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theferrarieffect · 2 months

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soy lago

masterlist

lando x carlos (carlando)

summary: since carlos left for ferrari, lando has spent the last four seasons trying to move on. but then the world learns that carlos might end up anywhere next year, and lando dares to let himself hope...and puts some of those hopes down on paper.

warnings: plenty of ✨angst✨

soy lago

Sweaty, exhausted, and covered in stubborn pieces of green and yellow crepe clinging to the sticky champagne on his race suit, Lando does his very best to stand up straight, holding his P3 trophy with stiff arms. He doesn’t smile; it’s hard enough as it is remaining upright. Then he feels an arm around him. He knows its owner is clad in red—although once upon a time, he wore papaya orange. And the feeling of that arm is what lets him scrape together the will to put on some semblance of a smile as the cameras flash, capturing Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, and Lando Norris in their podium photograph of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.

Dear Carlos,

I’ve always been rubbish with words—hell, I showed a million people on Youtube that it took me three tries to spell “heights”, in English, no less. So it shouldn’t surprise you that, when they told me I needed to go on camera and speak Italian, I downloaded Duolingo and didn’t open another app for a week straight. Never mind that it was one single sentence. I could not mess this up.

Ai nostri amici della Scuderia Ferrari ed ai loro tifosi.

I could say it in my sleep.

And yet, when the camera started staring into my soul, I still managed to fuck it up. On the very first word. They asked me later, you know, if I wanted them to edit it out…but when I watched it again it seemed right somehow. Because the truth is, they could’ve asked me to say “to our friends at Scuderia Ferrari and the famous tifosi” in plain English, and it still would have been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to say. So I figured it’d at least be honest.

When I joined F1 my rookie season, you had already raced for four. Two other teams. McLaren was not your whole past. At Melbourne, the season opener, I already knew by the way your eyes sparkled so hungrily talking to the press, that it would not be your future either. But for me, it was all I had, my precarious shot at making it in F1. I had something to prove.

So why was I so nervous when they stuck a camera in front of us to play that stupid game of ‘Would You Rather’? I can’t even rewatch that video now, because I already know I’ll cringe seeing myself slowly dismantling the sole of my shoe with my fingernails, hardly even able to make eye contact with you. You had a reputation of charming every teammate you got with—I won’t pretend like I didn’t scour the internet for every video you filmed with Max with Toro Rosso. You made Max Verstappen giggle like a little girl on video. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let that happen to me.

But at the Chinese GP, after Kvyat crashed me out, you came up to me in the paddock. “Wanna go on a walk?” you asked. As if you’d seen me crying in the garage. There was a little lake, a pond really, near the track, and I don’t know how many laps we must have taken around it. What I do know is that you pointed to the water, told me that in Spanish, it’s called “el lago”. And that you stopped me from feeling like I didn’t belong, didn’t deserve to be in F1.

I had a lot of retirements that first season. And after each one, I knew I’d hear your voice, or see a text on my phone, or once, a little paper airplane in my driver’s room. Every time, the words were the same. And every time, I wanted it more. I just didn’t want to admit to myself that at some point, it became less about debriefing the race failures and more about the person I had an excuse to see off the track. Away from the cameras. Away from everybody else.

On the flight back to London, Lando scrolls through headline after headline, all pondering the next move for the triumphant Spaniard. Red Bull, Red Bull, Mercedes, Red Bull, Kick Sauber—Lando chuckles at that one—Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull…

The speculation about McLaren is clearly a joke. And yet, it makes Lando’s breath catch in his throat…fuck, if Max Verstappen can DNF on Lap 2, give Ferrari a 1-2 podium with Lando in 3rd after the team told Oscar to give it up for him…clearly, crazier things have happened in F1.

The pandemic hurt, a lot. It’s all a blur now, logging onto my computer day after day, gaming with George and Alex and Charles to pass the time, refreshing Instagram in case you posted a story from Madrid. Until one day, the first day of May, the phone rang. You told me you were in Woking, that you were going to be at the MTC but you’d explain later. And then, those five magical words.

“Wanna go on a walk?”

Maybe we were all a little crazy during lockdown. Let’s just call it that. How else do you explain the fact that I spent twenty minutes picking a pair of jeans after spending four months in sweatpants, another twenty picking a shirt that wasn’t bright orange? What excuse do I have for dumping every beanie I owned onto my bed, cursing myself for shaving my hair off, even if it was to raise money for COVID? It was a miracle I made it to the MTC at all.

You were already outside by the time I skidded into the parking lot. The sun was low in the sky, not quite setting, turning the lake lavender, cotton candy, papaya. You faced the lake, just a dark silhouette against the colors. Suddenly, it felt hard to breathe. I just knew you were going to say something…big. I wanted to tell you so many things, how I’d been counting down the days until lockdown would be over, how not a day went by that I didn’t wonder what you were doing, how you had become someone that I could never be close enough to. You made me greedy.

I knew something was wrong when you saw me and smiled. It was happy…but not the smile I knew. This smile was tainted, as if someone had poured a single drop of vinegar into a glass of milk, and you could taste it starting to curdle just a bit.

“Lando,” you said. Another red flag. Normally, you drew out the “o” in my name in a tantalizing singsong. “My muppet friend, I have something to tell you. Something exciting.”

I wished time would stop right then. I didn’t want to hear what exciting thing you had to tell me. But no amount of wishing could stop what came next.

“Ferrari. They offered me a contract. Two years in their fastest car…I cannot believe it, my muppet friend. I will race for them in 2021.”

The sun hadn’t set yet, but there were stars in your eyes. Stars that I had seen since your—our—very first race with McLaren. Carlos Sainz, destined for champions, for greatness. There would not be room for slow cars, midfield teams; there would not be room for Lando Norris. And I knew this from day one. So why, looking at the stars that filled your eyes, did mine start to fill with tears?

I smiled in the hopes you’d think I was simply overcome with happiness on your behalf. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” you asked.

I had wanted so badly to find the words that would’ve made your journey all the way from Spain to see me worth it. But even if I had them, all of those words were useless now. And in the moment, I could only think of one thing.

“Soy lago,” I said. You furrowed your brows in confusion. “I am lake?” you laughed. “Your Spanish has always been terrible.”

Then I told you that my tears could fill the very lake we were looking at. Watched the realization dawn on your face. Heard you call after me as I ran back to my car, so you wouldn’t have to see any more of those tears.

In his room in the MTC, Lando sits, clicking his pen compulsively. Balls of crumpled-up paper surround him, ghosts of past attempts at penning a letter worthy of its reader. He curses his messy penmanship, curses his inability to spell anything remotely non-phonetic correctly. He resorts to writing in pencil, then painstakingly tracing each letter over with ink. By the time he’s finished, the sun has begun its descent towards the horizon. Just in time, he thinks.

Later, I texted you my congratulations, assured you how happy I was for you, how much you deserved it. I meant it. But maybe you sensed that something was up, because even when the new season started and we no longer shared a garage, you kept sending me texts after every race. Each one was the same: “Wanna go on a walk?”

I couldn’t tell you if it was an act of self-preservation, because of how badly it hurt to see you with Charles at Ferrari, or if I wanted to feel the twisted, bitter satisfaction from knowing that I got to reject you after you left me. Either way, the excuses were simple enough. Meetings with Mark. Last-minute training sessions at the gym. And my favorite—dinner with Danny Ric, my new Carlos Sainz.

Come to think of it, I never did end up getting dinner with Danny while we were teammates.

When I did show up, I’d make sure to tell you about how charismatic Danny was, how good the banter was, how hard we made each other laugh off-track. Only later did I realize that everything I was saying was what I would see in your C2 videos with Charles, which I followed with a level of manic compulsion that scared even me.

Eventually, the texts stopped coming. I thought I’d feel…relieved, or at least like I was moving on. And maybe I tried to tell myself I felt that way, but in reality, everything was just empty. I couldn’t have all of you, and I was so greedy that I chose rather to have none of you at all.

Lando searches his contacts for a name that doesn’t exist. Carlos Sainz: Not found, his phone tells him infuriatingly. With an exasperated sigh, he starts to swipe. And stops short, realizing that he had saved Carlos under Chili.

His thumb hovers uncertainly over the keyboard. He presses send.

Me Wanna go on a walk?

Time, teammates, and races passed, and as you got used to seeing yourself in red, I got used to being a Formula 1 driver, then a team leader as Oscar came in. I buried us deeper and deeper with each passing season and perfected the art of a casual hug on the podium, a cheerful clap on the back if we happened to pass each other on the paddock. I had only just come to terms with the realization that we would likely never be the same again when I woke up on the first day of February, 2024, to the news that Lewis would be taking your seat at Ferrari next year. Leaving the question of what color you would wear, if not red, open to every shade of the rainbow.

Then the dreams started.

When you came off a surgery hardly two weeks ago and snatched P1 at Melbourne, I dreamt that I walked into the motorhome, saw someone wearing a papaya cap with his back turned to me. And I knew it wasn’t Oscar, because those broad shoulders, the shock of hair that even a cap couldn’t contain, could only belong to a certain Spanish driver I knew so well, once upon a time.

You turned around, just like I knew you would. Smiled in a way I haven’t seen in four years. “Landooo…my muppet friend,” you crooned, drawing out the “o” the way you always used to do. You wrapped your arms around me…you always did have such strong arms.

“Chili. I should have done this long ago,” I told you, before the kiss…

A little gray bubble appears on the screen. Three dots, pulsing to the time of Lando’s pounding heart. Then:

Chili Can’t today 😞 dinner with Charles!! Celebrating that Ferrari podium 🥳🇮🇹

He stares at the messages. A minute passes, then two. He gently folds up the note, tucking it into his pocket as he stands and walks out of the MTC.

Lando looks out over the manmade lake in front of the building. The sunset reflected in it has uniformly turned it the exact shade of his hoodie. There will be no lavender, no cotton candy pink tonight.

He tugs the letter out of his pocket, unfolds it, and reads it one last time. A weary sigh. Carefully refolds it. A little airplane takes shape in Lando’s hands.

Four years of pushing you, thoughts of you, my feelings for you away, all gone with one headline. I hated myself for falling again so easily, but nobody can deny how addictive the feeling of hope is. Carlos, Chili, I had so many regrets, and maybe this is a sign that I should stop living with them from now on.

