Siziii

As some of you might know, I started my first semester of college at Cornell University last fall. Here are some of the things I learned during the five months I was there. Perhaps not all of these things are accurate - I am still a freshman, after all - but these are what I’ve observed. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, or share your experience if it isn’t the same as mine :)

Academics

Talk to your professors

Professors are usually very approachable, and as long as you show that you’re eager to learn, they’ll talk to you. Like you know how in high school (or at least my high school) you could ask a question and your teacher might shut you down and tell you it’s not in the syllabus, or kind of imply that it’s a ridiculous question… yeah that hasn’t happened in college so far.

Time management is crucial

Like you don’t even have to do assignments as soon as you get them, but just make sure you plan things out so that you’ll have time to do them.

Spacing out your tasks is optimal

Don’t try to rush assignments or cram tons of tasks into a single day, i.e. planning to do a 10-hour assignment 2 days before it’s due is certainly possible, but trust me, it’ll stress you out.

Revise or prepare for class

People tell you to study/revise every day after class. Personally, I’ve found it more helpful to study before the lecture and then use the lecture as a revision session and to fill in any gaps in my understanding. After class, you’ll also get to ask your professors any questions you had while you were studying before class.

Ask questions

In high school, I could always figure things out on my own, or reverse engineer things, but in college, I’ve found that having a person explain something to you can be a lot easier and save a lot of time.

No one’s going to regularly check your understanding of a certain subject, so it’s your responsibility to do so. You should know if you need help and seek it when you think you do. Ask questions after class or during sections (small group discussions within a certain course, taught by a teaching assistant).

Attending discussions/sections is very useful

A lot of people like to skip sections because they think the lecture’s enough and the section’s useless. However, I personally prefer sections to lectures. Lectures just give you information, but sections allow you to have more in-depth discussions, which allows you to refine your understanding.

Social

Befriend someone from a higher semester

They’ve definitely been where you are now and can give you awesome advice. It’s even better if they’re pursuing the same major/career as you are.

The attitudes of the people around you really matter

Hang out with people who are equally positive as you are. I’m very much affected by my environment, so if all I hear throughout the day is ‘I despise this class’ or ‘I wish I could just sleep right now’ or whatever, I’ll only end up feeling really drained. I know it can be relieving to agree on negative things, like ‘I really wanna go home’ ‘omg same’, but it’s really distracting when you’re trying to not want to go home.

Make friends

It sounds so obvious, but when you’re like me and you’re used to doing things independently, sometimes it just doesn’t cross your mind. It would suck not to have any friends in college.

Friendships in high school and college are different

The structure of my social life (I guess) changed in college. In high school, I had a solid group of friends who I hung out with whenever I could. In college, though, I have more casual friends and hang out with a bunch of different people.

I’ve also found that keeping friends in college takes more effort, especially since you and your friends may have such vastly different schedules. In high school, you and your friends stay in the same building and have a lot of common classes. You definitely gotta be more proactive in sustaining friendships because there’s no guarantee that you’ll see each other often.

Respect differences

You’re going to have friends who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Sometimes they’re gonna say things you don’t agree with or have never heard before. Respect them, learn from them, and don’t judge their opinions until you learn where they’re coming from.

Health & Wellbeing

Having a hobby keeps you sane

Especially if it’s a hands-on one like music or art. Sometimes you just need a break from all that studying. Sometimes you need a break from socializing, too. Also screens. Maybe try listening to podcasts.

Eat well and move

Whether or not you gain the freshman fifteen is up to you. Don’t eat like it’s Thanksgiving or Chinese New Year every day. And at least stretch and take a walk every now and then.

Start the day right

Having a solid morning routine definitely helps me stay calm throughout the day. I like to meditate, stretch, and journal in the morning. Get some more inspiration from this post.

Don’t study/work all the time

(Source: http://www.zencollegelife.com/75-free-language-learning-resources-online/)

Whether you’re trying to learn English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Italian –you get the picture – it’s good to get free help along the way. Luckily, there are tons of free online resources out there.

Here are 75 to get you started …

1. 101Languages.net – Learn basics like vowels, consonants, phrases and vocabulary for various languages like Arabic, Bambara, Cebuano, Estonian, Icelandic, Latvian and Serbian.

2. 123TeachMe.com – 123TeachMe offers free learning materials, including games, quizzes, vocabulary builders, mp3 study lists, RSS vocabulary lists and more for adults and children.

3. About.com – About.com offers access to various free language resources for French, Spanish and English.

4. AKTub.com – This site offers a free web-based Arabic typing tutor with a ton of cool features.

5. Apples4theTeacher.com–Free foreign language and American Sign Language resource for children.

6. AskOxford.com – Free language learning resources for French, German and Spanish are available including interactive exercises, sample material from dictionaries and more.

7. BabelNation.com – Free site that offers online language courses in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese.

8. BBC.co.uk – BBC offers free audio and video courses in French, German, Spanish, Greek, Chinese and more, as well as beginner’s courses.

9.  BellEnglish.com – Free language-learning activities and games with a no-fee registration.

10.  Byki.com – The site allows you to download free language-learning software to help you with over 70 languages right on your desktop.

