Hi Kayla, do you think it is possible to teach myself german without taking a course, only through books? I have to learn german so I can work there but dont have the money to go to a course :( Thank you for the great resources!
`roh boy get ready for a long post! :-)
Short answer: YES! I have never had a formal course in german, und ich spreche gut deutsch. I’m not a pro, grammar is so hard to teach yourself, but it’s doable. It’s also taken me three years to get to the point where I feel comfortable having conversations with people, reading news articles, etc. but it also hasn’t been a priority in my life and it is not something I practice daily (or even weekly at this point, as I work on my Spanish para mis dos semanas en Guatemala en mayo!). Nonetheless, here are some tips:
two years ago, I made this post. it has some great (and mostly free!) resources
something that really helped me is Duolingo, and it’s free and getting better everyday. what I did on Duolingo to start learning german was complete the language tree in your native language, so for me: english > german. THEN complete the tree as a german speaker learning english: german > english. It’s a good review and because DL builds on itself you learn some foundational grammar and gender rules and the major words like the, it, is, days of the week, food items, how to reserve a table, etc. as well as other things, like idioms. DL has the discussion board too where you can talk with native speakers about other or less formal ways to say the same thing.
other small changes I made in my life:
the setting on my email, Facebook, Instagram, and cell phone were all changed to german. that helped me learn some words I probably wouldn’t have encountered in a class, but would have wanted to use anyway.
I bought Grimm’s Fairy Tales, in german, and actually read them. Because they’re stories almost everyone knows in their native language, it was really easy to use context clues and the pictures to figure out what an unfamiliar word was, and I could always translate phrases I was uncomfortable guessing.
I spoke out loud… a lot. it’s so hard to learn pronunciation in your head, please push through the awkward feeling and record yourself speaking as you study german or any other language. go back and critique yourself and then re-record until you get it right. save the times you get it right and delete the times you don’t. now you have a reference in your own voice and understanding of what popular words and phrases sound like!
if you feel like you would benefit from the structure of a class but can’t pay the tuition to take one: edx.org and coursera.org are favorites of mine and sometimes they have active language classes you can audit (sadly no german at this exact moment, but check in the future!).
also on this note: if you’re in uni or college and can’t afford to take a lang. you can audit classes for free. you won’t get a grade but you would get all of the assignments and get to attend lectures and participate in the class as a normal student would
the number one teaching-myself-a-language tip is always to hold yourself accountable. if you say you’re going to practice for 30 minutes a day, then actually practice for 30 minutes each day. you will simply not wake up one day fluent, it takes time and practice and patience with yourself as you learn to crawl, and then to walk, even if your goal ultimately is to run.
oh god another tip: I spent $30 on a “Learn German in 10 Minutes a Day” book and completed it in 10 days instead of the month or so it recommends. It came with stickers to label everyday stuff like comb, toothbrush, tv, etc. and flashcards. Very much worth the money for me
also tumblr is great, german langblr is my second home, and here are some amazing blogs (and bloggers) who have helped me learn german unbeknownst to them!
@languagetrash
@willkommen-in-germany
@suplanguages
@ucz-lenia
@languagesandshootingstars
@studyblrsubjects
@languageoclock
@athenastudying
I hope this helps and I’m sorry it’s so scattered! hopefully it helps, feel free to message me anytime!
alright, gonna cut right to the chase. I'm a 9th grader in high school (It's my first year of my Highschool career) and my school requires me to take physics as a science class. It's so hard and my grades have been dropping low. I study and study but I feel as if they're all fruitless. Can you give me some advice? Thank you.
Hey! Ah. Yes. Well. Let me be honest here.
I dropped out of physics
...luckily there’s a few people on here who have lived and suffered through (and found relative joy in) physics with a few resources/ snippets of advice:
Studying for AP Physics by @collegemania
Classical Mechanics by @rudescience and @theneuroscienceside
Tips for Success in Physics by @hexaneandheels
Answered Physics (Q&A) by @colllegeruled
Physics resources and links by @ashleigh-studies
Succeed in Physics by @anateamy
Studying for AP physics by @collegemania (working link by @studyblrsubjects
this answer by @rosallindfranklin
Let’s be frank though, we’ve all felt that crippling (frustrating) sense of futility when we’ve studied very hard for something and it just hasn’t clicked. Your efforts do not always pay off. You may do 100+ revision questions and examples and read the entire textbook and still have no idea what you’re supposed to do!
In that situation, I’d suggest the following:
Ask for help. First point of call is always your teacher. Remember, they’re paid to help you. Seriously. There is no shame. Everyone has to work for a wage.
