Starlightplantstudies

Master student in Anthropology and Public Health. Also love learning languages sooooo: Native: English & target languages: Spanish, Arabic and French

[rotten-to-the-applecore]

My favorite part about Megamind, is that he literally Grew Up on Earth around humans, but is still confused about human culture and etiquette

[justkingwolf]

#so did I he's not special

[babyzoloft-blog]

How do you (“how does one”) shop for a therapist?

Can you call up a therapist and be like “hi, I’m therapist shopping”? Can you schedule an appointment with a therapist and then be like “actually I have some questions and I want to spend part of this appointment talking about your practice and whether or not it is garbage?”? Are you expected to phone interview/screen your therapists if you are shopping around for a therapist?

If you’re seeing one therapist are you supposed to/not supposed to tell them if you start seeing another therapist? Is it possible to cheat on your therapist?

[triflesandparsnips]

I know this one! Or, at least, I know a way to do it, because I’ve done it.

1) When you call them up (or email them, which I prefer, because PHONE, EW), you ask if they’re taking new patients.

2) If they say yes, say something along the lines of “Great! I’m looking for a new therapist. Would it be possible for me to schedule an appointment so we can see whether we’d be a good fit for one another?”

IF THEY SAY NO, THEY DON’T DO ‘INTERVIEWS’: they’re a dick, you don’t want them anyway, don’t bother to make an appointment

3) Assuming everything is a go, head over to the appointment. Bring your notebook, pen, and questions. Also, if possible, have a very brief rundown prepared of what you’d like to accomplish with your therapy (or even what you think your biggest issues are).

4) Introduce yourself. Reiterate that you want to see if the two of you would be a good fit, so [a nice little social laugh or smile here, while holding up your notebook] you brought questions.

IF THEY DON’T LIKE THAT: they’re a dick, you don’t want them anyway, cut the meeting short

5) Give the rundown of what you want, what your issues are, whatever. See how they react.

IF YOU FEEL WEIRD AT ALL ABOUT THEM: they may not be a dick, but if you don’t feel comfortable with them, then it’s going to be a shit therapeutic relationship

6) Ask your questions — about their therapeutic approach, why they entered the field, whether they feel comfortable working with *your* needs (I, for instance, specifically told my awesome therapist that I needed her to tell me absolutely nothing about her personal life or experiences — as much as possible, I needed a blank wall to bounce things off of. It’s been years now, and I THINK she’s seen at least a couple of episodes of Doctor Who. I THINK. That’s all I’ve got. It’s amazing).

AGAIN, IF YOU FEEL WEIRD ABOUT THEM: go with your gut — your therapy is not the time or place to try and soldier through

7) By this point, you’ve probably hit the 45 minute mark, and you’ll know if you want to see this person again.

IF YES, say that this was a really great meeting, and you’d like to set up a regular appointment.

IF NO, say “Thanks for meeting with me.” If it wasn’t too terrible, feel free to add in whatever social niceties you want to lessen the blow (“I have appointments with a few other people, still, but thank you again!”), or you could just skedaddle as soon as possible.

IF YOU’RE NOT SURE, go a bit heavier with the social nicety: “I still have appointments with a few other people, but I really enjoyed our meeting. I’ll let you know as soon as possible if I’d like to schedule another one. Thanks again!”

Regarding current therapists: If they’re toxic, get rid of ‘em before you even start interviewing others. Nobody needs that kind of garbage. Otherwise, you could keep seeing them while you interview others, and then the second you find one you like (and you schedule your next appointment), get rid of your current one. You don’t have to say why — just say that you’d like to cancel future appointments. Do it over email, if you want. If you like them, you can tell them that you just need something different now, but that you “really appreciate all the work we’ve done together” or something. If you don’t like them, just cancel. They don’t need to know jack.

IF YOUR CURRENT THERAPIST SAYS SHIT ABOUT YOUR LEAVING — and I mean anything other than a positive hope for you in the future — then they were a dick and you were right to find someone else. Who needs passive-aggressive bullshit from a therapist? Nobody, that’s who.

So that’s my philosophy/style with regard to therapist shopping — I may be completely wrong, but it’s worked for me so far. Good luck!

[castironjackelope]

This is really good advice

[theartoftransliness]

Yes, very good advice!

