is an intermediary between two languages (say you have to translate for a spouse or family member) or B. It is your job/hobby. In the context of sitting down and learning, it can be harmful. I think my brain often goes to translation too often because that's how I used to learn. Trying to unlearn that is difficult because, well, what do people even mean when they say "don't translate"? They mean when someone says "thank you", you should not go to your primary language and translate "you're welcome" from that. You should train yourself to go to your target language first when you hear the word for "thank you". A very literally translated "thank you" in Chinese "谢谢你" can come off as cold and sarcastic. I don't tell my friends that, I say "谢啦～". Direct translation can take away the difference in culture, grammar, and politeness in a language. If there is a reason you sound awkward while writing and speaking, it's probably because you're imposing your primary language on your target language.
Fix: Try as hard as you can to not work from your primary language into the target language, but to work from the structures, set phrases, and grammar within the target language that you know first.
Mistake 6: The Secret Language Learners Don't Want You To Know...
...is that there is no one easy method. You are not going to learn French while you sleep, or master Korean by doing this one easy trick. Learning a language requires work and dedication, the people that succeed are those that push through the boredom of repetition and failure. The "I learned X in 1 year/month/week/day!" crowd is hiding large asterisks, be it their actual level, the assistance and free time available to them, "well actually I had already studied this for 4 years", or just straight-up lying. Our own journeys in our native tongue were not easy, they required years and years of constant immersion and instruction. While we are now older and wiser people that can make quick connections, we are also burdened with things like "jobs", "house work", "school work", and the digital black hole that is "social media" that take up our time and energy. Everything above is to help make this journey a little bit easier, quicker, and painless, but it will never be magic.
I find that language learning has a lot in common with the fitness community. People will talk about the workout that changed their life and how no other one will do the same—and it really can be the truth that it changed their life and that they feel it is the ultimate way. The real workout that will change your life is the one you're most consistent with, that you enjoy the most. Language learning is just trying to find the brain exercise that you can be the most consistent with.
Fix: Save your energy looking for shortcuts, and do the work, fail, and come back for more. If someone tells you that you can become fluent in a ridiculously short amount of time, they are selling you a fantasy (and likely a product). You get out what you put in.
For those that made it to the end, here are some of my "universal resources":
Refold Method: I don't agree with their actual method 100%, but they've collected a lot of great resources for learning languages. I've found their Chinese and Korean discords to also be really helpful and provided even more resources than what's given in their starter guides.
Language Reactor: Very useful, and have recently added podcasts as a material! The free version is honestly all you need.
Anki: If I do not mention it, the people with 4+ year streaks with a 5K word deck will not let me forget it. It can be used on desktop or on your phone as an app. If you need a replacement for a language learning app, this is one of them. Justin Sung has a lot of great info on how to best utilize Anki (as does Refold). It's not my favorite, but it could be yours!
LingQ: "But I thought you said language apps are bad!" In isolation, yes. Sorry for the clickbait. This one is pretty good, and more interested in immersing you in the language than selling a subscription to allow you to freeze your streak so the number goes up.
Grammar Textbooks: For self-taught learning, these are going to be the best resource since it's focused on the hardest part of the language, and only that. If you're tired of seeing group work activities, look for a textbook that is just on grammar (Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar is my rec for Chinese, and A Guide to Japanese Grammar by Tae Kim is the most common/enthusiastic rec I've heard for Japanese).
Shadowing: Simply repeat what you hear. Matt vs Japan talks about his setup here for optimized shadowing (which you can probably build for a lot cheaper now), but it can also just be you watching a video and pausing to repeat after each sentence or near simultaneously if you're able.
Youtube: Be it "Short Story for Beginners", "How to use X", "250 Essential Phrases", or a GRWM in your target language, Youtube is the best. Sometimes you have to dig to find what works for you, but I imagine there is something for everyone at every level. (Pro tip: People upload textbook audio dialogues often, you don't even have to buy the textbook to be able to learn from it!)
A Friend: Be it a fellow learner, or someone who has already mastered the language, it is easier when you have someone, not only to speak to, but to remind you why you're doing this. I write far more in Chinese because I have friends I can text in Chinese.