Ask friends.
Ask for specific examples - practical examples. I always find ‘real life’ examples/ applications of a theory help me understand the concept better.
Study smart. Avoid the temptation to copy and ‘read’ and highlight the textbook. You may feel this temptation much more strongly if you’re not doing well (the whole idea being, hell if I don’t understand this I obviously need to ‘read’ more). Use revision questions as starting points. Identify the concepts you do not understand with particularity. Then work on specific revision questions etc. If you can, use past exam/ test questions. remember school is really just a game.
Set realistic expectations. You don’t have to be the top student in this subject - you just have to pass. You don’t have to be Newton’s reincarnate.
Put it into perspective - how important is this one subject to you? Overall? Is this a field you want to enter in years to come? Is this a door you want to keep open?
It’s early on. It doesn’t feel like it because you’ve only just started the rollercoaster that is high school. But you will get through it, there will be ups and downs and tears in between, but you’ll get out to the other side and things will have changed.
Don’t let this one set back make you believe that you can’t do anything.
You can.
Here’s the secret. You don’t need to be perfect at everything. You may never need to use physics again. You might. You might not.
Where you start is not where you finish. You may not enjoy/ may not ‘be good at’ physics now - but if you want to, you can be.
If you don’t, that is completely ok!
The great thing is that as you get older you get more opportunities to choose, to ‘specialise’ aka cut shit out of your life.
Take it from a college graduate who hasn’t had to look at anything physics related for 9 years.
physics doesn’t have to suck: how to enjoy and do well in your required physics classes
As someone who doesn’t intend to take a physics class ever again, I was relieved when I walked out of my second semester physics final. That said, physics doesn’t have to suck or drag your average down.
(1) How to enjoy physics: Adjust your attitude. Physics is so cool if you actually think about it. Your attitude will dictate your experience. (2) But physics is so hard: Change the way you study and don’t give up. I did better in university physics than in high school. The content was way more difficult but it was my studying methods that made the difference.
This post is split into 3 parts: Introductory physics (very basic physics, that unit of physics you had to do in a lower level science class), high school physics (physics from an algebra-based perspective), and university physics (calculus-based physics and labs). (Obviously these overlap a lot but I needed to organize this somehow)
INFO IS UNDER THE CUT B/C THIS POST IS RIDICULOUSLY LONG
1. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS
Skills you should master that will greatly help you now and in the future
Converting between units
What all those symbols actually mean
Interpreting what graphs mean
Scientific notation
Know how to do algebra fairly well (esp. rearranging equations)
Khan Academy is a great resource for introductory and high school physics.
Start every question by stating all of your known and unknown variables. Write down which variables you have and which ones you need. Then, you can easily figure out which formula you need.
Make sure you’re actually understanding the concepts behind everything; plugging numbers into equations will only get you so far.
Rearrange formulas to equal the variable you need before you substitute your known values into the equation.
Use your knowledge of physics from your own experiences. Don’t overthink. Just try to picture what would happen if, say, a ball and a feather were dropped from the same height.
2. HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS (ALGEBRA-BASED)
(Everything from part 1 applies, esp Khan Academy)
Pay attention to in class demos.
Draw free body diagrams whenever you can -- they can be annoying but quickly being able to visualize all of the forces acting is an important skill
Ask your teacher for help or clarification if you need it! You won’t always have the opportunity for one-on-one help, plus your teacher may mark you a bit easier if they see you’re really trying.
Know trigonometry well! In fact, if any of your algebra skills are weak, be sure to review. Don’t let basic math hold you back -- you can do this!
Your first step for any problem should be to write down any known variables or numbers and then the variables you need to find.
Work with a study group (just make sure everyone else is as committed as you are, otherwise studying with others won’t help). People think in different ways and you’re bound to find a solution eventually -- and less likely to give up if you can’t do it.
Get all the part marks. Write down your variables, a formula that could be applicable -- anything that might earn even half a mark (teachers are a lot more forgiving than you think)
Double check your final answer. Ensure you have the right units and ask yourself if your final answer makes sense.
Don’t give up! A big mistake I made in high school was giving up the first time I couldn’t figure out a question because physics was hard and I would never understand it. No excuses! Ignoring a question won’t help you answer it when it comes up on a test. Figure it out on your own or get help.
3. UNIVERSITY PHYSICS (CALCULUS-BASED + LABS)
(Note: Some university physics classes are algebra-based. My university is dumb and forced me to take difficult, calculus-based classes.)
(Again, most things from part 1 and part 2 apply here as well.)
