Tumgik
sveta-studies · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
pretty buildings - august 2022
11 notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 2 years
Text
mental health tips
{day 12 of #wilstudiesfeb}
for bad days
get some sunlight
workout
have a warm drink
sink into your hygge
create something, the world needs more creators
call someone and vent
watch some vine compilations
take a luxurious bath (or shower if they’re more your thing)
wear something comfortable
colour in a colouring book
doodle
scroll through some positive reminders on tumblr or pinterest
important ~ daily
make sure you’ve eaten in the last 6 - 8 hours
make sure you’re hydrated
how long have you been sitting still for? have a stretch.
set alarms for any medication that needs to be taken. seriously, it only takes a matter of seconds, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
small things to do if life is going smoothly
meditate for 10 minutes
call a loved one
cook a nice breakfast
moisturise
brush your hair
smell something nice whether it’s a candle, bodyspray or a plant.
drink some more water
improve your posture
research what you can do to help the world
change your sheets
make your bed
open your windows, let some fresh air in
kiss your body, caress your body. love yourself.
delete conversations between people you no longer talk to.
reminders
“you are allowed to be proud of the little things you achieve; like becoming better in a video game, baking really good pancakes or just getting out of bed today - not everything you do has to be world changing” - @gentle-reminder
“Don’t ever do something simply because someone else forces you into it. At times, people may try to make you do things that you may not want to do. However, you must respect yourself and only contribute to what you feel comfortable with doing.” - @thepowerwithin
“There will be other tests. Other assignments. Other jobs. But there might not be another chance to dance with your sister on her wedding day. You may never get another opportunity to sing along to all your favourite songs at a concert. There are no guarantees. So, forget the test. Miss the assignment. Skip the work day. Life isn’t made by those things. It’s made by living. By experiencing and enjoying every thing we can while we’re still here.” - @ifthenightcouldtalk
“Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.” - @psychofactz
I have so so so many more tips that I’d love to share, so perhaps I’ll make a part two next month aimed at a different audience, who knows? In the meantime feel free to ask me for advice or send me a message if you ever need anything! I’ll leave you with a sweet little meditation gif below :3
Much love xx -wil
Tumblr media
14K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
312 notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
<j q x> and <zh ch sh>: an in-depth pronunciation guide
Help! I can’t pronounce <j q x>! AM I FOREVER CURSED??
No! You shall rise from the void of bad pronunciation! The gleaming ladder of linguistics beckons and shall guide you to success!
Alright, let’s go! 
This, below, is your mouth! (simplified, in paint, please use your imagination) The pointy bits are your teeth - the dangly bit at the back is your velum. The bits that are relevant for us today are the alveolar ridge, post-alveolar space and the palate. 
Tumblr media
<j q x> are all technically ‘alveolo-palatal’ sounds. Your alveolar ridge in your mouth is the bit behind your teeth that is very hard, before it goes upwards and gets softer. Your palate is divided into your hard palate and soft palate - the hard palate is the bit that burns when you eat pizza! 
Alveolar sounds in English are /t d s z n l/ etc - feel how your tongue is tapping off that hard ridge in the first two. We just have one palatal sound in English, made when your tongue approaches the hard palate - <y>, which is usually written /j/ in linguistics. (<this> means spelling, and /this/ means phonemic pronunciation). 
Post-alveolar sounds are sounds which are made when you retract your tongue a bit from the hard alveolar ridge. We have quite a few - /ʃ/ as in ‘shot’ <sh>, /ʒ/ as in ‘vision’ <s>, /tʃ/ as in ‘church’, and /dʒ/ as in <j>, ‘jam’. Congratulations, because these all exist in Chinese! If you’re a proficient English speaker or your language has them, pinyin <zh> , <ch> and <sh> should be straightforward (though <sh> especially is a little bit more retroflex, i.e. your tongue curled back, than the English). T
Tumblr media
Alveolo-palatal sounds are made with your lips spread wide, with the back of your tongue raised to your palate (like in <yes> as in ‘yes’) and the tip of your tongue resting along the back of the teeth. 
