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another spread from two weeks ago!! 💖 had sore throat during this period and it was the absolute: worst. good thing im all good now!! i hope everyone's taking care.

Sometimes it can be tricky to know what to learn if you are teaching yourself a language. Here are some ideas for what you can focus on learning each day for the first two months of learning a new language! I formatted it so there is the general topic for the day and then in parentheses are some ideas to get you started but you can definitely learn a lot more than what I’ve written down! These are just to help generate some ideas!

This definitely would move pretty quickly if you covered all this material in 2 months so you could definitely spend more time on each topic if you need! This would require quite a bit of time each day in order to learn it all. This could totally work for a 4 or 6-month challenge where you spend 2 or 3 days on each of the topics I listed if you don’t have enough time to cover each topic in just one day!

Polite phrases (thank you, please, yes/no, you’re welcome, I’m sorry)

Introductory phrases (hi, my name is, I’m from, I speak, how are you?)

Pronouns (I, you, he, she, they, we)

Basic people vocab (girl, boy, man, woman, person, child)

Basic verbs in present tense (to eat, to drink, to walk, to read, to write, to say)

Sentence structure (how to form some basic sentences)

Negative sentences (I do not __)

Question words (who, what, where, when, why, how, how to form questions)

Numbers (0-20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 1,000, 1,000,000)

Time (hour, minute, half hour, reading the time)

Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert, appetizer)

Basic foods (apple, banana, rice, bread, pasta, carrot, soup, water)

More foods (beef, pork, fruit, vegetable, juice, coffee, tea, chocolate, cake)

Kitchen (stove, oven, kitchen, fridge, table, chair, bake, boil)

Eating supplies (knife, spoon, fork, plate, bowl, cup, glass)

More verbs (to make, to have, to see, to like, to go, to be able to, to want, to need)

Family (father, mother, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandmother, grandfather, parents, grandparents)

Transportation (car, train, plane, bus, bicycle, airport, train station)

City locations (apartment, building, restaurant, movie theater, market, hotel, bank)

Directions (north, south, east, west, right, left)

Adjectives (good, bad, smart, delicious, nice, fun)

More verbs (to give, to send, to wake up, to cry, to love, to hate, to laugh)

Colors (red, yellow, blue, green, purple, black, white, brown)

Emotions (happy, sad, calm, angry)

Physical descriptions (tall, short, blonde, brunette, redhead, eye color)

Body parts (arm, leg, hand, finger, foot, toe, face, eye, mouth, nose, ears)

Descriptors (rich, poor, beautiful, ugly, expensive, inexpensive)

Basic clothing (shirt, pants, dress, skirt, jacket, sweater, skirt, shorts)

Accessories (belt, hat, wallet, gloves, sunglasses, purse, watch)

More verbs (to keep, to smile, to run, to drive, to wear, to remember)

Animals (cat, dog, horse, cow, bear, pig, chicken, duck, fish)

More animals (turtle, sheep, fox, mouse, lion, deer)

Months (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December)

Seasons (fall, winter, spring, summer)

Weather (sunny, cloudy, hot, cold, snowing, raining)

States of being (I’m hungry, I’m tired, I’m thirsty)

House (bedroom, living room, bathroom, stairs)

Furniture (bed, lamp, couch, door, window)

Electronics (phone, TV, computer, camera, radio, headphones)

Nature (tree, flower, plant, animal, grass, animal, outside, sky, sun, moon, clouds)

More verbs (to teach, to learn, to understand, to know, to listen, to hear)

School (classroom, elementary school, high school, college, student, class, grade, homework, test)

School subjects (math, science, English, art, music, chemistry, biology, physics)

School supplies (book, pencil, pen, paper, notebook, folder, backpack, calculator)

Classroom features (student desk, teacher desk, whiteboard, chalk, clock, bell)

Jobs (teacher, scientist, doctor, artist, dancer, musician)

More jobs (surgeon, manager, engineer, architect, lawyer, dentist, writer)

More verbs (to buy, to sell, to work, to ask, to answer, to dance, to leave, to come)

Comparisons (less than, more than, same, __er than)

Languages (French, German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, English, Japanese)

Countries (France, Germany, China, Russia, Spain, Mexico, United States, Japan)

Religion (church, temple, mosque, to pray, Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

Past tense (I was, he ran, she wrote)

Hobbies (shopping, sports, soccer, chess, fishing, gardening, photography)

More verbs (to describe, to sleep, to find, to wish, to enter, to feel, to think)

Art (paint, draw, painting, gallery, frame, brush)

Morning routine (to wake up, to brush teeth, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, soap)

Future tense (I will run, he will write)

TV + internet (online, internet, to watch TV, TV show, movie, documentary, cartoon)

General Plan:

Weeks 1 and 2: Purpose:

