Hiya! When You Get This, If You Want, Answer With Five Things That Make You Happy, Then Send It To The

hiya! when you get this, if you want, answer with five things that make you happy, then send it to the last ten people in your recent activity list. have fun! (- studycrim)

Okay, so...

1. The smell of early morning. Love it.

2. Corey Taylor's concerts.

3. Doing projects with my friends from studies, but only when they care about our work.

4. Making surprises to someone. I could collect the reactions like stamps.

5. Cosy evenings under the blanket with book, dog, quiet calm music and soft light.

hello there! i would like to ask if you know any sites where i can practice reading japanese? like news sites, manga sites, or sites that offer free e-books that are in japanese. and are there any japanese podcasts that i can listen to? thank you in advance for answering this question. it'd mean a whole to me!

Hey there! There are actually quite a few recommended sites for Japanese learners, so I’ll link them right now :)

Japanese IO – I’ve used this site quite a few times and I love the interface! The design is really sleek and “to the point,” so there’s no distractions from what you’re trying to do, which is practice reading Japanese. It also has a great library and look-up feature.

朝日学生新聞社 – This is the “kid’s version” of the more adult 朝日新聞社. If you don’t feel that you’re quite up for the adult version, test out the version geared towards kids. They have fewer articles, but there’s plenty for a learner to pick through.

NHK NEWS EASY – I’m almost positive this is one of the most famous ones for learners. It’s similar to Asahi’s kid newspaper – articles are condensed with easier kanji and vocabulary, and it’s geared towards children, so learners can spend some time combing through updated articles and testing their skills.

Yahoo! Kids – More short news articles geared towards easier-to-understand Japanese.

MATCHA – A fun magazine similar in style to NHK EZ.

Watanoc – Another magazine-type site with a variety of articles.

Traditional Japanese Stories – Get your hands on some easily printed Japanese stories that are told to children. Great for language skills and culture! Similar to English pop culture stories (like Cinderella and so on), Japan has its own fairytales that are occasionally referenced.

Fuku Musume’s Fairy Tale Collection – More stories!

World of チョコチョコ – These are beginner stories, but as you progress you can read other stories on this website.

EhonNavi – Read hundreds of Japanese picture books for free!

If you’re looking for more advanced content…

NHK – Japan’s national broadcaster. You can read articles as well as stream audio and video (may be blocked depending on location).

毎日新聞 – Moderate/left-leaning national newspaper

朝日新聞 – Left-leaning national newspaper

読売新聞 – Conservative national newspaper

東洋経済オンライン – A well-known business and finance magazine.

Project Gutenberg (Japanese) – Get access to a ton of out-of-print and classical books for free.

小説家になろう – A site where authors can publish their works online in exchange for reviews.

青空文庫 – Another site where you can get older and out-of-print novels.

University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative – Another place to access novels in Japanese for free (with the option to read them with furigana).

ComicWalker – Free manga from the publisher Kadokawa. There’s an app too!

最前線 – You can read some manga online for free.

コミコ – More free Japanese manga available here!

キナリノ – A woman’s lifestyle blog which covers fashion, cooking, decor, and more!

Magazine Lib – You can read PDFs of Japanese magazines.

1000文字小説 – A place where users can submit 1000 characters or less stories. 

I also highly recommend starting a Twitter (if you don’t already have one) and following Japanese accounts. I follow a lot of feminist and political accounts so that I’m learning words relevant to my interests, as well as interacting with people that are discussing topics of interest to me (i.e. women and their place in Japanese society).

If you’re curious, you can find me on Twitter at @sydney0313 :)

I hope this list proves useful to you! (And others.)

頑張ってください！

How to ACE the IELTS Test (Pt 2)

On the previous post I already tell you how to prepare for the IELTS test in the long term. In this post, like I promised before, I’m gonna tell you about the technical or the “how to” in preparing for the IELTS test. Oh yea, you also can check in here to see WHAT I REALLY DO IN PREPARING MYSELF FOR THE TEST. Okay, I think my keyboard just broke. Let’s get to it then!