And if there’s one thing I regretted the most through all this, it’s not that I didn’t ask you to stay that evening at the MTC. It’s that I didn’t give you enough reason not to leave in the first place. Didn’t tell you what you meant to me when I could, didn’t try to make you see that there could be something here…something bigger maybe even than racing itself.

I don’t know if you’ll be wearing papaya, or navy, or (god forbid) highlighter green next year, but it doesn’t matter. I should have done this long ago, but that doesn’t matter either. All that matters is that you know how important you are, and have always been, to me. Know how the best podium celebrations and the fizziest champagne paled in comparison to the little blue bubbles of texts from you on my phone. Know that my trophies sit on a shelf collecting dust, but the paper airplane you made me never leaves my sight.

You are the stars in my eyes. In my wildest dreams, you’ll give me the chance to convince you that I can be that for you too. Teammates or not.

But until then…

In one fluid motion, he sends the plane sailing into the air, watches it catch the breeze until, robbed of its lift, it skims the surface of the lake, sending ripples emanating from where it first made contact with the water.

The plane bobs gently in the lake until it soaks up too much water to stay afloat. Lando watches it list gradually to the side, slowly disappearing from view as the paper disintegrates.

He turns and walks away from the lake.

Soy lago.

—Lando

part 2 here!

notes: saw carlos explain lando’s comment on carlos’ mclaren → ferrari announcement post back in 2020 and have been unwell since also, yes, the mclaren building (mtc) does have a lake and boy the sunset does do it a lot of favors… easter eggs: lando not being able to spell, the damned ferrari video (where lando actually did have to start over and it RUINED ME), Would You Rather

more fics here! thanks for reading as always :)

#the one where parker delivers on her promise to do a soft lando fic #f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 fandom #f1 fanfiction #f1 fic #lando norris #carlos sainz #ln4 x cs55 #cs55 #ln4 #ln4 imagine #cs55 imagine #ferrari #mclaren #formula 1 #carlando

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its-elvie-innit · 2 months

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realizing duolingo is NOT HELPFUL if you don't have a background in languages is so annoying because it was helpful Years Ago they just changed it so it's bad now. I took french for four years, and it's a romantic language so learning Portuguese which is in the same branch makes duo a pretty useful tool because I can point to "um" and "uma" and go ah yeah that's like le and la, and they're letting me know the genders by teaching me man and woman as the first words. But I WOULDNT HAVE KNOWN THAT if I didn't ALREADY HAVE BACKGROUND in a SEPARATE SIMILAR LANGUAGE and also duolingo is SHIT AT TEACHING ME FRENCH because I don't have ADVANCED BACKGROUND IN FRENCH THAT IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO USE DUO FOR, ACTUALLY.

Honestly I'm not even fully using duolingo for my Portuguese information it's literally just a memorization tool to get you introduced to certain verbs. You literally CANNOT understand anything without prior knowledge, so I am half note-taking, half verb tabling, and 0.1% cramming duo lessons for that memorization boost. Duolingo used to have a well of information not even hosted by the application, but instead was manually written by its millions of users to help others understand word contexts, and it was free!!!! Duo didn't have to pay shit for it!!!!! But instead they chose to throw away MILLIONS of comments and discussion links to reduce their shit server costs because bill whatever-the-fuck his name was decided he hates learning actually and fuck all your good information I need two extra dollars to afford a snickers bar in the downstairs vending machine. Look at my terrible owl tiktoks.

And I DOUBLE know this because I was learning hiragana in 2019 and I still remember how to sound out at least a few letters because I only got a couple months in, and they had at least a few good tools to help you understand process and learn the content, but then this week I decided I'd like to learn Korean so I started with the basic course and I can tell you right now it might possibly be one of the WORST english phonetic representations of the language sounds I've ever read. Just a little under half, maybe, of duos spelling work for the Hangul letters are completely incomprehensible because of the completely avoidable letter duplication for different sounds. I'll give you an example:

Do you want to know how these letters are pronounced? Here's your hint; both sound suspiciously like tah.

For an app that's supposed to be pretty accessible, I would think that spelling the phonetics right would be pretty high up on your list!!!! And yes, I'm very familiar with the very hard t-sounding "d" sound of some eastern European languages, but I am being so serious when I say whoever pronounced these recordings just said "tah" and "ta"!!! It is EXTREMELY hard to differentiate certain sounds, but the thing is these are not the worst offenders. Actually, the Hangul lessons? Yeah, not the letter system on the side? Those are worse.

These two characters are done in such a robotic sounding way that the only way you can differentiate the sounds is by carefully, CAREFULLY listening to whether the robot (?) does the tongue flick that causes the rolling r at the very beginning of the recording. Otherwise, it's SUPER hard. I would expect you don't mischaracterize the sounds but hey apparently getting a voice actor for character sounds is really hard. I guess. Hey, let me try look this up on YouTube actually. Oh, but for that I would have to download a whole other app to properly write out the words because none of my other apps have a manual writing system and I AM USING DUO TO LEARN THE WORDS. this should be ON THERE.

Not to mention this character, where the robot JUST says T. It says "tuo". The one that it represents? Deo. I would even call it an Italian passing accent. It's stupid.

This problem is occurring in multiple languages, I'm just pointing it out in Korean because it's so all over the place. There's a character representing "kye" that is just. Straight up a ch sound. That's all fine and dandy but there's another character, spelled with a different letter that represents a CH sound too and it's NOT k. It's all over the place!!!!

In my Portuguese lessons, I can say "homem" all I want and it's still not going to give it to me ever because the robot pronounces it wrong. It's the FIRST word you learn in pr lessons, and you have to pronounce it with an H sound HEAVILY. The robot doesn't do that, but it's the only way duo accepts it during speaking lessons when it picks up other soft sounds just fine. I only know this through trial and error. It does NOT tell you.

The only way I learn anything is through my note taking and it's so so sad because duo really used to be good. But taking french, a language I really love, is a pain because at least once a lesson segment, if not twice I will get a word that I don't know and have never been taught, that has never popped up before, in, like, a picture activity where it shows you an image and you have to interpret the right words, so you can't click and check what it means. And every time I'll report that I've never learned the word, but its not like it teaches me or anything after I've reported it, and you don't get to know what the word means until you get the question right so you might lose all your hearts in a lesson just for nothing, if you end up choosing the wrong option too many times. It's so unenjoyable.

It's not like duo can't be good, it can. It's a fun app! But you don't learn any languages past the first couple of words, without any grammar or base knowledge to start you off. It makes me frustrated knowing that the options available to me are limited bases on the sentence structure I'm already familiar with.

#duolingo #language #check the notes #french #Portuguese #korean #hangul

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neetuchoudhary · 2 years

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6 Mobile Apps That Can Help Improve Your Child's Grades

Technology has been residing in the educational sector for quite some time now and you can actually use it to your child's benefit. Not all mobile apps are a source of distraction and some of them can actually work to improve your child's grades. When used correctly, even mobile phones can help students to study, follow an effective schedule and maintain the required academic discipline. You can surely hand over a phone or a tablet to your child, but make sure they have the following 6 apps installed.

YouTube Kids

YouTube continues to be one of the best resources to learn about topics as students respond to videos more than textual information. Depending on your child's level, give access to the standard app or download YouTube Kids where students can stream educational videos on almost any subject. The safe search option gives you parental control and YouTube also maintains a strict policy about the searches performed. Be it reading about astronomy or learning a new instrument, YouTube is still the best app to have at hand.

Duolingo

The best school in Sonepat have foreign language classes as a mandate in their curriculum. Your child can extend his/her knowledge and practice the language on the go with the Duolingo app. It has lessons on a variety of languages including French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian and even English. The download is completely free and sports a variety of lessons for all levels. Students learning a foreign language can combine the school materials with this app and learn about the right pronunciations and spellings when the teacher is not immediately available.

Timetable

Time Management is one of the key parameters that help students to improve their grades and proper planning goes a long way to effective studying. The Timetable app combines both these features into a single application along with a host of other benefits. Students can create their school routine into this app, plan their days with colour coding, set reminders for lessons and homework and create a schedule for upcoming exams. The app can be synced across multiple android devices and can interact with other apps. Students can also configure Timetable to turn the phone silent during lesson hours to avoid all distractions.

Dictionary.com

This paid app is an investment worth considering as it can work wonders in improving your child's vocabulary. The cost is lesser than an actual dictionary and gives you access to over twenty lakh definitions along with thesaurus features, antonyms, synonyms, origin, history and much more. Your child's phone can also have a widget on the home screen where Dictionary.com displays their "Word of the Day" from where students can continuously learn without actually indulging in reading. The free version comes with ads but the paid one has no such distractions.

Dragon Box

The top schools in Sonepat believe in starting mathematics from an early age and Dragon Box provides the perfect platform to facilitate that. Children will hardly respond to just numbers but if mathematics is mixed with educational games and fun videos, they will pick up the concepts of algebra and geometry faster. With the Dragon Box app, you can help your child to make math fun and improve the overall learning experience. It is simple to use, gives the student's access to 5 learning apps and makes the overall subject easier to understand. Dragon Box can be your answer to activity-based learning.

Ultimate English Spelling Quiz

Best app to learn english with fun with help of this app you can learn about englishspeling with playing interesting games and quiz. Ultimate English Spelling is the perfect way to keep your kids entertained at home. With a wide range of games and math exercises, Ultimate English Spelling teaches your children about spelling, vocabulary, and math skills.

The top school in Sonepat will always acknowledge the benefits of mobile apps and will encourage the students to use the helpful ones. Swarnprastha is one such institute that falls into that list and maintains their own school app to help the students and parents. The SCHOOFI app of the school bridges the gap between the parents and the faculty and provides a host of key benefits including real-time notifications, upcoming event reminders, exam result declarations and much more. It is time that students access the full potential of the available technology to improve their grades and mobile apps can really be their helpful guide.

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lionheartslowstart · 4 years

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Getting To Know Me

I had a rough start during quarantine. My mental health was dipping pretty low, I felt isolated and bored, and I was alone with my thoughts so the body dysmorphia was turned up pretty high. I’m not sure what happened, but somehow, I was able to do a complete 180. I’m taking the time to change my lifestyle and find ways to make myself happier, because, what the fuck else am I going to do during quarantine?

