Small Girl With Big Linguistic Dreams

Hi! So I wanted to do sort of a spanish-learners mini-masterpost because I’ve been learning it for some time and I just wanted to share what I do. I hope this is helpful! :)

BUT BEFORE, an encouraging gif of Romeo Santos!

i.  Grammar

     ‣ One thing i will say b4 going into this: don’t get too caught up on grammar. Listening to spanish will help you formulate it correctly. A big problem of mine was always thinking about the grammar before speaking, resulting in 7 minutes of cringe-worthy silence. Nobody wants that. 

     ‣ Use a textbook! these will help you learn efficiently without overloading yourself. (here are some good ones below, these are the ones I used in school)

          » Realidades 1-3 (I couldn’t find the actual textbooks, but here is a workbook) 

          » Temas - for advanced Spanish learners (AP Textbook)

ii. Vocabulary

     ‣ Most common verbs

     ‣ Spanish by Nemo - a reaalllyyy cool app that allows you to learn vocabulary while doing other things. You can choose to learn between 3 and 100+ words a day and it’ll play them on automatic for you. I like to use this when cleaning my room or going for a run. You can be immersed while doing other things!

     ‣ Keep a vocab journal + write down every new word you hear or any words you’re curious about. 

     ‣ Make up ways to remember words

          » For example, tiroteo means gunfire, and to me, the two t’s sound like little bullets so that’s how I remember. wtf

iii. speaking

     ‣ Speak to your friends in spanish

         » With HelloTalk you can talk to Native Speakers

     ‣ Speak to spanish speaking relatives (if you have them)

          » This was particularly hard for me because I always felt embarrassed. But I think getting over that feeling of “I should know this, but I don’t” is an important and worthwhile step.

     ‣ If you hear someone speaking Spanish, for example, in a store, try to converse with them in Spanish

     ‣ Record yourself and listen for your accent

     ‣ Do sample conversations. (These are part of the AP test, and real life. You have 2 minutes and have to respond accordingly. Below are some good practice ones.)

          »  here, here, and here

iv. listening comprehension 

This is my fave section.

     ‣ Watch TV!! Watch TV! Watch TV! 

          » For beginners : Extra in Spanish (not with Mario López) (made especially for learners), Pocoyo, Destinos (made especially learners!)

          » Intermediate/Advanced: El internado on Netflix (this is my shiiiittttt), 12 Corazones (also my shiittttttttt, I watched this at like 7 and was hooked. It’s like the bachlorette + game show), Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty)

          » It’s completely okay if you don’t understand it in the beginning. That’s natural. 

     ‣ LISTEN TO MUSIC. 

          » I’m Dominican and Black, let me introduce you to the wonderful world of Bachata. 

               ♥ Aventura ♥

               More (Xtreme)

          » Regattone

      ‣ Listen to podcasts –> here and here

      ‣ And radio

v. reading

     ‣ Read articles (BE WOKE!) –> El País, BBC Mundo 

     ‣ Obras de Teatro

           » Bodas de Sangre

           » Yerma

     ‣ Harry Potter (Bk.1, Bk. 2, Bk. 3, Bk. 4)

     ‣ Short stories

SO

yall remember that post that went like…… “why is french… Like That”?

well, time for An Education from ur local french literature student

SO, BASICALLY, WHAT HAPPENED

first of all, well, it’s like the 9th century and the king is like…… hey what if….. and bear with me on this one but….. what if…….. we wrote………. the things about our country………… in the language……. actual people living in this country….. speak?

and people were like “holy shit youre the king so okay” and then the king was like “i want YOU to write this laws and THINGS in FRENCH!” and the monks were like “aw okay” so they started doing that

EXCEPT

that they had a big fucking problem. what was that problem, you may ask? well, the problem was thaT THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS DIDNT HAVE AN ALPHABET TO WRITE THIS FUCKING EXCUSE OF A LANGUAGE

lemme explain. all they knew was latin and the latin alphabet. bc like knowing latin was the whole thing when u were a monk. also latin was like… the Serious Language. but french doesnt sound like latin like at all. french sounded like some bitch ass demon had bitten their tongue and was trying to order a latte in the middle of an exorcism incantation. and i say “sounded” on purpose bc their pronunciation was wild, man. like ultra wild. like even WORSE than what we have to deal with now. and it had NOTHING to do with motherfucking latin.

so what did the monks do? well, they were like “aw this is a mcfucking embarrassment of a situation, ay” and had a choice. basically, they could invent a whole new mode of transcription for french weird ass sounds… OR they could do their best to try and adapt the latin alphabet to its demonic sprouting.

