broke but functional

margaret atwood

the brontës (the complete works is a MASSIVE file fyi)

anne carson

hélène cixous

bell hooks

clarice lispector

audre lorde

virginia woolf

compilations

feminist theory

academic writing (both books and articles)

A collection of Black Books of Hours

Black Hours, ca. 1475 (Morgan Library, New York)

Horae beatae marie secundum usum curie romane, ca. 1458 (Hispanic Society of America)

I actually ended up having a surreal and jarring one-on-one conversation with Luis von Ahn, the founder and CEO, who reached out to me after a scathing critique I posted on Reddit started to get significant traction.

Talking to him was like talking to someone who had been brainwashed by a cult. I told him how I and others in my life had found Duolingo so useful and efficient for language learning, and that its usefulness was evidenced by me noticing a real-world improvement in ability to listen to, understand, and speak the languages I had been practicing, but that recent changes had made it dramatically less useful to where I needed to put much more time in to get the same amount out.

His response was like "But all our metrics are up, our data shows that our changes are working." It was so frustrating. The metrics were all about engagement. He was showing people were spending more time practicing languages, not that they were getting more real-world ability to converse in those languages. Practice time was going up but actual language ability was going down. I tried explaining that to him but he seemed completely unable and/or unwilling to understand my point.

It was like talking to a wall.

I left the conversation with any remaining faith in the Duolingo leadership completely shattered, and I completely withdrew from using the site.

Busuu - Busuu is what I used while studying Chinese and Japanese, and the app is comparable to Duolingo.

MangoLanguages - Many library systems are offering access to this to free! Make sure to check to see if your library card gives you access to this resource.

Great Courses Plus - They also have a ton of language material, and are often offered through libraries!

Linkedin Learning - Multiple language (and other!) options, also available through many public libraries.

Anki - Gives you access to thousands of flashcards and the ability to make your own.

Pimsleur - Pimsleur is one of the most highly recommended language programs, especially if you're working for a conversational level.

Other alternatives to consider are Youtube, often a great place for smaller schools and creators to post content. I supplement my classes with Easy German, and I used to be pretty reliant on EveryDay Chinese to practice my tones. If you're looking to learn it, there's bound to be a channel out there that is tailored toward your language learning.

they keep their films in unlisted folders so you cant just see them all on their profile unfortunately but ill provide links. also don't ask me why this user separates their films in this way, i don't know and frankly it confuses me too.

EUROPEAN FILMS (sometimes includes west asian films?)

JAPANESE FILMS

CLASSIC FILMS (aka american and British films)

"MISC FILMS" (aka films from everywhere that isn't the usa, europe, japan. sometimes films from the GDR are in here which is confusing again because communist germany was still part of europe)

south korea

european

animated

silent

other mixed bag

movies

south korea and china

japanese

italian

french

classic

Just in case you forget this exists.

You can browse the most popular ones or search for certain colors, themes, and even specific hex codes!

When you find one you like, you can download a wallpaper swatch of it and also select the specific colors it uses to look at more palettes that use those same ones.

Plus some more I haven't seen here yet

Me: Hey, I'm really struggling to find a job and a part of it is my resume. I was depressed & psychotic during highschool so I didn't do anything to gain skills or achievements to put on my resume. I also don't have anyone to put as a reference. What can I do?

Them: You can add your skills, hobbies, clubs you're in, and different volunteer work you've done! You can also get your teacher as a reference.

Me: I already know what to put on a resume, my issue is that I don't have things that I can use. Also, I'm in my mid 20s so I don't know if I can put my highschool teacher as a reference.

Them: Well if you're a part of a church or an activity group, you could add that. Also, think of any projects you've worked on in the past.

Me: I already know you can put these things on a resume. I'm not looking for suggests of things I've already done, I'm looking for what I can do now if I haven't done anything.

Them: There's no way you didn't do anything during highschool?? What about some odd jobs you definitely did for extra money, like babysitting or mowing the lawn?

Me: I spent all of highschool either in modified classes or in bed doing nothing - not even hobbies, what about that do you not understand?

And then you talk to someone who's also disabled and they're like "Here's a bunch of jobs you can do from home that don't pay much but look good on a resume, here's some free online courses that also look good on a resume, here's how you can be making small amounts of money in the meantime, here's some things you can put besides a professional reference, and here are your rights if your future employer tries to take advantage of your disability - which you probably shouldn't tell them about unless you need accommodations."

Freelance Jobs You Do From Home That Look Cool On A Future Resume

Please research any company before sign up with then. So many companies are scams and pay you way less than you deserve for your work. Go to r/freelancers and search to make sure nobody has had some horrid experiences. There's also usually reviews of a company on YouTube as well.