First things first, I’ve changed my sleep cycle. Huzzah! I went from falling asleep at 3-5 am and waking up at 1-3 pm, to falling asleep at 10-11:30 pm and waking up at 7-8:30 am. Crazy right? Somewhere in there I hit a couple bumps in the road, so now it’s been more like falling asleep around midnight and waking up between 9 and 10. Still way better than how it was before, but I’m trying to work back down to at least 8 in the morning. This was incredibly challenging for me, and a huge victory. My energy levels have increased, and my mood has generally been better.

I’ve started doing yoga. Yes, you read that correctly. I’ve been doing yoga for almost three weeks now. It’s the first thing I do when I wake up. My best friend turned me on to this amazing app, Daily Yoga. Highly recommend. I do yoga for two days in a row then rest the third day, which is what the app suggests. I’ve been taking courses, beginner courses specifically since I’m new to this whole yoga thing. The sessions started at about 10-15 minutes, and they’ve increased to 20-30 minutes or so. Not very long, but I figure I’m doing it almost every day, which I’m told is better than long, intense workouts less frequently. I’m hoping to increase to 45-60 minute long sessions. Though, once society resumes and I start school, I may no longer be able to do it every day. But that’s why I’m trying to increase now. If I can only do yoga a few times a week instead of every day, I want to be stronger so I can participate in longer routines, and so I can challenge myself with more difficult poses.

In addition to my almost daily yoga, I have a short work out regimen I do every day, including on days I don’t do yoga. I do 100 squats, 50 crunches, 50 lower abdominal crunches, and 60 oblique crunches. Every. Single. Day. Some days I don’t want to, but I force myself, and I’m always glad I do. I also try to go on walks, especially on non-yoga days. There’s a lovely trail right by my apartment, so I try to get in at least 30 minutes. Like I said, I’ve only been doing this stuff for about three weeks, so it’s not like I’ve lost weight or anything. But I do feel stronger, and I think I look a little stronger. Also, my butt is poppin’ thanks to all the squats. I don’t know if it’s because I’m feeling stronger, or because the exercise is helping with my mental health, maybe a bit of both, but my body dysmorphia has seen a drastic decrease. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely still have bad days, but I would say that, overall, I’m obsessing about my body less, and shitting on my body less. There have even been several days where I see myself in the mirror and think, Damn, I look good.

Other than fitness, I have added a couple of other things to my day-to-day. I’ve been making sure to practice my Spanish on Duolingo every day for about ten minutes. Not only that, but I started taking French, too, which I also practice for ten minutes a day. Unlike Spanish, French is very difficult for me. I’ve studied Spanish since middle school, and while there was a large lapse in my speaking of it, it came back to me very quickly. I’ve always loved the language, and grasping it came easy to me. French, not so much. It’s way harder than Spanish. Just, generally. The grammar is less consistent, most of the differences in words are in how things are written out and NOT how they are actually spoken, so as a result, all of the words sound the fucking same, there are 80 fucking vowels to memorize, and, to top it all off, the pronunciation is super difficult already. I hate it. I love it. The challenge is the fun! My mom and I were supposed to go to France this summer (fat chance now, I know), which is why I chose French as my second language to learn. My mom speaks French, but I figure if I’m going to be spending time in a foreign country, I might as well at least try to understand what’s going on around me, as opposed to solely relying on my mother to get us around.

Another thing I’ve been working on is learning guitar. This is something I’d been doing before quarantine began, but being in quarantine has allowed me to practice a lot more. I’ve added guitar practice to my regimen, although there’s been a pause in that, as the handle for the case broke on the way to my mom’s house for a lesson, so the guitar will be remaining there until the new case arrives. But before that (and presumably after we get the new case), I’d been practicing every day. I would practice all the chords I know and play through the two songs I’ve been working on two or three times. At my most recent lesson with my mom, we downloaded a P!nk song online, and she taught me a new chord so I could play it. Now I know 10 chords: G, C, D, D7, Em, E, A, Am, A7sus, and Bb (aka, the hardest chord ever). Obviously, I still have a lot to learn, but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made. Guitar is hard, but I’m determined.

So, these 5 things (yoga, daily workout, Spanish, French, and guitar, in that order) are how I begin my day, every day. I usually finish anywhere from 10 to noon, depending on how early I wake up. This frees up the rest of my day for household chores, errands, cooking, calling my friends, video games, overall chillaxin’, and various creative endeavors like crafting or writing. But this has led to two different results, one positive and one negative.

The positive effect is that I have a schedule. My mornings are pretty set in stone, and I try to organize the rest of my day as best I can. I use a “To Do List” every day, and I include my leisurely activities on it as well so I can put everything in some kind of order. I try to accomplish any chores or errands I have in the middle of the day (with the exception of doing the dishes and cleaning the stove, which I do every night after dinner), and spend the rest of the day having fun and relaxing. I end every night by reading in bed for about thirty minutes, which has definitely helped with my sleep cycle. All of this has led me to the conclusion that I can be functional in a regular society.

The negative outcome is that I’m still bored. When I was living in Italy, I was constantly anxious because life is so slow-paced there. Other than my classes, I felt like I had nothing to do, which was a stark difference from life in the Big Apple. It just felt weird to have all this time on my hands, and as a result, I often felt unproductive. I also didn’t take as much advantage of the free time as I should have, but that largely had to do with the state of my mental health at the time, as well as just not being used to having buttloads of leisure time and therefore not knowing what to do with it. With everything going on, life right now feels really similar to how it did in Italy. Like I said, I finish my routine by the end of the morning, and then the rest of my day is just a big blank space that I try to fill with everything and anything else.

But even this has led to another positive realization! When I started this journey three weeks ago, I was afraid that when society reforms, my schedule will fall apart and I’ll become overwhelmed because I’ll suddenly have a lot of other things I need to do (namely school and medical appointments). I definitely still have anxiety about that, especially since school will be incredibly demanding, but that anxiety is beginning to lesson. Why? For the same reason I’m bored all the time! My morning routine only takes a couple hours. Even if I have to switch to the evening because of school, or split it up into half one day and half another, it will still be manageable. I know I will have space for the other demands in my life. As my mom has said to me, it’s a lot easier to go from having one schedule to having a different schedule, than to go from having no schedule at all to having a schedule. I’m sure there will be adjustments, maybe ones I haven’t thought of. But I’ll be able to figure it out, even if there are bumps in the road (which I’m sure there will be), because I’m building a skillset.

So, what does all of this have to do with the title of this entry, “Getting To Know Me?” I was on the phone with my therapist the other day, telling her about all the progress and positive changes I’ve made, and how I’ve been feeling as a result. She responded, “You’re getting to know yourself.” This took me by surprise, which I voiced to her. I told her that I’ve always prided myself on knowing exactly who I am, but I nevertheless thought she was right. That, yes, I do know Who I Am, but, as with everything else, I’m discovering even more. I keep peeling back layer after layer, I keep thinking I’ve reached the core, but then I tap a few times and realize, Oh fuck yeah! There’s even more!

I’ve learned that I like waking up early in the morning. My goal is to be able to wake up at 7 or 7:30 every day. (This doesn’t change the fact that I love nighttime, which will no doubt cause me issues down the line, but I’ll figure it out.) I love learning languages. I want to be able to speak Spanish and French fluently. Maybe I’ll even try learning Italian after! I want to be able to speak as many languages as I can cram into my brain. I’ve learned that I can take this fitness journey, and I’m enjoying it. It’s okay that I’m still a beginner, and that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of being an expert if I keep going. And I can live without sweets. I still treat myself every now and then (and when I do, portion control is still an issue I’m trying to work on), but for the most part I don’t crave chocolate or sugar the way I used to. I’m currently attempting to go two weeks without dairy. Now that has been HARD. The exceptions being anything that comes with my Blue Apron meals, because I’m not going to waste food, and putting a little bit of milk in my coffee, because I can’t not have a little bit of milk in my coffee. But in terms of breakfast, lunch, and snacking, zero dairy. I’ve substituted Pringles and Pop Tarts for fruits, applesauce, and (non-dairy) yogurt. I’m only on day three, but I’m confident I can make it to day fourteen. I’ve learned that I have more energy than I thought I did, which is huge. I’d been so used to feeling sluggish and exhausted, I had no idea I have the capacity to feel this energized! The best part is that I know it’s because I’m doing all of these things that MAKE me feel energized. And they make me feel energized because they make me happy. Even sitting here writing this, I’ve just thought of more things I want to work on while I have this time. And I’m going to! I have the time, all I need to do is remember to add it to my To Do List.

I know it’s a scary time right now. I don’t want to pretend it isn’t, or that a lot of lives haven’t been lost, or that we shouldn’t take it seriously. But taking it seriously involves staying at home as much as possible, and if we’re stuck at home anyway, shouldn’t we make the most of it?

#personal #reflection #self love #healing #fitness

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linguenuvolose · 3 years

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The amount of studying I've done this week... I studied almost 18h, which I know is far from fulltime/40h but it's literally 10% of all the studying I've done this semester.... (last time I studied even close to that much was the hellish second week of January when I did 22h). But now it's over at least! It's insane to think that I won't have any more uni work until September? Already during this week I started feeling how the part of my brain that's blocked from doing languages for fun started getting unblocked again, evidenced by the fact that I've been watching videos and even did some Duolingo for French again! A mission I have for this summer is to learn (Italian) vocab more actively, so yesterday when I watched some videos I looked up a few words and put them in my Quizlet set (I also finally downloaded it on my phone again so there's a possibility I might actually study them too haha).

I'm feeling quite hopeful for the summer, but I know I'll have to remember that the type of studying I do will be fundamentally different since I won't have uni to force me to do anything. I will never be able to (and I don't want to!) make myself write and research academic texts in Italian during my summer break, that just isn't realistic. If I have to make a prediction I'd say listening, reading and vocab/apps will be the most filled in categories this summer, but I also kinda want to write Wikipedia articles so we'll see.