which is, pretty sadly if you ask me, what they went for.

so they started planning strategies that were complex at shit bc like how tf are you gonna write “cheval” with a fucking LATIN ALPHABET??? so basically they all went with whatever felt best to write in the moment and there were no rules and it was a weird fucking mess of a situation lemme tell you, ive seen the manuscripts, those men went APE SHITT

and like…. some of them never used the same spelling twice. also there were like no accent and punctuation and things that allow you to write like a fucking normal human being so jot that down

so, that was a big fucking mess and they started adding letters e v e r y w h e r e like……….. ok some of them were actually smart like they did their best to add letters that no one pronounced but it made it look like some latin thing. like basically they put up a pink hairband on a fucking DEMON CHILD and went “aaaawww look how CUTE it is, looks like its mommy so much!!!!” and prayed to god it would end up well (spoiler: no. no it didnt. bitch)

so you got things like “veult” for “veut” bc the “l” made it look a bit like the latin “vult” or something. but then as i said some of them went APE SHITT and were like, WOOHOO FREE LETTERS and started adding weird letters to words that had literally no etymological link to that letter. so they were writing “peut” like “peult” just because….. idk they felt like to??

so its Like That in the middle ages and then people started thinking about french as a language and they went like….. MAAAAW THERES A WEIRD FUCKING STRAY WRITING OUTSIDE!!! MAAAAAAAW!!!! IS THAT EVEN A FUCKING LANGUAGE???? BLINK MOTHERFUCKER!! AAAAAAAAAAAA and everyone was losing their shit alright

so like english students started going to college in france and they were like “bitch you live like this??” and the french were like :/// whelp

and like they did their best to like help non-native writing french but it had no rules so it didnt work out well and like….. in the 1500’s some guys were like “okay guys this makes no sense from now on well use a RATIONALIZED WRITING i built MYSELF” and their idea was basically to write french as they spoke it which i know SOUNDS like a good idea but actually AINT

bc first of all there are a shitton of words that have the same pronunciation in french and you need those weird spellings to actually know what the word is there for like….. they wrote like “me” for “mai” and “mais” and “mes” and “met” and basically that was wild

and some of those guys who knew a lot about grammar went like “ooookayyyyy so were removing those letters we dont pronounce buuuuuuuuuut its not alwayyyyyys like thiiiiiiiiis” and like…. right-wing people like the 1550 equivalent of republicans or some shit went like, foaming at the mouth like rabid fucking dogs when they saw “pe” instead of “peult” “oooooohhhhhh but you DIDNT and its not EVEN REALLY RATIONAL” and like they had a ton or arguments and it actually became a kinda linguistic war and all

plus they didnt pronounce the same things everywhere in france so in paris they wrote “otr” for “autre” and in lyon they wrote “aotr” and they were like……… “we got a problem here” bc the whole thing was to get a language that was the same everywhere in the country basically

so u got those reformist guys on the one side and the reactionaries on the other side and honestly, reactionaries’ arguments are so fucking funny they were like…

“okay so some of the letters are useful bc it helps understanding that the word comes from latin” this ones rational alright

“also some mute letters are used to link the words from an identical background together and create semantic links like “sang” (blood) does have a mute “g” bc it links it to “sanguin” (sanguine) and other words like this” alright cool

but THEN you got some weird fucking ideas like

“but actually writing IS the standard bc written things Are More Noble, Actually” which is like……. weird flex but ok

“yes, it makes it harder to learn, but so it repels women and non-educated people who would soil The Language if they could write it” like DUDE are you FUCKING SERIOUS

and finally – their main idea –

“bUt iT loOkS FaNcY” aka #aesthetics and thats basically it

also. the printing press workers were like……… guys are you SURE you want to get us to COMPLETELY CHANGE AND UNLEARN OUR WHOLE JOB LIKE C’MON so it kinda weighed in favor of the reactionaries

also the reactionaries won in the long term

tl;dr so french is Like That because 1. its a demonic language that monks desperately tried to tie back to latin and 2. old white men with bizarre aesthetic tastes hated women and The Poor

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I suppose it’s okay to admit after three years of linguistics blogging that I actually am one of those linguists who speaks quite a few languages, and I’ve studied even more at various levels. Here are some of my favourite posts about language learning:

Tips for learning another language

7 ways to fake-pronounce any foreign language

How to learn vocabulary in 12 steps (using science!)