Tumblr media
Compare the two pictures. The first is the pronunciation of the post-alveolar sounds, so pinyin <zh ch sh>, and the second is the pronunciation of <j q x>. Notice how in the second picture the body of the tongue is much higher, and the tip of the tongue isn’t curled back, but resting behind the teeth. 
In the picture for the English sounds above, please note that this isn’t totally accurate - Chinese <zh ch sh> as well as <r> are more retroflex - they are pronounced with the tongue curled further back in the mouth - but while your accent may sound ‘off’ if you pronounce them in the English way, it’s close enough that it’s unlikely to be mistaken for anything else, so we’ll leave it there for now. The picture below shows the difference. 
Tumblr media
In pinyin, <j> <q> and <x> are written with separate letters to <zh> <ch> <sh>. This is really helpful for us, because they are different sounds, but technically speaking we could write them all the same. What?? Because they are actually linguistically speaking in complementary distribution with each other. 
Think about it. 
Do you ever say ch+iang or q+ang? Or q+an or ch+ian? Or pronounce ch+u with the German umlaut vowel ü, or q+u with the normal <u>? You never do!
The consonants <jqx> and <zh ch sh> are always followed by different vowels to each other. Knowing these vowels will help you tell them apart in listening, and aid you, eventually, in production.  
Look at this diagram below of standard Chinese monophthongs (single vowels). The pointy bit is the front of our mouth, and the lines represent height and ‘backness’. The dots are where the highest point of your tongue in your mouth is when you pronounce the vowel. We only need to worry about <u> and <y> for now. 
The /u/ is the <u> we get after <zh ch sh> - e.g. chū. This is familiar to most people with knowledge of Romance languages - it’s a long, clear sound without any change of the vowel (careful native English speakers; we’re not very good at this one). The /y/ is the German <ü> or French <u>. 
The /I/ here is the high ‘ee’ sound that we get in qi, ji, xi etc. This sound doesn’t exist after <zh ch sh>, but also <s r>. Instead, we have what’s often analysed as a ‘syllabic consonant’ - if you think about it, there really isn’t much ‘vowel’ in 是 shì or 日 rì. The first is just a long <shhh> sound - but this is a complex topic best left for another day. 
Tumblr media
Why do we get the high sounds (if you make the sounds in your mouth, you can feel that ‘eeee’ and ‘üüü’ move your tongue higher up than the other two) after the alveolo-palatal consonants and not the others? If you remember, <y> or /j/ as in ‘yes’ is a palatal consonant. This sound is actually incredibly similar to that high ‘eee’ - try saying ‘eee’ and then ‘ehhh’ (as in ‘yes’) and notice that when you switch vowel, you automatically say a <y> sound without even trying. If you are making a palatal sound like <y>, or like <j q x>, your tongue is already in the position to make <ü> and high ‘ee’ very easily. And humans are lazy - it’s much easier to follow a consonant with a vowel that’s in the same place, than to change the place completely. Technically speaking this is called ‘ease of articulation’. So when we want to say <qu>, the <u> gains some of the characteristics and is pronounced more similarly to the <q>. 
And if you think about the rest of the pinyin table - this pattern of <q j x> being associated with ‘high’ vowels doesn’t stop with <u> and <i>. You get <chang>, but you don’t get <*qang> (* means ‘wrong’), but <qiang> with an extra palatal <y> /j/ sound in there. You get <zhang>, but not <*jang>, but <jiang>. You get <shang> but <xiang> etc etc. There are essentially no overlapping areas where only the consonants and different, but the vowels are the same. This is hugely helpful for learning to recognise the difference between the two sets of consonants, and also for people understanding you, the terrible, unforgivable second language learner - since there are no contexts in which the two sets can be confused with each other, as long as you pronounce the vowel afterwards correctly, what you want to say should be clear. 
With that in mind, let’s get onto the actual pronunciation!
