小王子 Vocab (mandarin) Pt. 1

how to stay motivated

hey guys so recently I have had quite a few messages asking me how to stay motivated so I thought I would put it in one post so that people can see how I like to stay motivated and hopefully these tips help you too!

TIP #1 SET A GOAL

I feel like setting a goal is super important and this is my main source of motivation. I set little mini short-term goals and the odd long-term goal so I am surrounded by aims to get me motivated. 

So what is a short-term goal? A short-term goal is a goal that you want to set for the near future. The near future could be an hour, a day, a week, a month - but something that you can accomplish in a ‘small’ amount of time. Examples could include:

Getting up at 7am every morning and starting your work early

Reading a chapter of a book a day to improve your reading 

No chocolate for a month

No studying past 6pm

Keep a clean desk

A long-term goal is something that you want to reach but takes a lot longer to achieve. Long-term goals can include:

Going to university to study Law

Getting straight B’s in next years final exams

Landing a career in journalism

Gaining/losing X amount of lbs

Saving £X so you can go on holiday

I find setting a long-term goal can be helpful, but short-term goals are just as good. I have a long term goal at the moment to work hard and get good grades so I can go to university and study history. Whilst this is a good goal, I also need stepping stones to get me there and to keep that motivation flowing - these are my short-term goals: such as getting more organised for my final year, or getting an A on an essay I’ve written. 

Sometimes people don’t know what to do when they have to set a goal, but think slightly selfish for a bit and think about what you really want and how to get there. This sets up some motivation. I love having a goal because I feel like every small task I complete gets me one step closer to that goal of mine - almost like ticking an assignment off of your to-do list!

TIP #2 SCHEDULES AND TO-DO LISTS

Speaking of to-do lists, this brings me on to tip number two. I don’t know where I would be without a to-do list/schedule because without it, I would be an absolute mess. With having so much to do, it is impossible for me to keep a mental list of everything and writing it down helps so much!

Not only does it help me remember what I have to do, it also motivates me in so many ways. First of all, setting one up at the start of the day means that I know exactly what I need to get done and I want to get it done as quickly as I can, but without rushing it and so it makes me start straight away so I can tick things off of my list. 

This brings me on to the second reason why they motivate me so much - because every time you tick it off, you get an amazing feeling of satisfaction and relief that your to-do list is slowly getting smaller. Also, the amount of happiness it brings when you have ticked off everything you have to do is definitely such a good feeling and it is so amazing to know you have finished and you can now relax! Each time you tick something off, it motivates you to get the whole list done.

Schedules work in the same way, as you go through the day, there are less and less things for you to do and it makes you feel gradually more satisfied that you’re coming to the end of your work!

Pro tip: however, it is important to be realistic, if you set a to-do list with 15 things on it, it looks less appealing and you are less likely to do it. go for realistic lists that are long enough to keep you busy but small enough to manage!

TIP #3 BREAKING DOWN BIG TASKS INTO SMALLER ONES

This is actually quite simple and original but also helps massively and perhaps one of the most amazing things ever. If I have a massive chunk of homework for a subject, breaking it down into smaller tasks makes my life so much easier and saves me so much agro. 

Of course it isn’t always possible to break it down if your deadline is two days after it is set - but you can always break it down into two halves which makes tackling it seem a lot easier. 

I know some of my friends really don’t like doing this because they would rather just get it done and out the way, but if you are someone like me where motivation needs to hit me like a truck before I get work done, this can be a really good way to tackle projects and homework and isn’t as stressful. Whilst it might take slightly longer due to the breaking up of tasks, I actually find this more productive and makes things so much more manageable so I actually feel like I want to do the small task instead of the one large one. 

I break up the tasks and schedule these broken up tasks on my to-do list. For example, instead of reading a whole chapter and taking notes from my history books, I will just write ‘take notes from page X to page Y’ and it completely changes my frame of mind and makes me more positive.

TIP #4 DO THE TOUGHEST TASK FIRST

You probably must be thinking something like, ‘Jess you must be mad! why on earth would you do the hardest task first thats just the worst idea ever?!’ but honestly, this is something that can really change your mood and uplift you for the rest of the day - honestly, this tip works!

I completely understand that in a morning the first thing you are not going to want to do is that physics homework that entails you doing 3 pages of questions on oscillations and harmonic motion. However, doing the hardest task / things you don’t want to do first, not only makes you tackle it with a fresh mind after waking up (or after a break from school or whatever it is you were doing), but also afterwards, you feel more confident and motivated to get the rest of the things done which are more enjoyable and is actually more motivating because you have got the worst thing out of the way.

