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Part 2 / Grammar

Nouns

Introduction

Number: singular or plural

Gender: masculine or feminine

Gender: masculine or feminine 2

voilà vs. il y a: devices for introducing nouns

temps, heure, fois: different nouns for ‘time’

Videos on Youtube about nouns:

Gender of nouns

Masculine or feminine?

Plural nouns

QUIZ! Masculine or feminine?

+ more quizzes: Gender, Gender 2 , Gender 3

Adverbs

Introduction

Formation and placement

Placement of adverbs with the passé composé

Comparative and superlative of adverbs

Il y a ‘ago’

Bon/meilleur vs. bien/mieux

Tôt, tard, en avance, en retard, à l'heure 

+ Adverbs , Adverbs 2 ( lessons )

Videos on Youtube about adverbs:

Les adverbes

How to form adverbs in French

Useful French Adverbs

+ quiz: Adverbs

Adjectives

Introduction 

Formation and placement

Adjectives before the noun

Irregular adjectives

Adjectives whose meaning varies with placement

Comparison of adjectives

Superlative of adjectives

Participles as adjectives

Videos on Youtube about adjectives:

Adjective Rules 

Most used adjectives

+quiz: Adjectives

Pronouns

Introduction 

subject pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles

c'est vs. il/elle est

disjunctive pronouns: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, elles, eux

direct object pronouns: me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les

indirect object pronouns: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur

pronoun: y

pronoun: en

relative pronouns: qui and que

relative pronouns: ce qui and ce que

relative pronouns: dont, ce dont, où, lequel

order of object pronouns

indefinite pronouns: chacun and quelqu'un

demonstrative pronouns: celui, celle, ceux, celles

possessive pronouns: le mien, la mienne, etc.

Videos on Youtube about pronouns:

Pronouns Y and En 

QUI vs QUE

Relative Pronoun DONT

Relative Pronouns LEQUEL

+ quiz: Pronouns

Verbs

 Introduction

-er verbs (regular)

-er verbs (stem changing)

-ir verbs (regular)

-ir verbs (irreg) like ouvrir ‘to open’

-ir verbs (irreg) like partir ‘to leave,’ sortir ‘to go out,’ dormir ‘to sleep’

-re verbs (regular)

-re verbs (irregular) like prendre ‘to take’

-re verbs (irregular) like mettre ‘to put, to place’

-re verbs (irregular) like suivre ‘to follow’, vivre ‘to live’

être ‘to be’

avoir ‘to have’

aller ‘to go’

pronominal verbs: se raser, se lever, se disputer

modal verbs: vouloir ‘to want to,’ pouvoir ‘to be able to,’ devoir ‘to have to’

impersonal verbs and expressions: il faut, il est important de …

quitter, partir, sortir, laisser: different verbs for ‘to leave’

present participle

transitive vs. intransitive constructions

causative faire (faire+infinitif)

Videos on Youtube about Verbs:

Verbs for beginners 

Verbs MOST USED 

+quizzes: Verbs

Tense/aspect/mood/voice

Introduction 

present tense

passé immédiat (venir de+infinitive)

passé composé with avoir

passé simple (literary tense)

passé antérieur (literary tense)

futur proche (aller+infinitive)

simple future (regular)

simple future (irregular)

futur antérieur

imperative mood (regular and pronominal)

regular subjunctive formation

irregular subjunctive formation

conditional

past conditional

reported speech in present

reported speech in past

active voice vs. passive voice

TENSES

TENSES 2

TENSES 3

TENSES 4

Videos on Youtube about tenses:

Past tenses

Future tenses

Conditional tenses

Subjunctive

Conditional tense 2

Subjunctive 2 

Future tense 2 

IMPERFECT vs PASSÉ COMPOSÉ

Imperfect tense

+quizzes: tenses,  imparfait vs. the passé composé, past tenses

How I Study Japanese Texts

Right now I’m mainly reading Level 1 books of the Japanese Graded Readers series (which I talk a little about in this post). It’s fairly easy for me to understand, so rather than just reading it, I go through a few more steps to learn from what I read. 