This is where you want to pronounce <x>. It’s similar to, but not quite the same as, the German palatal fricative written <ch> as in ‘ich’ (NOT as in ‘ach’), so if you have this sound in your inventory, you’re already winning! When you pronounce <sh>, the body of the tongue (the middle bit) is sunk down quite low; when you pronounce <x>, you need to raise the tongue towards your palate (the ‘palatal’ bit of the sound) and bring the front of your tongue under the back of your teeth, almost like you’re going to whistle. It’s helpful for all of these to put your tongue behind your lower front teeth, though you can also make the sound with it behind your upper front teeth as in the diagram below. 
When you say <x>, without any vowels following it, it should sound higher pitched, and your lips should be spread wide. When you say <sh>, it sounds lower pitched and your lips are not stretched - in fact, they’re bunched. Watch videos of native speakers pronouncing them in isolation, and try to copy their mouth shapes. 
Tumblr media
<j> vs <q>
Most people can get away with some approximation of <x> because of the difference in vowel sounds, and while it may be wrong, if the rest of your pronunciation is ok, it won’t make a huge difference to people’s understanding of you. Many people, however, struggle hugely with <q> and <j> - and there’s no handy vowels to tell these apart. 
First: Chinese doesn’t make the distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants like many languages like Spanish or Russian, but instead between non-aspirated and aspirated consonants, a little like English. This means that English natives often actually sound more natural when they are pronouncing te de or bo po than other foreigners. For speakers of languages without this aspiration difference (the difference between a consonant with a puff of air and without), this is difficult to get used to, but doesn’t usually cause difficulties with comprehension. What it does mean, though, is that the biggest difference between <q> and <j> is aspiration - <q> is aspirated, while <j> is not. Hold out your hand and try to feel the difference. You should feel a thin stream of air hit your hand in consonants like <t p q>. 
Youtube for practicing:
Grace Mandarin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05BMKdxHjp8 Mandarin Blueprint - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxIL11PcNXE Yoyo Chinese - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K1RTPxWiI0
BUT - BUT IT’S STILL SO HARD!!! HOW CAN I MAKE IT EASIER??
Firstly, this vowel difference afterwards is incredibly important. Your pronunciation won’t be CORRECT if you only make this vowel difference, but it will go a LONG way towards helping you a) distinguish the correct pronunciation of other speakers, and b) copying them more accurately. What we’re all doing now, as second language learners or learners who have grown up without as much input as we’d like, is retraining our brain to the contrasts that are important. English doesn’t have a contrast between <q> and <ch>, or <sh> and <x>, so naturally if you’re a monolingual native English speaker it’s going to take some time. Be patient with yourselves. When we’re very young babies, we can make a difference between all phonemic distinctions in the world. And then at about 10 months we just lose that ability essentially instantly, because we’ve already established which contrasts are important and which aren’t. That’s not to say kids can’t learn it - because they clearly do - or adults can’t, but that you are LITERALLY RETRAINING YOUR BRAIN.
 It’s not just about where to put your tongue, how to shape your mouth. Our brains are effective - they only store which information is necessary for the language, nothing extraneous. Technically speaking the /k/ in <kit> and <car> are two very different sounds, and in some languages they count as different phonemes and are written with different letters - but you probably never even noticed they were different at all! Because in English, all the extra information that says ‘this sound is pronounced more palatal’ and ‘this sound is pronounced more velar’ just doesn’t matter. So when you’re trying to learn these contrasts that don’t exist in your native language, it doesn’t matter if you can make the sound correctly once. What you actually need to do is convince your brain that every single time you hear or pronounce <j q x zh ch sh> you need to pay attention to contrast it previously filed under ‘not important’.
Lastly: be kind to yourself!!!
This takes babies about 10 months to get down - 10 months of solid, constant input with caregivers that are very focused on them. And you’re fighting how your brain has wired itself to disregard that contrast. How can you fix this? Input. INPUT IS KING. You need to present your brain with enough Chinese, enough different voices and speakers, to make it realise that there’s a crucial, important difference between all <qiang> and <chang> and so on. This will take time, but as long as you have enough input you’ll get there. But be kind to yourself. YOU ARE RESHAPING YOUR BRAIN. 