My plan for the summer

I've been debating if I want summer goals or not. On one hand I have a few things I know I'd like to do but on the other hand experience is that a lot of the goals I set just get pushed to the side and I end up every week like "oups I guess I didn't finish this goal this week either" and I'd rather just enjoy myself this summer. Right now I think my plan is to just keep on filling out these grids every week and maybe add some type of more numeric progress update (weekly or monthly) if that makes sense? Like I'm at this page in this book, I'm at this point in Duolingo/this series etc. But yeah, I still haven't really figured out how I want that to look.

#language learning update #langblr #snicksnack

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tech-latest-blog · 4 years

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Everyone is under a lockdown these days because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Well, every now and then you would have heard people saying that they want some free time and all. It turns out that now they have some free time, definitely not under the most comfortable circumstances but still we now have plenty of free time. And one of the major problems that we have right now is that we do not have much to do in this free time.

But don’t worry, We got you covered in these hard times, Here are some useful things that will help you be productive in this lockdown.

Useful Things To Do in Lockdown

What to do at home amid lockdown?

Many people from the working class already have themselves sorted with Work from Home but what about people who do not have anything productive?

Before doing any of these make sure you sanitize your phone properly. We already have written a decent tutorial to do so, make sure you follow that: How to Sanitize Your Phone in 5 Easy Steps

Here are somethings that you should definitely try:

Learn a new Language

With my personal experience, I can say that it feels so good to learn a new language and then flaunt it in front of your friends. And on successful completion of this task, your friends will definitely get shocked when you will greet them not by saying hello but saying Hola! That’d be so much fun. And being multilingual will definitely be good on your skills resume.

Some Useful Apps for Learning New Languages

Duolingo

Duolingo: Learn English Free (Free+, Google Play) →

Just like the name, Duolingo is a multilingual app where you can learn languages like Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese and more. Very simple to use, just download the app on your smartphone, create an account and you are good to go. It also offers premium courses at low costs under which you can take tests and further sharpen your language domain.

Drops

Drops: Language learning – learn Spanish and more! (Free+, Google Play) →

The application is pretty much similar to Duolingo, just the pricings are different with some more languages to learn. It has various tutorials online to help you learn with ease. Drop lets you play with language which is very fun so if you are looking to have fun at learning, Drop is your to-go option. It operates on Android, and iPhones and on web browsers too.

Babbel

Babbel – Learn Languages – Spanish, French & More (Free+, Google Play) →

Babbel is the most diverse language learning platform out there. You can literally learn all the common languages around the world. The best feature is that it allows some online free demo teaching that is not available with the other two.

Memrise

Learn Languages with Memrise – Spanish, French (Free+, Google Play) →

Memrise is the most searched for language learning. It offers free language learning. Not the best but definitely good as you are getting for free. You can learn a language from scratch, here on this platform. It offers ranking based on online tests. You should definitely give it a try.

Soul-Enhancing by Performing Meditation

I am pretty sure you have seen that quote recently that says, “If you can’t go outside, Go inside”. This quote is very true, as nothing is more soothing than going in a deep state of mind. You will feel less stressed, very positive and it will also improve concentration. Start your morning with meditation and you will definitely be productive throughout the day.

Useful Apps for Meditation

The Mindfulness App

The Mindfulness App: relax, calm, focus and sleep (Free+, Google Play) →

The Mindfulness App is perfect for everyone. From Beginners to Experts, it has stuff for everyone. It creates a perfect environment for your meditation routine. It has a timer ranging from 5-30 minutes. It is your path for concentration and positivity.

Headspace

Headspace: Meditation & Sleep (Free+, Google Play) →

This app literally creates a space between you and your soul. With peaceful soundtracks that one can hear before and after bed, this is the best app to switch to.

Calm

Calm – Meditate, Sleep, Relax (Free+, Google Play) →

This has to be the best of all three apps. Rated five stars on both Android and iPhone. It features bedtime stories from great voices with which you will feel inner peace. You should definitely give it a try.

Read More About

Defeating Coronavirus: How Countries Are Using Technology To Fight The Deadly Virus

The post Bored Amid Lockdown? Here Are Some Useful Things To Do in Lockdown appeared first on Tech Latest.

via Tech Latest

#IFTTT #Tech Latest

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romanstudies · 5 years

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Learning languages as a beginner

In this post, I want to focus on the first stage of language learning. I will talk about things I do as a complete beginner to reach A2-B1 level. This method helped me when I started learning Italian and now I am using it with German.

I’m talking from my own experience and some things that worked for me may not work for you.

First step

I think the first thing you should do after deciding to study a new language is not to rush things. Once I wanted to study French and bought two grammar books which I haven’t opened to this day. I think the best thing to do is to take a few lessons on Duolingo for a day or two and only then if you are still as excited about the language as before, you should go ahead and choose your first grammar book.

Choosing the right book

First, I choose my main textbook. Ideally, it is the one that can take you to B1 level. Also, it would be great if the book has a CD or an online resource to practice listening. The next thing I look at is the structure of the book. I don’t want to learn the past tense only on lesson 34. Every lesson should start (or end) with a vocab list and contain an equal amount of exercises for each aspect of learning: reading, listening, grammar and speaking (for this one I think two or three exercises are enough). Also, I buy a second textbook which can only have grammar exercises. Sometimes they have different explanations or examples for grammar rules which really helps in the process and it gives you a chance to practise even more.

Daily lessons

When it comes to language learning, the best thing you can do is to practice regularly. I try to spend 3-4 pomodoro sessions (~2 hours) every day studying. Usually, it’s 2 sessions doing exercises in my book, then 1 session I spend just on memorising new words and additionally I can read or listen to something in my target language (even if I don’t understand most of what I hear, it is important to get familiar with the language).

When studying grammar, I always have a separate notebook where I write every rule with some examples. It helps me memorise them and I don’t need to search my whole textbook to find which form of a verb I should use.

Reading in your target language

I think reading is the easiest aspect to practice when you teach yourself a language. There are tons of texts and stories on the internet, but the one thing I don’t understand is why so many books for beginners have old stories with so many old words that I don’t use even in my native language. I think as a beginner you should read texts about everyday life. This way you can learn new words (which you’ll be able to use, not some old-fashioned name for a cup) and grammar structures. I would recommend reading some detective or adventure stories. Here are two of my fav apps:

Reedlang has a big library, allows you to translate and create flashcards with new words and you can upload your own texts

Beelinguapp is an amazing app with many books, news articles and even some music. You can read or listen to a book and it allows you to have text in both your target and native languages on the same screen. The app is free, but I bought a subscription for one year which allows you to download texts, listen to the news, create flashcards and some other things. I really like it, plus it super cheap.

Listening

Listening is the thing I enjoy doing the most. As a beginner, I try to listen as much as I can. Music, radio, audiobooks, podcasts everything is useful. The goal here is not to understand but to get familiar with intonation, rhythm and pronunciation of your target language.

You can try to watch some shows or films at least with subtitles. I don’t recommend watching something in your target language with subs in your native, this way you’ll just read and ignore the listening part. You can try it the first time and then watch without subs. What works for me is when both voices and subtitles are in my target language. Disney cartoons and films are great for this.

Writing

As a beginner, it may be hard at first to write even a few sentences, but it is important at least to try. Journaling is a great way to practice. You can write about anything you like. I have a journal where every page has two columns and every day before going to bed I write at least three sentences about my day in Italian and German. It is also a great thing for tracking your progress over the days.

Speaking

Speaking is the hardest thing for me to practice as a beginner. At first, I speak to myself and then when I get confident I use HelloTalk, Speaky or Tandem. All of these apps are great to find a native speaker to practice. Also, italki is a great site where you can find a teacher that you really love and have lessons regularly.

Memorising vocab

I think for this I’ll do another post, but here are some great apps to practice and learn: Duolingo, Memrise, Fun Easy Learn

#learning languages #learning german #learning italian #langblr #language

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aroutineache · 6 years

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What’s Your Favourite Language Learning App? ﹅ Discussing the FREE Language Learning Apps I’ve Been Using “pour le français

http://aroutineache.com/whats-your-favourite-language-learning-app-discussing-the-free-language-learning-apps-ive-been-using-pour-le-francais/

I want to know another language, and I want to know it now! (“Je veux savoir la langue française, et je veux le savoir maintenant !”) However, that has been the case all along… Maybe some other time I’ll explain all the reasons I why I decided to start with le français in my mission to become bilingual… and then, maybe, even multilingual—but let me not get ahead of myself, yet.

Unfortunately, learning a second (“… ou une langue nouvelle …”) isn’t as “facile” as downloading a second dialect unto your computer (“votre ordinateur”) or phone (“votre téléphone”), mais c’est une grande partie de ce qui rend l’apprentissage si génial, et si gratifiante et enrichissante. Aussi, there are apps you can download to help you get some non-native-language-data stored and computing in your brain. These apps include Duolingo, Memrise, and Babbel, all of which I have been utilizing pendant presque deux semaines, and all of which I will discuss further below (alongside some other options in Part 2).

Duolingo

Duolingo uses gamification to make language acquisition fun, personalized, and accessible! You earn points that translate to what they call “lingots,” by completing lessons or by maintaining 10-day streaks, and you can then spend these “lingots” at the Shop (perhaps you’d like to purchase a Flirting lesson, or learn some new Idioms and Proverbs; race yourself against the clock with a Timed Practice, or maintain your streak despite missing a day by purchasing a Streak Freeze…). You can also earn badges by completing specific tasks, such as earning 200 XP in a day, maintaining a 30-day streak, completing 20 lessons or practices without getting anything wrong, or “working overtime” (completing a lesson before 7 a.m., or after 10 p.m.).

What I Like About Duolingo is the Daily Goal chart! You don’t have to set big goals to play, and learn, with Duolingo; it’s up to you whether you want to set your Daily Goal to 1 XP per day (Basic, about 5 minutes/day), 50 XP+ per day (Insane, 20+ minutes/day), or somewhere in between, but regardless of what your goal is, the app will track your productivity on a chart in the corner for you. What sort of information does this chart host? Good question; Duolingo tracks (and clearly displays for you) how many points you have left to earn to complete your daily goal, how many hours you have left to complete your daily goal, and how many points you’ve earn today compared to the last seven via an easy-to-read line graph.