You also don’t want to not do it and then set it for another day, when you are probably going to procrastinate getting it done. Get it out of the way!

We all know that leaving an assignment you really don’t want to do until last is perhaps the worst thing you can do, as you take one look at it and decide you have had enough and need a break or some sleep. Prioritising this first means that you can get everything done without leaving the thing you didn’t want to do. 

TIP #5 YOUR SUCCESSES ARE IMPORTANT, BUT THINK ABOUT YOUR FAILURES TOO!

This one is a great one to bare in mind and this really applies to me at the moment and is actually where my main source of motivation has come from since the 18th August (results day!).

For me, getting great results is a massive success, and receiving results such as A’s and B’s makes me very very happy and much more motivated. It gives me a spark of inspiration to keep going to make sure that I keep that up! Whilst I know grades aren’t everything, they are really important to me and so this is why when I get very good results, they motivate me to keep me going to achieve more - and it ends up in a cycle!

However, whilst good grades motivate me to carry on performing at my best and to keep working hard, it is important that I understand my failures too, and so should you. A failure for me isn’t a specific grade as such, but where I am disappointed at myself for getting something or knowing I didn’t perform as well as I should have, or an unexpected failure as I thought I had done better than I did.

From these failures/mistakes, these also motivate me to do better next time, or to focus on improving myself and my technique to be the best I can be. Failures/mistakes can make you more motivated than what your successes can, because it motivates you to find areas of improvement and work hard and improve techniques so that you can get to where you want to be - you can get to that goal! 

Successes and failures are so important in receiving motivation. Not only do they provide you with something to keep you going, but they build you as a character and I think that is a lovely thing!

TIP #6 MAKE USE OF YOUR CREATIVITY

I find that since joining the studyblr community, I have found really nice ways to be creative and to make my notes look neater and more appealing for me to look at. This might seem to be such a silly little tip, but drawing simple doodles or fancy titles really motivates me. 

Whilst making my notes look more aesthetically pleasing takes slightly longer, I find it calms me with anxiety as I am being creative whilst I am working and it is a really great way for me to stay relaxed. So not only does it bring me motivation, but calms my anxiety too! Killing two birds with one stone!

This point doesn’t really apply when I am revising, a fancy title will probably do; and also when I am taking notes in class, I never bother; but when I am going over things or making flashcards, it helps to make things look more appealing so I am more likely to pick them up and go for them and learn. 

Some might disagree that this would actually make them less inclined to do work, but if you need to alleviate stress, get motivated or just want to make your notes look nice, then this could be for you!

TIP #7 BREAKS AND REWARDS!!

Breaks and rewards give you so much motivation whilst you are doing your work! I study and revise probably more than what is healthy, and so I like to make sure I have a nice break whenever I can because I work myself very hard. Sometimes, something can take me about 2 hours and so a half an hour to an hour’s worth of break can really help me before I start something else. 

You can try having a break every 45 minutes, every hour or two hours; but make sure your break really puts your mind at ease before you start work again. You need to make sure you give your brain a good rest. 

You can have a break or reward yourself by having a nice shower, going for a walk or to the gym, cooking, having a coffee and a biscuit, meeting up with some friends, going on social media, having a nap - whatever it might be, as long as you have that break you will feel so much more refreshed after! It also motivates you to get things done so you know you can have a break after you have finished your task and makes you feel compelled to finish it so you can relax!

TIP #8 GET HELP ALONG THE WAY

This is actually a really important point and can help maintain motivation in the long run. Getting people to help you can be a really good way to stay motivated. Tell people, such as your friends and family, about the goals you have set for yourself or that you are struggling to stay motivated and ask them to help you. 

My friends sometimes study with me and help me with things I don’t understand which can help maintain my motivation. When I finally understand something or I go over things with my friends, it can make me feel more confident and uplifted that I know things and spurs me on. Letting family know about your goals also helps them support you which is a really significant part of motivation, because if no one is there to support you, the will to carry on eventually disintegrates and you don’t want that! 

Make sure that you do have some support, whether it be from friends, family or the studyblr community, but ensure you are surrounded by people who can motivate you and who can help you along the way so that you can achieve these goals and keep you on target! Sometimes, motivation doesn’t come from the things you do, but from the environment that you’re in - which is why support and help is such a good source of motivation!

That is the end of the tips I have on how to stay motivated. Hopefully they are good starting points for you all! Let me know if you try any of these tips for a while and tell me if they have helped you, it is always nice to see what people think and if these things work - remember if they don’t, that everyone is different and different things work for different people!

你的过错应该成为你的动力，而不是借口。

Your mistakes should be your motivation; Not your excuses.