Pen and Paper: Study after study, writing on paper continues to be the best method for memorization. Typing or using a pen and tablet still can't compare to traditional methods.
The Replies (Probably): Lots of people were happy to give alternatives for specific languages in the replies of my DL post. The community here is pretty active, so if this post blows up at least 20% of what the last one did, you might be able to find some great stuff in the replies and reblogs.
hi, i made a database on notion of a bunch of resources, online archives, journals and so on i frequently use for research!!
not all of these are open access/free, and some might be through a library membership (but most are open access) but the idea of this was more to get the names and links of resources in one place so things don't slip through the cracks
it's a work in progress and i'll keep adding more as i find them/think of them but in the meantime here we are
frgive me if u've posted abt it before, tumblr search and all, but do u have any advice for finding cool stuff on the archive? like any tricks for searching keywords or smthn? i've been wanting to look into disability on the early web :)
when using the search bar, try plugging things in using these:
creator:"CREATOR HERE" or subject:"SUBJECT HERE" will bring you specific results. there are also subject tags in the sidebar here:
through using these filters you can really narrow down subject matter/material.
for your topic, you could search subject:"disability" or "disability studies" etc.
also, if you know any particular scholars who talk about this stuff, you can put creator:"AUTHOR NAME" or author:"AUTHOR NAME".
here's a link to the tag (disability studies) pictured in the above screenshot
narrowing down by year might be helpful for you particularly, looking at things from the 90s will give you a perspective on early internet age takes on disability...etc
also, next to the search bar is a 'favorite' button–to bookmark your page or the collection you're viewing, hit that, then you can view it later in your account...yayyy
ANOTHER WAY is to use a searchbar like google/duckduckgo/etc
by plugging in the "site:archive.org" after my search query i filter my results.
I needed to put all my reading resources in one place lol
Tadoku - free books from beginner to advanced aimed at language learners. The books from level 0 - 4 contain furigana.
YomuJP - More free japanese graded reading material. N6 is the easiest and N1 is the hardest. Contains audio, furigana and pictures.
Jgrpg Sakura - Japanese graded reading material. You need to create an account first though
Watanoc - Web magazine aimed at language learners in easy japanese. N5-N3. Contains audio, pictures and you can hover over unknown words to reveal the meaning.
Soseki Product - This website is dedicated to the works of Natsume Sōseki and it's also aimed at language learners so there's furigana, audio and translation. These novels are from the 1900s so it might be a bit difficult but I think it's really fun
MeikaSensei - Blog posts aimed at beginners. There's beginner versions and intermediate versions of the same post. Contains furigana
Bunsuke - Contains excerpts from books with translations and vocabulary lists. Also has links to the books used. Made by a fellow language learner :)
Ehon - Picture books aimed for 0-6 year olds. Doesn't seem to contain kanji. Some books contain audio
Lingual ninja - This website is for learning hiragana/katakana/grammar/vocab/kanji but it also has a folktales section that contains audio, vocab lists and optional furigana. There's also youtube videos of each story available
yomou syosetu - Over a million free novels! I believe a lot of it is user-submitted works
Syosetsu - Similar to the above.
Bookwalker (jp) - You can read the first few volumes of manga for free here. There's also light novels and doujinshi
Aozora Bunko - digital library that contains a lot of out of copyright books
Note - User submitted posts about various topics
Easy NHK News - News in easy japanese. Contains furigana.
NHK News - The news. In Japanese
Apps
Pibo - Picture books aimed at children
Todaii - Aimed at language learners. News with furigana and pop up dictionary.
Satori Reader - Paid
Yomu Yomu - First 3 chapters are free on every story
Has the book been published recently? Old books can still be useful, but it's good to have more current scholarship when you can.
The author is either a historian (usually a professor somewhere), or in a closely related field. Or if not, they clearly state that they are not a historian, and encourage you to check out more scholarly sources as well.
The author cites their sources often. Not just in the bibliography, I mean footnotes/endnotes at least a few times per page, so you can tell where specific ideas came from. (Introductions and conclusions don't need so many citations.)
They include both ancient and recent sources.
They talk about archaeology, coins and other physical items, not just book sources.