Other perks of Duolingo include the include the introduction and repetition of numerous vocabulary words (especially nouns and adjectives, plus pronouns) and conjugations (verbs) ranging from categories such as “Basics” and “Plurals,” to “Phrases,” “Animals,” and “Weather,” all the way to “Medical,” “Politics,” “Technology,” “Economics,” and “Spiritual,” to name a few. As well as its facilitation of an acquired, natural understanding of grammar rules. At times, using this app, you may find yourself realizing you understand what seems to sound “right” or “wrong” without being able to pinpoint the moment you learned the rule governing such.

What You Might Not Like About Duolingo is it’s sometimes wrong. The female speaking voice struggles the words “tu aS” and “le porC,” pronouncing the last, should-be-silent letters, and “le singe,” and “un œuf” as her voice cracks, and, regardless of these examples, I find it to be a less effective app in terms of pronunciation (when compared to Memrise and Babbel). Lastly, at moments the app might feel a little dry. Sure, it’s gamified, but there are times when it seems more like a chore than a challenge to complete a category. Be careful when powering-through, though; it’ll be up to you afterwards to maintain the vocabulary you built by going back and hitting “Practice”.

On the bright side… You can conveniently report any errors you find within the app’s lessons, and have the option to discuss any specific question or task, and its answer, with the entire Duolingo community by leaving a comment.

You’ll Like This App if you are brand new to the language you are set on learning. I can personally attest that it provides a very good entry point—both simply and enjoyably! On the other hand, if you are not new to the language you’re studying, but are still looking to practice in a fun-and-easy way, perhaps further build your diction, or sharpen your grammar skills and understanding via observation Duolingo provides a placement test that adapts to your level by getting harder (or easier) based on your answers. I have provided the link for the French placement test (x), however some of the most popular languages on the app include English, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, and Japanese.

(tina’s tip) : As soon as you earn five lingots, head over to the Shop and place a wager, Double or Nothing. “Attempt to double your five lingot wager by maintaining a seven day streak.” This’ll keep you coming back daily for a week, even on that day you really don’t want to!

(tina’s tip) : To work on your fluency from beginning, practice saying the French meaning out loud, even when you are typing or reading the English translation. As well, try not to repeat playing the audio before you’ve finished typing your translation (and try to use the faster audio when you can). (For pronunciation reasons, feel free to utilize the ability to repeat and slow down audio!)

(tina’s tip) : To practice your pronunciation, slowly repeat a sentence word-by-word when individual audio is available before attempting to recite the entire sentence perfectly. It’s okay if you need to repeat difficult words or word-combos slowly, and over and over!

Memrise

Memrise is really interesting! Not only does the app gamify learning a new language, and thus incorporate fun and community, like other language-aid apps, it incorporates scientific research regarding learning and memorizing anything —the techniques utilized are not exclusive to mastering a foreign language. So what are these techniques? Elaborate Encoding: Memrise uses what they call “mems,” or images to help you learn and remember by connecting new knowledge with something you already know in a vivid and sensory way (you can even create your own, personalized “mems,” as well)! Choreographed Testing: Recalling memories is what makes our brain muscles flex. It’s one of the most powerful ways to make those memories robust, durable and cogent. (Ever heard of use it, or lose it?) Therefore, Memrise is created to make its users’ brains and memories work to recall what they are learning. Scheduled Reminders: Finally, the app isn’t just set up to make you continuously practice so you won’t forget. Instead, Memrise attempts —again using scientific research and algorithms— to remind you to review (i.e. ‘recall’) at optimized times. What are “optimized times,” you ask? Another good question; an optimized time is a moment that is precisely estimated to be the point at which you are about to forget what you have learnt. If you’re still interested in this topic, you can researching “forgetting curves” to find out more for yourself.

What I Like About Memrise is that the app focusses on not just teaching, but making sure I remember what I am taught, and, then, that I can go on and use what I have memorized in sentences and discussions, such as at a restaurant (French 1). As for memorizing, the app doesn’t just keep track on what you need to review based on timing, but, also, Memrise independently tracks difficult words for you, allowing you the option to solely practice the things you get wrong most. Need extra help remembering a thing or deux? There are yet more options; select a mem (image to associate with your new and tricky word) or create your own… Here are some of my mine!

Other perks of Memrise include how verbal the app is, including a variety of voices (always at least one male, and one female) correctly pronouncing the French. And, besides memorizing, the app’s creators obviously care about applying accurate audio to assist in developing its users’ accents and listening skills (which really does help). As well, it’s improving my spelling! At times using this app, you may find yourself realizing you know exactly how to spell a word, all accents included, without ever having had put aside any dedicated thought or time to know, “Is it i before e… and where do I put the apostrophe?”.

Speaking for myself, I also find the app does a notable job of keeping my attention, and, additionally, fuelling my motivation and excitement for learning the French language. … (So far, it’s my favourite for all of these reasons.)

What You Might Not Like About Memrise is you may need some background. Well, technically, you don’t need any background to start your new-to-you-language exploration on Memrise (they’ll go over the basics, bonjour, salut, comment ça va, bonne, bien, mal, oui, non, être, avoir, au revoir, … etc., etc), it might help, and I’d, personally, suggest it.

On the bright side… When I say I think some background in the language “might help,” I don’t mean much. A little junior high school experience, some other basic, introductory Beginners’ class or video series, or a few committed days on Duolingo should be enough to get you going, especially in terms of developing a très peu de understanding of the language and its structure, before jumping onto Memrise!

You’ll Like This App if you are ready to start exploring the different types of sentences you are able to say (but have yet to say), or if you’re looking for something a little faster than Duolingo. Alternatively, this app is also a go-to suggestion for anyone looking to work on their pronunciation, or up their verb vocabulary.

(tina’s tip) : Try to go on the app daily to continue hearing the language, learning new words, and prevent missing scheduled reminders. (It’s okay if you do miss a reminder, though; you can still always catch up on your practice later!)

(tina’s tip) : Utilize the mems for pronunciation (examples). I’d imagine that most of the words I know, I learnt how to say before I learnt how to spell ’em… Also, even when a new, foreign word seems ridiculous and impossible, there’s a good chance you already know how to say it, or at least some recognizable approximation of it, by breaking it down into sounds from other words you already use all the time. After all, the French word “au” is really just “oh,” and “des ours” (bears) “day horse” (horse with a silent h, of course). More of an approximation, but “brouillard” (fog) reminds my of “boyar,” as in, Chef Boyardee. Basically, don’t let the spelling of a word be what brings you down. Reference: Y E S spells yes. What does E Y E S spell?

(tina’s tip) : Pay attention to when you finish a course, such as French 1, and are ready to move on to the next, such as French 2—you will need to go back to the “Courses” from your profile to select the next one; otherwise, the app will only have you review the material from your completed course without moving you on to the next.

Babbel

Babbel isn’t set up like a game with rounds, but instead like Courses broken into lessons with the intention of moving users along the shortest path to real-life conversation. Progressive lessons are connected together as an interlinking framework, with each step building towards the next. The app utilizes mock discussions, so you can see and practice using what you are learning in action, as well as build your vocabulary both actively and passively. The app attempts to get users to actively use passively learned words, preparing them for genuine conversations! As well, the app provides images with its lessons, practices, and translations, allowing the user to connect what they are hearing and saying to what they are seeing (i.e. what is being talked about). Finally, Babble uses the “spaced repetition” method to strengthen memory—this is similarly based on “forgetting curves” research, just like Memrise is. All you have to do is hit “Your Vocabulary” for a daily dose of recall, or go to your Vocabulary and click “Review these items” so you can increase your average distribution of words by knowledge level from a 1 (lowest-ranking) to a 6 (highest-ranking).

What I Like About Babbel is it’s review options, and the ability to personalize your method of recall from day to day by choosing to either utilize Writing or Flashcards to check if you remember your translations. I tend to learn towards the Writing option, and appreciate that if I haven’t got a clue, I can always hit the “help” button providing me with the scrambled letters of the French word I must then unscramble. Hitting “help” is still automatically marked as an error, though, which in my opinion, is a good thing—it allows me the chance to come back and try, again, to get it things right “the first time” as you can repeat all the terms you got wrong at the end of the practice. Also, the unscrambling-foreign-word task is not exclusively used in practices, but lessons, as well. Plus, expect a lot of fill-in-the-blanks. Hint: The blanks are the correct size to fit the correct text necessary to fill ’em. Although I don’t know what fuelled the choices behind including the unscrambling and fill-in-the-blank activities, I will say that while completing these exercises, they feel like they are motivated, reasonable, and helpful (as they should be).

Other perks of Babbel include the Daily Challenge (find by hitting “Home”) that encourages both review and streaks like Duolingo, and the ability to hover your mouse over most words, sentences, and phrases that you want to hear said out loud once again; like Memrise, Babbel is a good option for strengthening both your verbal and hearing skills.

What You Might Not Like About Babbel is there’s no option just to review words that are the most difficult for you, but this can be taken as both a con and a pro (use any opportunity you can, or have to, to practice, practice, practice…). Really “the big thing,” is that it’s only a semi- or barely- free app. If you’re not willing to pay, only the first lesson of every course will be available to you, and this is a bummer because each lesson and course builds on the last. But wait (attente), didn’t I say I was going to be discussing the free language learning apps I’ve been using—not “semi- or barely- free,” but FREE? To you I say, check out the bright side (below, next line).

On the bright side… You can try a week of Babbel FREE by registering with this invite.

You’ll Like This App if you’re serious about study a new language. Courses range from Beginner’s 1 through 6, to everything Listening and Speaking-related (“Pronouncing Vowels,” “Pronouncing Consonants,” “Travel Dialogues,” “Tongue Twisters,” “Dictation Course,” “Sound Twins”), to “Conversations au Travail” (Conversations at Work) and writing “Love Letters.” … For further reference, Babbel’s French Intermediate Courses utilize intensive listening, speaking, reading and writing at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

(tina’s tip) : Be aware that if you close a lesson prior to completing it, the the lesson’ll re-start from the beginning! To save your progress, you’re going to have to finish the lesson; otherwise, be prepared to re-do some tasks.

(tina’s tip) : Read along with the speaker to assist yourself in breaking down a sentence into its individual words. (You’re going to need this skill to understand another language, regardless of what app you are using to get there!)