加油!
- 梅晨曦
177 notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
Ways to Track Language Learning
Some people like to log their language learning time. I only sporadically track my time if I'm trying to set a certain goal for that month, but here are the different methods I have used and maybe they'll be useful to you.
1. Toggl
You can set a language or activity as its own color and get different charts for different time periods/tags.
Tumblr media
2. Polylogger
This is app is somewhat similar to LingoJournal, but it has a social aspect as well since you can follow other users and congratulate them on their learning. (image not my own)
Tumblr media
3. LingoJournal
This app is very detailed in tracking your language learning. You can track by reading/writing/speaking/listening and then break it down into even more activities. It also has goals and how you can reach them, as well as a streak. This is only one of the many graphs of your data.
Tumblr media
4. Google Sheets
You can get a pre-made sheet to track your studying time, but I prefer to use it to track new words learned from my reading.
Tumblr media
5. Notion
You can make a checklist for each week such as with this template.
Tumblr media
6. Forest App
You can track each language or activity learning session in the app and then get a nice graph and forest of your activities.
Tumblr media
7. Bullet Journal
This is my preferred way of tracking as I like to make a list of goals and then see how much of them I actually complete :)
Tumblr media
711 notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Note
yooo how do u email a prof for a recommendation letter?
Hi Professor!
I am in the process of applying to ____ and they require letters of rec. I sincerely enjoyed your classes, and felt that they gave me a particularly good chance to display my strengths, such as ____ [class participation, writing, etc.] and would love for you to write me a letter, if you’d be willing. The due date is ____, and I can send you further instructions for submission later if you accept.
Attached to this email is ____, the piece of work I did in your class which best showcases my abilities, as well as my current CV [or resume]. If you agree to write me a letter, soon I will also send you drafts of my ____ [statement of purpose, personal statement, application essays, other relevant material] for my application to aid in your writing. I am also happy to meet in person to discuss this with you.
I want to stress that this application is quite competitive, so if you feel you will not be able to write me a strong letter then I completely understand - but please let me know. Thank you so much for your time!
Sincerely, ____
a few notes:
- you should have all your relevant materials (app essays, etc.) sent to them *at least* a month in advance to give them ample time to write the letter
- thus, your initial email asking them if they’d be willing to write a letter for you should be sent *over* a month in advance. professors are busy
- if you are applying for a really prestigious position/scholarship/fellowship, or grad school, it’s best to have at least a majority of your letter writers be professors (rather than adjuncts or post docs). ideally you’d want them to be full/tenured professors. in lots of cases, especially academic ones, *who* writes your letter matters - not just *what’s in* your letter
- the reason you send them the piece of work you did in their class that you are most proud of is to remind them of your abilities as a student and the quality of the work you produced for them. they have lots of students. sometimes they need a bit of help jogging their memory of exactly what you did in their class.
- the reason you send them your other application materials (personal statement, statement of purpose, CV) is so that they have information to draw from when writing your letter. they know what you’re passionate about, what you hope to do in the future, other experience you have, and can use this information when writing your letter
- on a similar note, this is also why you’d want to list the strengths you displayed in their class
- basically, you want to give them as much information as you can about your strengths, goals, and intentions - give them prompts they can use to write your letter
- the bit at the end about asking for a “strong letter” is important because some professors can only write you mediocre letters (e.g. “this student was always on time to class and gave their undivided attention during lecture” - what does this tell admission committees? well, it tells them that the professor has nothing positive to say about your *academic* abilities and so they’re resorting to other strengths. it’s a polite way of saying “this student was okay, but not spectacular in any notable way”. big red flag for admissions committees.) if all you’re going to get is a mediocre letter, you might as well not get a letter at all
- if the professor you ask accepts, then be sure to send them polite reminders as the date approaches. (i usually send a reminder at the 1-month-till-due-date mark when i send the other application materials, and then again at the 2 week and 1 week marks, and, if necessary, every day after the final 3 days leading up to the due date
i know this was a lot, but i remember being in your shoes and being completely lost when it came to applying for stuff so i know how daunting it can be. i figured i’d just throw all this information at you to be of as much help as possible.