Read without looking up words. The first time I read a book, I avoid the dictionary and just try to get the gist of what it’s saying through what I already know and the pictures provided, if there are any. This is a good way of measuring your level. 

Transcribe the text line by line while looking up words you don’t know and looking out for grammar points. On the second read, I write down a line of text after I read it. I’m not too nitpicky about my stroke order because it’s not too hard to guess a kanji’s stroke order. I bought a notebook with squared boxes for this since I believe it helps with handwriting and spacing, but regular notebooks are fine. After writing down a line, I look up words I don’t know from that line, if any. I write the reading and definition on the side. For grammar, I take note on grammar points I’m currently studying by circling it. If there are any particle usages that I don’t understand, I look it up and jot down the usage on the side. 

Write a translation. After I finish transcribing the entire book, I write a little summary of translation on the bottom. It isn’t really necessary, but it’s helpful for me to write out exact translations rather than just having it in my head.

Have a space to practice kanji characters. I always pick out ten or so kanji characters or compound words to practice my writing. It helps with memorizing the vocabulary as well as what exactly the kanji looks like so I have better recall when I reencounter it.

Read the book a third time, out loud. This time, I know pretty much exactly what every line is saying, so it’s just a final review. Reading it out loud is just helpful for speaking.

(I finished my freshman year this spring with a 4.0 GPA, an off-campus research internship, and three professors contacting me suggesting that I apply for a fulbright scholarship.  These tips aren’t coming out of my ass.) 

1. LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY THIS: YOU DO NOT NEED TO “GET INVOLVED” IN STUPID CLUBS IF YOU DON’T ENJOY THEM.  Hear “get involved! :)” for the 1000th time and just barf in your mouth a little and move on.  If you work hard and get good grades, and socialize with people on campus when you have free time (it comes more naturally than you think) YOU WILL.  BE.  FINE.  Actually better than fine.  You’ll have time to get a real job/internship, which by the way, is what the real world wants to see you prioritizing.  Moral of the story: Only join clubs if they help your personality thrive and feel healthy.  Don’t do them because you feel pressured.  

2. DON’T TAKE SHIT FROM A N Y O N E. I know you’re trying to fit in and take the stance of trying to make everyone happy to make sure you’ll have plenty of friends.  But you have to realize that you literally just met these people, and they just met you.  If they create an uncomfortable environment for you that makes college harder to cope with, get them the fuck out of your life. Ain’t nobody got time for people’s high school-ass drama.  

3. SKIP YOUR CLASSES SOMETIMES.  If you really have your shit together, it won’t matter.  Your school will say the amount of skips you can get away with before it harms your grade.  Use. Them.

4. BECOME THE MASTER OF WRITING ESSAYS IN ONE NIGHT.  You will have to.  I’m telling you right the fuck now.  And you can get an A, if you work your lil ass off. I’ve done it many times.  

5. DON’T CARE FOR EVEN 1 SECOND WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF YOU.  If you wanna wear sweats and no makeup, do it.  If you want to dress up and take time to put on makeup, do it.  If you want to stay away from partying, do it.  If you want to party, have a good ass time.  If anyone has enough time to judge you, they need to be studying harder or getting a hobby.  Make yourself comfortable and happy as fuck and enjoy your time in college worry-free. 

6. BE THE ASSHOLE WITH A TABLET OR LAPTOP IN LECTURE.  You won’t have time to copy it all down.  You’ll be miserable.  Just trust me.  I know studies say its more effective to write stuff down for memory, but, write them out later or something.  Learned that one the hard way.

7. DON’T REWRITE YOUR NOTES IF IT DOESN’T HELP YOU STUDY.  If you know doing that doesn’t help you memorize, don’t do it, period.  Or, if you have a collossal asston of notes (like I did) it isn’t even worth rewriting them all in the first place. I’ve fallen down that hole and lost motivation and time.  Just reread them or make flashcards or whatever.  Study for effectiveness, not aesthetic.