Up-goer five, Taboo and language learning

How to learn a third language (while keeping your second one)

12 ways to stop freezing up when you try to speak a second language

Someone trying to switch into English on you is like them trying to pick up the cheque

How second language acquisition works

Why can’t adults learn languages like children? (video with Tom Scott)

Finding “lost” languages in the brain

Learning languages without conscious effort

How to teach old ears new tricks

Speaking to babies, pets, and language learners

How learning a new language improves tolerance

First lesson in modern versus classical languages

Learning languages linguistically (Lingthusiasm podcast episode)

Learning Indigenous languages

Should linguists or non-Aboriginal people learn Aboriginal languages?

Non-Indigenous people learning Australian Indigenous languages

Benefits of Indigenous language learning

Roadblocks to effective Indigenous language development

OLA - Oral Language Acquisition

CoLang and Breath of Life

Learning less popular and minority languages when resources are hard to find

How to teach when the teacher isn’t fluent

How to make learning materials for conversation and document at the same time

Sk̲wx̱wú7mesh language revitalization house

Europe has indigenous minority languages as well 

Languages and linguistics

Why linguists get annoyed when you ask how many languages they speak

Will learning a second language help me learn linguistics?

Will learning linguistics help with learning a second language?

Using Gricean maxims to deflect the “how many languages do you know?” question in a way that leads to a better conversation

have 3 achievable goals a day: having a laundry list of things to do everyday is super unrealistic, and you just end up feeling bad about yourself because you didn’t accomplish your goals for the day.

leave your sundays open: i love sundays because they’re my day to chill out and catch up on school work that i wasn’t able to finish during the week.

recognize when you’re at your emotional limits: forcing yourself to get work done when you are unable to comprehend your study material does not benefit anyone.

learn how to say no: people will ask you for your time and it will stretch you to the limit, whether it be at your job, in your extracurriculars, or in your personal life. know when to step back and say no.

take care of yourself physically: take breaks, go for walks, shower regularly, get enough sleep, eat healthy, see your friends

celebrate your accomplishments: go out to eat with friends after a big exam, indulge in a night off after a busy week with some netflix and wine

make a study plan beforehand: it can be daunting to see how much work you need to put in to a class or task beforehand, but this allows you to spread your work evenly so you don’t become overwhelmed.

learn how to ask for help: it is very rare that people make it through school, whether it be high school or university or any graduate program, without needing the advice of others or just a kind soul to vent to. find that person.

never forget your hobbies: you will need things that keep you sane. if you love to play music, write, play volleyball, or cook, make you sure you don’t lose these things. they will become your escape when times get tough.

I watched Brave and had absolutely no trouble understanding the entire movie so they’re definitely increasing the accent here for comedic value.  But also it’s not just an accent - that second part of the first sentence isn’t understandable even transcribed.

“Big Yin” is a common Glasgow term, and this is important, cause Billy Connolly who voiced her Da, is from Glasgow. It’s also the name was known by during his rise to fame, and is still affectionately known as “The Big Yin”.

We’re fast talkers, but not quite this fast.

Throw in a few slag words (the big yin tried to dae her in = the big man tried to kill her) and what is essentially still English as a language is almost complete gibberish to another English speaker, and thats’ just… fun and awesome to me. 

Marathon! Change your life!

How often do you say to yourself, “I’ll Start on Monday!“and still put off for later? Are you ready to challenge yourself and turn your life upside down, starting with small steps? Are you ready to be the best version of yourself? Ready to learn to go to your goal, to go to the end? Then participate! I suggest we start on Monday! //symbolic// Only this time, no excuses!

let’s Call it ‘Change your life’. Goal: Get a bunch of good habits.

What do you need for this? You need to print that wonderful sign in the photos, or draw yourself. It needs to be done today, because tomorrow we start. Next, you need to determine what habits you want to put in your life rhythm. Put them in the tracker. Thank u @emmastudies for this Monthly Habit Tracker!🍉 And you need motivation and persistence!

How do you keep motivated?

I thought about that too. We will motivate each other! Every day you can summarize on your blog using the hashtag #marathonwithstudypeachs . So all participants will be easier to find each other’s posts, and thus receive a portion of motivation and boldly go to the end!

And now let’s talk about those habits that should be in each tracker.

🌟 Wake up at 7:00 am!

🌟 Drink 2 glasses of water in the morning and drink plenty of water during the day.

🌟 Morning yoga. Exercises can be found online or replaced with normal charging.

🌟Read 30-35 pages of the book every day.Choose the book you got today)

🌟 Move 20 minutes per day. you can run, walk with friends, jump, swim, but not sit!