A) Lectures, studying, finals, etc.
Pay attention in class and write good notes
My physics lectures were boring but trying to catch up by reading my textbook later was so much worse
Your lecture notes may not make much sense at first but later on you’ll be able to tell which concepts were stressed by your prof
Draw any diagrams your prof shows you (or take a picture with your phone if you’re lazy). Be sure that the diagram is complete and don’t forget about labels. Don’t worry too much about neatness as long as you know what the diagram is supposed to show you.
Keep all your notes in one notebook: Use one colour for writing regular notes, another colour for circling formulas or starring things you don’t understand, and be sure to write the date down for each lecture and leave space if you fall behind during the lecture (you can always copy someone else’s notes later)
Get a good textbook!
Talk to older students and see if the textbook was helpful for the class. If it’s useful then actually use it! If it’s not, find a good textbook to use!
Do lots of practice questions
My profs tended to go over more conceptual ideas in class and didn’t do many examples.
Try to do a variety of questions! This will tell you if you actually understand the content or if you’ve just memorized how to do certain questions.
Work with other people on assignments (and join/start a group chat for your class)
I had online assignments due every Friday at midnight. My friend and I would meet up on Wednesday or Thursday to work through most of the assignment together. If there was a question we didn’t get, there would always be someone in our class group chat wondering the same thing and there was always some smart physics student that would be a bro and explain how to approach the problem (on another note: don’t leave assignments till the last minute)
Group chats are also great if you miss class or can’t remember when the cutoff for the midterm is
If you don’t understand something get help before it’s too late.
Be prepared with specific questions. It’s hard for someone to help you if all you can say is that you don’t know anything. Go to your prof, TA, tutor, etc.
I found my profs to be super nice about everything. They just want people to be excited about the subject they teach!
If you’re just stuck on one thing there are tons of resources online! Just be specific in what you’re googling and check out resources that other profs have posted online.
Understand the math before you start doing questions
Know the basics of derivatives and integrals
It’s super important to be able to draw a rough graph of the first, second, etc. derivative when all you are given is a graph of the original function (i.e. drawing the graphs for velocity and acceleration when given a graph of displacement)
But don’t ignore the conceptual stuff
This is why a good textbook is important!
Plus you can get part marks for some questions by stating whether one value should be higher/lower than another value, even if you can’t figure out the calculations -- and you can check your answers this way.
For example, it’s pretty important to know what magnetic flux density is before you can calculate it’s value
When studying for tests, don’t just assume you know how to do a question.
Looking over the solution for a problem and actually completing the problem are two very different things. This is the biggest mistake I’ve made when studying physics.
Understanding the solution is only one step in actually being able to answer the question. Looking over solutions is lazy studying if you’re not even trying to do the work. Start the question. Glance at the first part of the solution if you’re stuck. Keep going from there.
For first year physics classes, you really shouldn’t skip over any parts of problem. Yeah, rearranging that formula might look easy but can you actually do it? Practice makes perfect.
If you have a midterm coming up that tests material from a few weeks ago, be sure to do questions from the older units. The content might look familiar but just because you could do a question 2 weeks ago doesn’t mean you can do it now.
Don’t leave your studying till the last minute.
Get a planner and carve out enough time to do practice questions every few days. Trying to catch up on four chapter’s worth of problems is not fun and won’t work very well. Plus, you don’t just have to know how to answer questions. You have to be able to answer questions efficiently.
B) Labs
My labs were very different each semester.
First semester content included kinematics, relativity, forces, momentum, work, etc. The labs were super boring but super easy. For most labs we used motion detectors and a program called logger pro to collect and graph data. Lots of carts.
Second semester content included light, energy, radiation, magnetism, circuits, etc. The labs mostly involved bread boards and wires.
Regardless of content, some general comments on labs are...
Labs won’t always follow lecture content. Apparently that’s too difficult to organize.
That said, get your prelabs done. Properly, if you can. If you don’t fully understand a prelab question, ask your TA once you’ve handed it in. This will save you so much time.
Find a good lab partner. Not sure if there’s a trick to this but just try your best. And be a good lab partner too!
Make note of how strict your TA is with sig figs and error calculations. There’s no sense in losing a few marks when you could stay an extra 15 minutes and do the work properly.
Eat some food and hydrate before your lab -- you never know when your lab will take you 3+ hours to finish.
If you’re not sure if your experiment is working ask your TA. Trying to complete the lab with incorrect data is difficult and your TA will probably make you repeat the experiment anyways.