8. BE PREPARED FOR LAB TO GO THE “WHOLE TIME.”  Yah, you’re gonna see 3 hours on that brand-shiny-new schedule of yours and be like there’s no way it’ll go that long, right? LOL about that.  Just mentally brace yourself.  Eat and drink beforehand for the love of god we don’t need hangry people handling chemicals.  

9. COMMUTING DOESN’T MAKE YOU A LONER.  Just.  No. If you live close to campus, are comfortable with commuting, and know you’ll save yourself MAJOR debt by doing it, do it and don’t feel a fucking ounce of guilt about it.  It’ll be some early mornings, but your fresh out of college broke ass will thank you, and you’ll use your time more effectively.  (Plus you get a non grimy shower like??)

Here is a masterpost of MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are available, archived, or starting soon. I think they will help those that like to learn with a teacher or with videos.  You can always check the audit course or no certificate option so that you can learn for free.

American Sign Language

ASL University

Arabic

Arabic for Global Exchange (in the drop down menu)

Arabic Without Walls

Intro to Arabic

Madinah Arabic

Moroccan Arabic

Catalan Sign Language

Intro to Catalan Sign Language

Chinese

Beginner

Basic Chinese

Basic Chinese I. II, III, IV , V

Basic Mandarin Chinese I & II

Beginner’s Chinese

Chinese for Beginners

Chinese Characters

Chinese for HSK 1

First Year Chinese I &  II

HSK Level 1

Mandarin Chinese I

Mandarin Chinese for Business

More Chinese for Beginners

Start Talking Mandarin Chinese

UT Gateway to Chinese

Chino Básico (Taught in Spanish)

Intermediate

Chinese Stories

Intermediate Business Chinese

Intermediate Chinese

Intermediate Chinese Grammar

Dutch

Introduction to Dutch

English

Online Courses here

Resources Here

Faroese

Faroese Course

Finnish

A Taste of Finnish

Basic Finnish

Finnish for Immigrants

Finnish for Medical Professionals

French

Beginner

AP French Language and Culture

Basic French Skills

Beginner’s French: Food & Drink

Diploma in French

Elementary French I & II

Français Interactif

French in Action

French for Beginners

French Language Studies I, II, III

French:Ouverture

Intermediate

French: Le Quatorze Juillet

Passe Partout

Advanced

La Cité des Sciences et de Industrie

Reading French Literature

Frisian

Introduction to Frisian (Taught in English)

Introduction to Frisian (Taught in Dutch)

German

Beginner

Basic German

Beginner’s German: Food & Drink

Conversational German I, II, III, IV

Deutsch im Blick

Diploma in German

Rundblick-Beginner’s German

Advanced

German:Regionen Traditionen und Geschichte

Landschaftliche Vielfalt

Reading German Literature

Hebrew

Alphabet Crash Course

Know the Hebrew Alphabet

Hindi

A Door into Hindi

Business Hindi

Virtual Hindi

Icelandic

Icelandic 1-5

Indonesian

Learn Indonesian

Irish

Introduction to Irish

Italian

Beginner

Beginner’s Italian: Food & Drink

Beginner’s Italian I

Introduction to Italian

Italian for Beginners 1 , 2, 3 , 4 , 5, 6 

Oggi e Domani

Intermediate

Intermediate Italian I

Advanced

Advanced Italian I

Italian Literature

Italian Novel of the Twentieth Century

La Commedia di Dante

Reading Italian Literature

Japanese

Beginner’s Conversational Japanese

Genki

Japanese JOSHU

Japanese Pronunciation

Sing and Learn Japanese

Tufs JpLang

Kazakh

A1-B2 Kazakh (Taught in Russian)

Korean

Beginner

First Step Korean

How to Study Korean

Learn to Speak Korean

Pathway to Spoken Korean

Intermediate

Intermediate Korean

Latin

Latin I (Taught in Italian)