(tina’s tip) : Have fun, work your way up, and pace yourself (like you would with a game——even if you’ve got your notebook out for this one, it’s a good idea to try and enjoy what you are learning)!

In Conclusion

If I had to pick just one, it’d probably be Memrise, but I don’t “pick just one,” and that is purposeful. Doing so keeps me stimulated, and allows me the chance to see, use, and learn language in variety of places and ways. Obviously, this is a decision that I am hoping will prove to be effective… I’ll keep “vous” updated.

Merci to the featured image source et DanceTabs pour la image above ! (And, y’all be sure to stay tuned for Part 2 of Discussing the FREE Language Learning Apps I’ve Been Using “pour le français”)

﹅ How ’bout you? Est-ce que vous parlez français? Are you learning?

﹅ Do you have a preferred or favourite digital “hack” to learning a new, foreign language?

﹅ Got any French media suggestions pour moi? Feel free to comment what you know!

http://aroutineache.com/whats-your-favourite-language-learning-app-discussing-the-free-language-learning-apps-ive-been-using-pour-le-francais/

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eurolinguiste · 7 years

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With new apps and online communities sprouting up everyday, there are an endless number of resources to choose from to learn almost any language. You can also connect more easily than ever with native speakers around the world. It’s often easier to feel overwhelmed by the different resources out there than it is to struggle to find them.

Even so, if you’re looking for a way (or an additional way) to make language learning a part of your day, here’s a list of 100+ ways to do just that.

They’re organized by the skills they help you build to help make choosing the right tools easy!

100+ Ways to Learn a New Language

There are essentially four different aspects of language learning – reading, comprehension, speaking, and writing. There are resources that cover all four of these skills, but there are also those that focus one one or two of the aforementioned.

Getting Started

Use a to-do app to keep your language tasks organized and keep track of your “path goals”. // Path goals are the steps you take to ultimate achieve your “vision goals” (your big, long-term goals). You can read more about goal setting in this post.

Join #CleartheList to keep accountable with a fun group of learners. // We share our goals each month and encourage one another.

Set specific times for various study tasks. // For example, use your commutes to listen to audio. Do a round of flashcards while you’re brushing your teeth or waiting for your lunch to heat up in the microwave. Use your lunch break for an online lesson or some course book study.

Commit to just five minutes per day. // It adds up quicker than you might think!

Download an app to your mobile device so that you always have something with you. // You can check out the recommendations below, but I personally love Duolingo, Memrise, and LingQ.

Attend a language webinar or live Q&A. // These are fantastic, free online classes that are offered by language bloggers. One of my favorite live Q&A vloggers is Benny Lewis of Fluent in 3 Months.

Take an online language course. // There are tons of great courses online both free and paid. Some of my favourites are Language Routine Mastery, Language Habit Toolkit, and of course, Say Goodbye to Shy, as well as my new free 7-day email course The Busy Language Learner.

A Few Quick & Easy Tasks

Sometimes it’s just about getting your systems into place, preparing for your actual study and building some momentum. When this is the case, here are a few quick tasks you can complete when you only have a moment, but need or want to do something.

Create a “things to check out list” // That way you can focus on whatever you’re using now, but don’t forget about the other resources that look interesting to you when you decide you’re ready for them.

Open your coursebook to the next lesson // And if you’re feeling ambitious, read the first page. There’s a good chance you won’t stop there.

Look up a word you’ve been wanting to know // This can be a word in your native language that you want to translate into your target language, or a word you heard/read in your target language that you want to look up in your native language.

Make a list of words to look up later // Same rules apply as above.

Create an account on a language learning platform you’ve been meaning to use. // It can be iTalki, HelloTalk, LingQ, Lang-8, the Innovative Languages courses, Lingoda, Baselang, Rhinospike, you name it…

Send a message to a potential language exchange partner

Distill a page of an old language notebook // This is where you go through an old notebook and copy the words you still don’t know (but find useful) into your new notebook.

Find an article that explains something you’re currently struggling with in your target language. // For me, this was this post on the in subjunctive Spanish.

Read an article from a language blogger on how to learn languages. // Some suggestions are: Fluent in 3 Months, I Will Teach You a Language, Lindsay Does Languages, Fluent Language, Actual Fluency, French Lover, etc. And of course, the blog you’re already reading, Eurolinguiste.

Join a Facebook group // There are tons of lovely Facebook groups that are either language specific or just general groups of fellow language learners.

Do Some Math // Numbers can be tricky in a foreign language. They’re not easy to pull up or understand right away and we sometimes end up doing more translating and mental counting than needed. It can really slow you down. Practice some basic maths in your target language to get more comfortable with numbers.

Grab one of my 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases Worksheets // So far I have them for Korean, Chinese, French, Italian, and Croatian.

Learn super helpful phrases in your target language // Like: “How do you say ___ in ___ language?” or “Can you repeat that?” or “Can you say that differently?” or “What is ___ in English?” or “Please say it again slowly”.

A Little Bit of Everything

Duolingo // This is a fun and popular language learning app that is available for a variety of languages. You can complete a lesson in just a few minutes, whether at home or on the go.

Assimil // Assimil is my favourite course book series. They have a much wider selection of material available for French speakers, but what they have for English speakers is pretty great as well (if more limited).

Attend a Gathering or Conference // Even if you are not a polyglot (or don’t consider yourself one), I’ve heard good things about each of the language events around the globe. I will actually be a speaker at the upcoming Montréal Lang Fest and it would be incredible to see you there!

Start a Challenge // Like Lindsay Does Languages’ IGLC. Or Benny Lewis’s Speak in a Week.

Visit a Museum or Monument // Whenever M and I travel, I try to pick up the brochures in my target languages and opt for the tours offered in other languages (if available). On our most recent trip to the Getty Museum I had fun reading about the history of the museum in every language but English.

Watch Language Lessons on Youtube // There are a ton of great educational channels available on Youtube. Some of my favorites for Mandarin include Yoyo Chinese and Chinese with Mike. Just do a bit of searching to find videos in your language!

Use a Language Program // There are both free and paid programs to help you with your language learning including: Busuu, Rosetta Stone, Babbel, Rocket Languages et al.

Teach Someone Else // One of the best ways to ingrain a skill (or just better understand it) is through the act of teaching someone else. I began to understand German grammar better when I had to explain it to my father and my tones improved as I started to teach M words in Mandarin.

Start Using FluentU // I was contacted by FluentU a while back to test out their platform and I was impressed. It is a tool I really wish I used more. They also have an incredible blog for each of the languages they feature.

Play Games // If you’re at a beginning level, card games are a great place to start as are word games. Board games can be fun (if you have friends to play with), as can video games (whether online community based or just foreign language versions of games). I play my favorite Nintendo games in Mandarin and I know other language learners who play online games like WOW in their target languages.

Take an In-Person Class // But don’t allow yourself to become one of those students who does the bare minimum to succeed. Take an active interest in learning the language and use the class as a launching point.

Bust Out Your Phrasebook // And learn phrases rather than individual vocab words. My personal favorite phrasebooks are this one from Tuttle, this one from Assimil and the Lonely Planet Series.

For Advanced Learners: Take a Free Online Language-Specific Class in Your Target Language // Instead of taking a class on your language, take a class in your language. MIT and Coursera offer several courses in other languages for free online.

Try out Glossika // This is another course that offers elements of reading and listening.

Use Forvo to hear how things sound // This is a great online dictionary for tons of languages with audio.

Submit something to Rhinospike // And get it recorded by a native speaker so you can hear how it sounds. Be sure to reciprocate for someone else!

Travel to the Country // Not for everyone – it can be pretty expensive. But it is an option if you have the means.

Reading & Writing

Graded Readers // McGraw-Hill puts out a great series of easy readers. For those of you unfamiliar with the term “graded reader”, read this.

Native Language Books // What better way to improve your French reading comprehension than by reading classic French texts like Le Petit Prince or L’Etranger? The same can be said for any great literature in any language.

Use LingQ // LingQ is honestly my favourite app for language learning right now because it combines one of my favorite things (reading) with vocabulary study. You can use the content they already have available or you can important your own reading material.

If your language has a different writing system, learn it.

Translations of Your Favorite Books // Like Game of Thrones or Harry Potter? Why don’t you read it in your target language rather than in your native language? If that’s too hard, there are tons of children’s books available to choose from! Dr. Seuss and even some Disney stories are available in a wide selection of languages.

Memrise // Memrise is an incredible online resource and my favourite way to learn new vocabulary.

Flashcards // You can either make your own or use pre-made cards like those made by Flashsticks. Or you can go with digital Flashcards like Antosch & Lin or Anki.

Label Objects in Your House // Make up sticky notes (or use Flashsticks) to label objects in your house to help you build up your day-to-day vocabulary. If you don’t want to overwhelm your loved ones, do it one room at a time.

Textbooks // I particularly like the material that Tuttle puts out. Assimil is another of my favorites.

Keep a Language Journal // It’s a great way to hang on to all the awesome things you’ve learned, review them, and look back at where you were at a few months back.

Free write in your target language // Just because or to submit for corrections.

Translation from Your Target Language // Bust out a target language document and your dictionary and get to work with this old school way to learn a language. In addition to translating the document, I like to keep a second notebook on hand to make notes on the information that is new to me and that I’d like to retain.

Translation into Your Target Language // This is a bit harder than translating from your target language into your native language. So if you want to up your translation skills, this is definitely a good activity.

Change the Language Settings on Your Devices // You can set the language of your phone or computer in your target language, and there are tons of other ways to get inventive with this option. Heck, even my car is set in one of the languages I’m learning (I changed the radio/control panel language in the settings) as is my gaming system.

Change the Language Settings on Your Social Media Accounts // This sometimes needs to be done separately from the device itself.

Check Out the Ethnic Foods Section of Your Local Grocery Store // Learn the ingredients of the foods you eat!

The Instructions and Ingredients on the Backs of Products You Buy // I’ve done this forever with my shampoo bottles. Now that I’m learning Mandarin, I’ve even started doing it with the tags on my clothes and the instructions for everything I buy. Since I do most of my shopping at the local Chinese market, I end up with tons of material to learn from.

Go to the Library // No need to spend money you might be able to save by checking out the language section at your local library.

Write a script // Scripts are great exercises because they really offer you the chance to focus in on a specific subject and learn the vocabulary and grammar you need just for that topic.

