Heyo ! Update From School Lol Ive Had 4/5 Classes So Far Today And Im Overwhelmed. More Detailed Updates

heyo ! update from school lol ive had 4/5 classes so far today and im overwhelmed. more detailed updates to come later but for now im off to archaeology !! (very excited for this one)

chinese names

okay so i will be taking mandarin again at a new university soon, every professor/teacher i've had has asked us what our chinese name is or to make one. i dont even remember the one i used in my last class but wanna choose one ahead of time instead of from a random list the teacher gives can anybody help or give suggestions lol the only preference i have is that its gender neutral

Fun things to do for immersion in your target language

Some things you can do in your target language that are fun and make you care more than when reading a textbook:

Cook a traditional recipe

Find a video in your target language on how to cook something you like from somewhere that speaks your target language. The motivation here is obvious- if you don't understand the recipe you won't be able to make the dish. Watch it once to find out what the ingredients are, and again when making the dish. Use your dictionary of choice to help out if needed.

2. Play a video game

I prefer turn-based games with RPG elements as I get a mix of dialogue and utility words like save, menu, attack, etc. Right now, I'm playing Dicey Dungeons in Chinese and Pokemon SoulSilver in Japanese (hiragana only). The consequence here is obvious, if you can't navigate menus or choose the wrong attack, the game will be harder.

Hard mode: Find a server with voice chat in your target language where teamwork or communication is important. Any MOBA or MMORPG comes to mind. You'll learn to communicate on the fly, and you'll learn a plethora of the foulest swear words imaginable.

3. Share your personal interests with others

Learn to talk about things that you do that are unique to you. Standard language courses teach you words that tend to be generally used: eat, sleep, drink, etc. What about things that are of special interest to you? Chances are, you will use this vocabulary more often than the average person, and you will be more passionate about the subject- this leads to higher motivation to retain this specialized vocabulary.

Then post it wherever you want, or in a diary, or talk about it to a native speaker.

4. Learn to tell a joke

Recite and rehearse jokes you find funny. Jokes in other languages reveal so much about the underlying culture that can't easily be translated. By understanding how to tell a joke in another language, you will gain more appreciation for the language itself. The upshot here is that telling a joke comes with social risk, so you will have to build the confidence before delivering the joke.

Bonus: Foreign language puns are hilarious.

5. Listen to a local radio station

Local radio stations have it all- interviews, ads, music, traffic updates, and more. Many of these are available online, so no need to move to the city and pull out your FM receiver! What's especially nice about this option is that radio hosts tend to enunciate and use proper language. Even if you don't understand every word, the grammar and structure of the language will slowly ingrain itself.

This is the most passive of the immersion techniques I use, but I've found many songs I enjoy through local radio stations. Then, I take a deep dive into the song lyrics and learn them, which is much more active. The goal is to learn the lyrics and rehearse them until I can sing along with the music.

me vs an aesthetic choice

do i want cluttercore? mori? minimalist? dark academia???? yes. totally. all of the above.

can i have all of these at once? absolutely not.

forgot tumblr existed hello ! im currently going really hard on studying korean for the last bit of summer before i have to deep dive into mandarin reviews. hows everyone doing?

school updates !

first day things:

- 4 fire drills???

- found out i hate large classes

- archaeology prof: “why are you taking this class/what do you know about archaeology?” student: “i dont know anything i just thought this class would be about dinosaur bones and thought that was cool”

- there are so many people everywhere at all times, my cc was basically abandoned in comparison (hoping this is just a week one thing its super overwhelming, i couldnt even find a place to sit and study other than picnic benches outside)

- couldnt find the library part of the library? (there were tables and a service desk but i did not see bookshelves? must explore more)

textbooks:

apparently my financial aid won’t cover my textbooks at all. managed to find 2 in free pdf form, the last one was $110 at the school bookstore but i found it on amazon for $47 instead although it wont be here till the end of next week and i have an assignment due before then that requires reading 😭.

on another note though if anyone wants the drive with those 2 textbooks (theyre for biological anthropology, & dinosaurs: a natural history) im willing to share it! ill be compiling a drive with all the textbooks i use/can find throughout my program.

first impressions of my classes:

- was a half hour late for ethnomusicology and prof wasnt happy but i dont know my way around. not sure how i feel about it so far since i missed the whole intro

- dinosaurs seems like itll be fun. lots of neurodivergent vibes in that classroom and love that the prof posted multiple chapter slides early so im able to get ahead if i want to

- bio anthro… already know im gonna hate this one. the classroom is super dimly lit and too small to fit the amount of desks/students. there are two people teaching it and they constantly interrupt the other making it hard for me to follow and also hard to hear if im not right in the front of the class.

- cultural anthro should be interesting. prof seems chill and same for my classmates but why is it that all cultural anthro professors (at least the ones ive had/met) are actually economic anthropologists that put heavy emphasis on it in their classes? i dont want to learn economics lmao.

- archaeology!! very small class size and has a younger professor that focuses on historical archaeology of african diasporas in central/latin america. im most excited for this & dinosaurs personally.