Nepali

Beginner’s Conversation and Grammar

Norwegian

Introduction to Norwegian

Learn The Norwegian Language

Norwegian on the Web

Portuguese

Curso de Português para Estrangeiros 

Pluralidades em Português Brasileiro

Russian

Beginner

Basics of Russian

Easy Accelerated Learning for Russian

Russian Alphabet

Russian Essentials

Russian Phonetics and Pronunciation

Reading and Writing Russian

Advanced

Reading Master and Margarita

Russian as an Instrument of Communication

Siberia: Russian for Foreigners

Spanish

Beginner

AP Spanish Language & Culture

Basic Spanish for English Speakers

Beginner’s Spanish:Food & Drink

Fastbreak Spanish

Introduction to Spanish

Restaurants and Dining Out

Spanish for Beginners

Spanish for Beginners 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Spanish Vocabulary

Intermediate

Spanish:Ciudades con Historia

Spanish:Espacios Públicos

Advanced

Corrección, Estilo y Variaciones 

La España de El Quijote

Leer a Macondo

Spanish:Con Mis Propias Manos

Spanish: Perspectivas Porteñas

Reading Spanish Literature

Swedish

Intro to Swedish

Swedish Made Easy 1, 2, & 3

Ukrainian

Read Ukrainian

Ukrainian for Everyone

Ukrainian Language for Beginners

Welsh

Beginner’s Welsh

Discovering Wales

Multiple Languages

 Ancient Languages

More Language Learning Resources & Websites!

1. Not having goals. You can’t reach your goals if you don’t know what they are.

2. Choosing goals that don’t inspire you. You won’t be able to keep on going if the prize at the end doesn’t really matter to you.

3. Expecting immediate results. Anything worthwhile is a battle and a struggle. It takes times and effort to bring about a change.

4. Lack of support. We all need someone to believe in us and to be our cheerleader when we start to feel discouraged.

5. Not believing in yourself. As Henry Ford so wisely said: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

6. Feeling bored. Most success involves a lot of humdrum work, and repeatedly doing the same kind of stuff. But each day brings you closer to achieving what you want.

7. Inaction and laziness. You have to work the plan before the plan will work … and dreams are only dream till you turn your thoughts to actions. Also, it’s crucially important that you manage your time well, and you don’t get distracted or procrastinate.

8. Being around negative people. There are plenty of people who only see the flaws, and whose eyes are on the problems, and the absence of solutions. If you hang out with them, you will lose your zest and passion, and your positive outlook will soon be undermined.

9. Comparing yourself to others. We each are individuals, and we start from different places; we all face our challenges, and work at different rates. Remember “it’s your journey”. Be patient with yourself.

The 75 most common words make up 40% of occurrences The 200 most common words make up 50% of occurrences The 524 most common words make up 60% of occurrences The 1257 most common words make up 70% of occurrences The 2925 most common words make up 80% of occurrences The 7444 most common words make up 90% of occurrences The 13374 most common words make up 95% of occurrences The 25508 most common words make up 99% of occurrences

(Sources: 5 Steps to Speak a New Language by Hung Quang Pham)

This article has an excellent summary on how to rapidly learn a new language within 90 days.

We can begin with studying the first 600 words. Of course chucking is an effective way to memorize words readily. Here’s a list to translate into the language you desire to learn that I grabbed from here! :)

EXPRESSIONS OF POLITENESS (about 50 expressions)      

‘Yes’ and ‘no’: yes, no, absolutely, no way, exactly.    

Question words: when? where? how? how much? how many? why? what? who? which? whose?    

Apologizing: excuse me, sorry to interrupt, well now, I’m afraid so, I’m afraid not.    

Meeting and parting: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello, goodbye, cheers, see you later, pleased to meet you, nice to have met.    

Interjections: please, thank you, don’t mention it, sorry, it’ll be done, I agree, congratulations, thank heavens, nonsense.    

NOUNS (about 120 words)

Time: morning, afternoon, evening, night; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; spring, summer, autumn, winter; time, occasion, minute, half-hour, hour, day, week, month, year.    

People: family, relative, mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, husband, wife; colleague, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend; people, person, human being, man, woman, lady, gentleman, boy, girl, child.    