[rnoonpie]

I needed this!! I recently moved and need to find a new therapist AND psych in my area. I was also super uncomfortable with my therapist, who literally said these words out loud from her mouth: “How do you know you’re pansexual if you’ve never had sex?”

nope bye

[robotsandmagicalboys-deactivate]

This is the advice I used when therapist shopping for my current therapist! I didn’t bring the notebook of questions cause there were a just a couple key things that I really wanted to make sure that were okay, but this gave me a good idea of what to look out for not related to the very specific stuff I was going to therapy for. But this guide is awesome.

[justjazzy247]

I’ve never been so unafraid to see a therapist before I read this… I might give it a try.

[danhumphrey]

scott lang, completely misunderstanding peter parker’s power: hey if u want man we could get tiny and just like hang out, i don’t know if you’ve ever been in a lego castle but it’s pretty sweet

peter parker: u have no idea how much physical pain having to turn this offer down is causing me but,

[northstarthembo]

Scott Lang, upon realizing Peter Parker can’t shrink: oh okay no biggee, we’ll just make the LEGO castle big

[magical-awesome-kid]

Peter, ready to cry from joy: do you like Star Wars? Because I have a replica… and my friend Ned and I got it to fly…

Scott Lang, a mechanical engineer and nerd: kid you are my people

[letitrainathousandflames-archive]

Tony, calling peter: …and may I know WHY THE HELL IS SHIELD CALLING ME ABOUT A LIFE-SIZED DEATH STAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT?!

Peter: we didn’t want it to crush any buildings so we brought it out here!

Tony: THATS N O T MY POINT!!!

[gingersnapwolves]

#and then Tony wonders when the hell HE became the responsible one#and promptly abandons his responsibilities#and jumps in his armor#to go zoom around the life size death star#pretending he’s Luke doing the trench run (via)

[153-centimeters-of-sass]

It got better!

[aqueerkettleofish]

I was gonna SAY, Tony would fly out there, look at the thing, and go…. No, this isn’t life size. Impressive though. Okay, bugs, put on these helmets, we’re taking this into orbit and doing this at 1:1 scale.

[joasakura]

Sam: Barnes is gonna make an awesome Chewbacca.

Bucky: -.-

[iconuk01]

Guardians arriving back in Earth orbit for a visit: Rocket : When the **** did Earth get another moon? Peter Qull (with an indescribable look on his face, but knowing his entire life has built to this moment): That’s no moon!

[nightbleeder]

OH MY FUCKING GOD

[limbile]

Little fact about French because I just learned that

The accent circonflexe (^) exists in French words to replace the “s” that no longer exists but used to be there in older French.

For example: fenêtre used to be fenestre

It is still possible to see the “s” at times in family words like “défenestrer”.

[culmaer]

knowing this, « être » becomes much more regular :

être  → estre (es, est, sommes, ê[s]tes, sont ; ser-)

some French derivations become clearer :

fenêtre   → défenestrer → L. fenestra

fête   → festival

hôpital → hospitaliser (E. hospital, ise)

intérêt  → intéressant (E. interest, -ing)

ancêtre  → ancestral (E. ancestor, -ral)

arrêt    → arrestation

épître  → épistolaire (E. epistle)

some English cognates become more obvious :

hôtel  → hostel (E. ‘hotel’ borrowed from French)

forêt  → forest (tipp to remember ^ goes on the ‹e›)

bête  → beast

côte  → coast

honnête → honest

pâte, pâté → pasta, paste

quête   → quest

enquête  → inquest

tempête  → tempest

vêtements → vestments (ie. clothes)

baptême → baptism

sometimes, the acute replaces the circumfex for phonetic reasons :

ḗcole   → escole → L. schola (E. school)

ḗtranger   → estrangier (E. stranger)

ḗtudier   → estudier (E. study)

dḗgoûtant → desgoustant (E. disgusting)

dḗbarquer → desembarquer (E. disembark)

rḗpondre  → respondre (E. respond)

rḗpublique → L. res publica

Also, where « c → ch » (eg. cantare→ chanter) :

château → castel (E. castle)

pêcher → L. piscare

and « w → gu » (eg. war→ guerre ; warden→ guardian) :

guêpe → E. wasp ! (this is my n° 1 favourite cognate)

bonus etymologies :

tête   → L. testa

fantôme  → L. phantasma (E. ‘phantom’ borrowed from French)