11.  Chinese-Outpost.com – Take free Chinese courses, find tutorials and utilize additional directories to learn the Chinese language.

12.  DigitalDialects.com – Digital Dialects offers free use of interactive games to help learn nearly 60 languages.

13.  Edufind.com – Resource for free access to language courses, online tests, software and language blogs.Videos

14.  EFLWorksheets.com – This English language-learning tool offers free worksheets and online exercises.

15.  EffectiveLanguageLearning.com – A ton of free language lessons (tips and strategies) for Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

16.  eLanguage.com – While the site isn’t completely free, it does offer free resources for various languages, including grammar guides.

17.  eLanguageSchool.net – A huge resource for learning multiple languages, including Dutch, French, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Korean and German.

18.  EnglishBanana.com – Games, quizzes and additional links to help learn the English language.

19.  Engoi.com – This site offers free exercises, games and online instruction to increase vocabulary retention.

20.  ESLGold.com – ESLGold.com helps you practice the English language via their vocabulary pages, exercises, examples, quizzes, and even a few study buddies.

21.  ESLMonkeys.com – Tools for those learning English as a second language, including free lessons, books, videos, quizzes, flash cards and interactive programs.

22.  ExamEnglish.com – You can test your English language skills if you’re learning the language or studying for tests like the IELTS, TOEFL, CPE, CAE, FCE or PET.

23.  Fonetiks.org – Find online pronunciation guides to varieties of the English language and nine other languages.

24.  Forvo.com – A word pronunciation dictionary that offers words as pronounced by their native speakers.

25.  FreeLang.net – Take advantage of free dictionaries, human translation and other useful resources to help you learn a number of languages.

26.  FreeLanguage.org – This site offers videos, podcasts, written tutorials and more to learn over 30 languages, including Luxembourgish, Mandarin, Polish, Tagalog and Swahili.

27.  Goethe-Verlag.com – Goethe-Verlag offers free language tests for such languages as Estonian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Swedish, Czech, Croatian, Turkish, Arabic and Dutch.

28.  Google Language Tools – While these tools don’t teach a language like the other sites, it does provide very handy translation options.

29.  GuidetoJapanese.com – Basic guides to teach Japanese language grammar.

30.  1-Language.com – Free access to materials and resources that help learn the English language like flash games, word searches, language courses and a reading library.

31.  ILUSS.it – Offers access to free online courses and resources for the self-learner who wants to study the Italian language.

32.  InternetPolyglot.com – Tutorial slide shows, lessons by pictures and sounds, word translation assistance and games to help learn languages.

33.  iTalki.com – Offers access to language teachers, language-exchange partners, discussion groups and other free resources for several languages, including English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Hindi.

34.  JapaneseLinks.net – List of mostly free links to websites that teach the Japanese language.

35.  Languageguide.org – Free sound integrated resources to learn language basics like numbers, time, greetings and more.

36.  Language-Learning-Advisor.com – This language-learning guide offers access to resources for dozens of languages, as wells aids, books, movies, music and more.

37.  LanguageLearningLibrary.org – This site offers lessons for basics like grammar, common phrases, numbers, time and more in a number of languages.

38.  LanguagesHome.com – This is a resource of translations from English to dozens of languages.

39.  LearnEnglish.org.uk – Great site for both adults and kids to learn the English language through games and theme-based activities.

40.  Learn-Korean.net – Learn the Korean language via free learning tools to help you speak and write.

41.  LearningThai.com- Tons of free lessons and additional resources to help you learn the Thai language.

42.  LingQ.com – This site offers free access to downloads, vocabulary assistance, a personal tutor and a live community. Must sign up for free account.

43.  Linguanaut.com – Take advantage of free videos, phrases, alphabet and more for over 50 languages.

44.  LiveandLearnLanguages.com – Podcasts, audio lessons, courses and dictionary reviews are available free of charge for dozens of languages.

45.  LiveMocha.com – This site includes courses in 30 languages (over 160 lessons for each), helpful tips from native speakers and conversational learning lessons.

46.  MangoLanguages.com – Mango is a free resource that teaches actual conversation skills for 12 different languages.

47.  MultilingualBooks.com – This site offers free access to a variety of online courses and lessons for languages like Russian, Arabic, Dutch, Dari, Korean and Portuguese.

48.  MyHappyPlanet.com – My Happy Planet connects users from around the world and allows them to send and receive messages to help learn respective languages from native tongues.

49.  MyLanguageExchange.com – Find a partner within this online community to help you practice your second language with a native speaker who is learning your language.

50.  NativLang.com – Learn to read and write English, Greek, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Latin and more.

51.  Omniglot.com – This is a free language-learning resource that offers help with grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, writing skills, phrases and more.

52.  OnlineFreeSpanish.com – Free games, music, activities and lessons to help learn the Spanish language.

53.  OpenCulture.com – Free language resources, including lessons you can download to your mp3 player offered for 37 languages.