Learn the fundamentals sentence construction

Learn how to spell and count

Start building a phrase stockpile with basic greetings

The Alphabet

Numbers 1 - 100

Subject Pronouns

Common Greetings

Conjugate the Two Most Important Verbs: to be and to have

Basic Definite and Indefinite Articles

Weeks 3 and 4: Purpose:

Learn essential vocabulary for the day-to-day

Start conjugating regular verbs

Days of the Week and Months of the Year

How to tell the time

How to talk about the weather

Family Vocabulary

Present Tense Conjugations Verbs

Weeks 5 and 6: Purpose:

Warm up with the last of the day-to-day vocabulary

Add more complex types of sentences to your grammar

Colours

House vocabulary

How to ask questions

Present Tense Conjugations Verbs

Forming negatives

Weeks 7 and 8: Purpose:

Learn how to navigate basic situations in a region of your target language country

Finish memorising regular conjugation rules

Food Vocabulary and Ordering at Restaurants

Money and Shopping Phrases

Present Tense Conjugations Verbs

Weeks 9 and 10: Purpose:

Start constructing descriptive and more complex sentences

Adjectives

Reflective verbs

Places vocabulary

Weeks 11 and 12: Purpose:

Add more complex descriptions to your sentences with adverbs

Wrap up vocabulary essentials

Adverbs

Parts of the body and medical vocabulary

Tips for Learning a Foreign Language:

Learning Vocabulary:

What vocabulary should I be learning?

There are hundreds of thousands of words in every language, and the large majority of them won’t be immediately relevant to you when you’re starting out.Typically, the most frequent 3000 words make up 90% of the language that a native speaker uses on any given day. Instead try to learn the most useful words in a language, and then expand outwards from there according to your needs and interests.

Choose the words you want/need to learn.

Relate them to what you already know.

Review them until they’ve reached your long-term memory.

Record them so learning is never lost.

Use them in meaningful human conversation and communication.

How should I record the vocabulary?

Learners need to see and/or hear a new word of phrase 6 to 17 times before they really know a piece of vocabulary.

Keep a careful record of new vocabulary.

Record the vocabulary in a way that is helpful to you and will ensure that you will practice the vocabulary, e.g. flashcards.

Vocabulary should be organised so that words are easier to find, e.g. alphabetically or according to topic.

Ideally when noting vocabulary you should write down not only the meaning, but the grammatical class, and example in a sentence, and where needed information about structure.

How should I practice using the vocabulary?

Look, Say, Cover, Write and Check - Use this method for learning and remembering vocabulary. This method is really good for learning spellings.

Make flashcards. Write the vocabulary on the front with the definition and examples on the back.

Draw mind maps or make visual representations of the new vocabulary groups.

Stick labels or post it notes on corresponding objects, e.g when learning kitchen vocabulary you could label items in your house.

How often should I be practising vocabulary?

A valuable technique is ‘the principle of expanding rehearsal’. This means reviewing vocabulary shortly after first learning them then at increasingly longer intervals.

Ideally, words should be reviewed:

5-10 minutes later

24 hours later

One week later

1-2 months later

6 months later

Knowing a vocabulary item well enough to use it productively means knowing:

Its written and spoken forms (spelling and pronunciation).

Its grammatical category and other grammatical information

Related words and word families, e.g. adjective, adverb, verb, noun.

Common collocations (Words that often come before or after it).

Receptive Skills: Listening and Reading

Reading is probably one of the most effective ways of building vocabulary knowledge.

Listening is also important because it occupies a big chunk of the time we spend communicating.

Tips for reading in a foreign language:

Start basic and small.  Children’s books are great practice for beginners. Don’t try to dive into a novel or newspaper too early, since it can be discouraging and time consuming if you have to look up every other word.

Read things you’ve already read in your native language. The fact that you at least know the gist of the story will help you to pick up context clues, learn new vocabulary and grammatical constructions.

Read books with their accompanying audio books. Reading a book while listening to the accompanying audio will improve your “ear training”. It will also help you to learn the pronunciation of words.

Tips for listening in a foreign language:

Watch films in your target language.

Read a book while also listening along to the audio book version.

Listen to the radio in your target language.

Watch videos online in your target language.

Activities to do to show that you’ve understood what you’ve been listening to:

Try drawing a picture of what was said.

Ask yourself some questions about it and try to answer them.

Provide a summary of what was said.

Suggest what might come next in the “story.”

Translate what was said into another language.

“Talk back” to the speaker to engage in imaginary conversation.

Productive Skills: Speaking and Writing

Tips for speaking in a foreign language:

If you can, try to speak the language every day either out loud to yourself or chat to another native speaker whether it is a colleague, a friend, a tutor or a language exchange partner. 

Write a list of topics and think about what you could say about each one. First you could write out your thoughts and then read them out loud. Look up the words you don’t know. You could also come up with questions at the end to ask someone else.

A really good way to improve your own speaking is to listen to how native speakers talk and imitate their accent, their rhythm of speech and tone of voice. Watch how their lips move and pay attention to the stressed sounds. You could watch interviews on YouTube or online news websites and pause every so often to copy what you have just heard. You could even sing along to songs sung in the target language.