Pâques  → Gk. pásxa → Am. pésaḫ (E. Paschal)

Also just be aware that the circumflex has some other uses too, like distinguishing « sur — sûr » or « dû » and the vowel quality in « âge »

[hayley-studies]

Where was this post when I was doing A-Level French! This is actually a really interesting language change called “syncope” (the loss of a medial segment within a word) and what makes it even more interesting to me is that not only was the -s- dropped post vocalically and largely before voiceless stops, but that the circumflex was (unnecessarily but coolly) adopted as an orthographic marker of the lost -s-. Even more interesting is that syncope usually occurs in vowels. I love this.

[trilingual-girl-carol]

Job-hunting vocabulary/words to use in a resume

English -> Spanish -> Polish

resume - el currículum - życiorys 

job vacancy - el puesto vacante - wolne stanowisko/wakat

cover letter - la carta de motivación/presentación - list motywacyjny

job interview - la entrevista de trabajo - rozmowa o pracę

job advertisement - el anuncio de trabajo - ogłoszenie o pracę

job offer - la oferta de empleo - oferta pracy 

recruiter - el reclutador - rekruter 

work experience - la experiencia laboral - doświadczenie zawodowe

to appeal - apelar - apelować/zwracać się

to work as - desempeñar como - pracować jako (desempeñar - dosłownie wykonywać)

area of work - el campo profesional - dziedzina zawodowa 

competence - la competencia - kompetencja 

capability - la capacidad - zdolność

ability - la habilidad - umiejętność 

aptitude - la aptitud - talent/zdolność

success - el éxito - sukces 

communication - la comunicación - komunikacja 

strategy - la estrategia - strategia

commitment - la dedicación - zaangażowanie 

to build - construir - budować

to demonstrate - demostrar - demonstrować

to develop - desarrollar - rozwijać 

to enhance - aumentar - zwiększać

to facilitate - facilitar - ułatwiać 

to generate - generar - generować 

to impact - impactar - wpływać 

to implement - implementar - wprowadzać 

to negotiate - negociar - negocjować

to revitalize - revitalizar - rewitalizować 

to close - cerrar - zamykać 

to collaborate - colaborar - kolaborować

to deliver - entregar - dostarczać

to drive - conducir/manejar - jechać/prowadzić 

to establish - establecer - ustanowić

to increase - subir - zwiększyć 

to present - presentar - prezentować

to prospect - prospectar - rokować 

to retain - retener - zachować

to analyze - analizar - analizować

to audit - auditar - audytować

to justify - justificar - usprawiedliwiać

to prepare - preparar - przygotowywać

to process - procesar - przetwarzać 

to report - informar de/reportar - raportować

to research - investigar - badać

to review - revisar - dokonywać przeglądu

to verify - comprobar - weryfikować

to assign - asignar - przydzielać

to assess - evaluar - oceniać

to assist - asistir - asystować

to care - cuidar - dbać

to charge (payment) - cobrar - pobierać (opłatę)

to monitor - observar - monitorować

to nurse - cuidar/atender - pielęgnować

to provide - proveer - zaopatrywać 

to secure - asegurar - zabezpieczać 

to consult - consultar - konsultować

to create - crear - tworzyć

to escalate - intensificar(se) - nasilać (się)

to format - formatear - formatować 

to integrate - integrar - integrować 

to maintain - mantener - zachować

to program - programar - programować 

to set up - establecer - ustanawiać 

to support - sostener - wspierać

to troubleshoot - identificar y solucionar - rozwiązywać problemy

to apply - aplicar - stosować

to author - escribir - redagować

to counsel - aconsejar - doradzać

to develop - desarrollar - rozwijać

to educate - educar - edukować

to evaluate - evaluar - wartościować

to mentor - guiar - prowadzić

to nourish - nutrir - odżywiać

to teach - enseñar - uczyć

to tutor - dar clases particulares - douczać

[polemicandcontent]

10 unusual language learning tips !

i see a lot of the same (sometimes unhelpful) tips being thrown around, so here’s my two cents:

1. write shopping lists/to do lists in your target language - often you don’t learn this vocab but it’s conversational & v useful! also writing yourself notes (lil pep talks on the bathroom mirror, for example) can work.