不要在畏惧中失去自我。

Don’t lose yourself in your fear.

自信是成功的第一秘诀。

Self-trust is the first secret of success.

Today I’d like to talk about something that I was taught as a student of music that I think could be relevant for language learners. It’s something a teacher told one of my teacher’s who in turn, passed the knowledge down to me.

It’s all about raising the ceiling and raising the floor.

So what do I mean by this?

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that your language ability is a room. The ceiling is the highest potential you’re capable of when the situation happens to be just right and everything is fresh in your mind. The floor, on the other hand, is the worst you may do if things don’t turn out the way you planned, let’s say, for example, the person you are speaking with has an accent you don’t understand or they don’t reply in the way you might have expected, or the environment you’re in is noisy and you have trouble hearing the other person clearly, leaving you at a loss.

When it comes to deciding just what you’ll study, you have two options. You can raise the ceiling or you can raise the floor.

Defining the Ceiling and the Floor in Language Learning

When you look at your language ability as having a ceiling and a floor, the ceiling height is determined by how well you can access the material you already know in a language (your active knowledge in the language) and the floor is determined by your total knowledge in a language (this includes things you know both actively and passively).

Active knowledge in a language is that which you are able to use when speaking or writing without any reference. It includes the words and grammar rules that you can actively recall. Your passive knowledge in a language, however, are the words and grammar rules that you’ll recognize upon hearing or seeing, but may not have come up with on your own when speaking or writing. If you’ve ever had an experience where you found yourself saying “oh yeah, that’s what that word is” or “that’s right, I forgot that’s how to conjugate that verb in that tense”, that’s your passive knowledge at work.

How to Raise the Ceiling

The ceiling, or your active knowledge in a language, is raised by reviewing and further instilling the material you’ve already learnt in your target language. I wrote a post last month covering how to work on the things you already know in a language, but I’d like to touch on it a bit more today. So how do you raise the ceiling?

Give the Material You’ve Learnt a New Context // If you’ve primarily worked with one or two sources to learn your target language, throw a completely different method into the mix. So let’s say, for example, that you’re learning Korean and that your focus has been on working through vocabulary on Anki, studying with Flashcards, and listening to audio lessons on KoreanClass101. For a quick change, try watching a free television show on Hulu or Drama Fever with the subtitles while taking notes on phrases you think will be useful or by jumping onto HelloTalk to chat with fellow Korean speakers. The more places you see vocabulary or grammar patterns pop up, the more likely you are to remember them. Giving your target language a new context can do a lot to help you retain some of what you’ve learnt elsewhere.

Speak Your Target Language // One of the best ways to maintain your knowledge of a language active is to speak it. The improvisation required as part of a conversation will not only help you keep your vocabulary active, but it might also do the double duty of raising both the ceiling and the floor (if the person you’re speaking with helps you out with any corrections). Don’t play your conversations safe, though! To really maximize this language learning tool, make a point of using new words or phrases appropriate to the conversation. It will help them transition over from your passive knowledge into your active knowledge.

Start Reading in Your Target Language // Another way to keep your target language fresh is by reading material in the language. There is a lot to choose from here – you can check out graded readers, translations into your target language, kids books, comics, articles, short stories and even books originally written in your target language. An important thing to keep in mind, especially if you’re not a huge fan of reading, is not to force yourself to read something you wouldn’t read in your native language. If you have no interest in biographies or the news, but you enjoy gossip columns and comics, steer clear of the former and indulge in the reading material you enjoy in your target language. The Language Reading Challenge I’m currently hosting is a great way to get started with this method!

Turn the Subtitles Off When Watching Film or TV // Even if you don’t understand everything that goes on in the film, you’ll find you pick up quite a bit more watching film and tv without subtitles. When we watch tv with the subtitles on, we tend to focus on what’s written and block out part of what we’re hearing.

Start Free-Writing in Your Target Language // One way you can help keep your vocabulary active is by free-writing in your target language. This can take the form of journaling, letters, short stories, poems, etc. It doesn’t really matter and no one else has to see what you write (unless you want them to, of course). Free-writing is a nicely balanced challenge – you have a bit more time to think about the words that you want to use than in a conversation, but you also don’t want to spend too much time thinking about which words you want to use because you’ll lose the flow of writing (and maybe even your train of thought).

Translation // This is another tool that you can use to raise both the ceiling and the floor because even if you can freely translate a good portion of the text, there’s a really significant chance that you’ll need to look a couple things up.

Listen to the Radio, Podcasts, or Songs in Your Target Language // If you need to reference a transcription or a translation of the audio, try listening to it alone at least once, first. After you take a look at the transcription or translation, listen to it again without reading along to see just how much your comprehension has increased. Finally, if you have the time and energy to do it a third time, you can listen while reading along.

