#study tips

doinglanguagestuff:

Do you know these times when you’re sitting in front of your textbook, trying to learn these boring af vocabs you’ve seen 1000 times but still can’t remember and just wish to do something different (or hoping that the world explodes so you can at least stop)?

Well, there are more ways to learn a language and I think because we just learned how we “should” learn a language at school, we’re limited in creativity. Thanks to school it’s hard to think outside of this “textbook, vocab lists, tests, etc.” stuff but there are ENDLESS things you can do to learn a language.
Remember: everything you do in your native language, you can try to do in your target language!

This is for all the people who are tired and exhausted, who are thinking about quitting or don’t have fun with their target language anymore.
DON’T YOU DARE TO GIVE UP! YOU’VE COME SO FAR!

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Examples for different ways of learning a language:

• write a diary
• summarise an article about a topic you like (cooking, fitness, etc.)
• listen to a podcast/radio
• listen to music (while reading the lyrics)
• try to sing along with music
• read out loud while reading a book/magazine/blog/etc.
• watch movies/series/videos
• record videos in your target language or about how studying is going (progress, problems, etc.)
• write a blog (well hello there :))
• use apps that make it more fun (duolingo, memrise, lingodeer)
• chat with native speakers
• actually talk to native speakers ( I know what a crazy idea)
• read websites about things you’re interested in
• use social media only available in your target language
• change the language of your smartphone
• change the language of your pc
• change the language of your life
• play games in your target language (like not necessarily for learning it, I mean just playing a normal game IN your target language)  
• take online lessons with teachers that make you forget you’re learning
• do a challenge! (I love this one so much)
• find a learning group
• be active in forums (no matter about language learning or a forum in your target language)
• find a language exchange partner. (You should, seriously.)
• watch lessons on youtube
• read a (children-)book (with audio)
• talk to yourself 
• think in your target language (a fun way is to tell a story about your life while it’s happening like “I went down the road with a stranger always behind me, who could it be? What does he want? It got quite… too quite. I tried to keep calm but was it really a coincidence? All in the middle of nowhere?” I know I’m bad at this but I hope you get what I mean, think of it like reading a book.)
• learn vocabs with pictures, type in the word you want to know and ONLY look for pictures, try to feel the word. If you google for “strawberry” (in your target language and don’t know what it means) look at the pictures, the colours, how could it smell? Make a sentence with the new word. When was the last time you ate it? How was it?
• Write a story/book online or just for yourself.
• Make a mindmap
• Use a topic jar (a jar where you put in notes with different topics on it, you take one every day and write/talk about it)
• use social media to find groups interested in learning a new language or your target language
• translate texts and act like you’re a famous translator who’s the only person on earth who can translate your target language (for example if you’re reading articles about historical stuff, act like you’re the only one who can find out what happened back then and the whole world is counting on you!)
• try to solve random online tests
• listen to a song/audiobook/whatever and write down what you hear
• search for words you want to learn and build up (funny!) sentences with them or even whole stories
• read comics/mangas/etc.
• search for receipts  in your target language and pray to god you’re doing it right… if not, well you won’t forget the vocab again. Win-win situation. :p
• search for language learning groups near your living place and actually meet them (stay safe and check everything before)
• listen to children songs (I still remember the first children song I learned in English lessons… like… 11 years ago in 5th grade) these songs are supposed to stick… *cough* head shoulders knees and toes knees and toes *cough* sorry where was I?
• connect with language learners over Skype (useful groups of course like German trying to learn French, Frenchman trying to learn Turkish, Turk trying to learn German)
• write a list (you know… like I do right know so I don’t forget English)
• describe things you see (more fun with a partner)
• teach your target language to others
• listen to audio while sleeping
• take notes in your target language (I don’t mean for grammar rules or something like that, I mean notes you would take in your native language anyway)
• write a letter (so much better than an e-mail)
• write an e-mail (who has time for letters)
• learn rimes 
• learn jokes (it’s also useful for social interaction)
• talk to your pets (at least if they listen to you, if I start to talk to my cat she starts yelling into my face)
• translate songs and learn the vocab of it so you have more fun listening to it later
• think about a topic and write down every word you can think of and then translate them into your target language

An old post I often use recently.