They talk about the gaps in our knowledge, and where historians disagree.
They talk about how historians' views have evolved over time. Including biases like sexism, Eurocentrism, biased source materials, and how each generation's current events influenced their views of history.
The author clearly distinguishes between what's in the historical record, versus what the author thinks or speculates. You should be able to tell what's evidence, and what's just their opinion.
(I personally like authors who are opinionated, and self-aware enough to acknowledge when they're being biased, more than those who try to be perfectly objective. The book is usually more fun that way. But that's just my personal taste.)
Extra special green flag if the author talks about scholars who disagree with their perspective and shows the reader where they can read those other viewpoints.
There's a "further reading" section where they recommend books and articles to learn more.
🟨 Yellow flags - be cautious, and check the book against more reliable ones 🟨
No citations or references, or references only listed at the end of a chapter or book.
The author is not a historian, classicist or in a related field, and does not make this clear in the text.
When you look up the book, you don't find any other historians recommending or citing it, and it's not because the book is very new.
Ancient sources like Suetonius are taken at face value, without considering those sources' bias or historical context.
You spot errors the author or editor really should've caught.
🟥 Red flags - beware of propaganda or bullshit 🟥
The author has a politically charged career (e.g. controversial radio host, politician or activist) and historical figures in the book seem to fit the same political paradigm the author uses for current events.
Most historians think the book is crap.
Historical figures portrayed as entirely heroic or villainous.
Historical peoples are portrayed as generally stupid, dirty, or uncaring.
The author romanticizes history or argues there has been a "cultural decline" since then. Author may seem weirdly angry or bitter about modern culture considering that this is supposed to be a history book.
The author treats "moral decline" or "degeneracy" as actual cultural forces that shape history. These and the previous point are often reactionary dogwhistles.
The author attributes complex problems to a single bad group of people. This, too, is often a cover for conspiracy theories, xenophobia, antisemitism, or other reactionary thinking. It can happen with both left-wing and right-wing authors. Real history is the product of many interacting forces, even random chance.
The author attempts to justify awful things like genocide, imperialism, slavery, or rape. Explaining why they happened is fine, but trying to present them as good or "not that bad" is a problem.
Stereotypes for an entire nation or culture's personality and values. While some generalizations may be unavoidable when you have limited space to explain something, groups of people should not be treated as monoliths.
The author seems to project modern politics onto much earlier eras. Sometimes, mentioning a few similarities can help illustrate a point, but the author should also point out the limits of those parallels. Assigning historical figures to modern political ideologies is usually misleading, and at worst, it can be outright propaganda.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. "Big theory" books like Guns, Germs and Steel often resort to cherry-picking and making errors because it's incredibly hard for one author to understand all the relevant evidence. Others, like 1421, may attempt to overturn the historical consensus but end up misusing some very sparse or ambiguous data. Look up historians' reviews to see if there's anything in books like this, or if they've been discredited.
There are severe factual errors like Roman emperors being placed out of order, Cleopatra building the pyramids, or an army winning a battle it actually lost.
When in doubt, my favorite trick is to try to read two books on the same subject, by two authors with different views. By comparing where they agree and disagree, you can more easily overcome their biases, and get a fuller picture.
(Disclaimer - I'm not a historian or literary analyst; these are just my personal rules of thumb. But I figured they might be handy for others trying to evaluate books. Feel free to add points you think I missed or got wrong.)
Big difference between using end notes and not citing sources at all, and neither should be in the yellow flag category. It may not be to personal taste to not have foot notes (honestly I prefer foot notes too), but citing with end notes is perfectly valid scholarship and is absolutely a green flag. On the other hand, under citing or not citing references at all is a MASSIVE red flag.
I do not believe in gatekeeping knowledge, so this post will be sharing how I get all my folklore books for free, legally.
To explain, when a book gets over a certain age and the copyright is not upkept, it falls under “public domain.” When that happens, many different websites will provide those books as a free download.
This is not restricted to one type of book, either. You can grab anything from Sherlock Holmes to history books, to folklore, and more.
If you are looking for a specific book, you may have to check more than one source, so I suggest bookmarking more than one website.