How to Raise the Floor

Pickup a Coursebook in Your Target Language // But first, make sure it contains material that is above your level. There are a ton of fantastic coursebooks available in most languages and they often cover a wide range of vocabulary and grammar. The coursebook that I personally enjoy is Assimil.

Use Dual Language Readers // When you’re not quite ready to dive into reading material entirely in your target language, dual language readers can be a really great asset. I personally prefer side-by-side dual language readers because I cannot see the translation just below what I’m reading and I therefore try a little harder to figure it out on my own before jumping over to the next page for the translation, but you can use whatever you’re comfortable with. 

Watch TV Shows or Movies in Your Target Language with Subtitles // I have picked up quite a few useful expressions watching film and tv in my target language, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I hadn’t been watching with the subtitles on. When I watch foreign films without subtitles, I’m so concentrated on catching the things I do understand that I often totally miss new material. Subtitles, however, give me that extra little bit of help that increases the odds I’ll pick up a few new things.

Take Notes // Whenever you’re working with a resource, whether it is a textbook, a course, a teacher, or a podcast, take notes. There are studies that have shown we retain information better when we write it out by hand, and I’ve found it to be true in my own experience.

Learn the Words to Your Favorite Songs and Then Find Out What They Mean // It’s one thing to look up the lyrics to your favorite songs in your target language, but it’s another to spend the time translating them. In addition to being a fun way to learn your target language (and improve your accent), song lyrics often tend to include creative and more colloquial language than sources like textbooks, so listening to popular music can be a fun way to pick up new words.

Spend Some Time with Flashcards // Flashcards are a great way to study new vocabulary and my personal favorite. A few years back I wasn’t a huge fan, but now that I use Memrise and Anki, studying flashcards has become a much more efficient part of my learning routine.

Do you need to raise the floor or the ceiling?

If you find yourself constantly tripping over things that you “should” remember or that “you know you know”, then it’s likely time for you to raise the ceiling. On the other hand, if you find that you have a pretty good recollection of the material you’ve worked on and you’re feeling you’ve hit a bit of a plateau, you might need to raise the floor.

In a perfect world, the floor and ceiling would meet. In reality, we’ll never really be able to actively remember every bit of information we’ve learnt. And that’s totally okay. As long as you have clear goals in mind and you’re taking the steps you need to in order to keep moving in the right direction, that’s really all that matters. 

There will be days where we’re frustrated with our progress, but there will also be days where things go smoothly and it makes everything worth whatever frustration we may have felt. 

An important thing I’d like to point out before I close out this article is that self-evaluation is an important step to figuring out how you’re going to go about your studies. Having the ability to look at what your doing and take note of whether it’s working for you or not is critical to your progress. If you find a certain study technique isn’t working for you, stop spending time on it and look for a way that works better for you. If you find other techniques are helping you make huge strides in your learning, see if there’s a way you can spend more time on them!

There are, of course, plenty more ways to either raise the floor or ceiling (or to do a little of both at the same time), so I’d love to hear about the ways that you improve your active and passive knowledge in your target languages! Leave me a note in the comments below!

The post How to Become a Better Performer in Your Target Language appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

每一個故事都會結束，但是生活中，每一個故事的結束同時也是一個全新的開始。

Every story has an end, but in life, every ending is a new beginning.

用爱心互相宽容。

Bear with one another in love

你好！hello! so this is my first masterpost and i decided to make a masterpost on chinese since i am currently learning chinese and have been since i was around 5. i haven’t seen very many chinese masterposts here and hoped this will help every single one of you who are currently learning chinese or would like to start learning!! 

the basics:

chinese tools learn chinese - they have 31 lessons!

bbc learn chinese - several different sources

memrise - i’ve heard lots of good things about this site!!

quizlet - great for grammar, flashcards, i used this at school since my chinese teacher made sets for use to learn!