Walk around the house and describe what you say. Say what you like or dislike about the room or the furniture or the decor. Talk about what you want to change.This gets you to practise every day vocabulary.

Tips for writing in a foreign language:

Practice writing in your target language. Keep it simple to start with. Beginner vocabulary and grammar concepts are generally very descriptive and concrete.

Practice writing by hand. Here are some things you can write out by hand:

Diary entries

Shopping lists

Reminders

What could I write about?

Write about your day, an interesting event, how you’re feeling, or what you’re thinking.

Make up a conversation between two people. 

Write a letter to a friend, yourself, or a celebrity. You don’t need to send it; just writing it will be helpful.

Translate a text you’ve written in your native language into your foreign language.

Write a review or a book you’ve recently read or a film you’ve recently watched.

Write Facebook statuses, Tweets or Tumblr posts (whether you post them or not will be up to you).

Write a short story or poem.

Writing is one of the hardest things to do well as a non-native speaker of a language, because there’s no room to hide. 

There are lots of ways to improve your writing ability, but they can be essentially boiled down to three key components:

Read a lot

Write a lot

hey guys! i’ll be starting my sophomore year of college in just over a week (!!), and while i’m not new to the whole college thing, i will be new to my school this year as a transfer student, so i wanted to share these tips for y’all !

figure out where all your classes are beforehand - there’s nothing worse than being late on the first day, especially if you have small classes. don’t start off on the wrong foot! hopefully you’ll have some sort of orientation/tour that shows you the basics, but if you’re living on campus, you’ll likely be at school before the first day of classes - use this extra time to get familiar with campus and find out where all your classrooms are (not just the buildings, find the actual class if possible - some buildings are ridiculously complicated as far as room numbers go, trust me!). if you’re commuting to school, try to come an hour or so early to do this as much as you can (and you can also use time between classes to figure out where you’re headed!)

become friendly with the people around you - whether this be your roommate, the people sitting next to you in class, or the other people on your floor, it’s always nice to be on good terms with as many people as possible. make friends early - even if they don’t stick (and a lot of early friendships don’t), it’s nice to know a lot of people! get to know people in your classes, even though it’s harder to do this than it might’ve been in high school since often you just have the one class together. you never know when you’ll have to miss a class, and having someone to get notes from is such a relief (also study buddies !! super important !!)

wait until you’ve gone to class to buy textbooks - a lot of teachers will tell you that you don’t really need it, or that an older edition works just fine. whatever the case, it usually doesn’t hurt to wait to buy textbooks until you’re at school (plus, if you’re like me you may end up dropping the class you already bought 7 books for)

try out different study spots - there are so many places on a college campus to study: your dorm room, dorm lounges, library, student union, coffee shops, random class buildings, the quad - try them out and see what works best for you! a change of scenery can go a long way toward helping your productivity!

call your fam - they probably already miss you and with so much new stuff going on you’re bound to have lots to say - don’t get too caught up in the hustle and bustle of a new year!

get comfy with your dorm room - this is your new home for the year, make it work for you! it should be your happy place. figure out good storage systems. & try to have a good relationship w ur roomie(s)! 

keep ahead on homework - it’s easy to put it off when it still feels like summer, but come next week you’ll likely be drowning in work and lack of free time - do as much as you can as soon as you can, future you will thank you!

look into a job on campus - see how your class schedule plays out, and see if working on campus is a good idea for you. there are so many options and there are usually still a lot of openings by the first week, so take advantage of it now before all the positions fill up for the semester! (also from personal experience working in a dining hall is decidedly Not Fun, would not recommend), however

be kind to the maintenance workers and kitchen staff - as well as other workers on campus. usually they go unnoticed, but they’re (from my experience) so so kind when you take the time to say hi and ask them how they are. the kitchen staff i worked with in the dhall were some of the sweetest people i met on campus last year

keep your door open and hang out in your floor lounge - (if you have one) first week is prime time to meet new people, since everyone goes into it brand new. keep your door open and have convos with people who walk by (maybe have some treats and invite them in to share - everyone loves free food !). so many of my friends were made by “studying” (i use the term loosely haha) in the lounge

go to events - they’re probably free and often give out free food/goodies/t-shirts, plus they’re a good way to meet people and see what sorts of things you can get involved with on campus! esp if you have an involvement fair with clubs presenting, go and try to go to the first meeting of any club that sounds interesting to u! there’s no commitment to keep coming back if it isn’t for you, and you never know what amazing groups of people you could meet! i’d recommend only going to two or three clubs regularly though, any more than that can be a bit much (and try to balance fun with academic! - my last school even had a stationery club)

There’s usually some stigma that the novels published in our current century aren’t as literary & thought-provoking than previous centuries’ novels. Here are some novels published from 2001-Present that are incredibly literary/outstanding!! Feel free to add on & enjoy!!