If you know which type of learner you are, you are able to learn much faster! Everyone learns in another way. Just because something works good for person A, doesn’t mean it will work good for person B. Many years ago I found a blog written by a guy who learns languages really fast. So I tried to use the same methods but for some reason it didn’t work AT ALL. I just moved on trying to find “the best learning method ever”. Of course I didn’t find it, because there is non that works for all. If I think about it now, all his methods were for people who learn through listening. And I’m to 90% a visual learner. No way it could have worked for me. But there are still people trying to use the newest, best and most trending language hack. In the end most of them will be disappointed.

Let’s look at it like it’s a superpower. If you can remember stuff someone told you months ago, then your superpower is your listening skill, because many people couldn’t even remember it, if their life depends on it. And if you saw a photo as a child, and still know how it looked like, then congratulations, your superpower is your visual learning skill.

So to learn as fast as you can and especially to remember it later, it’s important for you to find out which superpower you have and USE IT!

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Time to find out which superpower you have! There are several tests on the internet but they will more or less all tell you the same.

Here’s a test I chose with 20 questions you have to answer. You will find out if you learn best through listening, seeing or doing. There are other tests that even divide it into 7 learning types or more, but in the end it’s still one of these 3.

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Here are learning methods you should try, depending on your result.

Visual (learning through seeing):

• Use colors.
  
• Take photos
• Look at pictures.
• Use well organized layouts.
• Make mindmaps.
• Use/Make diagrams.
• Make a visual journey in front of your inner eye.
• Use flashcards
• Draw pictures
• Visualize things you hear
• Try to make everything look pleasant to your eyes
• If you learn a new word picture the situation. When could you use it?
• Write with native speakers.
• Watch movies.

Auditory (learning through hearing and speaking):

• Listen to music while reading the lyrics.
  
• Podcasts
• Radio
• Try rhymes.
• Use the right sounds/music playing in the background while studying.
• Record yourself and listen to it.
• Change the lyrics of your favorite song and sing along of a karaoke version.
• Talk to yourself.
• Talk to native speakers.
• Read everything out loud.
• Speak out loud what you are writing.

Tactile (learning through doing):

• Use your touch sense.
  
• Walk around while studying.
• Imagine how it would feel like to do the things you learn. For example the word pizza, imagine how you make one.
• Describe things. For example if you learn the German word “Kaffee” (coffee), describe the warmth, how the cup feels, were you put it, etc.
• Use physical objects as much as you can (flashcards, etc.)
• Draw pictures.
• Build things with your hands.
• Write stuff down.
• Use role playing while you act like you’re in a specific situation.
• Pay attention to your breathing.
• Chew a gum.
• Trace words with your fingers.

There are many more things you can do, depending on your superpower. You just have to be a little bit creative (or google what learning methods work best for [insert your superpower here] lol). ^_^

doinglanguagestuff:

That’s a question I asked myself many times. So I spent a lot of time on blogs and websites telling me that you can’t name an exactly number. Of course you can’t but I was just searching for an “around this” number. Everyone knows that there is no magical number like 1000 and then you’ll speak your target language but with 999 you wouldn’t. I just wanted “around this” numbers to be motivated, to have a goal, to have a direction I can keep in mind.  It was a pain in the ass to get an answer to this. And I want to share it with you guys, so you don’t have to waste your time on several blogs and giant textwalls to get just a little bit closer to this answer. Don’t forget these are just “around this” numbers and it’s very(!) important that you also use them and SPEAK your target language.
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 100 most common words make up 50% of conversations.

300 most common words make up 65% of conversations.

2.000 most common words make up 90% of conversations.
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What are the different levels of a language?

A1: 500 words A2: 1.000 words

B1: 2.000 words B2: 4.000 words

C1: 8.000 words C2: 16.000 words
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And here a little bit detailed:

250 words - without these words, you can’t make a sentence.

750 words - is needed for everyday conversations.

2.500 words - will allow you to say most things you want, but sometimes in an awkward way.

5.000 words - is an active vocabulary of a (not high educated) native speaker.

10.000 words - is an active vocabulary of a (high educated) native speaker.

20.000 words - is needed in your passive vocabulary to fully understand work of literature by a notable author.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I hope you all are having a wonderful day. :)
 Lately I’m thinking about learning two languages at the same time. Usually I always was like “hell no, this is not going to happen” because I remember when I first tried doing this (without a plan or any knowledge how I could do that) I failed. Like really hard. I always switched up words and grammar, because I was learning them literally AT THE SAME TIME. For example when I tried to learn a new word, I learned it for language A and B simultaneously. Later I didn’t know which word belonged to which language. Or if I knew it in language A I just couldn’t get away from this word. No chance to remember it in language B.

