Happy Learning About This Meme Day!

Ah, this Tik Tok always makes me giggle. Tik Tok by: prisyuk

"Crocodile Gena" (1969) and "Cheburashka" (1971) are puppet cartoons, based on the book of Eduard Uspensky. Crocodile Gena works in a zoo as a crocodile. He is very lonely. Gena finally decides to make friends. Animals and people react to his announcement. Soon, Cheburashka comes to his place, and together they begin to do good things.

«Крокоди́л Ге́на»» (1969) и «Чебурáшка» (1971) - ку́кольные мультфи́льмы, сня́тые по моти́вам кни́ги Эдуа́рда Успе́нского. Крокоди́л Ге́на рабо́тает в зоопа́рке — крокоди́лом. Он о́чень одино́к. Наконе́ц Ге́на реша́ет завести́ себе́ друзе́й. На его объявле́ния отклика́ются зве́ри и люди. Вско́ре к нему́ прихо́дит Чебурáшка, и они́ вме́сте начина́ют де́лать до́брые дела.

Among his multiple talents, Gena plays accordion and sings. On a rainy day, which happens to be his birthday, he sings the following song:

Песня Крокодила Гены

Пусть бегут неуклюже,

Пешеходы по лужам,

А вода по асфальту рекой.

И неясно прохожим,

В этот день непогожий,

Почему я весёлый такой.

Я играю на гармошке,

У прохожих на виду,

К сожалению, день рожденья,

Только раз в году.

Прилетит вдруг волшебник,

В голубом вертолёте,

И бесплатно покажет кино,

С днём рожденья поздравит,

И, наверно, оставит,

Мне в подарок пятьсот эскимо.

Я играю на гармошке,

У прохожих на виду,

К сожалению, день рожденья,

Только раз в году.

Gena the Crocodile's Song

Never mind that the clumsy pedestrians

are jumping over rain puddles.

And that the water is streaming down the street.

And never mind that the passers-by can't make sense of

Why is it that I'm so happy on such a dreary day.

Yet I'm playing my accordion

In front of everyone on the street.

It's so sad that a birthday

Can only happen once a year.

A wizard will suddenly appear

In a blue whirlybird,

And will show me free movies.

He'll say Happy Birthday

And just before he flies away

He'll probably leave 500 ice cream cones for me.

Yet I'm playing my accordion

In front of everyone on the street.

It's so sad that a birthday

Can only happen once a year

(https://youtu.be/lUBNtYixTSs)

Russians use some phrases from this cartoon in speech:

Некоторые фразы из этого мультфильма русские используют в речи：

Мы строили, строили и наконец построили. Ура! (We built, built and finally finished. Hooray!)

Чебурашка, ты настоящий друг.(Cheburashka, you are true friend)

Опять чебурахнулся*. Ух ты, Чебурашка какой. (*ЧЕБУРÁХНУТЬСЯ - Упасть с шумом /this verb means to fall with a big noise. The name Чебурашка is derived from the verb чебурахнуться)

A Stash of Tiny Study Tips

STAYING MOTIVATED

Create realistic goals: get ___ grade on next ____

Manageable let down; get back on track

Keep track of grades: focused, know where stand, no surprises

Start small

Low risk confidence builders

Take time to relax/give self rewards

Days off, breaks, rewards

All work & no play =/= living

Little organization goes a long way

Reward achievements!

Keep balance with exercise, clubs, friends

2h/d: friends and exercise

Remember that hard work pays off

Isn’t a breeze to try to get a 4.0 GPA; but it’s possible

You’re smart enough and can achieve it

90% there with these tips, 10% is just pure hard work

Only chill on weekends

Monday-Friday: school mode

Have time for some fun

If work as hard as should during week, will need weekends to blow off steam

Be self-motivated

Grades can matter, not everything, but follow through on what needs to be done

Not most important part of college but underperform? You will regret it

GPA cutoffs exist and matter to employers

College is full of distractions and opportunities

Nobody will hold hand and the work will suck but all the prouder of yourself to be

Suck it up, buckle down, get it done

If think need break, probably don’t

Turn off the little voice

Realize not alone in questioning ability

Avoid people who tend to burst bubbles no matter what 

Physical triggers to stop

Incentive to get something done when know have something else during the day

Don’t have a gaping abyss of study time

Work has to get done, in the end

Books, examiners, and especially your future self isn’t going to care about your excuses for not doing the work

Take the first step

It will almost be fictional how hard you thought the task was going to be

Just keep going because you simply can’t afford NOT to do anything today, nonzero days

