Bastard of Arts (BA)

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

‘Ello, mate! It’s werelivingarts and I’m here with a simple guide to manage your time and prioritize your tasks with only 3 steps ~ 

Before planning anything, For me (you guys might have different approach), I find recognizing my energy level pattern really helpful because I can prioritize tasks and get the done in my most productive time rather than forcing myself to cram for homework after midnight. 🌚🌝

I start planning my day by dumping all of the tasks I remember down to to-do list using Bear, and then I would organize these tasks if they are daily, weekly or monthly task on Edison app – which also allows time blocking. After that, I would prioritize tasks daily on app Success. (This is not ad, this is just helpful apps that I use). 😎

𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚, 31𝒔𝒕 𝒋𝒂𝒏• in love with this layout if you can’t tell already, probably will continue it throughout the year hehe, we will see. in any case here’s how my Jan been through my to-dos! wishing a happy Chinese new year to those who celebrate!

• live with their parents (not everyone goes to college/uni where they have dorms, and even then, not everyone can afford it)

• have to deal with parents/family members constantly arguing in the background

• work / have to worry heavily about just getting by (paying rent, groceries, medication)

• need loud music to study and drown outside noises

• can not "study prettily" at coffee shops

• take care of other family members, and thus have to be ready to drop whaterever they are doing to assist them at any time

• can not concentrate or get "in the zone" no matter what they do

• do not have a personal computer/tablet

• do not have a room of their own

• are neurodivergent and the advice of most study masterpost/tips is not applicable.

You are valid, you are seen, you are not alone. If nobody has told you already: if you are trying the best you can then the best you can is good enough.

𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚, 13𝒕𝒉 𝒋𝒂𝒏• I had absolutely zero ideas for this theme so I took the most obvious beloved thing (moon, my wife) and my fav two colours and ran with it. I tend to keep yearly setups quite minimal but they also need to aesthetic enough so I'll actually use them and to find balance btw the two, was a hard task but it is my year and I'm winning so it turned out pretty well. I just hope I actually fill them out because last year I straight up didn't and then I had no record of what I did the whole year ;-;

also the moon looks breathtakingly beautiful today!

some cute spreads from my planner

1.15.22 The theme of my January has been studying growth- through personal reflection, through the Medicinal Botany winter course that I’m taking, and through reading The Psychology Of Money. But it’s also nice to take comfort in the things that don’t change, like my favorite museum. Oh, and thank you for 1k!

-bullet journalling was invented by a man with a learning disability (99% sure it was ADHD but his website now just says learning disability so I can't be 100%) as a system for organizing his life/way to work WITH his learning disability

-the general concept is bullet point the important things you need to do and use a simple system of symbols to mark whether it's done, rescheduled, cancelled, etc. with very little fanfare, keeping it all in one notebook so you know where to easily find the information at a glance

-people pick it up and it starts getting popular

-bullet journaling becomes an aesthetic movement largely populated by white neurotypicals

-bullet journaling has turned into creating an extremely pretty notebook that has some function, but largely depends on complicated decoration and aesthetic function that takes more time to set up than is tenable for the people it was created for

-new entries to bullet journaling feel pressure to shop at particular stores, use particular brands, purchase lots of stationery purely for its aesthetic value, and prioritize the artistry of the pages rather than the information being stored on them

-people who would massively benefit from the original system can only really find information on it from members of the aesthetic movement. There is now a barrier to entry for ppl with ADHD and other similar conditions, as bullet journaling now requires a focus and motivation to start that these same people often lack or struggle to maintain consistently

This is the original guide from the person who made bullet journalling. Super simple. Not at all high maintenance.