MAINSTREAM / WELL-KNOWN (these novels can also be critically acclaimed)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

Life of Pi by Yann Martel 

Room by Emma Donoghue

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Thriteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Me Before you by Jojo Moyes

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

FICTION YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled housseini

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Martian by Andy Weir

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Everything is Illuminated by Johnathan Foer

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

LITERARY FICTION / CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

SERIES

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

The Twilight Series

The Game of Thrones Series

The Divergent Series

The Percy Jackson Series

TheHeroes of Olympus Series

The American Gods Series

OTHER RESOURCES:

19th Century Novels Masterpost

20th Century Novels Masterpost

21st Century Novels Masterpost

Rory Gilmore’s Reading List

the school year’s winding down here, and I know a lot of you are about to start your first year of college. sometimes, this involves moving into a dorm, and there are so many dorm packing lists out there that tell you about so many “”necessities.”” this really easily gets overwhelming, so here’s the list of things that I have in my dorm right now that I really appreciate having!

bedding:

two sets of sheets - make sure they’re the right size for the bed (often dorm beds are twin xl). i got two sets which included a pillow case, fitted sheet, and regular sheet. sometimes, the ‘college’ sets have pockets on the sides of the fitted sheets which can be super useful, esp if you decide to loft your bed!

pillows - when I was buying dorm stuff, i had the designer dorm room in mind (which is the goal for a lot of people when shopping, but it’s not super easy to attain. just stick to what works for u!). this, for me, involved pillows. i have 2 normal pillows (either i sleep on both or i alternate them out so no one of them gets too flat), and a smaller, soft decor pillow (i use this mostly to block up the space between the bed and the wall so my other pillows don’t fall off when i use them as a backrest haha), and a fourth, white fluffy square pillow (this one just looked cute, but i ended up using it as a desk chair cushion bc my chair didn’t come with one, it’s been a lifesaver!!)

comforter (tbh it’s always so hot in my dorm room that i hardly use this, and mostly just stick to the sheets haha, but it’s definitely important in winter)

extra blankets - just a couple lighter ones i use when i just wanna curl up or when i don’t need something as heavy as a comforter

foam mattress pad - !!!!! cannot stress this one enough. it makes my bed so comfortable. my dorm bed is now nicer than my home bed. i 100% recommend getting one of these (and make sure its the thick sheet of foam, not those weird cloth ones that make you feel weird when you touch it haha)

desk:

desk chair cushion (mentioned above) - wait until you see your room for this one, your desk chair might already have a cushion. if it doesn’t, get something to use as one. your butt will thank you, and it’ll make it so much easier to study. (also some people i know wanted to get their own desk chair - the rolly cushy kind - so if that’s what you want, go for it!)

desk lamp! - if you’re like me, you’ll stay up hours later than your roommate, and you need to be able to see. the kind i got was actually given away free from my uni, but it has usb ports and 3 different levels of intensity for the light itself, so it’s really nice!

cups/pen holders - stay organized. i brought a mug for this and ended up getting a few free cups at giveaways, and vases from flowers and things like that that I use to hold the pens on my desk.

misc desk organizers - to keep your study space put together and to keep all your stuff in a decent place (it’s so easy to lose things, even in such a small space)

closet/clothes storage:

hangers - i just got a couple packages (about 24 total i think?) which ended up being the perfect amount for me

sweater organizer shelves thing - these are everywhere at stores for dorm shopping. it’s basically a stack of box shelves. they also have drawers you can get for them, but i don’t have any of those. i just stuff my sweaters/cardigans/sweatshirts/extra sheets in there, it’s nice and saves a lot of closet space!

shower/hygiene supplies:

towels - i got 4 towels, just so i don’t have to do laundry as often. it ended up being a good amount for me. also a lot of people i know have washcloths, which wasn’t something i thought about but is a good idea if you use them!

shower caddy - a necessity! i use one of the bag ones, instead of the plastic ones, and i’ve heard a lot of people with the hard plastic ones wishing they had the mesh bag type (but obvs u do u)

dry shampoo - super useful for when you didn’t get a chance to shower and want to at least try to look a bit more cleaned up

laundry detergent - pretty straightforward. also hamper/laundry bag/dryer sheets/whatever else you need to get ur clothes clean (also stock up on quarters if you have to pay per load)

misc:

hobby supplies - i do a lot of crocheting/brush lettering/reading, whatever your hobbies are, you’ll wanna do them, so keep stuff in your room for it

wall calendar/white board calendar - useful for planning and remembering important dates (also i use this to keep up w what my roomie has going on bc we don’t talk about that sorta thing a whole lot but it’s nice to know when she’ll be back/out of the room/whatever)

whiteboard - i have a bigger wall mounted one, but i use it for assignment/meeting reminders and also as a study tool for before exams. plus it’s fun to doodle on when i really don’t feel like doing anything  haha

string lights - sure, they’re a classic dorm cute thing, but they’re also useful when you want just enough light to see, but not enough to keep your roommate up or be distracting. i use mine all the time, plus it makes the room feel more warm and homey!