Newspapers and/or Magazines // Whenever I travel, I try to pickup newspapers in my target language. Even if I don’t use them then, I can save them for when I have time.

Make Friends with Your Dictionary // Open up to a random page and learn a new word. Make a list of words you’d like to know, look them up, and create a new flashcard set or vocab list like this. I also like Language Surfer‘s advice on this technique.

Use Readlang // I only just discovered this tool and I’m going to have to add it to my arsenal of study tools.

Use Lang-8 or iTalki‘s Journal Tool to Write // These sites offer your the opportunity to write in your target language and have it corrected by a native speaker. It doesn’t cost anything, but be kind and reciprocate. Correct another language learner in your native language too.

Find a Website Available in Multiple Languages // Open your target language and your native language in two different windows and do a comparison. Take notes. Wikipedia is a great starting point.

Install your Language’s Keyboard on your Phone or Computer // I use my Chinese keyboard to type emojis – it forces me to remember the words for different moods and objects.

Read a Comic // Who says you need to read text-only books anyway?

Focus on Grammar // If you grammar needs some brushing up, spend some time reviewing or learning. Most older language learning texts are great for this as are the Teach Yourself series.

Participate in the Language Reading Challenge!

Grab a guide // My favorites are the Why X is Easy series for French, German, Italian, Spanish, English, and Chinese. Or the Master Japanese and Master Chinese books.

Speaking & Comprehension

Pimsleur // Try a free lesson.

Skype Lessons // If you’re not sure where to find a tutor, iTalki is my favourite platform for connecting with excellent teachers. I’ve also enjoyed Baselang (for Spanish) and Lingoda (for Spanish, German, and French).

Language Exchanges with Native Speakers

Language Exchanges with Others Learning the Same Language // Don’t just rely on native speakers to help you practice your target language. Partner up with others who are learning the same language as you! Lindsay and I did this for Korean and it was a great way to keep accountable.

Converse with Friends

Read Aloud // You know those books I mentioned above? Use those to work on both your reading comprehension and speaking abilities by reading aloud.

Podcasts // There are so many incredible and FREE podcasts available in a wide range of languages. The Innovative language series like RussianPod101, SpanishPod101, JapanesePod101, ChineseClass101, etc.

Listen to the radio // If you’re ready for it, you can dive into native language radio programs, or you can try out something like News in Slow French/Spanish or Slow Chinese.

Conversations with Yourself // It can be intimidating trying to converse with a native speaker for the first time, so why not get some practice in on your own first?

Audiobooks // This is great for those of you that spend a good amount of time in the car. Why listen to “The Three Musketeers” when you can enjoy “Les Trois Mousquetaires”? The great thing about most players too is that you can slow them down!

Find a Restaurant in Your Area // Get some practice in ordering and conversing in your target language.

Record Yourself Speaking // This is a learning technique that I’ve used often in music and that can certainly carry over into language. One of the best ways to improve your pronunciation and speaking abilities are to record yourself and listen back. You’ll definitely hear mistakes you didn’t even know you were making!

Go to a Cultural Event in Your Area // About a year ago I went to an Italian heritage festival hosted by a neighboring city with my parents. It was a great opportunity for me to brush up on my Italian, enjoy delicious food, make new friends, and hear a variety of Italian music (everything from opera to pop).

Start a Vlog // Record yourself speaking in your target language and share it on Instagram (like I do) or on Youtube.

Watch Commercials on Youtube // They are short and some even have captions. They’re a great way to get bite-size language exposure.

Watch a Movies or TV Show with Subtitles // If you’re looking for something a little more involved try graduating up to television shows or movies.

Watch a Movie or TV Show without Subtitles // Even if you don’t understand everything, this can be a great way to push your comprehension or get a better feel for what level you’re at.

Watch an Overdubbed Version of Your Favorite Movie // Try watching it with and without subtitles. You already know the plot and can probably remember a good chunk of the dialog.

Watch a movie or tv show that is more than one language // This is a little less intense than watching an entire series or movie in a foreign language. One of my favourites for Russian is The Americans. You can really have fun with this and even use it to learn a conlang like Dothraki by watching Game of Thrones. Hey, it’s all in the name of learning a language!

Listen to Music in Your Target Language // Spotify has a great collection of music to choose from although some artists have blocked certain countries. I also use Kougu which is the Chinese equivalent of Pandora (and oddly enough, they have a French language channel). I have also started playlists for the languages I’m learning that you can checkout on my YouTube channel.

Work on Pronunciation // Focus on properly pronouncing your language’s alphabet or combinations of sounds (for example tones in Mandarin). Really break it down so that you can work on just creating the right sounds. This is especially crucial if the language you are learning has sounds that don’t exist in your native language.

Record yourself // You can record one of your lessons or exchanges, or even your monologue. Be sure to listen back!

Learn different interjections an onomatopoetic expressions. // These are fun ways to sound more “native”.

Focus on learning conversation connectors. // These are great tools to give yourself the chance to think and segue into new topics. Anthony Lauder has a fantastic list for Czech. You can use it as a basis to translate into your target language.

Bonus

I like to think that learning about the cultures associated with the languages you’re learning as a bonus to developing your ability and attachment to what you’re studying. Consider the following:

Read a Book About the History of Your Language // Or about the group of languages to which yours belongs (i.e. Slavic languages rather than Croatian).

Read a Book About the History of One of the Countries Where Your Language is Spoken // It can be a general history, one on a specific time period or specific movement. Whatever interests you.

Read a Book About the Experience Someone Had Moving to or Traveling Through a Country Where Your Target Language is Spoken // This is a great way to get an outside perspective.

Learn to Cook a Local Dish // Double bonus if you can cook it using the recipe in your target language rather than a translated recipe!

Take a Look at a Map and Learn About the Major Cities // Use a map to pinpoint the larger cities and look them up. Don’t cheat and Google “large cities in XYZ country.” Get familiar with your country’s geography and where the major cities are located.

Learn About Some of the Holidays Unique to the Country Where Your Language is Spoken // Double bonus if you can find a celebration in your area and attend!

Don’t go looking for something if you don’t have a problem. // I don’t know what it is about language learning that leads to us hoarding resources, but there is definitely something. Perhaps it’s in thinking that we’ll be more thorough or that a new resource will solve a problem for us, or who knows. I’ve recently adapted a more minimalist approach to language learning, so I only bring a new resource in when I have a problem my current resources don’t solve.

Learn some of the common hand gestures or body language used by those who speak your target language. // There are some infographics like this, but watching movies or tv shows is another great way to do this.

Take a course that teaches you how to be a better learner overall // Like the Learning How to Learn course on Coursera or Scott Young’s Rapid Learner course.

I’m tackling some of the items on this list of 100+ ways to learn a language from @eurolinguistesk… Click To Tweet

I hope to continue building out this list, so if you think there are any techniques I’ve missed, please feel free to share in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you!

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The post 100+ Ways to Make Language Learning a Part of Your Day appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

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martaonthemove · 7 years

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Luis Von Ahn - Episode 86- Marta On The Move

#86 Luis Von Ahn

I wonder how many of you may know, that the widely popular company known as Duolingo, has it's base right here in Pittsburgh, PA? I sure didn't. After trying many language courses, Rosetta Stone, and even regular CD's you can listen to on your way to work (never happens), I found myself drawn to the free app that is Duolingo. I just happened to be browsing online one day, and noticed from their website, that they are Pittsburgh based! What, what?

If you listen to my show, you know I love traveling, and merging my cultural experiences with my beloved hometown of Pittsburgh. Finding out that Duolingo was based here, and that I was addicted to the app, just made my day! I had to find out who was behind this, and get them on the show.

Turns out a gentleman by the name of Luis Von Ahn created Duolingo. I reached out, scheduled an interview, and a tour of the office. Wanting to come prepared for the podcast, I started researching Luis, and found myself blown away by what he has accomplished in his 38 years. Luis is the inventor of the CAPTCHA. You all know what that is, the box at the bottom of almost any screen, with fuzzy words, that let's you prove you are not a robot. Along with that, he created reCAPTCHA, and ESP game, and now Duolingo, among various other notable projects.

Luis has been named one of the 50 Best Brains in Science by Discover, voted in Silicon's 50 Most Influential People in Technology, and has been recognized as a Brilliant 10 by Popular Science. His credits are almost too long to list, and I cannot wait to see what he does next.

To be honest, once I started researching Luis, I was extremely nervous to chat with him. The man is, in fact, a genius, and I suddenly found I wasn't very sure of myself. It turns out, that I did not have to worry at all, and was pleasantly surprised to find him funny, open, and candid. I truly enjoyed my time spent chatting with him about the origins of Duolingo, and what sent this kid who grew up in Guatemala down his path to success. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

Also, a personal note to Luis. I am still available to be a squatter at Duolingo. I could clean the floors, take out trash, bring coffee, you name it. Ha Ha! (I am only partly kidding.) It is probably the coolest work place I have ever seen in my life. You can hear more about my tour with them in the intro of the podcast.

If you haven't downloaded Duolingo yet, I HIGHLY suggest it. My husband and I practice it every morning, and we have found our Italian to be so much better. It has an amazing success rate, and more importantly, in our busy schedules, it is FUN. I wake up to the owl every morning :)

This episode is sponsored by Levity Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's best sensory deprivation chamber with a spa like atmosphere. All listeners get $5 off with code "Marta"

Luis Von Ahn

He humored me in my thought bubble photo wish. Thanks Luis!

Check out this episode!

