LC 2018

Here’s a giveaway for any Holly Black fans! I have an ARC of her latest title THE WICKED KING (THE CRUEL PRINCE #2), up for grabs, coming out on January 8th, 2019!

Summary: After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

This is International!

Simply like or reblog this post to enter (though really, try not to spam your followers too much…)

You don’t have to be following me to enter, but you must be willing to give me your address and have your ask box open.

This giveaway ends on Saturday, September 8th at midnight EST.

If you win, your ask box must be open so that I can contact you. You will then have 48 hours to reply, or I will pick another winner.

Winners will be chosen at random.

For some reason cooling down after studying involves helping other people study. Oh well! Here’s a handy list of phrases you can use in your Irish essays at either Junior or Leaving Cert level. For Topical Essays (the Irish language, littering, racism, the economy etc) ar an gcéad dul síos/i dtús báire - first of all/in the first place chun an fhírinne a rá - to tell the truth feictear domsa - it seems to me d'fheadfadh sé bheith níos measa - it could be worse is oth liom a rá - i hate to say/i’m sorry to say cur i gcás - for example le blianta beaga anuas - in recent years sa lá atá inniu ann - nowadays i láthair na huaire - at present sa todhchaí/amach anseo - in the future measaim - I think dul chun cinn - progress saineolaithe - experts conspóideach - controvertial achmhainní nádurtha - natural resources teocht domhanda - global temperature athrú aeráide - climate change ag dul i ngleic le fadhb an bhruscair - tackling the litter problem ina theannta sin - as well as that go bunúsach - basically níl lá lochta agam orthu - I don’t blame them at all ciníochas an-chaolchúiseach - very subtle racism blaiseadh dá gcultúr - a taste of their culture cead dom, cead duit - live and let live

For Story Essasys - (Lá amháin chuaigh mé féin agus mo chara ar siúlóid. Go tobann, tháinig ollphéist as siopa milseán le trí pacáiste lán le cupán im pís thalún. Tá beirt chairde agam anois. 7rl)

Examples of interjections in English are: oh, ah, umm, well etc…

In French we have four interjections that are used a lot when we text and speak. 

1. Bon = Okay

Example: Bon je vais faire ça alors = Okay I’ll do that then

2. Bah = Well 

Example: Bah je sais pas moi = Well I don’t know

3. Hein = Right

Example: C’est beau hein = It’s pretty right

P.S: “Hein” used alone with an interrogation mark can also mean “What?”

4. Voilà = Here we go

Ever wonder what your life would be like if you lived up to your full potential? Would your body be healthier? Your skin clearer? Bank account bigger? I think about these things all the time, and, judging my a previous post, you guys do to. Below is a chart designed to help all of us live up to our full potential. I’ve broken it down into time frames to help keep you from getting overwhelmed. Write the chart down and hang it someplace where you can see it all the time. I will be starting this challenge tomorrow, 9/8. I’ll check in with you guys every Sunday to track my progress. I have specific goals in mind for myself, and you guys should make some too! I really want to know how you guys are doing. Tag your progress posts with #sbfpc so I can track it and take a look. Let’s get to it!

EVERY MORNING

Stretch. First thing. Really give your body enough time to wake up. Touch your toes. Roll out your shoulders. Do not hit snooze!

Do your full skincare routine. I have mine detailed here, but do whatever works for you and your complexion. Be gentle and consistent. 

Brush your teeth and floss. I used to be a big floss-skipper too, but you’d be amazed at how dig of a difference it makes. Rinse with a whitening mouthwash. I use one by Crest, and I notice a major difference in my teeth’s overall whiteness in just a few days.

Give yourself enough time to get ready. Whether you’re a wash-and-go kind of girl, or someone who spends an hour doing a full contouring routine before class (and either one is fine!), make sure you aren’t rushing. If you need to wake up a few minutes earlier than normal, so be it. Rushing sets an awful, stressed-out tone for the rest of the day. Allow yourself to be relaxed before taking on the day.

Eat something. I’m not going to say eat a big breakfast, because some people (myself included) just can’t eat in the morning. But you should eat, or at least bring a little something with you to work or school. If you can’t eat a full breakfast, grab a fruit! You won’t be as hungry come lunch time, making you less likely to gorge yourself.