🌟 Hug at least one person a day!this is also important. Hugs will cheer you up)

🌟 Plan your day from the evening! Every night you will make a plan for the next day. This habit will help you become more organized.

🌟 Do not use the device during operation! You’d be surprised how much time you’ll have and how much productivity you’ll have.

🌟Take 15 minutes to develop yourself! you can watch thematic videos on YouTube or read self-development books, find useful sites and learn something new.

🌟 Read 1 random Wikipedia article every day!as a result, you will fit 31 articles in your head. And, if it becomes a habit, you will get knowledge from different areas and further, which will make you a versatile person.

🌟 Spend 30-40 minutes in a foreign language! have you been wanting to learn English or German, Chinese or Italian for A long time? Start now! Get closer to the dream every day.

🌟 Go to bed at 11:00 pm!you need 8 hours for a good rest.

Well, are you in? Will you challenge yourself?! I hope so.

Essentials for Class

Your laptop/spirals/tablet/your preferred note-taking medium. For professors that speak quickly and cover a lot of information in a short amount of time before moving on to the next slide, I always like to use my laptop. Some professors prohibit the use of laptops (even for note-taking). So, I like to use a cheap spiral for class in which I will write information/graphics with the knowledge that they don’t have to be perfect. This is just to ensure that I get the information down. When I get home I transfer all of the notes into a nicer spiral to look over later. This also works to help me retain the information! 

My all-time favorite spiral notebooks are the Exceed Five Subject Notebooks. I love these because in the front they have a world map, a punctuation chart, a metric unit conversion chart, spelling rules, a ruler, and a glossary of general reference and research sites.

Loose-leaf paper. This is especially helpful for me because many of my professors will give pop-quizzes/pop-writing assignments. Also great for when a classmate needs to borrow some paper. You can whip it out and make a friend for all semester. 

Personally, I like to use Five Star Reinforced Filler Paper by Mead.

Pencil Bag. Naturally, not having to frantically dig around your backpack for a pen/pencil/highlighter makes your day go so much smoother.

I prefer the Mead Five Star Organizer Pencil Pouch.

My pencil bag comes complete with an assortment of pens, pencils, highlighters, two flash drives, a pencil sharpener, and an entire 50 pack of Crayola Super Tips. Yes, my pencil bag fits that much. 

Laptop charger & phone charger. I recommend purchasing a powerblock as well to ensure that you don’t have to compete over the use of limited outlets. Thousands of college students across the nation fail to charge their electronics nightly, don’t get caught in the crossfires of that feeding frenzy.

Headphones. Something about not having my music while I’m on the bus or walking across campus really kills my mood for the day. 

My planner! Stop writing stuff on your hand or on random pieces of paper. Get yourself a cheap planner. Even if you are not a planner user right now, just forcing yourself to use one for 30 days will forge an unbreakable and life-changing habit! Take it from me. 

To Make Your Day Easier

A small umbrella for those days when the weather goes from 75′ and sunny to raining cats and dogs in 3 seconds. 

A wallet with your IDs and change. I always kick myself when I didn’t have enough change for the vending machines on campus. I kick myself even harder when I have to ask random strangers for 50 cents to buy a scantron/blue book. Also just a good idea to always have some form of ID on you. 

Water bottle. Invest in a super cool, trendy, refillable water bottle to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day. Or just keep refilling the same plastic one. 

Deodorant. This is so silly but I am always forgetting to put on deodorant before I walk out the door and I’m 22. When I get to class I realize I’ve forgotten and panic as the Texas heat encompasses me. Travel-sized deodorants are so beneficial. 

An emergency tampon/pad. Or two!!! Goes without saying. Surprises are always fun until it’s your period. I keep emergency tampons in my truck, in my apron for work, in my backpack, in my horse trailer. I do not play around. 

Ibuprofen/Aspirin 

Light snacks. We’re talking a granola bar or seven to keep your stomach from gurgling when you’re taking that exam and of course everyone showed up to class. 

A flashdrive.

Chapstick, sunscreen, or lotion can also make you more comfortable sitting in class. 

Quick Tips About Backpacks

While, yes, those little fashionable ones are cute, they don’t hold the essentials and can be damaging to your back, causing soreness and discomfort. Buying a Jansport absolutely saved my back and stopped my chronic pain from progressing! 

Obviously there are hundreds of amazing brands of backpacks out there, but I strongly urge you to purchase a bag with:

a sleeve inside for your laptop

at least three pockets - so everything has a place

those little mesh side pockets

adjustable (preferably PADDED) shoulder straps! 