Leeway, don’t give your perfectionism control over your life

MUNDANE HABITS

Sleep! Think and function, mind & body

CAN sleep if keep up with coursework instead of procrastinating

Will miss out on some fun stuff

Need to stay awake in class

Figure out what need for full speed

Stay relaxed

Stay physically healthy

Diet and exercise

1 hour exercise during week

Weekends off

Traditional breakfast not necessary if value extra sleep

Systematic habits: neat, prepared

Master material

Look for real world applications

Learning is a process: be patient, don’t expect to master off the bat

Designate study area and study times

Do trial runs

Practice tests

Ask a TA to listen to your oral performance

Study groups

Don’t copy other people’s psets and solutions

BEFORE SEMESTER

Spiral bound notebook, can color code with folders/etc if need be

Lecture notes: front to back

Reading notes: back to front (if fall behind on)

Seminar notes: mixed in with lecture notes, different pen color/labeled

Outline format

Bullet points for everything

Same NB for one set of class notes, separate notebooks for all classes

5-subject notebook

Midterm and exam material in it

Mesh sources, study guide

All study material from week/month in one place

Pick the right major

Indulge in favorite hobby feeling

Pick professors & classes wisely

Take a small class

Pick classes that interest you so studying doesn’t feel torturous

Want to learn

GRADES SPECIFIC

Prioritize class by how can affect GPA

More credits: more weight

Work enough to get an A in your easy classes: take something good at

Don’t settle, don’t slack off, don’t put in minimal effort to get that B/C. Just put in a tiny bit more effort to ensure A

Will have harder classes and need to counteract

Take electives can ace

Anything but an A in an elective is kinda mean and an unnecessary hit for your GPA

FIRST DAY/WEEK/HALF OF CLASSES

Get to know teaching style: focus most on, lecture/notes

Pick and follow a specific note taking format

Outline

Date each entry

Capture everything on board

Decide productivity system

Google Cal

Todoist

Agenda: remind meetings, class schedule, important dates/midterms/quizzes/tests, no homework 

Always wanted to be prepared

Rarely last minute

Have plan, stay focused

Homework notebook

Good redundancy

Study syllabus

Know it thoroughly

Plot all due dates after class

Penalize if fail to abide by

Study the hardest for the first exam

Seems counterintuitive

Hardest/most important test

Pay attention to content and formatLess pressure: just need ___ on final to keep my A 

Easy to start high and keep high

Go into crunch mode at the beginning

End softly

Get plenty of sleep, exercise, and good food in the finals days before the exam

DURING SEMESTER: PEOPLE

Get to know professors: go to office hours, care about grades/course/them

Easier ask for help, rec letter

Get to know interests and what they think is important

Figure out their research interests, 60% of their job is research

Learning is dynamic

Discussion helps

Get feedback early when not sure what doing

Take comments constructively

Consistent class participation: ask questions, give answers, comment when appropriate

Understand material

Find a study buddy in each class: don’t have to study with

Somebody can compare notes with, safety net

Pick somebody who attends, participates, and take notes regularly

Make some friends

Participate as fully as can in group activities

Be involved

Learn – not be taught

Be punctual

Good impression, on human professors

DON’T BE LATE

Skipping class =/= option: It’s “cool” to get attendance award

Make all the classes: it’s hard to feel confident when missing key pieces

Get full scope of class, everything will make a lot more sense and save a lot of time in long run

Mandatory class: higher graduating cumulative GPA

Go to class when no one else does/want to show up, reward

Get to know professor, what’s on test, notice, r/s build, material not in reading

Unless optional and super confusing professor

Sit in one of the first rows

Don’t fall asleep

Fake interest if you have to

Tutors

DURING SEMESTER: THINGS TO DO

Take notes! Provided is bare minimum, accessed by students who aren’t attending lecture

Based on lecture and what read –> test; it’ll be worth it

Write it down

By hand

Bored? Doodle instead of going online

Read all assigned–even if need to skim

Seems cumbersome and maybe impossible

Figure out what’s important

Look at the logical progression of the argument/what’s important/what trying to prove

Understand everything that you do read–even if don’t read everything

PIck 2 examples from text per topic

Complete course material on time

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL DAY BEFORE IT IS DUE

Begin as soon as possible

Sometimes it’s just straight up impossible

Have it look attractive

Library doesn’t just mean = study

Social media in the library is still social media

Confusion is terrible

Read other textbooks, review course material @ another uni/by another professor, google the shit out of it

Review

Do not wait, do throughout semester

Exam prep

Ask for model papers, look at style & structure, thesis, how cite

Get old tests

Look at type of questions (detail level and structure)

Can solve old exams cold

If give out paper exams in class: probs won’t repeat questions, focus more on concepts but still learn the questions

Have class notes and psets down cold

Do all the practice problems

Read through notes a few times; rewrite into a revision notebook

Highlight major topics and subtopics

Different highlighter for vocab terms

Overall picture, go from concept to detail

Look at overall context and how specific idea fit into whole course

Ideas, don’t memorize all your notes

Better understand = more able to use and manipulate info and remember it. Understand = manipulation.