Example Websites:
Internet Archive
Project Gutenberg
Google Books
Open Library
Electric Scotland (Scottish books)
Sacred Texts
National Library of Scotland: Ossain Collection
Forgotten Books
Hathitrust
For me when I download a book, I then upload them to my Google library so that I can use the search functions as well as bring up the books anywhere, but a popular PC option isCalibre.
If you are interested in Scotland-specific folklore, I do have some suggestions of books you can start with.
Scottish Folklore Books:
(link) A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures by Katharine Briggs (1976)
(link) Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)
(link) Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1900)
(link) The Peat-Fire Flame: Folk-Tales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor (1937)
(link) Notes on Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland by Walter Gregor, M.A. (1881)
(link) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W.Y. Evans-Wentz (1911)
(link) Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-Western District of Scotland by J. Maxwell Wood (1911)
(link) Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1902)
(link) Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)
(link) Folk-Lore From The West of Ross-Shire by C.M. Robertson (1908)
(link) The Fairy Mythology / Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries by Thomas Keightley (1850)
(link) Popular Tales of the West Highlands by John Francis Campbell (1862)
(link) Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales by Sir George Douglas
(link) The Scottish Fairy Book By Elizabeth W. Grierson (1918)
(link)
(link) Popular Superstitions of the Highlands By W Grant Stewart (1823)
I found some places where you can find content in the language you're learning. Most of these places have multiple languages, I'll note if some are better for certain ones.
Youtube: obviously. Look up "comprehensible input" plus the language you're learning, or "podcast" or "learner podcast" plus the language you're learning, or look up shows like "Chinese Drama" or simply the name of the show in the language such as if you want to watch cdrama Ultimate Note type in "终极笔记" or if you want to watch Goodbye My Princess then search by the Chinese title which is "Dong Gong" (and yes you can search by pinyin sometimes with English Keyboard, if you don't have a Chinese Keyboard and can't type hanzi). You can find Japanese let's plays by simply searching the title of the game in Japanese plus "実況" or "実況プレイ" or in all kana "じっきょうプレイ," so for example for a Kingdom Hearts Japanese Lets Play you'd type or paste into Youtube's search bar "キングダムハーツ実況." You can find target-language/language-you-know translations with audio in 100-1000-5000 sentence clusters, you just look up language plus "1000 common words in sentences" (type in the language you want the translations so type that in Spanish if you want Spanish translations) along with the language you're learning in the language you just type'd translation (so type "Korean" if you searched in English words, type "coreano" if you searched in Spanish words). Those videos are basically free Glossika equivalents. You can find so much on Youtube, you could probably learn a language just from Youtube stuff if you had to. I recommend the app NewPipe as it's easy to install on your phone, has no ads, and you can turn off Youtube's new AI dub feature. Or use Youtube ReVanced app, where ads are also blocked, and you can turn off the AI dub feature if you follow a fix-ai-dub tutorial like I did. Or on Regular Youtube app, you should be able to click Settings on a video you're watching, then click 'audio track' and change to 'original audio' to get the AI dub turned off. But I'll be honest I haven't used regular Youtube app in years.
Tubi: FREE app, website, on TVs and phones and game consoles so you can watch on your TV if you want. Has ads, but I find their timing and duration less annoying than actual cable now or regular youtube ads. Has some foreign language stuff! I found cdramas like Oh My General, Story of Yanxi Palace, My Heroic Husband, Under The Skin, Three Body, some jdrama BLs like Candy Color Paradox, Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss, My Personal Weatherman, and some kdramas I know I loved like The Guest, Psychopath Diary, The Crowned Clown. There's also some Spanish, French, German, and Russian shows and movies I found. As I live in the US, a LOT of Spanish stuff is on there (and is true for Netflix as well - Spanish dubs of English language shows are probably the easiest to find on streaming platforms in the US). Tubi in particular had a sizeable amount of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese shows, along with very large amounts of Spanish shows/movies, and at least some stuff in other languages. I have been using Tubi for it's live TV feature, where it has several Spanish language channels so I can just turn on Spanish TV channels without having to think about what to watch.