Summer is time to relax but we should take the time to think. Here are my favorites ted talk videos that I think everyone should watch:

The virginity fraud - Nina Dølvik Brochmann and Ellen Støkken Dahl

This is what it’s like to go undercover in North Korea - Suki Kim

My escape from North Korea -  Hyeonseo Lee

The Muslim on the airplane - Amal Kassir

The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong - Amy Morin

The skill of self confidence - Dr. Ivan Joseph

How to stop screwing yourself over - Mel Robbins

The Magic of Not Giving a F*** - Sarah Knight

Why the universe seems so strange - Richard Dawkins

The pattern behind self-deception - Michael Shermer

Militant atheism - Richard Dawkins

Why domestic violence victims don’t leave - Leslie Morgan Steiner

Lessons from death row inmates - David R. Dow

Lessons from the Mental Hospital - Glennon Doyle Melton

Why we choose suicide - Mark Henick

What’s Wrong with Dying? - Lesley Hazleton

I’m Taking My Body Back - Rupi Kaur

My philosophy for a happy life - Sam Berns

The surprising habits of original thinkers - Adam Grant

The surprising secret to speaking with confidence - Caroline Goyder

Want to sound like a leader? Start by saying your name right - Laura Sicola

Programming your mind for success - Carrie Green

i’ve compiled a masterpost of tips that i have reblogged over the past few months and i thought it would be easier to have it all in one place. none of these posts are by me! huge thanks to everyone that has created these tips.

exams

finals: survival guide for the brave

pennyfynotes’ guide to exam season

study tips for exams

tips for doing well on exams

how to

how to accept and grow from failure

how to avoid education burnout

how to be an efficient test-taker

how to cope with exams

how to get straight a’s

how to get straight a’s 2

how to overcome failure

how to study effectively

how to study as a busy student

how to study when you don’t want to

how to utilise your studyblr

how to do well in a class taught by a crappy teacher

improve your handwriting

improve your life

productivity

5 easy productivity tips

7 productivity tips

productivity 101

the no bullshit guide to getting your shit together

school

4 tips for delivering a perfect presentation

a self care masterpost to help you get through school

school cheat sheet

back to school

back to school advice

habits of successful students

search google like a pro

useful things for those going back 2 school

study tips

6 things people don’t always tell you about studying

effective note taking

memory tips

my 3 steps in studying

memorisation tips for different types of learners

random study tips

study habits

study methods

study smarter

study tips

strategies for writing good conclusions

things not to do when studying

tips + tricks for learning a language

types of study breaks for every situation

unconventional study tips

when to use

work smarter, not harder

misc.

four rules for a disciplined life

self discipline tips

self soothing techniques

small gestures of self-love

As someone who uses the ipad pro and iphone x max constantly for school, I tend to dab around looking for the perfect apps to suit my needs and hobbies. If anyone wonders what apps I use for school, here are some “fundamental apps” I pertain to.

schedules and lists:

Calendars 5 - Calendars 5 is complete re-imagining of what the best mobile calendar experience should be. Calendars 5 is smart, excels in both tasks and events and runs on any iOS device you might have. It’s the calendar app you have been looking for.

Taskade - A great organized app that helps you organize your tasks or write simple notes.

Minimalist - a minimalist themed app that lets you list tasks very simple with other functions such as music and scenery to help you focus on those tasks.

timing, relaxing, and focus:

Clock - This is the default app that comes along with your ios device. I would say the functionality in it is very helpful to maintain alarms and a steady sleep schedule with the sleep function!

Tide - The tide app is an amazing peaceful app that lets you choose a time setting for how long you will work with soothing sounds playing in the background. The sounds really do help me focus and I highly recommend this app.

Flat Tomato - This app helps you split your time and measures it. For example, you would work for 25 minutes and then you would have a 5 minute break. This app really helps me with splitting my time and my tasks accordingly.

Forest - The forest app is absolutely great if you need help with staying away and off from your phone. The app grows a tree for up to two hours of constant studying which you would grow your tree in the meantime. If you do go on your phone and switch the app, the tree dies.

Flora - This is an alternative if you cannot or do not want to buy the forest app. It sort of works just like Forest, but you have a small 2D garden rather than a square terrain you see your trees grow on.

Oak -  Oak helps the monkey-minded decompress by transforming meditation practices from experiments into habits. We support you from your first session to your 500th, with mindful, loving-kindness, and sleep meditations as well as unguided sessions and breathing exercises. Individualize your meditations by duration, and customize with silence or calming background sounds. Oak tracks your progress and encourages you to continue building a healthy meditation practice.

drawing and art:

Procreate - My absolute favorite app that works so well with art. I draw most of my art work in there and occasionally make headers and calligraphy with it.