Charts, diagrams, graphs

Lists

Practice drawing labeled structures

Flash cards for memorization

Every school requires some degree of grunt memorization

Say it aloud, write it down

Get friends to quiz you

Self-test: severely challenge self, have a running collection of exam questions

Explain difficult concepts to your friends; force yourself to articulate the concept

Never pull an all-nighter

Do not spend every hour studying up to the exam

Eat, shower, sleep

Don’t wait until night before exam to study

Prep takes time even if reviewed throughout semester

Ask about format–don’t ask the professor to change it for you

Law of College: it will be on the exam if you don’t understand it

Ask professor, internet, textbooks

Night before exam

Jot what want to remember/have fresh

Read through in morning/before exam

Physical prep

Sleep, have test materials

Day of exam

Don’t cram every single spare minute

Go to bathroom before exam

Never miss an exam/lie to get more time

You won’t be any more ready 2-3 days after when supposed to have taken it

Slay exam. Get A. 

WEEKLY 

Friday morning: go through each syllabus, write down in HW notebook

All hw during weekend; study/reading assignments during week

Save everything

Divide big tasks into small pieces to help propel self

Standard study schedule: block off lectures, labs, regular commitments

Note the weeks that have assignments and tests that will require extra studying

Don’t oscillate too heavily every day with study times (i.e. don’t study 2-3 hours for weeks and then 10-12 hour days right before an exam)

Eat and sleep to make more extended work periods liveable and enjoyable

DAILY

Set an amount of time would like to study every day

Try to study most days

Avoid vague/zoned out studying –> waste of time

Do a little bit daily but don’t let studying be your whole day

Review notes: 30mins/day, each class from that day

Look at important ideas/vocab

Prioritize new vocab because language is most fundamental and important tool in any subject

Circle abbreviations and make yourself a key somewhere so you don’t forget what the hell that abbreviations meant

Check spelling

Rewrite/reorganize notes if necessary

Format of ideas is just as important as the concepts themselves, esp. when it comes time for exam review

This helps you retain the material so you’ll be ahead next time you walk into class

Chance to ID any knowledge gaps that you can ask about for next class

Keep up with reading

Skim text before lecture or at least main topic sentences

Jot down anything don’t understand; if lecture doesn’t clarify, ask the professor

After lecture: skim again, outline chapter, make vocab flashcards

Highlight similar class and lecture notes

will definitely be tested on

Review and make study questions

Study

Disconnect from anything irrelevant to study material: help focus and your GPA

Don’t limit studying to the night

Study whenever, wherever between classes

Variety helps focus and motivation

Especially if tired at night and can’t transition between subjects

Try to study for a specific subject right before/after the class

Slang Word of the Day: рукожоп

Рукожоп - literally, "ass-hand", "arms attached to the ass", somebody who can not do anything well, who makes everything very poorly, cannot fix anything, breaks everything, all-thumbs;

Какой рукожоп банку это приложение написал? What an idiot/all-thumbs made this app for my bank?

Is there a word for this in your mother-tongue?

here's a comp of completely random pictures in russian that make me giggle: pt 2

[a product review]

★★★★★ Great product

Experience of using

Less than a month

Advantages

Boils water

Disadvantages

Uses electricity

Comment

That's how kettles work, what can I say.

— Mikhail Andreevich, I won't be at work today

— Thank you

Your region: Samara

[Yes, save me...] ("Да, спасибо")

[No, friend...] ("Нет, другой")

[A questionnare book for children]

17. What do you usually do when you are alone

Listen to music or panic

— Take 💩 for a walk

— Take shit for a walk?

— I couldn't find dog emoji

Smart eyes.

(he's a genius)

Have a good day!

THIS ONE. This is my favourite episode of Improvisation. Hands down. I strongly recommend to watch this one with sound on! * — wooden spoons are actually a Russian traditional musical instrument. Nope, not joking. Here's a cool video that shows what these spoons look like and what they sound like: Russian Wooden Spoon (Musical Instrument Sound).

Some cat vocabulary ^^

Носóк (nosok) - sock

"In my language, we don't say 'I love you'. We just tag each other in memes and I think that's beautiful."

I'M BACK ALREADY because that was too good not to comment on, oh my god. That was hysterical. Anton's face when he pulled out that stick and the pie tin and realized he'd have to do something with it. These guys are so talented, I can't believe they pull the jokes out of the top of their heads. This is already one of my favorites and I can already foresee the rewatches. As a reverse learner, I could appreciate the humor so much. And that you explain the jokes to give cultural/linguistic context.

yes, this episode was freaking exellent! my favourite part is Anton's cocky face when he says 'yeah, I listen' I laughed for like 10 minutes when I saw that 🤣 by the way, it's not really a stick Anton pulled out, it's something called ве́ник (literally means 'besom' or 'bath broom') and is used for traditional sauna sessions (ба́ня). you basically whip yourself with it to help blood circulate better. sounds harsh, but it actually feels amazing, talking from experience lol.

/I'm too scared I may get blocked for sending the picture here, so just google 'bath brooms for banya' and you'll get the point haha/ and thank you for the feedback, of course! I'm so glad you enjoyed it 🥰