Objects: address, bag, book, car, clothes, key, letter (=to post), light (=lamp), money, name, newspaper, pen, pencil, picture, suitcase, thing, ticket.    

Places: place, world, country, town, street, road, school, shop, house, apartment, room, ground; Britain, name of the foreign country, British town-names, foreign town-names.    

Abstract: accident, beginning, change, color, damage, fun, half, help, joke, journey, language, English, name of the foreign language, letter (of alphabet), life, love, mistake, news, page, pain, part, question, reason, sort, surprise, way (=method), weather, work.    

Other: hand, foot, head, eye, mouth, voice; the left, the right; the top, the bottom, the side; air, water, sun, bread, food, paper, noise.    

PREPOSITIONS (about 40 words)    

General: of, to, at, for, from, in, on.    

Logical: about, according-to, except, like, against, with, without, by, despite, instead of.    

Space: into, out of, outside, towards, away from, behind, in front of, beside, next to, between, above, on top of, below, under, underneath, near to, a long way from, through.    

Time: after, ago, before, during, since, until.    

DETERMINERS (about 80 words)  

Articles and numbers: a, the; nos. 0–20; nos. 30–100; nos. 200–1000; last, next, 1st–12th.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.    

Quantifiers: all, some, no, any, many, much, more, less, a few, several, whole, a little, a lot of.    

Comparators: both, neither, each, every, other, another, same, different, such.    

ADJECTIVES (about 80 words)    

Color: black, blue, green, red, white, yellow.    

Evaluative: bad, good, terrible; important, urgent, necessary; possible, impossible; right, wrong, true.    

General: big, little, small, heavy; high, low; hot, cold, warm; easy, difficult; cheap, expensive; clean, dirty; beautiful, funny (=comical), funny (=odd), usual, common (=shared), nice, pretty, wonderful; boring, interesting, dangerous, safe; short, tall, long; new, old; calm, clear, dry; fast, slow; finished, free, full, light (=not dark), open, quiet, ready, strong.    

Personal: afraid, alone, angry, certain, cheerful, dead, famous, glad, happy, ill, kind, married, pleased, sorry, stupid, surprised, tired, well, worried, young.    

VERBS (about 100 words)    

arrive, ask, be, be able to, become, begin, believe, borrow, bring, buy, can, change, check, collect, come, continue, cry, do, drop, eat, fall, feel, find, finish, forget, give, going to, have, have to, hear, help, hold, hope, hurt (oneself), hurt (someone else), keep, know, laugh, learn, leave, lend, let (=allow), lie down, like, listen, live (=be alive), live (=reside), look (at), look for, lose, love, make, may (=permission), may (=possibility), mean, meet, must, need, obtain, open, ought to, pay, play, put, read, remember, say, see, sell, send, should, show, shut, sing, sleep, speak, stand, stay, stop, suggest, take, talk, teach, think, travel, try, understand, use, used to, wait for, walk, want, watch, will, work (=operate), work (=toil), worry, would, write.    

PRONOUNS (about 40 words)

Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, one; myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.    

Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.    

Demonstrative: this, that.    

Universal: everyone, everybody, everything, each, both, all, one, another.    

Indefinite: someone, somebody, something, some, a few, a little, more, less; anyone, anybody, anything, any, either, much, many.    

Negative: no-one, nobody, nothing, none, neither.    

ADVERBS (about 60 words)

Place: here, there, above, over, below, in front, behind, nearby, a long way away, inside, outside, to the right, to the left, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, home, upstairs, downstairs.    

Time: now, soon, immediately, quickly, finally, again, once, for a long time, today, generally, sometimes, always, often, before, after, early, late, never, not yet, still, already, then (=at that time), then (=next), yesterday, tomorrow, tonight.    

Quantifiers: a little, about (=approximately), almost, at least, completely, very, enough, exactly, just, not, too much, more, less.    

Manner: also, especially, gradually, of course, only, otherwise, perhaps, probably, quite, so, then (=therefore), too (=also), unfortunately, very much, well.    