Ibis Paint X - This app is the pro version of another art app which has a few advantageous functions than procreate, but nonetheless helps a lot with making some really fine art.

titles and notetaking:

Over - The Over App is perfect to made headers and titles that are easily transferred to the goodnotes app.

Phonto - The Phonto app is another perfect app to make the titles with, but it isn’t easily transferred to the goodnotes app and you would need to save the image as a png to upload it to the page, but there are more fonts you could and you can add a lot of your own fonts as well.

Keynote - I use this app to make folders and planners and this works as a powerpoint but for apple of course. There are a lot of great tutorials that help with making cool planners and notebooks with this app.

Docs - Helps download videos and documents off online through mobile devices and organize files accordingly

Goodnotes - One of my favorite apps I use to take majority of my notes. It helps me organize my courses into different notebooks all in one app.

PDF Expert- I use this app in order to view my textbooks straight from the drives I use and occasionally edit and note take directly on my PDF books.

resources and flashcards:

Chegg - College resource with a flashcard app as well.

Course Hero - Upload documents to open documents related to the courses that you may be taking! Free when you upload your own documents, so try it! Great place to get accurate study guides.

The Khan Academy - App to take practice tests and get guidance on material related to your courses. Great app to get you on track and help you focus!

Quizlet - great app to organize flashcards and practice tests

DuoLingo- A wonderful language app that helps me keep a streak and maintain my language learning.

Periodic Table - This app is what it says it is. The periodic table. As someone who’s major focuses on Chemistry, I really do need this app and hopefully this app is useful for you all as well!

photos and editing:

VSCO - My favorite app that filters and edits images to make them look vintage or clean.

Snapseed - Another editing app with more controls and settings to help edit the images and color in areas to make them brighter or dimmer.

Afterlight 2 - A great editing app that helps add effects and details to images

PicPlayPost - an app that helps with organizing my images into collages or video cropping to make my images look neater. I also use it to edit my watermarks

Analog Seoul -  Analog Seoul is the eighth app of Analog Film City Series. With the specially created Analog Seoul photo filters, you can edit your pictures as if they were taken in Seoul.

printing, scanning, and storage:

Printerpro - A great app that helps with printing wireless from your iPad.

Scanner Pro - Scanning documents high quality and upload them to cloud

Drive - The best and foremost easiest storage to use and because I go to school/ university I have unlimited space for my files!

iCloud Drive - I only use this for photos or back ups, but occasionally it works well when I need to transfer files through apps that only use this form of storage.

Dropbox - Another storage application, but I usually use this for items I don’’t really need unless there’s an emergency. I use it to store mostly audio files and heavy files for keynote

entertainment and reading:

Netflix - To watch all my favorite movies and shows

Crunchyroll - I watch all my animes that I can here on this app

Kissanime - of course an alternative to crunchyroll is kissanime if you want to find animes for free (there are ads though)

Youtube - I mainly use this app for tutorials and guides to homework and projects

The CW - I watch all of my favorite local shows like the Flash, DC Legends, and Riverdale on this app for free.

MangaRock - I read most of my mangas on this app

iBooks - the installed app by apple where I transport a lot of my books into for reading and entertainment

VLive - For all my kpop friends, you know what this is for.

Bullet Journaling: A Guide

I’ve decided to make a little guide for anyone who might be thinking about starting a bujo but doesn’t know where to begin. 

What is a bullet journal and why should you have one?

It can work as a mix of a to-do-list, planner, diary, art journal, notebook, tracker etc.

you can use it as a planner for your work/school life, personal life or a mix of both

Tbh it can be anything you want, that’s what so nice about a bujo, some things may work for you and some things might not!

Use it to have some quality time with yourself, relaxing, being creative, getting your shit together. I think everyone has different reasons for having one. I do it because it helps me relax, makes me remember all I have to do and then it’s also a way for me to stay a little creative when I don’t normally have time to paint and draw so much.

What do you need to start a bullet journal?

You might have seen a lot of extremely beautiful pictures floating around the internet with expensive notebooks and fancy pens, but you don’t need anything like that at all. This is what I think you need:

Some kind of notebook. It doesn’t really matter which one, some people like Lechtturm or Moleskine, but any notebook you have lying around will work just fine. (Maybe just don’t get one with 300 pages as it will seem overwhelming to have to finish it)

Pay attention to if it has blank, lined, gritted or dotted pages tho! For a journal focusing mostly on art, I would recommend blank pages, and for writing a lined. If you want your journal to have perfectly straight lines, a gritted journal will probably work the best. If you want something in between or don’t really know exactly what you want, I think you should choose the dotted one (that’s also what I use).

Some kind of pens and pencils. Just pay attention to if they will bleed through your pages!

Optional: Scraps of paper, colored tape (washi tape), (polaroid) pictures, old tickets, stickers, watercolors, pressed flowers, cute wrapping paper or literally anything you have lying around or anything you think look cute! 

Practical things like glue, a ruler, a scissor

What should/could you put in your bullet journal?