for reference, i’ve applied to graduate programs, fellowships, and scholarships. i have been accepted into several of the top 10 graduate programs in my area, as well as received multiple scholarships and a fellowship, and received honorable mentions for some of the most competitive fellowships in the US. i have also worked with the admissions committee at my graduate program to organize multiple informational events for those interested in applying to graduate school and, in the process, have learned a lot about what makes a strong application.
so while you should absolutely take my advice with a grain of salt (different circumstances call for different standards), i do have quite a bit of experience with applications and what makes a strong letter of rec.
i hope this helped! best of luck with whatever you’re applying for :)
9K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
Some words to use when writing things:
winking
clenching
pulsing
fluttering
contracting
twitching
sucking
quivering
pulsating
throbbing
beating
thumping
thudding
pounding
humming
palpitate
vibrate
grinding
crushing
hammering
lashing
knocking
driving
thrusting
pushing
force
injecting
filling
dilate
stretching
lingering
expanding
bouncing
reaming
elongate
enlarge
unfolding
yielding
sternly
firmly
tightly 
harshly
thoroughly
consistently
precision
accuracy
carefully
demanding
strictly
restriction
meticulously
scrupulously
rigorously
rim
edge
lip
circle
band
encircling
enclosing
surrounding
piercing
curl
lock
twist
coil
spiral
whorl
dip
wet
soak
madly
wildly
noisily
rowdily
rambunctiously
decadent
degenerate
immoral
indulgent
accept
take
invite
nook
indentation
niche
depression
indent
depress
delay
tossing
writhing
flailing
squirming
rolling
wriggling
wiggling
thrashing
struggling
grappling
striving
straining
1M notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
professor: ur research paper is due tomorrow
me:
Tumblr media
86K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
I feel that in the studyblr community nobody actively talks about the study environment some of us have, so shoutout to those students that:
• live with their parents (not everyone goes to college/uni where they have dorms, and even then, not everyone can afford it)
• have to deal with parents/family members constantly arguing in the background
• work / have to worry heavily about just getting by (paying rent, groceries, medication)
• need loud music to study and drown outside noises
• can not "study prettily" at coffee shops
• take care of other family members, and thus have to be ready to drop whaterever they are doing to assist them at any time
• can not concentrate or get "in the zone" no matter what they do
• do not have a personal computer/tablet
• do not have a room of their own
• are neurodivergent and the advice of most study masterpost/tips is not applicable.
You are valid, you are seen, you are not alone. If nobody has told you already: if you are trying the best you can then the best you can is good enough.
sincerely, a student who needed to hear this.
7K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
how to study with a mental illness!!!! aka a guide to simultaneously caring for yourself and your academics
(disclaimer: this is from purely personal experience and is not a substitute for seeking professional help. these are just personal tips as i was formally diagnosed with depression and anxiety in the third year of college, but had been showing symptoms even in high school. different methods help for different people, but i really hope some of these things can help a struggling student out, because one of the reasons i went on studyblr in the first place was that i felt really lost and anxious.)