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So the goal is to separate them as much as you can! You want to learn them at the same time but NOT together. Make them as different as possible.. You want your brain to connect these languages with different things. Now, it’s time to take a look on how you can do that.

• Don’t start them at the same time. I know first it sounds strange if you want to learn two languages at the same time but you shouldn’t start both on the same day. Because right at the beginning you have to learn the same words like “hello, how are you, my name is, bye, etc.” and as I said you want to separate them as much as you can. Just pick one and concentrate on it for a few weeks (like one month or if you learn fast even less) and then start the other one. This way you already know the very basic stuff in language A and don’t confuse it with language B.
• Don’t take similar languages. The worse you can do is learning two similar languages. First it sounds like a good idea, because of similar grammar and especially similar words, which could make you think “this way I learn faster” but it’s NOT the case.
  Italian and Spanish? Bad idea.
  German and Dutch? Bad idea.
  Russian and Ukrainian? Bad idea.
  The best is to take languages that aren’t even in the same language family.
• Take languages with different letters. This is a hack that can help you a lot. Especially if you are a visual learner, languages with different writing systems will make it nearly impossible to switch them up. I mostly learn stuff through seeing it. Like seriously, I can’t remember shit if I just hear it but I were able to learn 500 Spanish words for a test on the next day in 2 hours because I used a technique for visual learners. Of course I wasn’t able to keep all of them in the long term memory but it was enough to get an A. And I never ever switched up words (even if I learned them at the same day in two languages) if they were written in different letters, because if I remember a word, I see it in front of my inner eye. So to all visual learners: THIS is the best thing you can do.
• Use different colours and stick to them. For example always use blue for Russian and red for Spanish. It makes it easier for your brain to switch between them. You brain will associate the language with this colour. So if you switch from Russian to Spanish and your brain sees red it will automatically first use the connections it built up around this colour. And you connected Spanish with red. I don’t know how to explain that properly but if you see red your brain connects it with Spanish vocab because it’s “closer” than the Russian vocab.
• Use different times. Same as above. You connect one language with a specific time. For example after you get up in the morning you study Russian and before you go to bed you study Spanish.
• One of the languages should be a familiar one. This way you will have “less” work. For example if your native language is French then Spanish or Italian are good ones for you. But remember that the second language you chose should be as different as possible.
• Chose a main language. There will be a time when you question yourself, if this was a good idea. It will feel like you’re getting nowhere and of course you will think about if it’s because you don’t concentrate on one language. With a main language you will see more progress because you spend more time with it. A really great way to motivate yourself and if you don’t like the choice you made you can always take the other one as main language.
• Make a plan. I don’t know what else I could say about this because you probably all know what I mean. You have to make a plan WHEN you learn WHICH language for HOW LONG and WHAT you want to learn.
• Think in your target languages. As soon as you have an intermediate level, you can start using both languages at the same time and even practice them together. Try to translate from language A to language B. This way you can learn to think in your new languages because there is no need to think in your native language at all. At this point try to avoid your native language as much as you can.
• Take your time. You can’t expect to learn two languages as fast as you would learn a single one.
• Learn at different places. Same as the colour and time tip. Connect every language with another place. For example Russian is the living room and Spanish the kitchen. Or if it’s possible try to learn one of them at the library/park/etc.
• Connect them with emotions (and not only textbooks). For example speaking Spanish with your friends (happy, comfortable, etc.) and exploring Moscow while speaking Russian with the natives there (exited, nervous, etc.)
• Study both every day. I guess I don’t need to say more.
• Keep in mind that it’s even harder to keep your motivation. If you loose motivation in learning languages, it will be twice as hard to get back on track. Because everything will take twice as long. So if you find it hard to learn one language if you’re not motivated, you should consider learning one after another. Your progress will be slower if you learn two languages at once and if you’re not a person who can handle this, you should stick with one.
• Make everything different. I know I mentioned it a lot but just think about what you could change in your learning routine. You can help your brain to connect many things with language A or language B. You drink Cola while studying language A and tea while studying language B. Put a picture of Spain on your table while studying Spanish and one of Russia while studying Russian. Write with a black pencil in Spanish and with a grey one in Russian. Meditate before Spanish and work out before Russian (or other morning/night routines you do, followed by the language you want to connect it with).

