Leonel Arocha

THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE 

Courses:

Duolingo [>20 languages]

Memrise

Linguti [Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, German]

Goethe Verlag [+ tests and exercises here]

Busuu [12 languages]

languagepod101 [36 languages]

Livemocha [38 languages]

Community:

lang-8 [native speakers correct what you write]

My Language Exchange

gospeaky [practice with native speakers]

SharedLingo [chat with native speakers]

Unilang [forum]

Basic Vocabulary, Phrases & Grammar

≤10 languages:

languagereef [Gujarati, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil]

SayJack [Japanese, Chinese, Korean, English]

Languagehelpers [French, German, Italian, Latvian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish]

Saysomethingin [Welsh, Spanish, Dutch, Cornish, Latin]

Languages Online [Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Macedonian, Spanish, Turkish, ESL]

Speak7 [Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, German, Japanese]

10-50 languages:

Linguanaut [16 languages]

languageguide [18 languages]

ielanguages [21]

FSI Language Courses [47 languages]

surfacelanguages [43 languages]

BBC languages

+50 languages:

The Joint Language Universit

Learn101 [104 languages]

Omniglot

UniLang

iLanguages

loecsen [+ audio]

parleremo

polymath

mylanguages

101languages

More:

Forvo [pronunciation guide]

languagetool [proof­reading program for 31 languages]

Online Dictionary Masterpost

Language Resources Masterpost

Anki [best flashcard program]

Ezglot [3000 most common words in 58 languages]

babadum [Vocabulary Game, 18 languages] 

Verb conjugator:

verbix

conjuguemos

Cooljugator [Estonian, Greek, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian]

Listening:

Easy Languages [Youtube channel, + subtitles]

Dingo Lingo [Youtube channel for kids]

bookboxinc [Youtube channel for kids]

Lyricstraining [learn English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Japanese, Turkish and Catalan through music]

Reading:

Bliu Bliu

lingvist [download books on foreign languages]

Project Gutenberg [Free Ebooks]

The Polyglot Project

3.16.16+2:26pm // 16/100 days of productivity // a kind anon asked for bullet journal ideas, so here’s a list of what i’ve seen from tumblr mixed with some of my own ideas! 

Hey kittens! We all know your vocabulary is super important and it should constantly grow along with you! But sometimes finding the right motivation or the right resources to start learning new words can be a bit difficult at times, which is why I made this handy dandy masterpost over how to expand your vocabulary! 

Easy Ways to Expand Your Vocabulary:

Learn Your Roots: The English language is composed of a ton of Latin and Greek elements! By learning what certain Latin and Greek roots mean, you can decipher English words that you don’t know!

Read Some Books: Yes, it’s that simple! The more you read, the more words you’ll be exposed to! You can use your context clues (or use the Latin and Greek roots method mentioned above) to figure out the meanings of words you don’t know, or you can even just look them up right then and there using a dictionary! 

Keep a Journal: Keep a word journal and fill it with new words you learm or come across! You can even divide them up by parts of speech or alphabetically! By keeping a journal, you can go back and study them so you won’t forget all the new ones you’ve learned!

Word a Day: Set a goal of learning a word a day (or more if you’re feeling really motivated and this is realistic for you), and try to stick to it! You can even write each word in your word journal mentioned above!

Foods to Improve Memory:

Walnuts

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cherries

Broccoli

Cabbage

Dark Leafy Greens

Chia Seeds

Avocadoes

Coconut Oil

Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Fish, Seaweed, Algae, etc.)

Websites:

Vocabulary.com - This site offers numerous helpful tools for expanding your vocabulary. “The Challenge” is a game where you answer different types of comprehension questions, and if you get them correct your score increases! You can also search or input words that you would like to add to your “Start Learning List”, and “The Challenge” will make sure to incorporate them into the game. There are many other neat features, but I won’t spoil them all! 

Dictionary.com - This site is not only a dictionary, but it also contains features such as “Word of the Day”, articles about word facts, articles displayed in slideshow format, games, and just a variety of fun facts and trivia pertaining to all things words.

Lingro - Just type in a website address on the Lingro website and it instantly turns the website into a clickable dictionary that translates text in 12 languages and displays the word’s definition(s)!

Confusing Words - This site contains a collection of 3210 words that are found to be confusing! The words are grouped according to the way they are most often confused or misused.

Just the Word - This site is actually really cool for helping with not only your vocabulary but your diction when writing as well! It’s basically like a thesaurus, but it can also give you better alternatives for not just words, but phrases too! 

Lexipedia - Okay now this site is for those of you who love mind maps! It basically creates a color-coded mind map based off of any word you search. It will branch them based on parts of speech, synonyms, fuzzynyms, and antonyms! 

