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Sentence Mining Tool

If anyone else here likes to make Anki cards of sentences they come across, there is a tool called VocabSieve.

I’m currently using it for Hungarian and Russian and it works well. I install the add-ons and program. Then I double click on the sentence and it creates an Anki card with the definition and pronunciation. It has made vocab learning a bit easier :D It has a few more utilizations, but I haven’t tried them yet. Info about the program here Github page here

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There’s something about language classes that just allows people to ask really unsolicited personal questions that would be seen as weird in other contexts for the sake of education.

We were learning numbers, dates, and ages, so my teacher just started asking me a bunch of questions like “So how old are your parents? What is your dad’s birthday? What is your mom’s birthday?”

Tbh she could have asked me “What is your social security number?” and I probably would have answered that too.

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Free Resources to Learn Ukrainian

I have seen a few sites offer free materials to learn Ukrainian that aren’t the usual free resources.

For Polish Speakers

For German Speakers:

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birdylion

Hallo deutsches Tumblr!

Der Verlag Reise Know-How “verkauft” momentan das Buch Ukrainisch - Wort für Wort für 1 Cent als epub oder PDF.

And for the international folks on here: A german publishing house offers a language learning book for Ukrainian basically for free (1 cent). It might be worth checking out if publishers in your country / language have similar offers!

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Ideas I developed for my Bullet Journal! My journal is not fully focused on languages but I tried to mix a personal diary with language learning

 Hope it inspires you! IG: chiara.klara.claire

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Hi everyone, I’m back with another writing challenge for you! I tried my best, but please let me know if I had any repeats from last month. 

If you don’t know about this challenge: Want to maintain or improve your writing skills in your target language this summer? Try this 30-day writing challenge for June: Every day, answer the following prompts in your target language (in a personal journal or in a tumblr post). Good luck!

  1. Translate the first few sentences of your favorite book into your language (make sure to include the author and title!!).
  2. If you could live in any era (i.e. the roaring ‘20s), what would it be and why?
  3. Write a summary of your favorite TV show or movie.
  4. List 3-5 facts about your country (or your family’s country of origin).
  5. What are 5-8 songs that would be on your summer playlist? Translate their titles into your target language.
  6. Look up and list 3-5 slang terms in your language.
  7. Describe your favorite summer outfit.
  8. Name 3 things that have made you smile this week.
  9. Write today’s to-do list in your target language.
  10. How will you improve as a student next year?
  11. What is one goal you hope to achieve by the end of this month?
  12. Name a funny childhood memory.
  13. Where is your favorite study space? Why?
  14. Translate a few lines from a favorite song.
  15. Give a basic physical description of yourself (if you are posting online, protect your own privacy - don’t list anything super specific!!).
  16. Briefly describe some of your personality traits.
  17. What’s one nice thing that you’ve done for someone else recently?
  18. Why do you want to learn the language you are studying?
  19. List 3 useful phrases in your language (such as “Where is the bathroom?” or “There is an emergency.” I feel like we never learn these things in class lol)
  20. Name some terms and phrases that are specific to the career you are pursuing.
  21. Describe your favorite scene from a book, show, or movie.
  22. What would you do with $100? Why?
  23. What’s one good thing about the world in this day and age? What’s one bad thing?
  24. What are some things on your bucket list and why?
  25. What is one thing (food, a scent, a stuffed animal, etc.) that is nostalgic/brings back memories? Why?
  26. What is one thing that stresses you out, and what do you do to de-stress/avoid stress when you have to deal with that thing?
  27. Write a short letter to your past self (maybe 5 years ago?).
  28. What is your Myers-Briggs personality type? Describe it? Is it accurate?
  29. What is one worry/problem you have right now, and what are you doing/going to do to fix it?
  30. What is the nicest thing someone has said to you/about you?
  31. Favorite memory from this month?

If you participate in this challenge and post your prompt answers, make sure to tag me with #studyingsenseless or #writingchallengejuly ! I’ll be liking/reblogging them :)

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This is an interesting website I found to learn Lebanese Arabic.

"Language Wave helps you improve your Lebanese Arabic skills related to active listening, reading, vocabulary, and cultural context knowledge. The Arabic used is similar to what you might hear around you while sitting in a cafe in Lebanon and chatting with a local friend. We design the episodes to cover a variety of topics and language concepts to help you learn the dialect and be more confident while using it. We publish weekly episodes that include Lebanese Arabic audio content with transcripts, English translations, comprehension exercises, and vocabulary tables."

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Language Learning Ideas Printable

Here is a printable I made that I hope can help you out on your language learning journey. It has different activities based on how much time you have, as well as a checklist for frequent activities. By using it, you can see what works for you and what doesn’t. 

I tried to include as many things that many people can use, but some activities can’t be used by all language learners, unfortunately. The links to the website are clickable in the PDF file. I tested this myself and have even included a blank version if you prefer to write your own activities. Again, these are just some ideas for you to incorporate and I hope that they are useful.

Download Links: Dropbox

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espanhois

So, I’m an Anki user and I’m completely aware of how intimidating Anki can be upon first glance. Here are some Anki add-ons that can help make the experience a better one. Feel free to suggest your favorites as well!

  • Pokemanki: For each basic deck you have, this add-on gives you a Pokémon egg, and it grows stronger as you review. I am a huge Pokémon fan, so this is a necessary add-on in my opinion.
  • Migaku Vacation: This add-on lets you take sick days and vacations from your Anki reviews, to not make the process so overwhelming if you miss a day.
  • Anki IPA: Haven’t personally used this one yet, but as a linguist it’ll be super helpful for French. It transcribes your cards into IPA instantly! Only a handful of languages are supported, so check it out. 
  • Pull from Duolingo: This will take words you’ve learned so far in your Duolingo course and make them into cards! Definitely great for those beginning stages of a language when you aren’t sure how to make your Anki deck.
  • Puppy Reinforcement: Nice puppies tell you you’re doing a good job :)
  • Anki Simulator: This one lets you simulate your progress. I like looking at shiny graphs, so if you do too then this is for you.
  • Migaku Spanish: This add-on features audio recordings, color coding for grammatical gender, and a dictionary. It’s also available for French and Portuguese and - I think - German, if I’m not mistaken.
  • Beeline: It adds gradients to text to make it easier to read. Helpful for long blocks of text!
  • Beautify Anki: Are you tired of the boring grey background of Anki? This is one of your options. It’s an attempt to make the interface a lot more friendly-looking.
  • Randomize Fonts: I literally had ZERO idea why you would use this one for fun, but one of the reviews pointed out it’s good for identifying words in different contexts, and if you are learning a language that uses a script that isn’t what your native language is written in, this could definitely be cool!
  • Anki Accountability 2: Allows you to generate a report to send to someone about your consistency with your reviews. Could be useful among a competitive group of friends, or for language teachers who would like to implement use of Anki in the classroom!
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