I hope this post was helpful for you and keep in mind that if you just want to speak as many languages as possible, one after another will be faster. But if you want to learn both languages at the same time because you really like them, there is nothing stopping you. :)

Before I start I want to mention a few things about this post.

1. The easiest language will always be the one you like learning, because if you have fun, it’s not really hard. Also, if you are motivated you will learn much faster.
   
2. This post will show you how long it will take to learn a language based on their difficulty. That just means, how DIFFERENT it is to the English language. More different = “harder”. It does NOT take into account if you are interested in a language or not. The condition of these groups are that your interest in these languages are ALL THE SAME!
3. The numbers I will give you are “just around this”numbers.
4. Based on which other languages you already speak, some languages will be easier (means faster) for you.
5. There are many factors that can change the pace of your language learning journey. (I will also make a post about this topic soon)

So first we will take a look at the groups. Which language are the easiest and hardest for English speakers?

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Group 1 (575-600 hours): the easiest languages because they are very similar to English. This are languages like Italian, Spanish, French, etc.

Group 2 (750 hours): still similar to English. In this group is just one language. German. (I guess because our articles are a pain in the ass. Seriously, I have friends that came here 10 years ago, don’t even have an accent anymore but still switch up some articles.)

Group 3 (900 hours): different to English. In this group are languages like Indonesian or Swahili. 

Group 4 (1100 hours):  significant differences to English. In this group are languages like Bulgarian, Croatian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Russian and many more.

Group 5 (2200 hours): very different to English. In this group are languages like Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

I made a post about many more languages, so if your target languages is not mentioned here, you can look it up on my other post here.

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And why did I tell you about these groups? Because the thing we care about are the hours it takes to learn a language from one of these groups! 

But that’s not all, we also care about the amount of words you have to learn to be fluent in a language. I also made a post about this, so if you want to know more about how many words you need to be conversational, fluent, etc. or if you are A1, A2, B1, etc. then you can check it out here.

So based on this post we want a vocabulary of 5.000 words. You also have to keep in mind to study listening, speaking, reading and writing to cover everything up. If you just learn a language from a textbook you probably won’t understand native speakers at all and you will also won’t find words when it comes to speaking it. The following numbers are for people who want to be fluent. Like REAL fluent like a (low educated) native speaker.

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How long will it take to learn a language from…

Group 1 (600 hours):

• studying 1 hour per day: one year and 235 days.
  
• studying 2 hours per day: 300 days.
• studying 3 hours per day: 200 days.
• studying 4 hours per day: 150 days.
• studying 5 hours per day: 120 days.

Group 2 (750 hours):

• studying 1 hour per day: 2 years and 20 days.
  
• studying 2 hours per day: 1 year and 10 days.
• studying 3 hours per day: 250 days.
• studying 4 hours per day: 188 days.
• studying 5 hours per day: 150 days.

Group 3 (900 hours):

• studying 1 hour per day: 2 years and 170 days.
  
• studying 2 hours per day: 1 year and 85 days.
• studying 3 hours per day: 300 days.
• studying 4 hours per day: 225 days.
• studying 5 hours per day: 180 days.

Group 4 (1100 hours):

• studying 1 hour per day: 3 years and 5 days.
  
• studying 2 hours per day: 1 year and 185 days.
• studying 3 hours per day: 1 year and 2 days.
• studying 4 hours per day: 275 days.
• studying 5 hours per day: 220 days.

Group 5 (2200 hours):

• studying 1 hour per day: 6 years and 10 days.
  
• studying 2 hours per day: 3 years and 5 days.
• studying 3 hours per day: 2 years and 4 days.
• studying 4 hours per day: 1 year and 185 days.
• studying 5 hours per day: 1 year and 75 days.

Me: Okay, today I will get shit done. I will study at least 2 hours after work.

Brain: Or you could just take a nap.

Me: What? No. Yesterday you told me you are motivated and we will do this today.

Brain: Just think about it. You worked 9 hours and now you want to study? That seems stupid to me. Think about pizza, watching a movie, eating chocolate and taking a nap.

Me: Why are you like this to me??

Brain: Nap… What? Nap. What? Nap! I can’t hear you. TAKE A NAP!

Me:But…

Brain:Nap.

Me: You make me angry.

Brain: You know what would help you to relax? A nap.

Me every single day.