I hope this post was helpful! I struggled with physics in high school (my worst class) but it ended up being one of my best classes in university (A’s both semesters). The content was way more difficult but my studying habits and test-taking methods were what made the difference!!
Note that I am not guaranteeing that you will get a 5, but following this method, I received a 5 and also got a 100 in the class for the year.
The first thing that you want to do to do well in AP Gov is to TAKE NOTES. My teacher didn’t require us to take notes, just to copy down the vocabulary, and that really hurt a lot of my friends who were taking their first AP class. I highly suggest to use a modified Cornell style, with the subject in one small column (I use the width of my ruler plus the margin). This goes right into my next tip, NOTE CARDS.
Using note cards not flashcards really helped me in this class. There is a lot of vocabulary but also ideas that correspond under certain headings. Making note cards as review really helped me and can be used to study for tests and the final AP exam. In regards to further studying, the two things that helped me the most were a TIMELINE and practice MULTIPLE CHOICE.
A couple weeks before the AP exam I started to create a timeline that covered presidents, Supreme court head justice, events and court cases. My timeline ended up being four pages long with seven court cases per page. My school only required a couple court cases but I went ahead and learned about some more that I found interesting or significant. You could learn all of the court cases but that really isn’t necessary and there are a lot. A timeline is a really great resource to look over the day before the test as well. The best way I found to study for the exam was doing practice multiple choice. The five answer choices took me a while to get used to, so lots of multiple choice helped. Also, the format was a little different that what I was used to question especially the roman numeral questions. Rather then take a whole practice test, I would find more questions organized by subject, I found some in the back of my textbook. This worked really well for figuring out what to study and also helped me study.
Finally in regards to the free response, there really is no defined format, just write coherent sentences that answer the question. Do not write an essay, all the readers want to see is basically the answer, and nothing more. Make sure you clearly number what you are doing, and write legibly. There is more than enough time to answer all the questions, but be careful to not answer too quickly. Definitely do practice FRQ’s, but get them off of the college board website, the ones in review books tend to back or too difficult.
This is just a list of things I wish I knew when I was taking Calc II last semester, and slowly figured out.
(For reference, I started out with a failing test grade and ended the semester with a close to perfect cumulative final).
studyblrsubjects
1. Do every homework problem. Twice. Do every single optional problem, and every extra practice test problem you can. Grinding through problems is how you expose yourselves to all the little tricks in calculus that will make your tests move a lot faster, and the more exposure you have, the more confident you will be!
2. Don’t look at step-by-step solutions for as long as possible. If you get stuck on a problem, look up procedures for different examples, re read your notes, and try to get as close to an answer as you possibly can. Often times, I’d give up too soon on a trig sub and look at the solution, think “Oh I could have figured that out on a test, I must know it. It was just a little mix up.” And then test day came and I couldn’t remember how the solution did it. Point is, if you figure it out on your own, it’ll stick better.
3. KNOW YOUR TRIG. Know your laws, know your identities, know your flipping unit circle. And I don’t mean just flashcard memorize them, read the proofs. Understand how to transform one into another. This is crucial. Not every math teacher will give you the simplest identity to use on a trig sub, and some may not even give you an identity. Knowing how to use and manipulate sin, cos, and tan has been invaluable. This is useful for beyond just trig subs, as a lot of the calc II integrals I encountered were trig based. Another thing is, you need to understand trig graphs and end behavior! I know it’s all rusted up in your brain from trig/pre-calc, but understanding this can make series a lot easier to visualize.
4. Get to know your T.A. If you have a discussion/small section, be engaged! Go to your TA’s office hours. Stalk the heck out of them! They’re usually really empathetic, and if they see you trying and putting in effort, odds are they’ll put a good word into the professor about where curves should land. They’re also usually huge math nerds and get excited by students who aren’t just doing the bare minimum. If your setup doesn’t have TAs, get to know the professor! They might be more willing to give you a heads up on exam content, or give you points back on a test if they know youre the kind of student who cares.
5. Get your series tests straight. Something that was super helpful for me when we got to series was writing out each of the tests, when they were used, how they were used, and what signified divergence/convergence (Is it zero? Nonzero? The limit of the partial sum or the limit of the integral? Positive?). Having them all together to look at and compare made it a lot easier to know right away which test would be the easiest, and when it comes to a timed test you don’t want to do three types of tests looking for convergence when you could have confirmed divergence right off the bat.
6. Make friends with math majors! Especially math education. They’re already the kind of person who loves to teach math, and they’ll most likely have had the same calculus professor as you, and will be willing to help you out a little. They’re also pretty cool people.