Pluto: another FREE app, website, on TVs and phones and game consoles so you can watch on anything you want! Has ads, but I find their timing and duration less annoying than actual cable now or regular youtube ads. Less international offerings than Tubi, but it has some. As I'm in the US, same sizeable amount of Spanish content, especially TV channels on it's live TV feature (they have Comedy Central Espanol so all those shows in Spanish, Naruto and The Walking Dead en Espanol, UK MISFITS EN ESPANOL which I just found today I LOVE that show, and several reality/documentary TV channels which I find are good practice as usually what's being talked about also has visuals directly related - like the survive in Alaska shows, the romance shows, the true crime shows). I think Pluto has Slightly Better Spanish live TV channel variety. As for other language stuff though... if you search in Pluto, search by language like "espanol" "francais" "zhongwen" and "spanish" "french" "mandarin" "cantonese" to find shows/movies. The search seems to show varying results depending on which term you use, but I am finding some media for all of those languages... and also English content involving those countries. So searching is a challenge at times.
AntennaPod: an app on Androids (I am not sure if it's on ios) for saving Podcasts in one place (if you don't have Spotify or Apple Podcast, and I don't have those). Benefits - it's free, you can stream or download episodes, you can search online for ALL the podcasts you listen to on various platforms and save them all in THIS app. I think you can fast forward past ads too, but I haven't tried. The app doesn't inherently seem to have ads, just plays whatever ads the podcast had put in themselves. I did have my English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin podcasts all open in a ton of tabs on my phone web browser and bookmarked in youtube. Now I have them ALL saved in AntennaPod in one place, and can close some tabs! I still save stuff in youtube though, when I want the podcast videos to help visually understand stuff (like for some Spanish and Mandarin podcasts). I think AntennaPod is free open source software. It's been great since I found it.
Hoopla: if you belong to a library, check if your library has Hoopla app membership included. Mine does. Hoopla has SO MANY books, audiobooks, shows, movies, music, in tons of languages. A LOT of the first Mandarin audiobooks I listened to, I found in Hoopla and just checked out for free. Also good for COMICS, in any language, and I read a lot of English comics and English translated manga in Hoopla. All free to check out, as it's an extension of your library membership basically.
Libby: same deal as Hoopla above - some libraries have a membership, you can check out free stuff in multiple languages if your particular library paid for access to that media in Libby. All free.
Bilibili.com: you should be able to search the site on a computer with Chinese Keyboard (type hanzi) logged out, and watch or listen to things. If you can figure it out, you can make an app account on your cell phone, I figured it out years ago but don't know how to log back in so I've been coasting on 'permanently logged in' for a while so I can bookmark stuff and so Bilibili app saves where I'm at in a given video so I can continue where I left off. But if you can't get the app to work, searching in Chinese ON your computer logged out WILL get you access to all the same videos I can access. A TON of free audiobooks, audio dramas, Mandarin dubbed cartoons and anime, Mandarin dubbed shows from all over the world, you search for it and you'll probably find it. Also lets plays, reaction channels, vloggers, fanvideos and fanedits of books and shows, you can find japanese shows IN japanese and Indian shows in their original language, you can find English and Korean shows in their original language free, you can find English audiobooks free. You basically just NEED to know how to search in Mandarin. If you can search using Mandarin search terms (here's my post on Basic Chinese Search Terms), you can find almost anything on Bilibili. Lately I've been enjoying the Mandarin dub old niche anime on there, and some japanese musicals. If you do make an account, Bilibili is great at recommending stuff like you've been watching, so my account is nearly ALL BL jdramas and cdramas, danmei audio dramas based on novels by authors I have been listening to, Mandarin dubbed anime, danmei audiobooks, and Mandarin dubbed jdramas and English mystery/crime solving/supernatural shows. It used to be all Disney cartoons and movies Mandarin dubbed a few hundred hours ago, when I was mostly relying on cartoons to learn more basic words.