This time I want to talk about “How to live your target language”. While learning a language through textbooks, grammar rules and vocab lists we often forget what a language actually is for: using it as a social tool to live! Learning a language is like exploring the world a second time (or third, forth, fifth… I guess you know where this is going lol). 

I know many people (mostly introverts) have a problem with actually speaking their target language (I know it’s embarrassing if you don’t know what’s going on and feel like an idiot, especially when you knew how to say things before starting the conversation, I feel the same!).

But it doesn’t matter if you make tiny mistakes (I mean if you learn the language because you want to use it for what a language is for and not because your school forces you to get through a stupid test) because a language has only one purpose: communication. And if you can communicate in your target language, who cares about switching up articles or stuff like that?

It’s time to live your language, that’s the best way to learn it. Usually I would make a list, but it’s nonsense if I do that now. Everyone lives a different life so you have to try this the most suitable way for you. I will just give you an example how a day COULD look like if you try to live your target language.

Ps: this does NOT require to live in the country your target language is spoken. This is all about pretending, to live in your target country.

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My example on how a day could look like (based on what I did when I was in school):

It’s Friday, 6 am and your alarm goes on. You hear music but have no idea what on earth they are singing, until you realize you set a radio in your target language as your alarm clock. You sit up and grab your phone. First you are irritated because everything seems to be in another language… oh right… you started your “live your language” journey yesterday and changed the language of your phone and PC to your target language. It’s time for breakfast so you eat while keep listening to the radio, where people are talking about a topic… but you only understand every third word. You’re late for the bus (like seriously that happened every day to me) and run. The bus ride is 35 minutes long, so you start listening to your favourite music in your target language.

At school you find out that the second lesson will be free because the teacher is sick. So you use this time to read a comic in your target language, because last time you tried a book, it was a little bit too hard to understand. In your last lesson you have to research a topic and give a short presentation but you are allowed to use your phone so you search for the things you want to know in your target language.

After school you walk to the bus station while a drunken person bumps into you and tells you to f*cking go out of the way. You think about all the insults you know in your target language while keep walking to get the bus. Sitting in the bus you tell your language exchange partner about this idiot (of course in your target language) and start listening to music (YES in your target language!). You’re feeling good.

Back at home you throw your bag into the corner and yourself on the bed. You think about what to do next. Homework? No, you do that before school because you’re always an hour too early thanks to the stupid bus plan. You grab your phone and watch your favourite [insert target language here] youtubers. After eating you use your PC to play Sims 4. You remember why you chose this game… an easy game about everyday life to learn simple words like “work, food, shower, table, etc.”. After playing you read some blogs about how life in your target country is like and what the most beautiful places are. In your target language. I know I probably don’t have to keep mentioning it but I just want to be clear. Everything IN YOUR TARGET LANGUAGE (I will stop mentioning it now but everything I talk about is in your target language). After playing Sims you watch the new episode of your favourite series. There was a really interesting plot twist so you go online and find a discussion about it and you join it. While exchanging about it you get a Skype call from your language exchange partner. You two talk about how your day was and try to get him to watch this new series. After the call you read about a new social media site, only available in your target language and sign up. Many native speakers message you, asking why you learn their target language and offering you help. You record your progress with a camera and upload it on youtube.

The day comes to an end and you write everything that happened into your diary. You get ready for bed, lay down and start listening to an audio book. You fall asleep while listening to it and the people in your dream are talking the things you still hear from the audio book. Good thing you are listening to a romantic story, so you meet a handsome guy in your dreams. Sleep tight. :)

So, quitting happens because of missing plans, structure, goals and rewards.
I’ve been to Italy quite a few times (around 30 times to be honest) and I’ll be there in 2 months again. I want to make the best out of these 60 days, so I can use the language as much as possible. But first, I need a plan!

I should mention I’m not a fan of exact numbers like 10 minutes this, 40 minutes that, a 15 minutes break here. Simply because I never stick to it, then I’m getting frustrated, stop for the day, forget it on the next day, want to start new next week, don’t do that and quit it completely. Not just for learning languages, I’m just like that in general. If I want to start at 6 pm but start at 6.15 pm I’m already mad at myself. 

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What are my resources?