Shower. You can do this at night, in the morning, whatever. Again, this is something you should allow some time for. I don’t wash my hair every day, but I do condition it every day (from the ears down). Scrub yourself with a delicious-smelling body wash. If you shave, make yourself as smooth as a dolphin, dude. If you don’t, then don’t and don’t ever ever ever let anyone make you feel bad or weird about it. When you get out of the shower, wrap yourself in a fluffy towel and totally slather your sexy self with lotion. Top to bottom. Do it as soon as you can post-shower so it can really sink in. 

Put leave-in condition throughout your damp hair and comb it through.

Put on an outfit that makes you feel good! So important!

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Take a look at your daily to-do list. Knock out the most pressing stuff first. Take pride when you cross things off your list.

Make your bed! Oh my god, make your bed. Do it. Do it. Do it. 

EVERY AFTERNOON 

Follow the “touch it once” approach. This is a truly life-changing thing. When a task is in front of you, no matter how big or small, just do it right then and there. How many times have you gotten a work email or homework assignment and thought, “Eh, I’ll do it later”? And then later never comes? Once something pops up, do it once. Squash it and be done. Cross things off your list and feel like a badass.

Try to go for a walk at lunch. Even one little lap around the block or campus will reenergize you like nobody’s business. 

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Be present. This is so hard for me too, but you have to make a major effort to be present in whatever you’re doing. Be engaged and plugged-in and just exist in the moment. Give 100 percent.

Be friendly to friends and strangers. A smile goes a long way.

Eat something. Eat what you packed for lunch (see below) and take a break from working while you do it. You need “you time”!

EVERY EVENING

Take your makeup off as soon as you’re in for the night. Wash your face with your full routine and let your skin have a break. 

Workout. You can also do this in the morning. Whatever works for you. Make a great playlist and go hard af. Get your cardio in. Get your strength training in. Earn every freaking sweat bead forming on your forehead. Earn your shower!

Knock out your homework. Life is infinitely better you don’t have anything hanging over your head. Half the time, the energy and emotion you spent dreading/putting off your work is ten times worse than the work itself.

Make a list of what needs to be done tomorrow. It’ll set you up for success the next day, and you won’t forget anything!

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Lay out your clothes for tomorrow. This will save you SO MUCH TIME in the morning omg I can’t even tell you how important this is.

Eat something great. And once you’ve decided to be done eating for the night, be done. Brush your teeth so you can’t eat again.

After brushing, do a whitening treatment. Whether it’s classic baking soda, a Crest white strip, or a laser. Do something. And floss! Retainers in too, ladies 0:)

Relax! Take a few hours to do what YOU want to do. Scroll through Tumblr, binge on some Netflix, FaceTime gossip with your friends, anything. Do whatever makes you happiest. 

Shut the electronics off an hour before you want to go to bed. Put your phone on sleep mode. If you stare at the screen, it will keep you awake and alert and you won’t be able to fall asleep. A good night’s sleep is crucial for weightless and general happiness lol

Do a quick sweep of your room and see if there’s anything you can put away real quick. A clean space is a happy space.

Crawl into your bed (aren’t you happy you took the time to make it?!) and read a book by lamplight for a while. When you start to feel sleepy, go to sleep. Don’t push it. You kicked ass today and you deserve rest. 

EVERY WEEKEND

Do something with your friends. It just has to be one thing. Even if you’re just hanging out at the coffee shop, spending time with your squad will make you a better, happier person.

Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!

Do something just for you. Set your laptop up in the bathroom and watch a Netflix marathon while you take a bubble bath. Buy an old school bottle of Mr. Bubbles ($3 at Target!) and really just soak. Relax. Light a candle.

Do something creative. You can read a book, write, blog, draw, code, anything. It just has to be something that speaks to your passion.

Track your progress. Just do this once a week so it doesn’t become all-consuming. And remember that non-scale victories are just as important as shedding pounds.

Take the time to be grateful. Tell your friend how much you admire her taste in music. Mention to your mom how much you love her cooking and how happy you are that she takes care of you. Thank your teaching after an especially interesting lecture. When you do something awesome, take a moment to admire yourself. Be grateful for even the little things.

I’m awfully late and very apologetic, but I’ve had exams and have more exams to come in the coming few weeks! Anyway, this is the first of a succession of posts about the HPAT and Leaving Cert process- I hope I’ve been clear but if I haven’t, just tell me and I’ll clarify.