2. buy a small whiteboard and practice verb conjugation (esp. romantic languages) or script writing 

3. talk to pets in target language if possible!

4. look for quotes in your target language - often the turns of phrase are  more colloquial, and is a good opportunity to see how things are translated from your native language 

5. find a fairly easy news headline (in target lang) and try to re-write it w/ vocab you already have. you’ll quickly find gaps - this is a good thing! (if you’re feeling extra spicy, try writing a small subheading or description about the article).

6. create an imaginary friend who you speak with on the shower, or on the train, doing the laundry etc. talk w/ them in your target lang (in your head, obvs) about your day, future plans, etc etc.

~for more advanced learners~

7. when you’re more advanced, and have some grasp of past/future tenses, buy a children’s/tween’s/YA book that you’ve already read. highlight and annotate the shit out of it. you’ll know the general gist already, which makes context clues easier to find.

8. change wikipedia settings into target language - same goes for any social media site. this can be a mega challenge, but is so good for vocab, plus you’re more likely to remember the info since you worked so hard for it.

9. write a review for a book/film/record/whatever you’ve most recently consumed. maybe start a diary of them, or just have an ongoing word doc.

10. find a bilingual edition of poetry/literature if possible. you might find you can spot translation differences, but you’re sure to find some new vocab.

[tbhstudying]

bonjour! a while back, i asked for french song recommendations to make a french playlist like i did with my spanish playlist. again, there were lots of recommendations, so i compiled them all into a 4 hour playlist that you can listen here. merci beaucoup!

[gwendolynlerman]

Spanish grammar

Prepositions

Prepositions of time

a ("at" for times/"to" in "from... to..."): a las 8 (at 8)/de lunes a jueves (from Monday to Thursday)

antes de ("before" a certain time): antes de las 8 (before 8)

de ("from" in "from… to…"): de 8 a 9 de lunes a jueves (from 8 to 9 from Monday to Thursday)

dentro de ("in" after a certain amount of time): dentro de una hora (in an hour)

desde ("since", "as of" starting at a certain point in time): desde 1980 (since 1980)

desde hace ("for" a certain period of time from the past until now): desde hace 2 años (for 2 years)

después de ("after" a certain point in time): después de la clase (after the lesson)

durante ("during"/"for" to indicate a length of time): durante las vacaciones (during vacation time)/durante tres días (for three days)

en ("in " months, seasons, years): en febrero (in February), en verano (in summer), en 2008 (in 2008)

hace ("ago" a certain time in the past): hace ocho años (eight years ago)

hasta ("by", "until" a certain point in time): hasta febrero (until February)

por ("in", "at" a general time of day): por la mañana (in the morning), por la noche (at night)

sobre ("around", "about" general times): sobre las 10 (around 10)

tras ("after" a certain point in time): tras el invierno (after the winter)

[scurviesdisneyblog]

Lilo & Stitch concept art by Chris Sanders

[spanishskulduggery]

It is my sincerest disappointment to announce that the word for “slumber party” / “sleepover” in Spanish is “pijamada” [related to pajamas/pyjamas], and is not “siesta fiesta”. We mourn what could have been

[salvadorbonaparte]

We simply have to get enough Spanish speakers on board to use siesta fiesta

[theinturnetexplorer]

It’s arguably more the cats’ house than his at this point.

[nz45south]

He is not crazy he is wonderful and I love him and his 7 fluffy children

[cisnowflake]

Goals

[thetallblacknerd]

Iron Man: I’m the richest and possess the most advanced technology on the planet

Black Panther:

[thetallblacknerd]

This post got derailed by racists so fast so let’s do this again

[yinx1]

Tony Stark is worth around 12billion; Batman 10billion. Black Panther almost 100 TRILLION. Black Panther can buy Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries at the same Going Out of Business sale. Tony’s tech has always been decades behind Wakanda technology. That’s why Black Panther’s costume is sleek and form-fitting yet still bulletproof while Tony still has to bulk up his with extra metal. Batman doesn’t even have a bulletproof costume unless it looks like Ironman’s. Plus Wakanda’s current technology was invented by a female and not just any female a Princess. Batman has Fox invent his technology Tony does the best he can while yelling at Pepper. AND Wakandans found the cure for many different types of cancer. They only reason they don’t share with the world is because white greed and insurance companies.