Transcribing - adding subtitles to videos for deaf and other hard of hearing people. You usually read a big instruction manual, do two or three tests to see how well you can follow the instruction manual, and then get an e-mail if you can work with them or not. Depending on where you sign up, you can also fill out which topics you're knowledable on and less likely to make mistakes on when transcribing.

Translating - same as transcribing, but now you're translating one language into another. I have not done this before, so I'd suggest talking to people who have.

Article Writing - there are different websites you can sign up to work for where someone sends in a request for an article about a certain topic, you can write that article, and if they like it they can purchase it from you. Some websites have a ranking system where the more good reviews your article gets, the more money you'll get paid.

Article Editing - you can also get payed to fix typos and reorganize an article (or list) if writing isn't your thing.

Top 10 Lists - There are different sites that will pay you to write 10 ten lists. They usually require a specific amount of words and have an author's guide on their site.

Graphic Designer - if you go to different generic freelance websites, you can often find people who are searching for someone to design logos for their company or banners for their websites. It helps if you have a portfolio as well.

Virtual Assistent - scheduling appointments, answering calls, and managing email accounts from your own home. I haven't done this one so again, do more research.

Small Amounts Of Money

Qmee - I've been using this app for awhile called qmee where you do surveys for money. Surveys usually pay anywhere in between 30 cents and 2 dollars, and they have a feature where if the survey asks you anything sketchy then you can report them. You can also cash out whenever, like you don't have to build up a certain amount. (If you aren't American, you may only get a couple surveys per day.) An extra 20 dollars a month isn't much but it's nice.

Fiverr - A website where you state your talents and you can take on other people's smaller projects for small amounts of money. A funny example is this YouTube skit where someone paid some people on fiverr to come up with a break-up letter. I believe you can also keep a portfolio for any projects you make during your freelance jobs on fiverr too.

Redbubble - this is where you can put different designs onto different types of clothing, notebooks, mugs, hats, etc. It helps if you have a design that's from a fandom, references a meme, or fufills a niche. You can also go to TeeSpring if you want to put multiple designs on one item, but you'd have to promote your items yourself as TeeSpring has this issue where you can't search for new stores who aren't already popular.

Test Products - once again, please research any company you're going to do this for. There are companies that will send you products for a week or two and ask for a report on how well it works, what you like/dislike, etc.

If You Don't Have Anyone To Put On Your Resume As References

Volunteer Somewhere - animal shelters, tutoring, soup kitchens, summer programs, public libraries, etc. If you're able to volunteer somewhere, you can ask the people there if you can use them as a reference.

Volunteer Online - you can also do online volunteer work if you're unable to do physical volunteer work. Here's a list of examples of online volunteer work which includes things like creating a large amount of thank-you cards, transcribing books into digital form, or answer texts or calls on a crisis line. This may be a better option due to covid.

Add Personal References - friends and family members do work (just don't list them as professional references). It's especially helpful if you've done a project for/with them as well.

Or don't add references at all - references look good on a resume, but unless you're writing a federal resume you kind of don't need them? If someone is interested in hiring you, they may ask if you have any references. You can just say "no, this is my first job" (if it is). They might ask why you haven't worked before, but you can just say that it's personal or private information. Or you can give a vague answer like dealing with family matters.

Once you have some, this is how you would format your references.

A question I encounter often is "How much Japanese should I study before I can begin reading in Japanese?"

From my experience as a learner and reader myself and from managing a Japanese book club for other learners I can honestly say that you can start way earlier than you probably think!

There are many resources that only require knowing hiragana. Those texts usually teach vocabulary through pictures and only use basic grammar.

Some are even simpler than that: The Japan Foundation's Hiragana Books are great for those, who are still remembering hiragana characters. Every short book introduces only 1-2 new characters, so it's a great reading exercise for those who've just started.

The free graded reader 「どうぞ、どうも」 by the NPO Tagengo Tadoku only uses the words 「どうぞ」 and 「どうも」 to write an entire story. Again, this makes for a great exercise in reading hiragana and understanding context. Another "level 0" recommendation by the same NPO would definitely be 「しろい？くろい？」. This book uses the full range of hiragana characters but the grammar is simple and all used vocabulary is illustrated.

Another site with great resources for absolute beginners is Nihongo Tadoku Dōjō. If you have memorized both hiragana and katakana and know how the particles を and で work you will be able to read this text about stationary (ぶんぼうぐ) and understand everything by looking at the pictures!

The resources linked so far can all be accessed completely free on the linked websites. If you have the money to spare, please also have a look at the box 「スタート」 from the series reberubetsu nihongo tadoku raiburarī published by the NPO Tagengo Tadoku and ASK (affiliate link). This box includes 8 little books in very simple Japanese.

All these texts for absolute beginners will get you started reading in Japanese with very little knowledge of characters and vocabulary.

