Language & Linguistics

I made resource blogs for each one of those languages to which I’ll reblog vocab lists and other things about them. Go and follow them if you’d like.

RUSSIAN:

@russkiy-yazyk

BULGARIAN:

@balgarski

SERBO-CROATIAN (Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian):

@srpskoxrvatski

UKRAINIAN:

@ukrajinska

UPPER SORBIAN: @serbsce-za-samostudij

Alright young deviants, schemers and connivers, this is for you:

élaborer un plan - to hatch a plan

être de connivence avec qqn - to be conniving with s.o

être de mèche avec qqn - to collude with sb

un complot - a scheme/conspiracy

comploter - to plot

conspirer/comploter/se liguer contre - to conspire against

conspirer pour faire qch - to conspire to do sth

grenouiller - to plot/scheme (politics)

intriguer - to connive/plot

machiner - to cook sth up

manigancer - to scheme/to plot

monter une machination - to machinate

Hi there, it’s me , the new blogger. My main target languages are German and Russian and on the waiting list are Hebrew, Chinese, Dutch and maybe Japanese. I’m kinda fluent in English and my native language is Romanian.

That’t it, my introductory post.

If you live in Canada, you’ve probably heard this one, it’s the most popular Quebec swear outside the province itself. Tabernak is, like most swears in Quebec, a religious reference (from tabernacle)

On its own, tabernak is used, roughly, like fuck or shit. – Tabernak! – Qu’est qu’il s’est passé?? – Mon ordi a planché

But it gets better: les sacres tend to be strung along together to make a long rage-filled sentence, like this example from wikipedia: – Criss de calice de tabarnak d'osti de sacrament!!!

Furthermore, one can use en tabernak to describe two things

 Someone is angry : Il est en tabernak! : He’s super pissed

These are some of the ways you can study a language that come to my mind. Some will work better than others for you, and you should try them all to find which ones fit you best.

“Good old” group classes/courses.

A private tutor.

Language books divided in CEFR levels, or beginner, intermediate, etc.

Grammar books.

Vocabulary books.

Having a language learning notebook.

Using flashcards for vocab or grammar rules.

Interactive courses like Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, etc.

Free online courses, this can be something you download or websites, for example.

MOOCs (massive open online courses), they are online courses, yes, but I consider them as another category. 

Paid online courses.

Bilingual books.

Listening to the radio.

Watching TV.

Watching movies and series with or without subtitles in your target language.

YouTube videos, gold.

Podcasts, about learning that language or in that language about any topic.

Websites like italki.

Chatting with native speakers you met on the internet.

Writing in a diary or journal in your target language.

Reading newspapers, online or printed.

Re-reading your favourite books.

Reading children’s books if you’re a beginner, or for fun.

Reading manga or comics.

Reading novels from native authors.

Reading books about a topic that interests you in your target language instead of your native language.

Reading magazines, specially if you live in the country.

Buying cookbooks in your target language.

Searching for recipes in your target language.

Writing the name of things in your target language on post-its and laying them around the house.

Change the language in your phone, PC, tablet, Facebook, etc. to your target language.

♡ Basics:

une école - school (in general), grade school

un écolier, une écolière - grade school student

un collège - middle school, junior high

un collégien, une collégienne - middle school student

un lycée - high school

un lycéen, une lycéenne - high school student

une université - college, university

un étudiant, une étudiante - college student

un professeur, un/e prof (informal)* - teacher

*In France, the word professeur is always masculine, even if the teacher is a woman. 

♡ School Years and Ages: 

Cours Préparatoire (CP) = 6 years old

Cours Elémentaire (CE1) = 7 years old

Cours Elémentaire (CE1) = 8 years old

Cours Moyen (CM1) = 9 years old

Cours Moyen (CM2) = 10 years old

Sixième = 11 years old

Cinquième = 12 years old

Quatrième = 13 years old

Troisième = 14 years old

Seconde = 15 years old

Première = 16 years old

Terminale = 17 years old

♡ Equipment - Le Matériel

un bureau - desk

un pupitre - student desk

un cahier - notebook

une calculatrice - calculator

un carnet - notebook

une carte - map

un classeur - binder

une craie - chalk

un crayon - pencil

des devoirs (m) - homework

un dictionnaire - dictionary

une gomme - eraser

le rétroprojecteur - overhead projector

un livre - book

la trousse - pencil case

le papier - paper

une feuille de papier - piece of paper

recto verso - front and back, both sides

un sac à dos - backpack

un stylo - pen

un tableau - chalkboard

le cartable - school bag

♡ The School:

classroom - une salle de classe

library - la bibliothèque

librarian - le/la documentaliste

hall - le hall

staff room - une salle des profs

cloakroom - le vestiaire

toilets - les toilettes

laboratory - un laboratoire

workshop - un atelier

gym - le gymnase

the playground - la cour de récréation 

sports field - le terrain de sports

headmaster - le directeur

headmistress - la directrice

secretary - la secrétaire

dining hall - la cantine

corridor - le couloir

caretaker - le concierge

school yard - la cour

♡ Subjects - Les Matières

English - l'anglais

Mathematics - les mathématiques

Modern Languages - les langues vivantes

French - le français

Spanish - l'espagnol

German - l'allemand

Greek - le grec

Latin - le latin

Physical Science - les sciences physiques

Physics - la physique

Chemistry - la chimie

Biologie - la biologie

Technology - le travail manuel éducatif (TME)