Wordnik - This online dictionary gives definitions from multiple sources so that you can see as many different takes on its meaning as possible. It also has the essential word of the day feature along with some trivia!

Vocab Grabber - Basically you paste a block of text and it generates lists of words based on their importance in the text and shows you how they are used in context. Select any word and it will show you its Visual Thesaurus map along with definitions and examples!

Snappy Words - Another interactive site for those of you who love mind maps and visuals! It creates a color-coded/arrow-coded map that helps you find the meaning of words and also see what words are associated with your particular target word.

WordThink - This site is actually pretty neat! It centers around a “Word of the Day” concept, but instead of exposing you to obscure, rarely used words, it provides you with words that you can, and most likely will, use in everyday conversations.

Shahi - Shahi is a site geared toward visual learners! It is a visual dictionary that provides the meanings of the word and also numerous images of that word from various search engines.

YourDictionary - This is another dictionary site, however, this one only provides simple definitions without all the extra mumbo jumbo. It also contains a thesaurus, the word used in quotes, and the ability to create your own word list to study.

Wordle - Wordle is just a fun little site that creates customizable word clouds for you based on the frequency they appear in your pasted text!

Games:

Free Rice 2.0 - This is one of my all time favorite games just because it’s such a wonderful idea. You answer vocabulary questions and for every correct answer they will donate 10 grains of rice! It might not seem like much, but the more you play, the more it adds up!

Knoword - This game is a ton of fun! Basically, it gives you a definition and the first letter of the word, and you have to guess it before the time runs out!

VocabSushi - Sort of like Free Rice, except the questions are all comprehension based, and you can find out your rank amongst others and vocabulary level!

The Problem Site - Just a ton of free word games! 

Wordplays - Even more word games!

Apps: 

Vocabulary.com - Basically the site conveniently in the form of a mobile app! 

Dictionary.com - Basically the site conveniently in the form of a mobile app!

Word to Word - A fun word association game!

Cultiwords - A fun game to help with long-term memory storage of new vocabulary!

SAT Vocab - A series of games centered on increasing SAT, PSAT, and GRE vocabulary!

GRE Vocabulary Flashcards - For those who learn better through flashcards!

Vocab Genius - Another great app for those who love flashcards!

Word a Day - Perfect for those visual and auditory learners! 

Books:

Verbal Advantage: 10 Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary

Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder

30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary

1100 Words You Need to Know

How to Build a Better Vocabulary

Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

Sources: // ♥ // ♥ // ♥ // ♥ //

Feel free to message me if you have any questions or concerns! Hope you found this useful! xoxo

“Once upon a time, a student who decided that procrastination was no longer an option ! ”

Afternoon at the library, Beginning work on Victorian & 18th Century literature. Wednesdays in this part of the library are so calm that it’s hard not to be inspired! 

Assalamu-Alaykum! This is my very first masterpost, and I wanted to make it about a subject I only know too well. Arabic is my mother tongue and I’ve been into the Arabic culture for like my entire life. I am really eager to help people get more familiar with it, as I understand it might not be easy at all. The letters are different, the spelling is different, the phonetic is different, the culture is different… Thus I really admire people who chose to learn it. You rock!

Anyway, here are the basics (in my own opinion) for learning the language and the culture. I tried to give all the information I had, but I’ll edit this post and eventually add more stuff :

free websites + apps

madinaharabic (the best website really)

salaam arabic (really handy for spelling and phonetic!)

myeasyarabic (the best website to get familiar with grammar & letters)

arabickeyboard (introduces you to not only the language, but also the history and culture of the arabic world)

alison (contains evaluation tests that can help you progress in your learning)

digitaldialects (funny games to help you memorize animals, numbers and colors)

firdaous (really great for vocab!)

as for apps (on itunes), we have AlphaBet Arabe (for alphabet learning), Astrid (motivational app), and Arabic Dictionary

specific arabic learning

egyptianarabiccourse (helps you get familiar with the egyptian dialect)

speakmoroccan (learn to speak the moroccan dialect, aka mine!)