First Month Edition

All my current study materials, because sharing found resources is caring. These are not JLPT-specific and are for pre-beginners to beginners like me. I can't believe I have been studying for a month. Comparison is truly the thief of joy. I am a slow learner, but that's okay. Find a community because it truly does make a difference. Shoutout to Seitokai's Nihongo Discord, and to @tokidokitokyo whose post let me know about it and is just overall a great person too.

Main study material: Marugoto Online A1 Self-Study Kastudoo and Rikai with downloaded PDF and Wordbook (my original post about it)

Supplemental references:

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (The only NOT free resource in this list, sorry! The e-book sold on Amazon does not have good reviews as it's a scanned copy of the book, rather than a properly formatted e-book. A free alternative to this is JapBase which also contains Intermediate and Advanced content.)

Marugoto Plus which accompanies the Marugoto courses and includes videos, audio files, etc.

Apps: Anki, Renshuu

Anki decks:

Tatsumoto's Kana (Recognizing and Writing)

Tatsumoto's AnkiDrone Sentence Pack V7

Official KanjiDamage Deck (from the creator of KanjiDamage, crude language warning for both the deck and the site)

Marugoto A1 Rikai Katsudoo 2021

Dictionaries:

Rikaitan browser extension (installed JMDict English V4, JMExtra, 日本語文法辞典(全集), and Kanjium)

Takoboto app (with offline access)

Other resources:

Sukiruma for practice writing sheets

Reader Ttsu for reading Japanese materials on a browser (used in conjunction with Rikaitan, since I couldn't find an e-book reader that I can install a Japanese dictionary in)

Sousakuba for downloadable genkouyoushi without watermarks

Youtube:

Favorites marked with a ⭐️.

Comprehensible Input for what it says on the tin, in bite-size formats

Daily Japanese with Naoko for vlogs with Japanese subtitles

Dogen for the funny videos that you can learn from and/or relate to

Game Gengo because Japanese learning through games, and has JLPT geared content if you're looking for it

Gino Kei who has shorts teaching Japanese in a not so serious way

Hiro - Food in Japan for cooking videos, not in Japanese, but these make me crave for Japanese food anyway so that counts

⭐️ Japan Eat for Japanese food commentary in English and also makes me hungry. So, yeah, not in 日本語 but it's delicious so that also counts

Japanese Koro mostly for kana reading practice which actually helps you get short serotonin boosts for when you do actually get to read the words correctly

Japanese Quest which plays games in Japanese

⭐️ Japarrot! for fun, animated comprehensible input videos

Let's ask Shogo for culture content

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Matcha Samurai for delightfully unhinged culture content, debunking Japanese misconceptions one video at a time

Namba Tsuyoshi for no narration Japanese walk with me style vlogs, very chill and relaxing

⭐️ NihongoDekita with Sayaka for fun, short grammar content

ShekMatz Japan has videos/playlists where she teaches Japanese in Tagalog, so if you can't understand Tagalog, you'd better skip it

Sora The Troll because why not

⭐️ Takashii from Japan is honestly one of my favorites, even before I started learning Japanese. His interviews are just really good!

Taro's Sewing because my toxic trait is thinking I can sew the cool things they post. Also comes with short Japanese commentary on screen

Tokyo Lens counts as uh, immersion even if it's not in Japanese, but it's in Japan so that counts? Yeah, let's go with that

もしもしようすけ for Japan vlogs/walk with me with Japanese and English subtitles

Yomii Japan Piano if you like piano and the occasional trolling

To catch who is doing what; who is the main subject and who is being affected by the action; you have to pay attention to the particles.

When a person is followed by the particle は such as (田中さんは…), the speaker is trying to tell you about Mr. Tanaka.

In other situations where the speaker wants to emphasize that IT IS Mr. Tanaka who did something, the particle が would be used instead (田中さんが…)

When an object is followed by the particle を, you know the subject is doing something to this object. If I say ご飯を…, you know the subject is going to do something to the meal. Whether he is eating a meal or cooking a meal, that... you have to read the verb at the end of the sentence.

In Japanese sentences, you will never know what happened to the object or what the subject did to the object until you read the verb at the end. For instance, if I say ドレスを…, the subject could wear a dress, buy a dress, draw a picture of a dress, sew a dress, or even steal a dress, etc. There are many possibilities to what the subject could do to a dress in that sentence. As a reader, you would never know until you see the verb at the end.

And to make a simple sentence longer, Japanese people would add extra details to describe about the subject or/and the object. Let's take a look at this simple sentence below.

女の子はドレスを着ています。

The little girl wears a dress.

This is the most basic sentence structure of Subject+Object+Verb.

You have no idea where this girl comes from, what kind of dress she is wearing, what colour is the dress, etc. Now, let's make it longer.

隣に住んでいる女の子は、先週の誕生日に私からもらったかわいいピンクのドレスを着ています。

The little girl who lives next door wears a cute pink dress which she received from me as a present on her birthday last week.