Woodwork - le travail sur bois

Art - le dessin

Computing (IT) - l'informatique

Music - la musique

Geography - la géographie

History - l'histoire

Physical Education (PE) - l'éducation physique et sportive (EPS)

Religious Education (RE) - l'instruction religieuse

♡ School Life

lesson - un cours

pupil - une élève

to spell - épeler 

to learn - apprendre 

to discuss - discuter

essay - la rédaction 

school uniform - l’uniforme 

bell - le sonnerie

homework - les devoirs

timetable - un emploi de temps

to take notes - prendre des notes 

term/semester - un trimestre

detention - le retenue

study period - l'étude

un examen - test

♡ Classroom activities and instructions

lever la main - to put one’s hand up

poser une question - to ask a question

écrivez - write down 

écoutez - listen to 

regardez  - look at 

regardez attentivement - look closely

lisez - read

lisez attentivement - read carefully

…le texte - the text

…l'enregistrement - the recording

…la conversation - the conversation

…la vidéo - the video

…l'écran - the screen

ouvrez - open

…votre cahier -  your workbooks

…votre livre - your (text) books

…le manuel - the textbook

cochez la bonne réponse - tick the right answer

je vais vous donner un devoir - I’m going to give you some homework

c'est pour - it’s for

il faut le rendre - you’ve to hand it in

…demain - tomorrow

…la semaine prochaine - next week

…après les vacances - after the holidays

allez, c'est parti! - come on, let’s start!

faites moins de bruit, s'il vous plaît! - quieten down, please!

#optomstudies here with a post about university studying! I’ve been reading many study tips masterposts in the community, but some of these won’t work that well for university. So here are 3 tips for adapting to uni study!

Loose leaf? Notebook? Neither! (but if you must choose between the two, I recommend hole-punched loose leaf - easy to file :D) There is just no time, especially once you get to your higher years, that you will be able to write paper notes especially considering the level of detail that you are required to learn things to get good marks. 

When I was studying therapeutics, lectures were more like an essay crammed into 60-80 ppt slides! Using 10pt Calibri, 1.15 spacing, custom 1cm margins - I still had 12 pages for a 2 hour lecture (see below)

Two lectures / week, for 12 weeks! Although this was the most-content heavy subject, my other courses were still way too time consuming to write notes for. Sadly, you can’t summarise much, because MCQs pick at details.  

As for laptops, cheap netbooks are only ~$300, but I’d recommend these really great student laptops. 

And yet, you have to wonder why #studyblr doesn’t have more digital notes? Isn’t every studyblr the owner of a computer as a tumblr user? I’m trying to encourage everyone to feel more confident about posting their digital notes as part of the “#studyblrs get real” tag (see here), so if you have some great typed study notes, please tag me with #optomstudies and I’ll be happy to reblog you!

Read through your lecture slides so that you have a basic grasp of the topic before classes. If you have any readings assigned, do them too. This means that you’ll

go in knowing what concepts you need clarified

revise one more time (remember the forgetting curve?)

be much better placed to answer questions and participate in class discussions (get those participation marks!! ;))

find it easier to follow along with much more complicated topics than you’ve experienced in high school!

remember a lot more of the topic when you come back to revise later on!

Yes, I know, studyblr blasphemy right? But this is what you do when strapped for time. Particularly with biological/chemical sciences, lecturers will have basically summarised what you need to know on the slides. 

Before your lectures, read through the slides (should take about 30 minutes for a 2 hour lecture) and mark/circle anything you don’t understand - then when you get to the lecture, jot down a clarification in your own words based on the professor’s explanation. Eventually, you’ll find that you have studied the topic well enough to not need your own footnotes. 

It takes a little experience to know which professors have slides you can study off (tip: it’s usually the ones where you don’t have to write down much) but it’s totally worth the time you save!

Hope this has been an informative post about the differences between university and high school studying! Please follow me for weekly study tips, study pics and now kpop vocab lists!

MY WEEKLY STUDY TIPS

WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN BEFORE UNIVERSITY STUDY TIPS SERIES

0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 Saving Money 1 10 Saving Money 2 11 Adapting to Uni Study 16.02.17 new!!

12 How to Study From Textbooks in Uni coming 27.02.17!

SEE ALSO My Tips This Past Month - It’s too long to list everything, see all original posts here and my study tips directory (web)

Time Management and Organisation

Overcoming the Planning Fallacy coming 19.02.17!

Study Spaces Masterpost

Great Laptop Options for Students  new!!

Printables: Weekly Planner with Extra Space for Sat/Sun 

Self-Care/Health/Other: Dealing with Bad Teachers , Bujo Maintenance , Can’t Concentrate?

Subject Specific Tips: HSC English, Biology

My langblr vocab lists new!!: 봄날 - BTS + more!