I will give you a lot of ideas to spreads etc but don’t make them just because. Some things will work for you and a lot of things probably won’t. It can be tiring to make a lot of pages with things that don’t help you at all. Your bujo shouldn’t feel like a burden, so if you find a spread not working for you, then simply drop it :) 

*Start off with an intro page, maybe write your name, phone number and email in case it gets lost. Your bujo can quickly become one of your most beloved things so be careful!

*Make a key page with what symbols will you be using for tasks, completed tasks, events, birthdays, appointments etc.

*Maybe make an index. Some people like using it, but I abandoned mine pretty quickly, so again, that’s up to you.

*Yearly overview

*Monthly overview

*Weekly spreads. Most people include these pages and they might be the ones you will use the most with daily to-do-lists and the like.

*You can let your spreads be inspired by lots of different things as colors, seasons, holidays, the movie you just watched, an album, a place, a smell, a feeling, outer space, a person etc. Also don’t be afraid to play with different shapes and textures.

Page over your contacts, and important birthdays

*Habit tracker page (you can track sleep, water, exercise, spendings, medication, yoga etc) This can also easily be incorporated in your weekly spreads.

*Since we are close to the new year, you can do resolutions for the year.

Monthly/weekly/daily goals

*Memory pages. These could include a spread from new years, Christmas or a café trip with a good friend.

*Travel logs. You can write it like a diary or just glue in tickets and draw something.

*Gratitude log. Write 1-3 things every day that you are grateful for.

*Movies/series to watch

Books to read

*Book reviews

Music to listen to

*Favourite songs

Bucket list

*Paint test pages

*Brain dump pages

School assignments overview

*Grade tracker

*Exam planner

Class schedule

Favourite lyrics

*Favourite quotes

Gift ideas

*Christmas gifts planner

Wishlist. Update it whenever something pops into your mind so you will have some wishes when people ask you.

Dream log

Passwords for different websites

Countdown page

*Mood tracker

*Random doodle page

Highlights of 2018

Un-do list (bad habits)

Handwriting practice

*Different writing challenges like 6-word stories or a sentence a day.

Playlists for different moods

List of your favourite things

Savings tracker

Your budget

+ literally a thousand more!

*The ones I’ve tried

General tips

When you start your journal it can be very hard to be satisfied with it right away and you might be tempted to rip out pages. If you think this will happen, I suggest numbering your pages from the start. I would recommend not ripping anything out anyway because when you’re 50 pages in, it’s fun to see how much it has changed over time.

if you want your bujo to be a little artsy, I would recommend always outlining with a pencil before you start using your pens.

If you don’t feel like an index will work but you still want it to be organized, you can color code it with tape on the side of the paper. Ex. you can use your red flower tape every time you start a new month.

Check tags like #bujo #bulletjournal #weeklyspread and #journal on social media to get tons of inspiration. 

Check some of my favourite bujoblrs out like: @bujo-rd @bujo-ie @howlsmovingdesk @peachdanik-journal @studylustre @studygramjess @studyblr @problematicprocrastinator @kaylareads @heyrosiebee @academi @ohghiblies @hannybstudies @therobotstudies @studyquill @vanillastudies  @stillstudies + many many more. You can also check out my blog for inspiration.

I think that’s about it, I hope I covered it okay. Happy bullet journaling!

Welcome to my journal challenge, you can interpret these is any way you like. Feel free to submit your journal challenge pages to my blog and I'll post them, I'd love to see how creative you guys get with these!

OR tag them with #liljournalchallenge

Have fun!!

1: The last song you listened to

2: Doodle your happy place, real or fantasy

3: Today's weather

4: The things you ate and drank today

5: Dear ____, I love you because...

6: Colours

7: What kept you awake last night

8: Write down a secret that no one else knows, then do something to the page to make it unreadable

9: Doodle and write down the contents of your wallet/purse/handbag/backpack

10: Quote of the day

11: Your sexuality

12: A collage

13: What are you worried/stressed about

14: The great outdoors

15: Your favourite poem

16: Ink/black & white

17: Reasons to smile

18: Sketch some tattoo ideas for yourself

19: Write a letter to someone you used to love

20: Space

21: The song stuck in your head

22: Books to read

23: Flowers

24: Your mood-board

25: Doodle your favourite animals

26: Bucket list

27: a e s t h e t i c

28: Your Hogwarts house

29: Survival guide

30: Current season

31: Favourite phrases in other languages

So here’s a list of thing to inspire you, some are for drawings and other are for writing or both

1. angels/gods/feathers/wings

2. once when I was in a dream someone told me…

3. parallel universes (I’m right here why can’t you see/hear me)

4. cut out shapes from images (”there’s something missing”)

5. winter/summer sky at 5pm/5am/10am… (colors cut out from magazines or painted with watercolors/acrylics/whatever)

6. moments right before the storm, when everything is flying around, grey clouds, unrest

7.too tired to think ( random thoughts/pictures that go through my head right before I fall asleep)

