#language major

hi! i realized i haven’t posted my introduction post before, so here goes:

about me:

- i’m da, infj, virgo - i’m from the philippines - hufflepuff!!!

academics:

- im pursuing my master’s degree in english studies. im majoring in language

- for undergrad, i took up bachelor in secondary education major in english

- i taught english/literature in junior high school (jhs) and senior high school (shs) for two years  

- i want to teach esl/efl abroad

- my research interests: philippine literature, discourse analysis, stylistics, feminist stylistics, english language teaching, philippine mythology

- currently studying korean!!! 

likes/interests:

- languages - fanfics (im a frustrated writer lol) - coffee and tea/ - books!!!! - kpop (im an exo-l, ksoo stan!!! YAS LETS GO KSOO WORLD DOMINATION 2021) - aside from exo, im also a fan of lee hi, akmu, sam kim, crush, DAY6 - stationery, journals - anime, kdrama - tv series (house md, game of thrones, narcos, mad fat diary, mindhunter, sex education) - interested in crime fiction/crime drama - greek mythology - feminism

about this blog:

- im all for learning, but at times, studying makes me anxious and i go into this cycle of procrastination and self-loathing (i was told that im such a perfectionist and im overly critical of myself kjasdjkd). i want to develop healthy study habits and develop discipline in studying. - i often check this studyblr when i want to be motivated (im so close to finishing my masters, im supposed to write my thesis proposal now lol) - i mostly post pics of my study sessions at home and at uni (i love libraries a lot)

other things:

- feel free to message me (esp. if you’re a gradblr)!!! i dont have friends here!!!! :c

- i still dont know how things work here in the studyblr community tbh pls forgive me 

       Even though I'm a self-proclaimed and proven introvert, I did not initially adapt well to online college. In March of 2020, I came home from my cozy apartment with a terrible flu case (got tested, it was flu) and spent my entire spring break in bed, drifting from fitful sleep to working on last-minute internship applications to dreaming about books I wanted to read. I had heard murmurings about this COVID-19 virus before I came home, but the few classmates of mine who even knew about it had brushed it off, predicting it wouldn't be that big of a deal. My mom, on the other hand, had a hunch that things were only just beginning.

       That whole week of my flu recovery was fuzzy. I don't remember the escalation, I only knew that by the time I was a functioning adult again, my spring break had been extended an additional twelve days and my friends were wondering if we were going back at all. And as evidenced by me writing this… we weren't. No schools were, at least in my neck of the woods. Honestly, I think it was for the best in terms of physical health, but in terms of our mental health... unfortunately, maintaining our mental health was entirely up to us. We were trying to survive a pandemic: how could we be expected to care about [insert course taken for graduation credit here] when people's lives are in danger?

       I generally have a "just get through it" attitude when I'm handed a less-than satisfactory situation, which is both a blessing and a curse. Blessing, in that I spend less time being upset about the actual circumstances and jump straight into "dealing" with it — in this case, I went "well, guess I'm not seeing my friends or partner for a really long time, I do get to do assignments with my cat on my lap again… should I print these assignments out or leave them as Word docs?" — and curse, in that my emotional center shut itself down on purpose to deal with how many assignments I was failing to get done to my own standards of work. I spent that first semester of being online feeling miserable, and once I went into my summer break I realized that, if I wanted to be more happy with my work and less resentful of the situation, I had no choice but to seriously change my working practices and living habits (to an extent). Not easy at first, but necessary for me in the long run for sure.

       I'll add this disclaimer once again: the specific things that helped me succeed won't necessarily be the same for you. I'm a language major at a liberal arts college of less than three thousand students, and the advice I'm giving hinges on the fact that I do a lot of reading, writing, and editing in my classes, along with giving spoken presentations and practicing conversational skills. I don't know what it's like to attempt a chemistry lab online, nor do I know how fine arts classes are taught online when students need studio space and art supplies. I also have professors who are literally focusing on less students at a time than a professor at a large university, so the experiences I have with my administration and mentor figures are different as well. But my challenges with time and energy management, retaining information via backlit screens, and general inability to focus are not unique to me; knowing that, I'd like to share some things I've personally learned. Hopefully they will give you some ideas to make school a bit easier, or at least encourage you to keep trying things until you find ones that stick!

So, since I know french teachers have a thing for starting to talk french fluently even on the first lesson when you don't understand a word, I narrowed down some useful sentences to know when in class and to use. Hope it helps!

Jouez la scène - play the scene

Écoutez cette conversation ! - Listen to this dialogue

Ce n'est pas bien ! - That's not good/right

Asseyez-vous ! - Sit down

Écrivez! - Write!

Lisez le texte à la page X et faites l'exercice nº X - Read the text at page X and do the exercise nº X

Bravo ! - Good!/Great!

Silence, s'il vous plaît ! - Quiet, please!

Répétez les répliques - Repeat the lines

Comment ça s'écrit ? - How is it written?

Moi, je veux bien ! - Me, I want to do it

Pouvez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ? - Can you repeat, please?

Je n'ai pas compris ! - I didn't understand

Qu'est-ce que ça signifique ? - What does it mean?