[staffsucks-deactivated20181207]

Panther & Co.™ has enough wealth and power to hide a goddamn country from the entire rest of the world. Tony has a gold-plated bow tie and a few fancy bottles of wine.

[systlin]

My husband saw this as I was scrolling down and said “Dude, Black Panther finds Tony Stark’s net worth in his couch cushions when he’s looking for the TV remote. And he’s probably judging the Iron Man suit like ‘oh hey I had one of those I built when I was 6.’”

And I mean, he’s not wrong. 

[aromaatinta-deactivated20210806]

[thatsthat24]

How to Sense Trouble ❗️

[zoryalikestolaugh]

4 exercises to improve speaking skills in your target language:

Tell a story. It’s a great exercise to improve not only your speaking, but also your grammar and vocabulary. Think about what happened to you or anyone else, that you would talk about to your friends or family. Then tell a story out loud using only your target language. Telling stories is a huge part of our everyday talks, so it’s really important to practice that.

Talk about a book, a movie or whatever you want. Imagine you’re convincing someone to check out (or not to check out) a book you have already read. Review every movie or TV series you want, and don’t worry about spoiling anything or offending someone. If it’s a piece of shit, learn how to say that when talking to Queen Elizabeth II, and how to say that when chatting with someone you’d meet at the bar.

Discuss an important topic that is interesting to you. You can choose from anything: society issues, politics, economics, science, environment, culture… First try to explain it and then tell your own opinion on the subject. It’s different than the second exercise since it develops the specific vocabulary.

Read an article and summarise it. Find an article in your target language that interests you and talk about it. You can do it like you would when asked about it in school, or you can do it in more of a “sharing knowledge with my friends” manner.

Et c’est tout! You can call it “act like a youtuber” exercises. If you want, record yourself while speaking. Remember that work is the key to success.

[pompadourpink]

Genderfluid nouns

(Okay this is clickbait but there are words in French that don’t have the same definition depending on their gender)(here they are)

MOULE /mul/ :

une moule : a mussel (also, rare/teenish : p*ssy) 

un moule : a tin (ex : un moule à tarte)/a mould (baking), a cast (sculpture)

PARALLÈLE /paʁalɛl/ : 

une parallèle : a parallel (maths)

un parallèle : a comparison (ex : faire un parallèle entre x et y)

MANOEUVRE /manɔœːvʁ/ :

un-e manoeuvre : a labourer

une manoeuvre : manoeuvre/maneuver (when you try to park)

TOUR /tuːʁ/ :

une tour : a tower

un tour : a stroll/drive (ex : aller faire un tour en voiture), a magic trick (ex : un tour de magie), something’s circumference (ex : le tour de taille)

PHYSIQUE /fizik/ :

la physique : physics

le physique : the body/appearance (ex : il a un physique inhabituel)

MANCHE /mɑ̃ʃ/ :

la manche : the sleeve, the english channel, the round (game)

un manche : a handle (ex : un manche à balai), a violin neck

VOILE /vwal/ :

une voile : a sail (the fabric piece on a boat) + sailing (sports)

un voile : a veil (clothing, mystery)

MÉMOIRE /me.mwaʁ/ :

la mémoire : the memory (skill, computer ; ex : avoir bonne mémoire)

un mémoire : a memorandum, a 10+ p dissertation

POSTE /pɔst/ :

la poste : the poste office

un poste : a job, the police station

MODE /mɔd/ :

la mode : fashion (ex : les crop tops sont à la mode en ce moment)

le mode : the mood (linguistics, computer, music), instructions (ex : un mode d’emploi - direction leaflet, un mode d’affichage - display mode)

SOLDE /sɔld/ :

une solde : salary (rare)

un solde : balance (finances), sales (ex : ce sont les soldes)

CRÊPE /kʁɛp/ :

une crêpe : a crepe (thin pancake that you don’t eat the same way)

un crêpe : a crepe (fabric)

MORAL-E /mɔ.ʁal/  :

la morale : morality (literature), moral code (ethics)

le moral : general mood (how’s carl? since ellie died il n’a pas le moral)