1. done is better than none. sometimes an assignment you have to turn in would be objectively easy to complete, but it takes longer to do so because you’re afraid that the final product won’t be as good as you want it to be, or as good as a professor expects it to be. it’s hard to remove those expectations, but it is a little easier when you remember that getting some points (no matter how many they are) are better than getting a deduction for late submissions or not turning in the project at all. many people – including myself – suffer from perfectionism in university, but it is overall more important to complete something to the best of your own ability, and learn from the feedback on the project later on. more importantly, often, you’re doing better than you think you’re doing, so surprise yourself. you can do it. just start.  2.  keep careful track of your deadlines.  much of my undergrad anxiety came from the fact that i knew something was due, but couldn’t keep track of it, or didn’t want to confront it. it’s better to confront it because you have more time to do it slowly and thoroughly. as soon as you hear about an impending exam or paper deadline, keep track of it. personally, i use google calendar. from there, you can make smaller plans and break down your goals to make it more doable! 3. don’t be afraid to ask for help.  there used to be a huge stigma against mental illness, but thankfully, many educational institutions are much kinder and more considerate about it. if you really can’t meet a deadline or come to class, let your professor know. most professors are kind, reasonable people who genuinely care about you and your well-being. even one of my scariest professors granted extensions to a girl who was genuinely struggling with serious depression, and the college of law i’m in takes mental health very seriously to the point that they instruct faculty how to deal with such cases.  if you’re not able to talk to a professor, try to ask help from a classmate or a friend who can share notes or fill you in on how they accomplished a certain assignment. many people will be happy to help. you are not a burden, love. 4. be kinder to yourself.  mental illness is like any illness. it often keeps us from doing as well as we’d like to be because it’s a genuine and serious health problem. sometimes it helps to keep this in mind when we flub a report in class (as i did several tens of times in undergrad), get a bad score, say something ridiculous during recitation, or mess up a paper. it’s okay to do your best while you heal. you know you’re trying your best, and slow growth is still growth. 5. on that note, care for your other needs.  one of my happiest and most fulfilled semesters (even though it was my busiest) was when i had time to see a psychiatrist, run, pack lunches and fruit to school to eat healthy, and have a reasonable-ish sleep schedule. this was during my thesis semester. while i had to take an incomplete, and finish my thesis the next sem, because i was attending to my own needs, i felt like a living, breathing, learning, happy person. and i finished my thesis the next semester. it’s better to look after your own physical health and needs before your academics. 6. sometimes, it’s better to do nothing and rest. you deserve it.  part of the reason i’d been doing horribly in law school was that i didn’t sleep and it was making me mildly unbalanced and incredibly suicidal; not to mention the fact that i wasn’t really retaining any information or performing well. rest days are just as important as days when you study because rest IS productivity.  7. take your meds. see your psych or therapist if you have one. avail yourself of mental health services on campus if there are any. these genuinely saved my life at a time that i thought i was beyond saving. please go seek help if you can.  BONUS: MY STUDY SETUP ON A TERRIBLE MENTAL HEALTH DAY (like today) - i try to clear the space and clean up as much as possible. it makes me feel like i have things under control, and have my work things where i can see them. - i eat something healthy, like fruit, and get a lot of water. i keep a water jug on my desk because it clears my thoughts and helps me replenish the fluids lost from crying (1/2jk). it also really keeps up my strength for the study process. - i turn on a calming playlist, like a jazz or lofi or ghibli playlist. in another window, i turn on a rain sound video on a softer volume, and it helps center me. - it helps when you have a soft or calming scent to calm you down. i use a lavender room spray, and it makes me feel cozy and productive, but in undergrad, i used this tea-tree lavender mix and it smelled like sunny afternoons and guitar coffeshop playlists. it really is nice. - there are breathing exercises and gifs all over the internet. they help calm you down when things seem Too Much.  i really hope this helps, guys. don’t hesitate to message me if you’ve been having a hard time with school or life or anything. please, please care for yourselves. you can do it.  – sam