2. Preparation (Short term)

First thing first, you have to decide whether you want to take the IELTS Preparation Course or you want to self-study. Well, since the preparation course is commonly known as a pricey program, then make sure if you have enough saving. If so, it’s better if you want to take the course. Otherwise, IMO it is enough to prepare for the test even only by yourself or so called self-study. 

For my first test, I only study by myself because I can’t afford to take the course all over again. So, what you’re gonna do in self study for IELTS test?

Make the action plan!

Make the schedulling about what you’re going to study for the first week, the 2nd week, and so on. 

Also, DO NOT FORGET to take the Simulation Test two or three weeks before the D-Day. By taking the simulation test you can measure in which skill that still need to be improved and also you can get the idea about how the situation going to be like in the actual test.

In my case, I practiced listening and writing for the first three weeks. Then, I forced myself to take the simulation test. If I need to be frank, I was not that in a good condition when taking the simulation test. I couldn’t get enough sleep the night before and I didn’t have my breakfast before the test. Not Good, yes. The result came out 4 days later. As can be predicted, I got 5,5. Utter shame, I know. 

Unlike the days before the simulation test, I begun to do my IELTS preparation seriously. I even push myself to study although I’m not in a good mood to study. For me, studying alone in my room can be not quite productive. So, I tend to find other places like cafes or library (as long as there are other people that have their own business too) to trigger my mood to study. Well, you know how your mind and body work, so you can get the idea about how to push yourself to study. :)

Here are the tips for the D-Day! Let’s roll!

1) Listening

The only key in listening test is you have to read or skim the question first before the audio begin to play. For me, I underlined every word that I thought become the keyword in the conversation. It was helpful.

I know, in listening section, we tend to zone out or somehow out of focus. It was also happened to me. But, hell. Do not let that ruin the rest of the listening test. Once you realize you can not find the answer from the conversation/monologue, forget it, and prepare to listen carefully the answer for the next question. 

What if you have no idea what’s the answer to fill the blank?

Do not leave any question blank, GUESS. Guess by the question context. You might get lucky. ;)

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: read the instruction first! Be careful about the rule of “two words only” or “no more than three words”. Also, the “F” or “False” and “T” or “True”, you have to know the rule first! You will lose point if you break the rule.

Oyea, be careful about the prural nouns! If the answer is “cars”, but you only write “car”, well, you know what will happen.

2) Reading

You know what they always say when it comes to the reading test?

Skimming and Scanning. Yes, YOU DO NEED  TO DO THESE.

For me, when the reading section begin, I directly read the question first, at least to know what’s the reading topic.

Then, I scan for name, year, number, or anything specific in the passage. I underlined them with pencil. For some people, they use a colouring pen like red, or other colors that stand out!

Afterward, I do the skimming part, reading in a full speed to know what’s the idea in each passage.

Gradually, you’ll get the idea and you’ll be able to answer the question.

The reading section is all about the time. Do not read anxiously and in rush, take your time. Take your time responsibly. For me I try to do the reading section in 15min, 20min, and 25min for each section (there are 3 section in reading test).

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: read the instruction first! Be careful about the rule of “two words only” or “no more than three words”. Also, the “F” or "False" and “T” or “True”, you have to know the rule first! You will lose point if you break the rule.

3) Writing

Well, this is the hardest part for me. Because I only got a 6 in this part. There are various type of the writing test task 1 (chart, table, graph, map, etc) also various type for task 2. The key is you have to practice in writing them all. I can not tell you much about this section. This section depends on yourself.

But, for me. First thing when it comes to writing test, do not directly write what’s on your mind! Brainstorming is what you needed. 

Also, pay attention to the grammar (you can find tons of books about grammar out there).

Use uncommon words (instead of “get”, you can try “obtain” or “acquire”, etc). Of course, you have to know the actual meaning of the words before you put them in a sentence.

Write systematically, from introduction to conclusion.

Use examples to explain about your main idea. It is helpful to reach the minimum words amount (150 words and 250 words).

Proofread! I didn’t get the chance to proofread my writings. So,yeah, it was my regret on the writing test. 

The only thing you have to do is practice, practice, practice!