CONJUNCTIONS (about 30 words)

Coordinating: and, but, or; as, than, like.    

Time & Place: when, while, before, after, since (=time), until; where.    

Accro = Slang for an addict

1.       It’s time for a change of tactics. If being nice didn’t work for you before, feel free to be cold and ruthless when you need to be.

2.       Reveal your activities, successes and achievements only after they happen. Stop jinxing yourself by bragging about them prematurely. People can and will think badly of you for it. Make it a habit to keep things to yourself until its the right time to reveal them.

3.       I mean this without the slightest hint of pretence: any relaxing hobby is a much better form of escapism than social media. Reading, coloring, writing, whatever suits you. Bombarding yourself with content when you’re specifically trying to relax will have the opposite effect.

4.       Seek out opportunities proactively; don’t wait for them to come to you. That scholarship/grant/job opening doesn’t know that you want it.

5.       Ditch social media activism. Real talk: nobody cares how many followers or notes you get from repeatedly reblogging the same content from the Communal Echo Chamber. Debating obscure political theories online won’t bring tangible changes to your life or anyone else’s.  If you’re passionate about an issue or cause, find real ways to contribute.

·         Volunteer

·         Donate money

·         Fundraise

·         Educate yourself

·         Write about it

·         Create resources

·         Raise awareness in your community

6.       Cultivate personal discipline. There won’t always be someone to remind you when the assignment’s due, or that you need to clean your room, or eat healthier, or do your taxes. Forming good habits now will stop you from becoming a mess later on.

A lot of people want to study Japanese but think it’s too hard and that they will never succeed. That is really a myth, though. Here is why Japanese is actually easy.

1. All verbs are regular, there are only 2 exceptions 

If you know French, this must sound like a dream to you. In other languages [like French] there seem to be more irregular verbs than regular ones. Not in Japanese, though. There are 3 groups of verbs, the first 2 being regular and very easy to conjugate. The third group consists of only 2 irregular verbs!

2. Easy pronunciation 

Japanese doesn’t have any exceptionally hard to pronounce letters. Unlike Arabic, German or Finnish, Japanese should be quite easy to pronounce for English speakers. Also, Japanese isn’t a tonal language like Thai or Chinese. 

3. No genders, plural or articles

Anyone who studies a romance language [and many other languages that have that] knows how frustrating it can be when you use the wrong article or verb ending. In Japanese, it doesn’t even exist, so nothing to worry!

4. Grammar is easy!

That’s true. It’s just completely different from English, but that doesn’t make it hard. After a while, it will feel completely normal. The best part about the grammar is that you can build a whole sentence with just one word. For example, if you wanted to ask somebody in English if they did their homework, you’d say ‘did you do your homework?’ Kind of long, isn’t it? In Japanese, you can ask by using only the verb ‘to do, can, be able to’ - like this: ‘done?’ Also, spoken, you can drop many words if you don’t really need them, especially particles! So if you’re not sure what particle to use, chances are you can just easily leave it altogether without the sentence losing its meaning. It’s easy to build sentences that seem to end in ‘…’, but that’s completely normal in Japanese and everyone will understand.

5. Tons of resources

Sadly, there are some languages people don’t really care about or not a lot of people want to study/ are interested in. Japanese is not one of those languages. There are hundreds of books about Kanji alone! And so many courses for every level. Also, it doesn’t matter what you’re interested in - anime, manga, books, movies, game show, video games, dramas, music - it’s all out there and super easy to find, so you definitely will find something you can listen to or read to practice your skills.

6. Kanji/the writing systems are hard?

No. They aren’t. It’s just a huge workload, it takes time and effort, but they are not hard.

At first, having to learn 3 writing systems will seem exhausting. But believe me, later, when you start reading, you will be so glad! You can detect if a text has a lot of foreign words at one glance if it has a lot of Katakana, for example, and you could say a lot more on twitter because of the syllabaries!

So actually, the 3 systems put together makes everything easier to read!