CCTV learning chinese - CCTV is a chinese tv broadcaster, this has a lot of videos you can watch

mandarin chinese pinyin chart with audio - awesome chart of pinyin and tones

you could also find a chinese ethnic school near you, this is what i did but i know many non-chinese who choose to go to a chinese school since you are surrounded by others who are also at your level and you have a teacher in person to teach and guide you. having native chinese speakers around you is definitely helpful and it will help you develop listening and speaking skills! :)

apps:

learn chinese - chineseskill  [ android | ios ] free

learn chinese - hello chinese [android | ios ] free

skritter [ android | ios ] free for a week, then you have to pay

pleco dictionary (the best thing ever honestly) [ android | ios ] free and there is a paying option but the free version is still good!

line dictionary [ android | ios ] free

laokang tone test [ ios ] free but no android version :(

shi zhi - learn characters [ android (this is a similar app and its cute!!) | ios ] the android app is free but ios app isn’t

dictionaries:

MDBG dictionary - has both a simplified and tradition character option and also you can draw the characters and they can recognize them

line dictionary - sometimes this site doesn’t work for me but when it does it is very useful!! also has a handwriting option

chinese tools

chinese text annotation - i’m not sure if this counts as a dictionary, however whenever you copy and paste or type a chinese paragraph into the box you can annotate the phrases and get the pinyin and the english meaning

google translate - ok i know this isn’t a very reliable translation option, however when you type a paragraph of chinese into it, it shows the pinyin which is v useful for those who need to write down the pinyin into their textbooks etc etc

other resources:

中外对话 china dialogue - read chinese articles for you to improve your reading skills and to find new vocab

slow chinese - another chinese article site where it also has audio and podcasts on itunes. slow chinese also translates not only into english, but german, french, portuguese and many more languages!! [podcasts]

music, movies & tv shows etc.:

myasiantv - other than korean dramas and movies, myasiantv offers chinese ones!!

最强大脑 the brain china - a game/talent show aiming to find people with exceptional brain power

非诚勿扰 if you are the one - a game/dating show, addicting :’)))

奔跑吧兄弟 hurry up, brother (aka. running man china) - running man is a very popular variety show in korea and now there is a chinese version based on the original version!

learn chinese now - youtube channel

chinese class 101 - youtube channel

tips:

try to make learning chinese fun!! watching tv shows in chinese with or without subs will definitely help you pick up on some vocab and pronunciation

engage with native speakers, if you have chinese friends, ask them to help you with conversation and pronunciation, don’t be shy!

try to use at least one word/phrase in a sentence each day, this will help you in future for making sentences

keep on practicing! i stopped learning chinese for 2 years and i actually lost a lot of vocab that i learnt and when i started again, it was hard to remember some of it ;A;

other language resources: 

language learning tips + resources by @study-ings 

free online language courses by @wonderful-language-sounds 

tips + tricks for learning a language by @ofminervas

chinese resources by @brbimstudying

ok this was a huge masterpost tbh but i hope i was helpful!!

ig: acadehmic

Turns and Steps, Explained (1/2)

Okay party people, after jumps and spins, are you guys ready to take your figure skating watcher know-how to its next level with turns and steps?

To avoid indigestion and to keep the post within not completely outrageous length I’m going to divide and conquer ‘em this time. This first post will cover the turns. A second post will follow to cover the steps and some additional interesting tidbits.

Before we get down to business, there’s one topic we must go over as a primer. I’ve actively tried to avoid mentioning it in the previous tech posts because according to my experience, bringing it up is a surefire way to turn off any spark of interest new fans / casual viewers might have in a skating discussion. However with turns and steps we cannot, repeat, cannot, circumvent this topic. So, let us talk about edges.

Now there are only 3 possible states a skater’s skating blade can be in at any given time on the ice: inside edge, outside edge, or flat edge. In order to tell them apart you just need to answer this question: is the blade leaning toward or away from the center of the skater’s body? If it’s toward, they’re on an inside edge, if it’s away, it’s an outside edge, and if it’s neutral, it’s a flat edge. Once we’ve established that, the next step is to check out the direction of the skate, is it backward or forward? Combining these two answers, you’ll get to whether it’s a forward inside edge, a back inside edge, a forward outside edge, or a back outside edge.

(In case you’re still wondering why you need to know all this stuff, well that’s because a turn is, by definition, a move in which the skater changes edges or changes directions or both, on one foot. A step is basically the same thing, but with a change of foot as well.)

Here’s an example on how to “read” edges: Yuzuru’s triple Axel at Skate Canada 2015. He entered the jump on an outside edge (note that since it’s a spread eagle, his left foot was on a forward edge and his right foot on a back edge). He moved to a forward outside edge on his left foot to take off for the Axel, finished 3.5 rotations in the air and landed on a back outside edge on his right foot. He transitioned out of the jump into another outside spread eagle and then changed edge midway to turn it into an inside spread eagle - pay attention to that subtle shift in center of gravity at the edge change. (And that, kids, is how you get a perfect score for your triple Axel.)  

Here’s the jump and transition in all of its real time glory to get your eyes some practice: 

With that done, we can move on to examine the 6 types of turns in figure skating. They are: twizzle, bracket, loop, counter, rocker, and three-turn. 

Keep reading