4) Speaking

Many youtube videos can show you how to do the speaking test well.

For me, it was also my regret. The examiner’s voice was so low, I couldn’t barely hear it, also she was mumbling all the way the speaking test. So, yeah, IMO, I didn’t give my all during the speaking test.

The keys:

Try not to say “No”. Lie if you have to.

Because IELTS test is not about a lie detector test. It is about a test to measure your skill in English Language. 

Use examples to explain your opinion. 

Be fluent, therefore practice! Practice for any possible questions! 

Use unusual words.

Also, FOR GOD’S SAKE, DO NOT TRY TO REMEMBER THE ANSWERS!

Because the examiner will recognize it and in some point you will not sound fluent or in ease. So, don’t!

The last, of course, PRACTICE!

Well, I think that’s all about my short term preparation and the tips for the IELTS test. I managed to get 7, praise the Lord. 

I will update this post as soon I have some things to add. It’s enough for now I think. :)

Kick some ass, test takers!

May the force be with you.

Lots of love, AFS

Omg greek food, ohhh yaaas!!!

hiya! when you get this, if you want, answer with five things that make you happy, then send it to the last ten people in your recent activity list. have fun! (- studycrim)

well in no particular order: tea with milk, sunny afternoons, hanging out with friends, greek food and snuggling under a weighted blanket!!!! <3

Falling water

This pandemic situations cancel my plans for holidays, erasmus, ect. Now, in the middle of the year I feel soo lost. It's like looking at the time and it's a falling water. And you try to stop it or just catch it, but it falls through fingers.

I hate waiting for nothing. How I can plan whatever when I don't know that maybe my country will be closed in October. Who knows. No one. And that's the problem.

How do you deal with these problems?

omg how did you get 9.0 in ielts!!! this is so impressive! any advice?

Thank youvery much, Anon! Warning: long post is long. Also, disclaimer that I took theGeneral IELTS test, not academic, so the test subjects and tasks will beslightly different.

Generaltips:

Don’tstress out over not having studied enough. IELTS is an aptitude test, not aknowledge test. You can’t really “study” all that much for aptitudetests.

Read allinstructions very, very carefully (more on this later).

Explicitlyask native speakers you talk to to correct you when you make mistakes, even ifthey feel like it would be rude.

All capswriting is allowed on the sheets for listening and reading (or at least it wasat my test center), so if you, like me, write your lower case Ns and Us roughlythe same, this can help you avoid losing points.

This maynot be an issue for you, depending on where you are from, but make sure youwrite all numbers the way they are written in English. E.g. in German, a 1 isnot just a vertical line, but a vertical line with a nub on top, whichfrequently gets misinterpreted as a 7 by native English speakers, and everytime I’ve written a 7 the German way (with a short horizontal line through thestem at half height), English-speakers have asked me what the duck kind ofletter that is. *shrugs*

Forthe listening part:

Listen toa lot of podcasts, with varying accents. You want to train your ear torecognize words even if they are not 100% pronounced the way you’re used to.

Know thatall information is given in exactly the chronological order that it will bepresented in (aka the answer to the first question will be very early on in theaudio sample, before all the other answers.

You willonly hear each audio file once, so if you find that you missed the info forsome question (say you are looking at question 2, but you hear the answer forquestion 3), don’t panic. Mark the answer for question 3, continue listening closelyand mark the answers for 4, 5 and so on. Come back to question 2 when the audiois over and take your best guess.

Forthe reading part:

Read thetasks EXTRA CAREFULLY. In my test, some of them only allowed one answer, inothers it was “mark all applicable options”. Don’t get these mixed up. If thequestion allows more than one answer, there is almost certainly more than oneanswer.

Incontrast to the listening part, information in the reading part can be all overthe place.

They LOVEparaphrasing their questions in the opposite way of what’s presented in thetext. For example, the question may ask “Which style of clock became popular inthe middle of the 20th century?” when the text may say “FollowingWWII, most pre-war clock styles except for the Thingama-clock fell out offashion”.