Search in Mandarin (if you know it): Oh also? If you have never searched Google, Microsoft Edge, DuckDuckGo etc. in Mandarin, try if you know the words in Mandarin. So many FREE books, audiobooks, audio dramas, shows, movies, not just in Mandarin but in many languages, if you search with Mandarin search terms! 免费 mianfei is the word for "free" so you can search in all Mandarin translation "Skins BBC episode 1 English online free" and you'll find it! That's how I found the show to stream online free recently. Or search "daomubiji nanpaisanshu xiaoshuo zaixian mianfei" (in English it is: The Lost Tomb/DMBJ NPSS novel online free) and you'll FIND the novels for DMBJ. You want fanfiction instead? Search for that! The Mandarin internet still has a ton of free stuff that is now quite hard to find if you search in English. For finding any language content, if you know Mandarin try searching using Mandarin words. If you can search using Mandarin search terms (here's my post on Basic Chinese Search Terms), you can find nearly anything online free.
Khan Academy: free lessons in multiple languages, if you want to learn something while listening to your target language. I recommend searching in a search site like Google.com "khan academy espanol" or whatever language you're learning, in the word for the language that language uses, so you can find THAT language's version of the Khan Academy site.
Project Gutenberg: has a lot of free books online. I have not found much use for this site except finding old English books, but I know it has books in other languages.
Archive.org: the GOLDEN TIER of finding OLD language learning textbooks online free, just by searching "learn" or "grammar" or "nature method" or "Textbook" along with the language you're learning, and narrowing search terms. I found all of the old Nature Method textbooks I've used on Archive.org, and a lot of other cool stuff. Sometimes you have to only search the language like "spanish" or if trying to find say old Spanish history books, or French fiction books, you'll need to either know the title or leave that blank and use 'filter by' language and pick the language's books you're looking for. Also great for finding old media, I've found older anime I'd been meaning to find both IN only Japanese, and in English sub or dub.
hello! hope the new year is treating you well (so far!) i decided i wanted to read more in translation this year, especially poetry, and i was wondering if u had recommendations for works translated into english (or french) from living or 20th century poets. it’s not a strict preference i just really want to expand my horizons ! anyways i love your blog it’s a much appreciated resource ❤️
Hi! Aw, that’s such a lovely idea. Honestly I mostly read English-writing authors (you must have noticed...) but I do have a few things to recommend.
• Rainer Maria Rilke’s works, most notably Sonnets to Orpheus and Duino Elegies trans. by Martyn Crucefix, but also The Book of Hours trans. by Babette Deutsch.
• Twenty Poems of Anna Akhmatova, trans. by Jane Kenyon, though I also like Stanley Kunitz’s take, and Marina Tsvetaeva’s Selected Poems, trans. by Elaine Feinstein.
• Odysseus Elytis’ What I Love, trans. by Olga Broumas, and my favourite The Sovereign Sun, trans. by Kimon Friar, who also translated Sodom and Gomorrah by Nikos Kazantzakis. Also, C. P. Cavafy’s The Complete Poems, trans. by David Mendelsohn or Poèmes, trans. by Marguerite Yourcenar (what??) and Constantin Dimaras.
• Federica Garcia Lorca’s A Season in Granada, trans. by Christophe Maurer, and Octavio Paz’s Collected Poems, trans. by Eliot Weinberger, others (including Denise Levertov and Elizabeth Bishop) and Octavio Paz himself. Also, Kelly Martínez-Grandal’s Zugunruhe, trans. by Margaret Randall, and of course Jorge Luis Borges’ Selected Poems, trans. by several translators (among others, W. S. Merwin and John Updike.)
• Speaking of W. S. Merwin, he translated a lot of poems, spanning centuries and languages, and he’s a beautiful translator; I’d recommend his Selected Translations.
• Edith Södergran’s We Women, trans. by Samuel Charters, and Matilda Olkinaitė’s Matilda, trans. by Laima Vince.
• Adonis’ Selected Poems (trans. by Khaled Mattawa) and Saadi Youssef’s Without An Alphabet, Without a Face (by Khaled Mattawa too).
• I’m also thinking of Women of the Fertile Crescent: An anthology of Modern Poetry by Arab Women. You can find a lot of beautiful excerpts on @soracities blog.