11K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
Academic Writing Resources
General:
The Five-Paragraph Essay
Using Punctuation Marks
Deadly Sins Checklist
Formatting Your Paper
Writing About Literature
Basic Essay
Revision Checklist
Planning and Organization
Editing and Proofreading
Latin Terms
Essay Structure
Tips on Introducing Quotes
Academic Writing Tips
Introductions:
Introductory Paragraphs
Introductions
Writing an Introduction
Preparing to Write an Introduction
Introduction Strategies
The Introductory Paragraph
Writing Effective Introductions
In The Beginning
Introductions and Conclusions
The Introductory Paragraph
Writing Introductory Paragraphs
How to Write an Intro
Body Paragraphs:
Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences
Transitions
Transitions
Transitions
Four Components of an Effective Body Paragraph
Writing Paragraphs
Paragraph Development
Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
Strong Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
Writing Body Paragraphs
How to Write Body Paragraphs
Writing the Body
Writing Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs that Defend a Thesis
How to Write Body Paragraphs
The Perfect Paragraph
Topic Sentences:
Topic Sentences
Writing Topic Sentences
Topic Sentences
Topic Sentences
The Topic Sentence
Paragraphs and Topic Sentences
The Topic Sentence
Topics, Main Ideas, and Topic Sentences
Writing a Good Topic Sentence
Good Topic Sentences
Conclusions:
Writing Effective Conclusions
Introductions and Conclusions
Conclusion Paragraphs
Conclusion Strategies
Conclusions
Tips for a Strong Conclusion
The Concluding Paragraph
Ending the Essay
Types of Conclusions
Writing a Strong Conclusion
How to Write a Conclusion
Writing Conclusions
Guide to Conclusions
Thesis Statements:
The Thesis Statement
Thesis Statements
Writing a Thesis Statement
Thesis Statement
Tips and Examples
Writing a Thesis
Writing the Thesis
How to Write Your Thesis
The Thesis
Thesis Statements
Guidelines for Writing a Thesis
Thesis Statements
Thesis
Thesis Statements
The Thesis
Create a Strong Thesis
How to Write a Thesis
Developing a Thesis
Guide to Writing Thesis Statements
Thesis Statements
Citing:
When to Cite
APA Documentation
MLA Documentation
Suggestions for Citing Sources
Research and Citation Resources
Citation Information
MLA Guidelines for Citing Poetry
MLA Style for Poetry
How to Format Your Paper
Argumentative Essays:
Argumentative Essays
Argument
Argumentative Essays
Persuasive or Argumentative Essays
Argumentative Essay
Argument/Argumentative
Argumentative Essays
How to Write a Good Argument
How to Write an Argumentative Essay
Writing Conclusions to Argumentative Essays
Argumentative Essay
Persuasive Essay Writing
Writing Concluding Paragraphs
Constructing the Argumentative Essay
Writing About Poetry:
Writing About Poetry
Writing About Poetry
Writing About Poetry Q & A
Poetry Explications
Writing About Poetry
Writing About Poems
Explicating a Poem
Writing About Poetry
Writing a Thesis Paper About a Poem
How to Start a Poetry Introduction
Poetry Essay Structure
Poetry Explication
Expository Essays:
Structure of a General Expository Essay
Expository Essay Examples
Sample Expository Essay
Expository Writing
Expository Essay Model
Elements of Expository Essays
Expository Writing Information
Expository Essays
Writing Expository Essays
How to Write an Expository Essay
Tips on Writing an Expository Essay
Expository Essays
Essay Map
Writing Expository Essays
How to Create a Strong Expository Essay
Expository Essay Writing
The Expository Essay
Research Papers:
How to Write a Research Paper in Literature
Writing a Research Paper
The Research Paper
How to Write a Research Paper
Five Paragraph Research Paper
Sample Research Paper
Writing a Research Paper
Tips for a Research Paper
How to Write a Research Paper
Writing a Scientific Research Paper
Writing Research Papers
Research and Writing
Research Papers that Rock
How to Write an Effective Research Paper
College Application Essays:
Application Essay Tips
Application Essays
Tips
10 Tips
Application Essays
How to Write a College Application Essay
Tips for an Effective Essay
Do’s and Don’t’s
College Application Essay
How to Write a College Application Essay
Narrative Essays:
Narrative and Descriptive
Narrative Essay Writing
The Personal Essay
Narrative Essays
Narrative Essays
Writing Narrative Essays
Narrative/Descriptive
Narrative Essay
Writing a Narrative Essay
Tips on Writing a Narrative Essay
96K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Photo
Tumblr media
i was terrified of doing this in undergrad, and now that i’m asked to write them fairly often, i am fondly exasperated when my students don’t know how to ask for them. obviously there’s no single way, but here’s the way i usually do it.