• Babbel - it doesn’t make as much fun as Duolingo, but I’m NOT going to use Duolingo. Like I said I want to get the most out of these 60 days and I like that Duolingo is fun but… it’s not really productive. First because the sentences are often non sense (what I usually like because it’s funny), second the progress is slow (the slowest I know) and even if you’re done with a tree you don’t really get far with it compared to the time you put in and where other apps get you with the same amount of time. Babbel is not nearly as cool as Duolingo because it’s way more like “sit down and learn this shit” but in the end this method is faster. I studied 2 different languages with Babbel and the structure (especially for grammar) is the best I know when it comes to apps / websites. 
  
• Memrise - I think I don’t have to say much about it… build up vocab as fast as possible.
• Beelinguapp - It’s an app with audio books. You choose your target language and a book. While reading it you listen to the audio version of it and if something is unclear you have the translation in your native language below.
• Italienische Verben - a collection of Italian verbs and their conjugation. And if you didn’t notice by the name it’s a German app but I’m to 99,99% sure there is something like that in English (or other languages).
• Habitica - a to do list in rpg style. Actually I use this anyway, even without learning a language haha ^^ but I’m a really competitive person and you can join guilds (groups for everything you can imagine), so I joined a few language learning guilds to attend challenges. There’s also a guild chat for exchange and many more things you can do. :)
  Warning: if you don’t do things on your to do list, your character will lose health. :p
• Deezer and Pi Music Player - music players for… well I guess you know. 
• Tandem - an app for language exchange, finding an exchange partner or even a teacher. If you click on “community” you see native speakers of your target language learning your native language. Already with the topic they want to talk about. You can decide between (video-) call or messaging them. Warning: you maybe have to wait to get in, because they want to keep it balanced between different countries. GIGANTIC plus point for girls: this way it’s impossible to get hardcore spammed by men from… specific countries asking you to marry them or who are sending you photos of their tiny wiener. I’m serious this app is PERFECT for girls. Almost all people are just there for language exchange and not to find a girl of the country they want to move to.
• HelloTalk - also a nice language exchange app but I prefer Tandem.
• Google Translate - well… duh. Why do I even mention it.

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What are my study plans?

• find a language exchange partner as friend (with Tandem and HelloTalk)
  
• learn as much vocab as possible (with Babbel and mainly Memrise)
• much practice of listening skills (Memrise for the native speaker option, Babbel for the dialogues between people at real life situations, Beelinguapp for audio books, Deezer and Pi Music for listening to music in Italian)
• practice writing (Babbel, Memrise and chatting with native speakers on Tandem/HelloTalk)
• practice speaking (a little bit with Memsie and Babbel but mainly with native speakers from Tandem and HelloTalk)
• practice reading (Beelinguapp, chatting with native speakers on Tandem/HelloTalk, Babbel)
• learn basic grammar (with Babbel)
• study as much as I can do per day but at least 30 minutes every day NO MATTER how busy I am
• have a small basic conversations with my language exchange partner (who will probably speak extra slowly and clearly, because they know your language level) after one month

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What are my goals?

• have small-talks with native speakers in Italy
  
• get around without using German or English at all. The worst part about this will be that they always start speaking German or English with me (I guess I don’t look Italian at all but you can see my profile picture soooo yeah I don’t know) and I have to tell them to stop trying to have a normal conversation with me so I can make the situation awkward and hard to understand for everyone with my broken Italian. :D Embarrassing moments I’m coming for you!
• set my smartphone on Italian and actually understand the most of it
• get a diary and use it in Italian without a dictionary
• live the language as much as I can (here is a post about what I mean)
• find Italian friends
• understand a few songs I like (going to learn a little bit vocab from my favourite songs to make it easier)
• play a game like Sims and understand most of it (I wanted to use Skyrim but I guess everyday life vocab will be more easier to understand than the vocab about potions, killing dragons, magic spells, being a dragonborn, etc.)

The best way to keep your motivation is to reward yourself for reaching your goals (even the small ones!). :)
But first you need to set goals… if you have no idea what you could do on your language learning journey you can check out this postfrom@lovelybluepanda.
It’s a really cool post about “100 Goals you can have as a language learner”. There are daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals.
So, if you’re done choosing the goals you want to reach, it’s time to choose the reward you want to get after completing it.
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Here are examples for rewards you can give yourself. :)