What is the HPAT?

It’s test of general reasoning ability, that provides a measure of your aptitude to study medicine.It tests characteristics and skills generally regarded as being crucial to your development as a doctor, such as flexibility, good thinking skills, responding quickly to new situations and problems, the ability to understand other people, and comprehend and respond to/accommodate a patients needs and concerns within their individual situations.

Can you study for the HPAT?

The idea of the HPAT is that it’s an aptitude test, and therefore can’t be studied for. I really don’t agree with this view! Anything you can practice, you’ll improve on. Even without spending a fortune on targeted HPAT workshops, there are plenty of free resources online where you can improve your mental maths and speed reading skills- things that will definitely stand to you in the exam, and also continuing your medical education! The more you practice, the more familiar the questions become.

What’s the hardest section?

It’s all relative :P for most people, section 3 seems to be the most challenging, but luckily it’s also the easiest to improve on with practice! For section 1, you need to be on the ball. Speed reading, mental maths, and having some familiarity with the scientific method and scientific papers can help a lot. True/False questions, analytical thinking and thinking outside the box feature strongly. Section 2 really requires you to think with an even and open mind, take your time and be rational. The dialogues and text passages can have some slightly unusual emotional words that aren’t used in normal conversation and can be worth reading up on- tape them up beside your mirror and look at them when you’re brushing your teeth or something. Section 3 can appear to be the most daunting, but as it’s worth the majority of the marks, you should give it a good bit of time. Don’t let yourself get discouraged easily, try all the different types of questions. Once you work out the formula behind one type of question, try a few similar ones and work them out step by step- even draw them out and keep them in a folder that you can look back on.

How should I approach my practice exams?

Use them wisely! No matter if you have 2 or 20 to use, treat each of them like a real exam. Try to find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, set a timer for each section and don’t be tempted to look back! When you’ve finished your exam, go take a walk or do something else to relax for a while. go through your solutions piece by piece, work out your solutions and save them somewhere, on your laptop or in a notebook so whenever you come across a similar question you can come back to that thought process and work it out. Don’t waste them or rush through them, and don’t feel bad about getting low scores or percentiles- just learn from your mistakes and realise that your performance when you’re geared up for a big exam will be much more efficient, don’t stress!

Start studying for the HPAT as soon as you can, but don’t let it take over your school work.. at least until the week before the exam :)

Next week I’ll be posting tips and tricks for section one, and some general tips for setting up an efficient leaving cert revision timetable. If you’ve any questions please don’t hesitate to ask! I’ve end of semester exams coming up but I’ll respond to any asks as soon as possible :)

• I am allowed to take a break today

• It’s not selfish to put my feelings and health first

• I need to remember to care for myself

Hi Guys,

This is an important part of the French grammar that most people ignore.

GERUND (GÉRONDIF)

               -Formation:

               EN + (Present form of the verb conjugated at the second person of the plural – nous) + termination ANT

Ex:                                                                         partir – en partant

Manger – en mangeant

Exceptions :

Etre : étant,

Avoir: ayant,

Savoir: sachant

               -Utilization:

               Do not confound the French gerund with the English gerund (ING form), which can be very different.

1)      Two actions done BY THE SAME SUBJECT

Je mange du poisson en regardant la télévision.

2)      Condition

En faisant ce travail il pourra passer ses examens.

3)      To Say HOW something happened

Je me suis brûle en cuisinant.

 4)      To Say WHY something happened

En étant malade, je n’ai pas pu aller au concert.

5)      To express an opposition (it is MANDATORY to use the word TOUT before the gerund)

J’ai fait des pâtes tout en ignorant qu’ils n’aimaient pas ça.

PRESENT PARTICIPLE (PARTICIPE PRESENT)

               -Formation :

               It is the same of the gerund, except that there is no EN before the PP.

Ex:                                                         Partir: partant

Manger: mangeant

               -Utilization :

 1)      To express two actions done by different subjects (thus replacing a relative clause – qui)

Pierre regardait sa mère agissant de façon bizarre

2)      Modifying a noun or verb

Marchant lentement, nous y sommes arrivés

Une femme, parlant avec l’homme, est venue au magasin.

BIG DIFFERENCE

These examples will clarify the biggest difference in use of the gerund and the past participle.