abjadiye (learn lebanese arabic for free)

useful links/docs

arabic verbs

arabic pronouns

arabic alphabet (but also here)

language exchange sources

arabic proverbs (translated in english)

arabic survival phrases here & here

5 beautiful arabic expressions

arabic conjugator

arabic keyboards

lexilogos (i’ve been using it myself for all my essays and presentations)

arabic-keyboard

dictionaries

lexilogos (yup again, but different section)

arabic etymological dictionary (with torrent & word document download links)

arabic dictionary + translator 

islamic references

Okay, i hesitated to put that one, but if you want to get into the arabic culture, it is very important to get to know the islamic side of it. (be careful, islamic culture does not necessarily mean arabic culture, but the two can easily be linked)

searchtruth (helps you with grammar and vocab using qur’an sentences)

legacyfordham (it’s the islamic section of the university of fordham website. it gives you a general look on the islamic world eras)

music

maghrebspace (the website is in french though)

hibamusic

arabic radio stations

my top 3 classics (with free download links & online listening)

fairouz

oum kalthoum

abdelhalim hafez here & here

top 10 arabic songs of january 2016

short history of arabic music + top arabic songs of 2015 here

my personal favorite songs

ya rayah - rachid taha (music video + lyric video + english translation)

aatini nay - fairouz (lyric video + english translation)

fi madrasat al hob - kadem saher (lyric video + english translation)

books

easy short arabic stories

popular arabic novels

5 recommended arabic books

YA arabic books listed by genre

my top novels :

al ayyam (trilogy) - taha hussein (pdf of the first tome here)

rihla jabaliyya rihla sa’ba - fadwa touqan

arabic art resources

historiansofislamicart (contains links to each type of art)

metmuseum (history of calligraphy and useful links)

arabartgallery (my personal favorite : all types of art listed by era, and description of each)

a native speaker tips

as I said before, arabic is a tricky language, because it does not originate (like most other popular languages) from the latin roots. Therefore when you come accross arabic words or names written with latin letters, you’ll find out different ways of writing the same word with latin letters. Any version is correct as long as the pronounciation is correct.

there are not vowels in the arabic alphabet. yes, all the letters are referring to consonants, with some of them that only exist in arabic (for ex: ض pronounced Ḍād). you’ll probably learn it throughout the websites I gave, but bear in mind that the vowel sounds of arabic are put by tiny symbols above or under the letters called chakl. Chakl helps you know how to pronounce a letter, if you should say “a” or “o” or “i” after that letter. In most texts you’ll come accross apart from language learning websites, you’ll find words and sentences without chakl. And that’s because we, as native arabic speakers, have gotten so used to how a word is pronounced that we kinda know what chakl should normally be put. you should get used to it as well, it will be so much easier for you to read any kind of text.

practice arabic pronounciation and listening A LOT. it will be very useful for writing and reading, trust me.

oh and most importantly, i’m open to anyone desiring to speak with a native arabic speaker! really, you can just message me, or email me (at [email protected]) or whatever you like. i’ll be glad to give you additional tips along the way!

I think I said it all. I may or may not add stuff in the future, so feel free to follow me, or suggest me other things!

(i started this masterpost a month ago… behold, tips and tricks for your procrastination needs!) 

1. get energized!!!

so what i’ve found the most helpful, is before you sit down to do your homework or something of the sort, the best thing to do is to start moving! take a half-hour walk/jog. outside or inside, it doesn’t really matter. but what does is that you get excited and that your mind thinks you’re procrastinating (fool that lil procrastination monkey in ur mind) once ur all hyped, take a little break (go to the nearest fifteen, why don’t you ;) ) and then, chances are, if you think about your work a bit while exercising, you’ll be excited to do it :’) 

2. put something that you know very well as a background noise :)  

so in your mind, there is a little something called a procrastination monkey (check out +this amazing wait but why article to learn more!). in a nutshell, it’s basically primitive(ish? monkeys aren’t really primitive) and it loves to indulge your more luxurious urges. now, you can’t listen to that monkey, can you?? no, don’t. but it fights very hard to be in your mind, so it’s easier to trick it. (just like i’m doing right now, making this post). put on some old movie that you’ve watched hundreds of times, a podcast you’ve already listened to before, a song you’ve heard a bunch of times- anything that’s not new. then study, but don’t really pay attention to it. that way, you can get some work done!!! 

3. put the tasks you have to do in small chunks. 

see, i’ve found that when you have everything in tiny tasks, it seems kinda motivating just to cross something off your list! speaking of that, make a list of your tasks, anyways. but putting it into small chunks helps you to specify tasks for certain projects, and make things not be underestimated and get things done! 

4. put everything you need near you before you start working. 

putting your things nearby makes you not waste time getting them. for example- you put your math homework in your backpack, which is across the room. you then go to get that work, and look! you see a book you’ve been thinking about starting for days. so you decide to read a chapter…which turns into two…hundred pages. see what i mean? putting everything in place gets rid of this distraction. 