54.  Parlo.com – While the site isn’t entirely free, it does offer one or two free courses each month at no cost.

55.  Phrasebase.com – This is a free social networking site offering access to international language exchange partners.

56.  Single-Serving.com – Learn essential phrases and words for travel, print them and even store them in an mp3 player to listen to them anywhere.

57.  SinoSplice.com – This site teaches Mandarin Chinese language and offers correct pronunciation, vocabulary lists and more.

58.  SpanishPrograms.com – Gain access to several free Spanish lessons and tutorials.

59.  SpanishUnlimited.com – Learn Spanish then test your level with the language test divided into levels for those ranging from beginners to advanced.

60.  SpeakOz.com– Learn the English language through a number of podcasts, videos, ebooks, dictionaries and articles.

61.  StudySpanish.com- Free Spanish tutorials offered to help with vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and verbs. Travel guides and cultural notes also available.

62.  TalkEnglish.com – Helps develop spoken English for business, travel and interviewing purposes.

63.  TextKit.com – This site offers free resources to help you learn Ancient Greek and Latin.

64.  Transcon.info – This site offers free text and audio content for current phrases in Africa, Iraq and other areas of the Middle East.

65.  Transparent.com – Transparent offers a number of language-learning products, including free software to download, articles, games and a language-learning community you can join.

66.  UniLang.org – UniLang offers tons of free resources, including language courses, videos, audio and podcasts, phrasebooks, stories, games, articles and other exercises.

67.  UniversitiesandColleges.org – This free language resource offers podcasts, online college courses, iPhone/iPod Touch applications, and access to general language-learning sites.

68.  VerbaLearn.com – Verba Learn helps people who want to improve their English vocabulary.

69.  VistaWide.com – Free online dictionaries, translators, verb conjugators, lessons, courses and practical applications for those wanting to learn numerous languages.

70.  Vocabulary.co.il – Fun games and activities to help build your English language vocabulary.

71.  Vocabulix.com – This free tool offers over 90 predefined vocabulary lessons and allows you to create your own foreign language lessons to share with others.

72.  WebGerman.com – Access to free online television from around the world as well as language picture dictionaries, language-learning libraries and more.

73.  WomenLearnThai.com – Thai language learning courses, as well as other resources to help learn the language.

74.  Word2Word.com – Word2Word.com is a free resources that offers access to help with over 115 languages, including links to online courses and other resources.

I’m a huge fan of general productivity and language learning tips but most of them seem to be for people who are just casually learning a language. these are things that are for people who are probably a lil more obsessed with language learning to an unhealthy point (me)

1. stop obsessing over levels I understanding wanting to be B1/B2/C1 in [x] amount of time but i feel like if you obsess over one specific metric of language learning, you’re not going to progress and you’ll only feel bad when you’re not as good as your language learning metric states. For example if it states that you should be fluent in french within 500 hours, but it’s been almost 550 and you don’t think you’re near C1, then you might feel discouraged and want to drop a language.

2. there will be good days, and bad days [alternatively titled: motivation is overrated.] we all have families, and schools and a job and other important things. and some days it all just gets too much and you find yourself skipping days. being disciplined is very important if you’re learning a language casually, but especially if you’re doing it intensively. 7/10 times you’re not going to feel very motivated to sit down and practice kanji, or look up french conjugations. This snowballs very quickly when you’re doing languages intensively. you might have to spend more and more time later revising the same thing, and you’ll find yourself being discouraged and consider dropping the language because you’re not seeing improvement after weeks.

3. make your schedule as flexible what I mean by this is that you should be aware that there are other things than languages in your life so you may have to study on the train instead of at home in front of your desk. I’ve ended up doing persian in between debating sessions at the junior under 17 nationals (I don’t recommend, but you get the point.) also structure it so that you know exactly what you’re doing. this leads into the next point

4. milestones i’m sure you’ve heard it nearly twenty times about keeping a daily planner etc from nearly every other langblr/studyblr out there and I agree with that! however it’s very important what you put in there. be as specific as you can with it. instead of “do four lessons from my grammar book” do, “understand 4 grammar points, memorise different forms of the verb to be.” instead of “spend 20 minutes on memrise” rephrase it to be “memorise the first 15 words i see on memrise today with example sentences.” the more specific you can be, the more rewarding language learning becomes as you end up being able to target your weak points very effectively.

hello 2019, please treat me well

Just thinking about people making year-end summaries of their accomplishments and also about reasons to keep yourself alive through the next year. Sorry, it’s a bit of a sappy comic.

Sunday mornings are for lie-ins, fancy breakfasts and planning the week 🍓

current situation: an organized mess 💭

🌿✨ hello all! today i’m working on my first rough draft of my entire sociology research project. so i am getting together an outline of my findings! today is a GREAT DAY to 👏🏻 get 👏🏻 things 👏🏻 done! best of luck to all my friends out there getting through the end of the semester. you can do this! ⭐️ (funny enough after i posted this on IG i took a giant nap 🤣 but i am back on the grind, friends!)

IG: @wahistudies

glasses - warby parker

paper - muji

highlighter - mildliner

pen - pentel

12-03-18

calc notes!