8.illustrate a dream you had

9. what do you believe in ( about life/death, what comes after, meaning of it all…)

10. the butterfly effect

11.draw same thing in different mediums/ with left and right hand

12. favorite movie/series (favorite quote from it, scenes, how it made you feel)

13. what do you think about when you’re laying in dark,empty room

14. abandoned buildings/ playgrounds, empty train stations/parks, old houses

15. places where no one has been in a while and a nature got to it and grew all over the walls and floor, shattered glass, spider webs, sun rays shining through tree branches

these are just ideas and pictures in my mind I haven’t yet managed to put on paper and if anyone decides to use some of them and posts please tag me I’d like to see how you imagined it :)

I’ve been getting some asks about my journaling habits, so I wanted to make a list addressing one question regarding my favorite prompts. These always make me feel better! 

List 3 positive habits you have and explain why they benefit you. 

If you had 2 other lives to live, what would you do with them? 

Discuss 3 people who encouraged you and has continually supported you. What qualities do they have that you admire? 

List 5 tasks that take up most (or a lot of) your week. 

What do you need to protect? 

Have you avoided anything this week? 

Create a list of books you plan to read. 

What do you want to learn to do? 

Create a list of movies you plan to watch. 

What are you currently looking forward to? 

What is your favorite holiday? 

When do you feel the most comfortable and at ease? 

What is discouraging you right now, and what can you do to move past it? 

List 5 short-term goals and explain steps you can take to achieve them. 

What is your biggest strength? 

What are you totally honest about? 

Who knows the most about you? 

Why are you proud of yourself? 

What would you do with a million dollars? 

What is and isn’t working in your life? 

What lessons are you currently learning? 

Create a gratitude list. List as many things as you can. 

What do you stand for? 

What moves you? 

What qualities do you enjoy about yourself, and how can you continue to develop them? 

Explain the best compliment you’ve ever received. 

Who are you right now? 

How have you changed in the past 5 years? 

List positive quotes that you enjoy or find motivating. 

Create a self-care playlist of positive songs. 

Discuss your favorite movies, books, hobbies, music, foods, drinks, etc. 

List things that make you happy. 

What are your wildest dreams? 

Write a bio for your future self - who you want to become - but write it in the present tense. 

Describe your ideal day. 

What is the best advice you’ve ever received? 

When do you feel vibrant, electric, and alive? 

How can you be a source of love and magic to the world? 

How can you incorporate more fun and play into your life? 

What experiences trigger fear for you? 

Discuss 3 times you were proud of yourself. 

How does stress emerge in your life, and how can you manage it? 

How do you compare yourself to others? 

What can you do to make yourself feel calmer and more peaceful? 

What are you here to do (what is your purpose)? 

What do you no longer need? 

What do you know for sure? 

If you could start your life over, what would you change? 

Write a letter to your teenage self. 

What have you learned today? 

What would you do if you had no fears? 

Write a letter to a fictional character. 

Write about something that didn’t happen. 

What do you wonder about? 

List your favorite sounds. 

What are you worried about, and what can you do about it? 

What do you have difficulty accepting? 

Write about an act of kindness you performed or witnessed today. 

Discuss your favorite memory. 

How can you practice self-care? 

Is there a difference between happiness and fulfillment? 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

List some of your insecurities about your physical body, and then, for each body part, write down something positive about it. 

Create a word map with the word “Identity” in the center. 

Focus on a regret that haunts you. 

What does family mean to you? 

What did you believe about love as a teenager, and how have your beliefs changed? 

Describe a moment that changed the course of your life forever. 

Write a letter to your future self. 

Are you introverted or extroverted? 

What does beautiful thinking mean to you? 

What are your favorite words? 

What is your aesthetic, or personal style, and who or what has influenced it? 

1) tea tags- line them up and describe what you thought of each flavour.

2) tea and coffee stains- Write over each one a bit about what it was and where you were when you drank it.  

3) Pressed flowers- Write where you picked them, try to identify what kind of flowers they are.

4) Postage stamps- Line them up and describe what each was affixed to. 

5) Buisiness cards from restaurants you’ve visited- describe who you were with and what you ate. 

6) Post cards (even local ones)- describe where you were and what you thought of it. 

7) Sand and Dirt smudges from parks and beaches (affix with glue)- describe who you were with and give a point form about the adventure. 

8) Daily horoscopes from the newspaper- write about how right or wrong the prediction was. 

9) Fruit stickers- line them up and label which fruit each came from. 

10) Samples from your favourite art supplies- give a short description of the style and model. 

11) Paragraphs you’ve written for school- highlight parts you are proud of and add thoughts where you left some out. 

12) Labels from your favourite foods- describe why you like it, how you eat it, and how often. 

13) Tags from new clothes- describe why you like it, try to draw what it looks like on you or an outfit you will pair it with. 

14) Nail Polish- make a few splotches of your most used colours and label them accordingly.