• go to a café with your friends
  
• watch a movie at the cinema
• make a trip to another city
• buy stickers, pencils, markers, washi tapes, etc. everything you’re using for your language learning entries
• buy yourself something big for reaching big goals ( like even a car, yes I’m talking about REALLY big goals)
• new shoes
• an app
• a monthly subscription for a language learning app/website like Busuu,  Babbel or Memrise
• food from your target country
• beauty stuff from your target country (yes I’m looking at you Korean and Japanese learners, there is much you can buy)
• order food to your house
• nail polish, lipstick, beauty masks, etc. (just small things you can buy at the next drugstore)
• massage
• new hairstyle
• eyelashes extensions
• take a day off
• visit a museum
• buy yourself a new book (maybe even one for language learning)
• make a Netflix day
• candy from the next grocery store
• buy something that’s trending in your target country
• a trip to your target country
• go to a restaurant with friends or your family
• a new outfit
• get a pedicure/manicure
• buy yourself flowers
• take a course (like cooking, drawing, etc.)
• visit a comedy club
• tickets for a festival/band/singer you want to see
• go golfing with friends
• paintball (like seriously… try it with friends it’s fun haha :))
• spa day
• join a sport club
• gym membership
• go camping
• a new laptop bag
• look online for something you want and take the first thing you see (that’s especially for people like me who usually need days to decide if they want something or not)
• visit a bookstore or library
• make a picnic
• take a hot bubble bath
• buy a magazine or even subscribe to one
• buy a plant for the room you’re usually studying
• new headphones to have a better quality while listening to songs in your target language
• piercing
• tattoo
• jewellery
  
• buy a few online lessons in italki
• yoga / meditation
• buy candy from your target language
• buy a bag with candy from all over the world
• a mixer for smoothies
• new workout clothes
• go to a party/club
• a new journal (or your first one)
• a fancy waterbottle
• search for new songs in your target language
• a colouring book to relax
• put money into a jar every time you reach a goal (for a bigger reward)
• search for events near your city
• go on a road trip with your best friend or partner
• take language classes
• buy a new videogame
• try a new hobby

Done. I hope you find some of my ideas helpful. :)

Intentando retomar la cuenta, porque realmente no quiero dejarla morir

Les comparto unas notas rápidas de Química General, parte de mis notas de estudio para el examen de ingreso al posgrado ‍

Se acerca la fecha, en unos días

Trying to get back on track, because I really don’t want to let her die

I share some quick notes of General Chemistry, part of my study notes for the master’s degree entrance exam ‍

The date is coming, in a few days

No estaba muerta andaba de parranda

Está bien no, pero ando algo ocupada últimamente, entre los trámites de titulación, los detalles de la tesis y los exámenes de admisión al posgrado, sin olvidar mis clases y las asesorías que doy, el tiempo me escasea

Les comparto unas notas rápidas de inglés sobre gramática y tiempos verbales.

¿Cómo les trata el 2021?

I was not dead, I was partying

Not well, but I am a little busy lately, between the qualifications, the details of the thesis and the entrance exams to enter the master’s degree, without forgetting my classes and the advice I give, time is scarce

I share some quick notes of English on grammar and tenses.

How’s 2021 treating you?

[] Les dejo un pequeño vistazo a mi día a día cuando no tengo clases, pero tengo trabajo que hacer en el laboratorio de Química Orgánica. Ser estudiante de maestría no es fácil pero se vuelve satisfactorio ver el avance

[] Here’s a little glimpse into my day-to-day when I don’t have classes, but I have work to do in the Organic Chemistry lab. Being a master’s student is not easy but it becomes satisfying see the progress

Continuando con los apuntes sobre Proteínas del diplomado de Bioquímica Clínica

Continuing with the notes of Proteins of the Diploma in Clinical Biochemistry

A complete guide to self-studying a language

Check it out here!

Self-studying a language is an amazing way to learn, if you’re careful to avoid the pitfalls! Here are the steps I go through when making a study plan:

Step 01: Decide what you want to do and what you can offer (what language(s), how much time/money/energy/etc)

Step 02: Gather resources (decide what type you like best and then research and test)

Step 03: Make S.M.A.R.T goals (follow the guidelines and make good goals that will encourage you)

Step 04: Create your plan (using the 3 steps above and some prompting questions on the guide, form a schedule. Be organized, but stay loose and adaptable)

Step 05: Add some back-up or pressure (find an accountability or tandem partner, add the pressure of a scheduled exam, etc)

Check out the link for more Info on each step + tons of tips and links to resources and other guides!!

Good luck!!! Self-studying a language is not easy, but it’s so rewarding and fun!!!

I literally went from being obsessed with studyblr to being an unemployed Master graduate. What has my life become…