• I know it’s not 20th century, but I have a soft spot for modern translations (some more interventionist than others) of classic poetry. My very favourites include Anne Carson’s If Not, Winter (obviously), Mary Barnard’s Fragments of Sappho, Renée Vivien’s Sapho, Marguerite Yourcenar’s La Couronne et La Lyre, Emily Wilson’s The Odyssey, Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf, Kenneth Rexroth’s 100 Poems from the Japanese (some of them you can find in this one—though be careful! Sometimes Rexroth claims he’s translating for shits and giggles when he’s really the writer, like in The Love Poems of Marichiko), A. K. Ramanujan’s The Interior Landscape: Classic Tamil Love Poems and the gorgeous Andal’s Autobiography of A Goddess, trans. by Priya Sarrukai Chabria and Ravi Shankar.
• In the same vein, though they’re plays rather than poems, I’d recommend Oliver Py’s very cheeky take on Shakespeare’s Roméo et Juliette, and Anne Carson’s Bakkhai (Euripides) and An Oresteia (Aiskhylos, Sophokles, Euripides).
Aaaaand... that’s that! Sorry, this is severely lacking in contemporary poetry, but I hope this helps—oh and happy new year to you too ♡
Hi it’s werelivingarts and I’m back with some unique tips on learning foreign languages. I love learning Mandarin and Korean, and my foreign friends absolutely love it when I try to speak with them. ✨
Learning languages is tough but really fun. Remember that you need to set goals, such as by the end of today, I will finish studying the alphabet, not the simple “getting fluent” goal. It’s okay when things you first say are gibberish because you will certainly get better by learning your mistakes.
Here are just some extra weird ways to help you learn:
● Use region-specfic social media (Weibo for Chinese, Kakao Talk for Korean, Tuenti for Spanish, etc)
● Narrate in other languages as you commute (e.g. the mysterious man who wears brown cap-toe Oxfords just get his cats turn left and is now entering the supermarket)
● Read newspaper and magazine
● Change your phone language
● Get help from your native speaker friends
● Take notes in other languages
P/s: Do you have any useful methods to learn foreign languages? If yes, please share it down here 🤩⬇️
Disclaimer: I live in the UK so this mostly applies to uk students, although some of the stuff I mention are just general life tips
Keeping your home clean
A mop, a vacuum cleaner, white vinegar, washing up stuff and microfiber cloths are all you need (do some research on how to use white vinegar for cleaning)
Very basic home cleaning: dust off dirt from surfaces and vacuum clean & mop the floor. Get rid of limescale in the shower (tap, glass shield, pipes) and on your sinks. Clean your toilet (seriously that’s one way of checking if a place is clean or not). Wipe any kind of surface like windows, kitchen countertops, tables etc. There, the house is already quite clean, not so difficult eh?
Do some cleaning regularly, try to wash your dishes right after using them instead of leaving them in the sink, don’t let laundry pile up, empty your bin (seriously it’s nasty if you leave it full for a long time, you’ll get mold), learn how to wash your clothes properly (best thing is to wash everything at 30C and air dry, I only wash sheets and towels at 60-95C) so your clothes last longer
Set a 10 min timer daily to do any tidying in your flat. You’d be surprised how as little as 10 min can make a big difference
Food
ALWAYS make a list before going to the shops and stick to that list as much as possible
Learn how to cook very simple meals: have a portion of carbs, vegetables and protein (animal or not!), that’s already a healthy meal!
One word: Mealprep!!! It saves you so much money, it’s much healthier economically and physically than buying food out every lunch!! Take time out on your Sundays to make 4-5 lunches. I usually make 4 and have a day I allow myself to buy something nice! You can even meal prep your dinners. When i cook at night I make a big portion that would last 2-3 dinners. Takes me the same amount of time as cooking one portion so might as well make lots!
Save the Earth, reuse plastic bags or bring your own bags (a great way of using all those free tote bags that are piling up)
Rent, bills, money
Always pay all your bills in time. You do not want any surcharges.
Don’t be scared to fight lettings agents, energy companies etc. It’s not because you’re a student that you’re easy prey for them.
Don’t be afraid to say no to things when it’s out of your budget. For example, say you’re looking for a place to live with potential flatmates. Make sure you state how much you can pay in rent and don’t hesitate to speak up when things get too expensive. Worst case scenario you can always find new flatmates lol
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