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teachermelly · 7 years

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Mobile Apps - The Essentials of Everyday Life and Now Learning Hello everyone! In this post, I will be examining a mobile phone app called Rosetta Stone, which is highly recommended by language teachers and used by many students all around the world. As approximately every person has a smart phone and uses the apps in them in a very advanced way, language learning has started to use this opportunity to initiate learning through one-hand activities. Now, people learning various languages prefer and love to use mobile apps because they can practice anytime in an effective and easy way. Today, I will introduce you the app Rosetta Stone which offers American and British English, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Dari, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Pashto, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Latin America and European), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog (Filipino), Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. It is a unique app different than Duolingo or any other kinds of language promoting apps. For instance, the app uses actual contexts that try to give you the level of English you need. By answering the questions given in the context, (like a person in a restaurant or in the airport, you solve an issue that the person faces, like he&she loses a stuff and tries to find or manages to do a task) the learner actually acquires some contextual knowledge and also is rewarded after he&she accomplishes in the context. Also, the app has now a new feature that allows you to talk to a native tutor who helps with pronunciation, word choices and context at most. The speech sessions are done after each lesson and it supports the learner in a very professional way. The base of the app has a well-designed speech-recognition technology and in this way, it can help the learner as if in a real circumstance. The topics of the language is seperated according to the contexs and the beginners start with greetings, shopping, class talkings and it moves along to the hardest grammar and complex situations. They are excellent in leveling and, of course, with their contextual grammar. The users around the world are very content with the skills that Rosetta Stone teaches. The comments say that if you study this app for 3-4 months, you will definitely learn to write, speak, read and listen to the language in an efficient way. As it is a full-package app that involves all the skills of the language and also an e-tutoring, it costs pretty much and this is the only con of the app. You can buy Rosetta Stone Language Learning as an online subscription, as a digital download, or on CD-ROM but for learners from all economies, it is hard to implement. Along with this, also the app has one more little con yet it is seen as a good thing: the word drills. The learner faces the same word over and over again as a better practice, but they seem to like this part. Not seeing the price and drills, this is a masterpiece with lots of grammar games, visuals, tutors and every aspect of it. The best usage of Rosetta Stone would be in a class that focuses on fluency in the language as it offers all the necessary aspects of language. A teacher is welcome to make students use the app with the games and contexts after a class that is connected to the topic. Or, along with having the topic in the class, the students can connect to their own tutors and speak about the topic. In many and many ways, Rosetta Stone offers a very high quality language learning, yet, taking lots of dollars from your pocket. If you are okay with doing some sacrifices for your language learning and want the best result, then Rosetta Stone is the right one for you. For those wishing to have further information, here some links about the app: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHIlVdlJkMQ http://www.rosettastone.eu/mobile-apps Thank you for reading. See you later on!

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zsaaaaszhoney · 7 years

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I needed to pick a language for college so I chose Italian and I would use Duolingo alongside it to help me out with class but I gave up on it after awhile. More recently I started using it to learn French and even downloaded the app.

It has a feature to remind you to do your exercises which I have set but it sets it for both and for some reason I always get it at 2am and my phone’s just like:

WAKE UP BITCH, IT’S TIME TO LEARN ITALIAN!!!

But I’m just like, please leave me alone. I’ll come back eventually but right now I want to focus on one language at a time.

#this is my life #i keep wondering who's texting me at 2am #learning a language #duolingo #personal post

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martaonthemove · 7 years

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Luis Von Ahn - Episode 86- Marta On The Move

#86 Luis Von Ahn

This episode is sponsored by Levity Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's best sensory deprivation chamber with a spa like atmosphere. All listeners get $5 off with code "Marta"

Luis Von Ahn

He humored me in my thought bubble photo wish. Thanks Luis!

Check out this podcast episode!

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eurolinguiste · 7 years

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Italian.

One of the first languages I tackled, and one that as of late, was long neglected. It is also one that I worked on when I had absolutely no idea how to study a language.

Italian is one that I thought a course and a certification meant I knew it. One that I continued to study for a few short months after school in language exchanges that were mostly in English.

But I’ve learnt a lot since then.

I haven’t looked at Italian in several years. Okay, yes, I did the first Language Hacking mission as a part of Benny’s book launch, but aside from that, I put Italian (along with German) aside as I pursued Croatian, then Chinese, Russian, Korean, and Spanish.

There’s a lot of time and a lot of new languages that rest between Italian and I.

Why Am I Giving Italian a Refresh?

Holly, one of my friends over at Fluent in 3 Months, asked me to chat with her in Italian to give her the chance to gauge her level after using a product.

I decided to take things further and do more than just prepare for the conversation.

How Did I Refresh My Italian Language Ability?

First, let’s talk about the tools.

As I mentioned, I only like to work with a limited number of tools at a time. It helps me stay focused and go deep rather than broad. I had no idea what Holly and I would be discussing prior to the conversation, so it was a bit of a gamble, but I figured our discussion would not get too complex.

So here’s what I used: * LingQ * Language Hacking Italian * Memrise * Duolingo * Everything Italian Practice Book

Preparing to Do My Italian Language Refresh

The first thing that I did, was read through my previous Italian notes and skim each of Benny’s Italian specific language hacking blog posts.

Another important part of my strategy was to create a video each day as a part of my refresh to document my progress and force myself to speak the language.

I also put together a quick cheat sheet for my actual conversation with Holly (which you can download for free by clicking the image below).

Day 0

Holly emailed me around 7:30 PM asking if I’d be up to chatting with her. My music training persuaded me to say yes, so I did. And then I panicked.

My music teachers always taught me to say yes to music opportunities and then figure out what I needed to work on to be able to accomplish them. And by work, I mean dedicate every spare minute working my butt off.

This mentality stuck with me and I’ve transferred it to a lot of other things that I do. And it really works. It pushes you to stretch, grow and improve in other ways not having that pressure would permit.

Of course, I would never say yes to things that were absolutely out of my reach. If someone called and said, “hey Shannon, we need someone to play tuba in our polka band next week – do you think you could do it?” I’d definitely say no because 1. I don’t play tuba and don’t play anything closely related to be able to pick it up relatively quickly and 2. I’ve never played polka music before so I’m not familiar enough with the style or repertoire.

The same goes for languages. If someone asked me to do a presentation in Swedish in a month, my answer would be no. Picking up a language I haven’t visited in five years in three days? That’s closer to being right up my alley.

Being willing to take on a challenge, however, doesn’t mean that I won’t be nervous. The video will be seen by a lot of people and five years is a long time.

But as I said in my Day 1 video, being nervous isn’t a reason not to speak (or make an effort). In fact, it’s a great reason to get out there and speak. Because that discomfort is an incredible learning opportunity.

Challenge accepted.

Day 1

I decided to use two books to tackle my language refresh. Benny Lewis’ Language Hacking Italian and the Everything Italian Practice Book. Benny’s book is geared towards speaking Italian, so it offered me a lot of relatively quick ways to get conversational in the language.

The Everything Italian Practice Book, in contrast, provided me with a quick review of Italian grammar so that I could remember how to do things like change articles, use different tenses, remember conjugations, and make words plural.

On Using the Everything Italian Practice Book

I truly believe that you can make almost any language learning resource work for you. The Everything Italian book isn’t something that I would choose for myself today. But it is something that I chose back when I didn’t know what I was doing and just grabbed whatever I could at my local bookstore.

Since this was just a quick refresh, I didn’t want to invest in any new products. At least not while I already had products on hand.

This project was a great opportunity to revisit some of the resources I used to use to reevaluate them as a more experienced learner, test my theory on making what you have work for you, and finally put those unused (or barely used) resources to work!

Here’s What I Completed on Day 1:

4 Chapters of Language Hacking Italian

100+ points on Duolingo

34,000 points on Memrise

75 pages in Everything Italian Practice Book

481 Known Words, 174 LingQs, 1,575 read in LingQ

Day 2

By Day 2, I started to once more get a little comfortable with the Italian language. A lot of what I had learnt in the past came back to me and the amount of material I moved through allowed me to have quite a few, “oh yeah, that sounds familiar” moments.

Duolingo, however, quickly became a time suck for me.

Why I stopped using Duolingo on Day 2

Duolingo could have been an excellent tool for me if I had previously unlocked the entire tree. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and I found myself spending too much time learning words that I didn’t need (clothing, etc.) in order to get to the modules that I wanted to review (prepositions, etc.).

I think that Duolingo is great for review and getting a shallow but wide overview of a language. It was exactly what I needed for my refresh. If I could have selected with lessons I reviewed (which wasn’t an option for me since I was only two levels into the tree). I just didn’t have the time to unlock everything, so I had to put it aside since it wasn’t a good use of my time.

Here’s What I Completed on Day 2:

6 Chapters of Language Hacking Italian

30 points on Duolingo

51,400 points on Memrise

150 pages in Everything Italian Practice Book

650 Known Words, 264 LingQs, 5 LingQs learned, 3,119 read in LingQ

Day 3

Day 3 was conversation day and my chat was pretty early in the day. It was at 10am, and while that’s not super early, I didn’t have much time to prepare because most of the hours leading up to the chat were spent getting ready for work, driving to work, answering work emails, and participating in a con call.

I maybe had 20 minutes that I could use to do a quick Memrise review session. If that.

Here’s What I Completed on Day 3:

21,500 points on Memrise

[Video Coming Soon]

What I Was Able to Accomplish in 3 Days of Italian Language Study

In the past, my Italian speaking ability was always low relative to my reading, writing and comprehension. I believe that I was able to get my speaking back up to the same level (if not a little better) with this refresh.

My reading and listening comprehension also skyrocketed. I don’t remember where I was at a few years ago, but by Day 3, I was able to understand 90% of what I heard and read on most topics.

My primary language the last few months was Spanish, so I was sincerely worried that it would affect my performance in the Italian language. When I was reviewing I often confused the two.

What I Wished I Had Done Differently

The conversation I had with Holly went a little bit differently than I had envisioned it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, that’s typically how conversations go. You rehearse them in your head one way and they turn out another.

It’s one of the best ways to truly learn a language.

Watching the video, I feel like I’m concentrating so hard that I’m not doing as well as I could have if I just stopped worrying about making mistakes.

But it is what it is and it can only get better from here. If I put in the work, that is.

And now that I’ve seen what I can accomplish in 3 days, I am more than willing to give my old languages another look and a whole lot of love.

I won’t be able to dedicate as much energy to refreshing my various languages in such a short period of time. But I am definitely encouraged that it’s worth doing the work after the overall results of this challenge.

That’s it for me for now. Let me know in the comments below if you’d like to see more breakdowns like this, another update on my Italian refresh in the future, or other fun language missions!

Don’t forget to download your free Italian Phrase Sheet! And if you’re learning Italian, you can take a look at my favorite resources for the language.

What about you?

What are you doing to maintain the languages you’ve learnt?

Leave me a note in the comments! I look forward to hearing from you!

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