Now, you have a better image in your head about the little girl and the dress she is wearing. It enhances your imagination about the character and the storyline.

Let's take another sentence.

姉はチーズケーキを食べました。

My elder sister ate a cheesecake.

Again, there is very little to feel and imagine from this short sentence. Let's make it longer by adding some details about the cake.

姉は父が仕事の後、家に帰る途中で私のために買ってきたチーズケーキをうっかり食べてしまいました。

My elder sister accidentally ate the cheesecake that my father bought for me on his way home after work.

As you know, Japanese language is a SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) pattern while English is SVO pattern.

Some learners may know a good amount of vocabulary words but they still cannot understand the meaning of a sentence even if they know how to read every single word in that sentence. Why is that so?

This may be due to learners reading the wrong way. In order to understand Japanese sentences, follow the following steps:

1. Identify the subject with the noun followed by either a は or が. (Usually in the beginning of a sentence but there are some writers who purposely put the subject in the middle.)

2. Read the end of the sentence to locate the verb. Yes, you read this right. Just go straight to the end of the sentence to identify the verb.

Example:

私はその人を常に先生と呼んでいた。

In this sentence, the subject is 「私は」。Next, go straight to the end and identify the verb

Here, the verb is 「呼んでいた」 which means "called".

So now, you know what the subject is doing with 私は and 呼んでいた which means "I called."

Next, read the rest of the middle part 「その人を常に先生と…」 meaning "that person always teacher"

The whole sentence means "I always called that person as teacher."

AKA - I'm sorry, you do have to learn all three scripts.

Welcome to our first lesson! Today, we are going to learn how to read Japanese.

Sort of.

See, it's not something you can learn in one day, or one lesson. Learning a language is a gradual process that doesn't cement until you start *using* it.

So we will go over the basics, both the WHY three scripts and the HOW to learn all three over time, and then provide 10+ FREE resources from all over the internet for you to practice with!

Let's go!

Why All Three Scripts?

Short answer: because I said so.

Kidding.

The Japanese language has no spaces in it. Unlike English where there is a space between each word, Japanese sentences look like this:

スモモも桃も桃のうち

All three scripts are in this sentence. It translates to "plums and peaches are both like peaches". An odd sentence, but here's why I chose it...

When you write it in *just* Hiragana (the basic, "first" phonetic script), it looks like this:

すもももももももものうち

Yikes. So many も, with no way to tell apart the multiple words in the も train.

So... how can you tell similar words apart when written out?

Wait, let's look back a bit. Can you tell where different words are in the sentence before? Yes. Even without being taught *anything* about the Japanese language, you can tell where different words start just by looking at it.

By writing in multiple scripts, you can tell similar words apart.

Okay... But How Do I Learn Them?

There's quite a few ways to learn them. In fact, on Thursday we will be publishing community responses from our Discord detailing how THEY learned the scripts.

But for now, here is the two first scripts you'll learn in their entirety, thanks to Coto Japanese Acamedy

You'll learn these first for three reasons:

First, they are easier.

Second, you can spell any word in Japanese with these two scripts. Not a hard and fast rule, but Hiragana is used for native Japanese words and Katakana is usually used for international loan words, emphasis, names, and 'sound effect words', aka onomatopoeia.

Third, you'll see Hiragana above Kanji (the difficult one) that tells you how to pronounce Kanji.

As far as actually learning them, you *could* just write them down over and over.

Writing is super important when learning Japanese.

But it might be easier to start with some apps, games, and videos where you can learn the characters both in context AND within words.

Here's our favorite FREE resources:

Duolingo (Website, Android, and Apple) is great for learning singular words and Hiragana / Katakana, however explanations of grammar is limited to desktop. Still, PERFECT for the beginning stages regardless of device.

Bunpo is another free app for learning Japanese!

JapanesePod101's videos on Hiragana and Katakana over on Youtube are fantastic for hearing natural speach.

Tofugu's Hiragana and Katakana blog posts have the * best * mnemomics, with sound bites.

Busuu's (Website, Android, Apple) Japanese course starts off with Hiragana words to get you speaking immediately.

Kana (Apple, Android) is a free app dedicated to JUST Hiragana and Katakana.

Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese is the holy grail for new Japanese learners. Of course, it has a no-frills explanations of all three scripts.

Japanese Ammo with Misa has detailed lessons on everything, including Kana.

Here's a video on the difference between printed and written Hiragana fonts.

And finally... our discord server.

Wait... what about Kanji?

Well, the problem is there's a lot to learn. A LOT.

You'll be learning them over the course of yearssssssss. But that's fine; you can tune into our lessons to learn them.

Join right here to practice what you learn! You'll also gain access to new friends learning the same language AND more free resources.