J’ai vu Anne en mangeant du poisson = I saw Anne when I WAS EATING FISH

hello friends!!! i’m a language enthusiast (+ a language minor in college hehe). originally i was gonna make a post of all languages, but that already exists + i don’t want to reiterate + i have SO many french resources and that’s my second primary language so i thought i’d focus on that??? 

general language

big subject masterpost by @chemlstry

how to learn a new language by @studiyng

learning languages without actually studying them by @insomniac-arrest

things i learnt regarding learning languages by @star-study

100 perfect songs for traveling from around the world by @polyglottraveler

ap exams masterpost by @sootudying

tips to learn a new language by @darasteine

learning a language on your own by @sootudying

links for improving your vocabulary by @portiastudies

grammar resources yay! by @giuliaslangblr

speaking up more in class by @emmastudies

tips for foreign language writing assessments by @moonstruckstudies

helpful books to learn languages by @les-langues-sont-ma-vie

linguti by @teacupful-of-languages

general french

folder w/ beginner’s courses, grammar, etc. by @lovelybluepanda

french tips for beginners by @studyspirits

everything i use to make learning french fun by @jeparletoutesleslangues

a french masterpost by @organisaticns

how to sound more natural in french by @crookedlanguagestudent

learning french on your own by @wonderful-language-sounds

speaking on the AP french exam by @ap-french

lesser seen french tips by @francetrash

random little french facts

french resources masterpost by @highschoolering

studying/learning a foreign language by @emmastudies

french resources masterpost by @nathalliastudies

french masterpost by @bonbonlanguage

dear french community, listen up! by @studyblr-bri

french resources list by @openstudynotes

french writing and speaking cheat sheet by @hstudies

verb conjugation sheets by @apamexico

french vocab

vegetables in french by @goldstueck

everyday activities by @language-minded

back-to-school by yours truly @phctcsynthesis

when things are pointless by @lucylangblr

mental health by @lemonadeandlanguages

unrequited love by @word-stuck

ways to say yes by @language2go

langblr french masterpost (vocab only) by @study-katherine

french idiom masterpost by @revisionandtea

la rentree du petit nicolas by @frenchaise

describing your place by @pancake-studying

french tenses

the french imperative by @bonbonlanguage

top 100 most common french verbs by @colonelstudy​

french verb masterpost by @studypuddles

french verbs by @languageramblings

the verb penser by @all-things-francais

subjunctive or indicative? by @language-renard​

the verb ‘to return’ by @bonjourfrench

the french conditional by @languesetmoi

commonly used reflexive verbs by @bonjourfrench

le conjugueur by @jaimetalangue

verbs taking à, de, or no preposition by @bonjourfrench

the future proche by @futurefrenchprof

the subjunctive by @futurefrenchprof

participes passés by @anonimasulsublime

conjugating the subjunctive by @whosaprettypolyglot

using the passé simple by @crookedlanguagestudent

french grammar

french linking words by @frenchaise

french punctuation by @ladybaguette

variations in french pronunciation by @maptitude1

teen french expressions by @studyingharder

how to guess the gender of most french nouns by @frenchaise

asking questions in french by @frenchaise

relative pronouns by @kalenaslangblr

essay phrases by @llenguas

french homophones and how to tell them apart by @lemonadeandlanguages

writing essays in french part 1 by @french-ement-votre

french literature, film, + music

french women write classics, too by @antigonick

french animation recommendations

the classics by @ap-french

french book PDFs by @lovelybluepanda

easy french reading by @ap-french

francophone comic books by @languagesarebeautiful

french youtubers + singers/songs by @theperksofbeingstudying

french music recommendations by @seriouslystudying

french music by @studyplants

french music you should listen to by @teabeforeten

french listening by @ap-french

Just completed and submitted the final version of my Extended Essay !!! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° 

So I compiled lists of words that I found super super useful in making it easier for me to finish any essay !! Here is a masterpost of some sort with transition words + key vocabs grouped together for easy access as well as an IB IOC ‘cheat sheet’ I used for my english LAL orals last year (though most commentaries follow a similar structure so its generalisable) ~

Good luck with your essays !!!

HOW TO APPROACH CLASSES A guide to getting the most out of your classes and lectures

By Eintsein

Some lovely notes on some basic grammar~