Another thing! I always place my heavier items (laptop & textbooks) CLOSEST to my back. That way the weight doesn’t drag you down backwards and cause back pain (my doctor literally told me this). This is where having multiple pockets is so helpful. 

Adjust your shoulder straps so that you can also maintain good posture while walking. The weight of your backpack + where it sits on your back should not cause you to lean forward or sway backwards in order to compensate. Also fun fact - when I was in middle school I thought it was cool to have a backpack that hung really low (?) and it created a pinched nerve in my neck! Awesome! Don’t be like me! 

Remember that backpacks -while they can absolutely be super cute and trendy- are meant to possess functionality. Your backpack should carry the essentials you need to have a successful and comfortable day at class.

Lastly, 10/10 would recommend cleaning out your backpack frequently! Make sure it stays organized and free of clutter. I also like to make sure I take all of my spirals and planner out of my backpack each day after class so that after I rest for a bit - I know I have things I need to get to. 

Organizing Your Backpack - By Pockets

-Largest pocket (closest to your back): 

Heavier items such as your laptop, binders, textbooks, loose leaf paper and planner. Laptop should go inside the sleeve (if applicable). 

-Second largest pocket

Items such as your pencil bag, chargers, and umbrella.

-Smallest pocket

Items that you won’t be pulling in and out too frequently, such as headphones, deodorant, chapstick, a flashdrive, snacks, wallet, keys, painkillers, and your emergency tampons (if applicable). 

-Side pockets

Here I obviously like to keep my water bottle or coffee thermos. If you have more than one pocket this is also a great place to keep your little umbrella.

this also applies to high school in a lot of ways, esp in organization and involvement

I read this book by cal newport called “how to win at college” in prep for my freshman year & u should definitely read it yourself because there are lots of important points i don’t cover in this post, but if you don’t want to, this is my summary of what I think were the most important points he made. 

STUDY HARD, BUT YOUR GRADES DON’T MEAN AS MUCH AS WHAT YOU LEARN OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM. he prioritizes getting vital experiences such as

- joining a club and eventually taking responsibility in it and becoming a leader

- apply for scholarships every year (he said 10 a year) 

- volunteer, but not for your resume. do it to learn and become a better person. 

- get involved in research, and get involved in your major department (like go to the events and lectures, even if they aren’t mandatory)

- write outside of class regularly because writing is super important (example- submit to your school newspaper) 

STAY ORGANIZED AND ON TOP OF YOUR SHIT

- he really really REALLY emphasizes not procrastinating and studying / starting papers well in advance of deadlines. his rules are to 

- - >start long term projects immediately after they are assigned and continue to work on them by following a reasonable schedule (he says to finish early, revise, then finish again), 

- - > take 3 days to write shorter papers (aka you have abt 2 weeks to work on them and they range from 2-15ish pages) (aka make preparations pre writing, then write a rough draft on the first day, revise and focus your writing on the second day (make sure your arguments are very clear!), and polish your paper on the third day), and

- - >take 2 weeks to study for an exam. study in shorter blocks during the first week, like maybe an hour or so each day. over the weekend, add more hours. the few days before the test, study in 2-3 hour chunks to really cement the already familiar information. 

- get a filing cabinet for your papers instead of just piling them on your desk and having to search for them later. 

- have a HIGH QUALITY notebook and a folder for each class (or whatever stationery keeps you organized) and keep all your folders/notebooks/binders neat and organized. 

- empty your inbox and organize your emails 

- schedule your free time- aka have specific times that you choose to relax and spend with friends rather than unintentionally relaxing during work time, or worrying about work during relaxation time. 

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

- you NEED sleep, you NEED healthy food, and you NEED exercise. you really shouldn’t put anything ahead of these things. 

- NEVER pull an all nighter. if you’re studying ahead of time, this should be easy. all nighters aren’t glamorous, they’re unproductive, really stressful, and unhealthy

- keep in touch with old friends, and remember to call your mom

- make sure to spend time with new friends and take care of them. be there for your friends. 

- keep your room neat and make your bed!! 

👽Science fiction- La ciencia ficción

👽Alien- El/La extraterrestre

👽To time travel- Viajar en el tiempo

👽Mutant- El mutante

👽Teleportation- La teletransportación

👽Telepathy- La telepatía

👽Robot- El robot

👽Spaceship- La nave espacial

👽Planet- El planeta

👽Invisibility- La invisibilidad

👽Future- El futuro

👽Time machine- La máquina del tiempo

👽UFO- El OVNI

👽Artificial intelligence- La inteligencia artificial 

👽Utopia- La utopía

👽Dystopia- La distopía