5. bye bye phone :) 

put that phone away!! it will only distract you. (i speak from personal experience). however, if you want to listen to music or something, i really recommend the forest app. i really like this app because of the planting trees feature, and i always really like to gain enough money to plant a tree in one of those places! it really makes you feel like a good person, when all you’re doing is doing your work :) 

6. motivate scho-tivate

ok but what if you still aren’t motivated? 

my motivation tag

motivation masterpost by @areistotle

motivation quotes

CLICK THIS

7. make it known you’re doing work. SCREAM IT TO THE WORLD!!

okay, but doing something like taking a time lapse just ~pressures you~ into doing work, because like ??? a study time lapse of yourself doing nothing is stupid. and if someone knows you’re doing work, and you’re not doing it, they will remind you. 

8. my ex’s and social medi-a-a-a

okay more like make social media your ex, but same concept!! get off it. like take me for example - i should be studying for my test tomorrow, but instead i’m making this post! SOCIAL MEDIA WILL DO JUST THAT- make you social. now is not the time to do that. now is the time to go crawl in a hole and do your work. 

9. shia lebeouf it 

JUST DO IT. 

just a few resources that I have found helpful over my years of studying french. most resources will be general but i’ll also be sharing some more advanced stuff or particular things, like literature help.

LANGUAGE LEARNING APPS

duolingo

memrise

fluentu

busuu

lingvist

GRAMMAR/CONJUGATION/EXERCISES

Le Petit Livre de Conjugaison Correcte

Le Conjugueur

Collins Easy Learning French Grammar   (print copy)

Collins Advanced French Grammar

Dr. Annie Trégouët YouTube Grammar Videos  ((this was my grammar lecturer at uni))

Reverso

Bonjour de France

French Phonology

GCSE Vocab (Aimed at OCR)

Apprendre Le Français avec TV5Monde

Audio Lingua - Listening Exercises

ALT Codes for French Accents

BonPatron

Mot a Mot

Bescherelle Guides

Dire, Ne Pas Dire by L’Academie Francaise

BBC French Guide

DICTIONARIES

Larousse Mini FR/EN

Larousse Mini FR

Classical French Dictionary

Le Robert Poche FR

Le Robert & Collins Poche FR/EN

LITERATURE, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY

studyrama baccalaureate guides: philosophy history french lit

bibliolettres  / études-littéraires - info on the history of literature

theatreclassique - free pdf versions of french plays

FUN THINGS

online newspapers and magazines

ebooks!!

tv/movies  tf1 

miles kington and his ‘franglais’ books

radio: nrj  rtl radio bro gwened ((in breton dialect))

FRENCH OUTSIDE OF FRANCE

Belgium was where I went on my year abroad so I picked up a lot of new stuff while I was there so I thought I’d just add these in if anyone is interested :)

radio/tv : nostalgie  radio contact    bel rtl    rtbf    rtltvi

news: le soir  nouvelle gazette

Hey! Since I started learning French I’ve found a lot of useful resources that I decided to share with you guys. This list probably isn’t very very long but, in my opinion, these links are more than enough to get you started on learning French. 

      I suggest you to:

keep a vocab notebook

make some friends who are also learning the language

talk to natives, ask them questions, don’t be shy

check out studyingandlattes post about our French Learners Network

send me a message if you need anything!

WHERE TO START:

Duolingo

300 Basic French Words and Phrases

Bonjour

Alison Coursers - Introduction to Learning French

ieLanguages

TalkInFrench

The French Tutorial

French Crazy

The French Experiment

French by French

GRAMMAR & SPELL CHECK:

Bonpatron

Reverso

LanguageTool

Change the spellcheck language on word

DICTIONARIES:

WordReference

Linternaute

Linguee

Collins

Larousse

GRAMMAR:

French Grammar Centre

Tex’s index: La grammaire de l’absurde

french.about.com

Intro to accents

7 tips on learning french grammar

Grammar practice

Conjugation practice

ConjugationFR

PRONUNCIATION

The Basics of French Pronunciation

French Pronunciation Guide

The Ultimate Guide for French Pronunciation + videos

YOUTUBE

French from Begginers to Advanced

Alexa Polidoro

Doc Seven 

Linguisticae

Dirty Biology

Les topovaures

Les lectures de nine

Le rire jaune 

MUSIC: Bands / Singers

L.E.J 

Téléphone

Stromae

Christophe Mae

Christine & the queens

Louane 

Julien Doré

Coeur de pirate 

Noir Désir

Cali

Second Sex

Kyo

More music:

French Music on 8tracks

Universal Music France

OTHER STUFF:

This French Idiom Masterpost

Newspapers (also in Italian, Spanish and German)

Radio and TV (also in Italian and German)

That’s it! I hope this list is useful to you.