Forthe writing part:

Trywriting a short letter and a short essay on anything, in order to get a feelingof how many lines it takes you to write 150 and 250 words in handwriting. Youwill almost certainly not have time to actually count your words, so if you caneyeball it by lines/pages, that will save you some time.

You haveto hit the minimum number of required words. Writing more is ok (unless it’sexcessive, as in, you write 500 words when you were supposed to write 250), butwriting less than required will cost you points.

Becareful to read the instructions. If they ask you to address specific details, makesure to address each specific detail.

Try notto repeat any phrase too often, brush up on your synonyms. E. g., “essential”,“necessary” and “obligatory” all mean roughly the samething and if you can use all three rather than say “necessary” threetimes, this will get you points.

On theflipside of this: if you are not 100% sure that a word means what you think itmeans or if it is really spelled as you think it’s spelled, don’t use it. Forexample, I know I’m almost bound to misspell the word “bureaucratic” wheneverI use it, so I would never have dreamed of using it in the test.

Also, don’tforce the synonyms beyond what’s reasonable, i.e. if the rest of your text isnon-technical, don’t just break out technical jargon just to avoid repetition.

Last but not least, remember you are not being graded on your opinions only on your presentation, e.g. if the essay topic is “Should marijuana be legalized?”, the examiners don’t care if you’re pro or contra weed. All they care about is that you can present both side of the argument in a structured manner and write a nice conclusion that makes some sort of grammatical and narrative sense.

Forthe speaking part:

Pick anyrandom topic that is appropriate to the test you’re taking (in my general testit was “beauty standards”, for example, while in an academic test itmight be… I don’t know… “grading systems” or something like that).Then set your stopwatch on your phone and try to talk about that topic for 2straight minutes.

The keyto the speaking test is to brainstorm very quickly and then be mentallyprepared to hit a roadblock. For example, before you need to talk for twominutes, you are given a piece of paper and a minute to think of what you willsay. Jot down quick buzz words, rearrange them if you need to. It doesn’t haveto be pretty. You’re not getting graded on your notes. Then, when they tell youto speak, take a deep calming breath and start talking.

If youare a fast talker, deliberately force yourself to talk slowly. I felt like Iwas talking at the pace of a snail and yet I was still done half a minute early.If something like that happens, if you lose your train of thought or you don’thit the time limit, quickly acknowledge it with a smile, pick something youalready mentioned and dive into more detail there. For example, my “twominutes” task was “describe a person you know who you think isbeautiful”. I had picked one of my co-workers, so when the instructor toldme I still had time left, I smiled and said “Oh my gosh, really? Well, asI said, she has this uncanny ability to look beautiful no matter what she does.For example, last Halloween, she dressed up as an old witch and let me tell you,even with the fake set of crooked yellow teeth and the wrinkles she stilllooked amazing!”

Remindyourself before the test starts that nothing you say in there has to be thetruth. You just need to say it like you mean it. My co-worker didn’t dress upas an old hag, but it made for a nice mental image that I could spend 30seconds describing.

A goodway to get some time to sort your thoughts in the dialogue part, and something that will also getyou points, is if you rephrase the question given to you or acknowledge itotherwise, then dive into an example. For example, the first question for me afterthe monologue was “do you think we place an unhealthy emphasis on aspecific beauty standard in our culture?” and I answered it with “Oh,I certainly do think there is a specific beauty standard, at least as portrayedby the media, and it is definitely unhealthy and in many cases even unrealistic.Take for example the traditional “flowing waves of hair”–that’salready ridiculously difficult to achieve for anyone with really straight hair,such as many Asian people, or people with very curly hair, like people ofAfrican descent. It’s a very biased standard.“

One lastthing, if you know you use a lot of filler sounds/words (“like”, “uh”, “so”, “well”,“anyway”), enlist somebody to help you with practice and keep track of howoften you say them. Let them show you the list at the end of your practice.Take a moment to quietly die of shame. Repeat the practice segment again, onlythis time, when you feel yourself hitting a mental block where you wouldusually use a filler, deliberately stop talking, take a deep breath, and try tocontinue in any way that is NOT a filler word. One or two seconds of pause arebetter than using “like” or “uh” every sentence.

Good luck!