LIVRE /livʁ/ :

une livre : a pound (weight, money ; ex : une livre de beurre)

un livre : a book

PENDULE /pɑ̃.dyl/ :

une pendule : a clock

un pendule : a pendulum

PAGE /paʒ/ :

une page : a page (book), a moment (ex : les plus belles pages de notre histoire ont eu lieu pendant ce voyage)

un page : a pageboy (history)

POÊLE /pwɑl/ :

une poêle : a frying pan

un poêle : a stove

SOMME /sɔm/  :

une somme : an amount, sum (finances, maths)

un somme : a nap (fam)

VASE /vaz/ :

la vase : sludge (the greeny/browny shit in swamps)(not Shrek, focus)

un vase : a vase (flowers)

MOUSSE /mus/ :

la mousse : moss (nature), lather (soap), mousse (food)

un mousse : a ship’s boy 

ESPACE /ɛs.pas/  :

une espace : a space between the words

un espace : a space between two things, space (science)

PAIR-E /pɛʁ/  :

une paire : a pair (ex : une paire de ciseaux)

un pair : a peer, even (eight is an even number)

MERCI /mɛʁ.si/ :

la merci : mercy (ex : il est à la merci des anglais)

merci : thank you (ex : mille mercis pour cette fabuleuse soirée)

CARPE /kaʁp/ :

une carpe : a carp (fish)

un carpe : a carpus (bones)

CRITIQUE /kɹɪ.ˈtik/ :

une critique : criticism, review

un-e critique : a critic (job)

FAUNE /fon/ :

la faune : fauna (animals)

un faune : a faun (mythology)

AIDE /ɛd/ :

l’aide : assistance (ex : au secours, à l’aide)

un-e aide : assistant

GARDE /ɡaʁd/ :

la garde : custody (ex : la garde des enfants), babysitting (ex : nous cherchons quelqu’un pour garder les enfants), watch (ex : i’ve got the next watch)

le garde : the guard, guardian, warden 

FINAL-E /fi.nal/ :

la finale : finale (sports, entertainment ; ex : la demi-finale de l’Eurovision)

le final : finale (music)

MORT /mɔʁ/ :

la mort : death

le/la mort-e : a dead person

MI-TEMPS /mi.tɑ̃/ :

la mi-temps : half time break (sports)

un mi-temps : a part-time job

OEUVRE /œvʁ/ :

une oeuvre : a work (literature), bonnes oeuvres (good deeds)

le gros oeuvre : the shell (construction)

ROSE /ʁoz/ :

une rose : a rose (flower)

le rose : a shade of pink (c’est un rose poudré)

GESTE /ʒɛst/ :

une geste : a medieval song of heroic deed (ex : la chanson de Roland)

un geste : a gesture (ex : un geste symbolique), a move (ex : brusque)

VAGUE /vaɡ/ :

une vague : a wave

le vague : the undefined (ex : il est resté très vague)

[lemonadeandlanguages]

where can I find good french exercises?

Hi! I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask because I learnt French in school and never really did exercises online 😅 But here are a few:

Alloprof has a bunch of different exercices! It’s a québécois website used by schools here, so there’s also a bunch of different levels corresponding to the school years in Quebec (primaire 1-6 are grades 1-6 and secondaire 1-5 are grades 7-11), so you can choose the level you think is more appropriate for you.

Another website is the CCDMD that offers a bunch of exercices (in the Exercices interactifs section), as well as exercises in PDFs that you can print out (with a correction sheet). It also offers grammar lessons (in PDF too) for allophones/french learners. It’s all in French, which might be a bit hard to understand if you’re only starting out, but if you’re more advanced, it looks like a very good ressource! 

The two websites are from Quebec, but the French used on the websites is standard, so you shouldn’t have any problems with regionalisms :)

Of course, français facile is a good website too! It has a 48 pages of exercises that cover a wide variety of subjects, including grammar, verbs, and vocabulary.  

Finally, another website worth checking out is ortholud, that offers grammar, voacbulary, verb, anmd dictation exercises with English instructions. You should definitely check this one out if you’re a beginner and you’re not comfortable using a fully French website yet. It also has crosswords puzzles! :)

Hope this helps!