(obviously ask in person if you can! but email is also fine.)
THE FIRST EMAIL
should be short & should mainly be asking whether they’re willing to write you the letter
should provide only the basics - what the professor absolutely needs to know.
the position you’re applying for
when the letter would be due
optional: if you’re afraid they won’t remember you, a quick line identifying yourself & your relation to them
i like to provide an “out,” in case they don’t want to or are unable to write the letter
SAMPLE Dear Professor X, I’m applying for a job as an English tutor at the University Student Resource Center, and was wondering if you’d be willing to write me a letter of recommendation for the position. [optional identification: I really enjoyed taking English 300 with you in Winter 2016, and I’m hoping to develop and pass on those skills to other students through this job.] The letter would be due by September 1st - I know you’re very busy, so I completely understand if you’re not able to write one.  All best, Your Name
THE SECOND EMAIL
they said yes!! amazing.
this one can provide a little more information – a link to the job posting, if there is one, or you can write a quick summary of the position, plus a sentence or two about why you’re excited/interested in the job.
also tell them where to send the letter!! 
directly to the recruiter for the job
to you, to add to your application packet
upload to an online LoR service or to an application website
99% of the time folks are fine with receiving electronic copies, but if they need to mail a hard copy, let them know up front.
SAMPLE: Dear Professor X, Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Here’s the link to the job listing; the letter should be sent as a .pdf file to the email address at the bottom of the page, anytime before 9/1. Thanks again – I’m hoping that this job will provide me with some teaching experience and the opportunity to work on my own writing. Please let me know if you need any more information! Best,  Your Name
WHEN TO SEND A FOLLOW-UP
these stress me out real bad but here’s the deal: most professors have a very shaky relationship to deadlines (especially when they have half a dozen more important ones than your piddly LoR). 
the upshot: do not be afraid to nudge them. 
often they need the nudge and are appreciative of it.
when that nudge happens is up to you and how much room you’ve given them before the deadline, and it’ll look different depending on your relationship with that professor.
GRAD SCHOOL LETTERS
i offered to send my professors essays that i had written for their classes, especially if i had taken those classes more than a year before asking them to write the letter, just so they could refamiliarize themselves with my work. you can also offer to send them your writing sample, if you haven’t already asked them to look it over for you.
honestly i’d recommend asking for these in person bc it’ll give you a chance to talk to them about their grad school experience and your own hopes & aspirations, which will help them write a more personal, fleshed-out letter.
one important note: if this letter is intended for use in grad school applications, do not stress out if it’s a little late. most programs do not care, and pretty much all of them accept late letters without a problem. your professor’s ability to meet deadlines does not reflect on you, and professors are intimately familiar with running late on LoRs. they really honestly don’t care. as long as it gets there before too long, you’ll be fine.
thank-yous are up to you! keep in mind that many departments have policies about gift-giving. i did give thank-yous to my three major letter writers, but they were handwritten cards & homemade cookies, nothing store-bought or expensive.
9K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
Textbooks for Russian learners in documents
Tumblr media
0-A1 — ELEMENTARY:
“Иллюстрированный словарь русского языка” Джой Оливьер 
“Пять элементов”  (A1)  Т. Эсмантова
“Поехали!” С. Чернышов
“A living Russian grammar” N. Bitecktina
“Фонетические игры и упражнения” И.С. Милованова
“Русский с азов”
“Дорога в Россию” В.Е. Антонова
“Давайте знакомиться!” В.А. Красман
“Шкатулочка” М.Н. Баринцева
“10 уроков этикета”  А.Л. Максимова (speaking, basic vocabulary)
“Русский в играх” А.А. Акишина (Russian language at play)
“Приглашение в Россию” (elementary practical course of Russian) Е.Л. Корчагина
“Лексический минимум по русскому языку как иностранному” Т.В. Козлова
“Лексический минимум по русскому языку как иностранному” Н.П. Андрюшина, Т.В. Козлова
A2-B1  — BASIC:
“Пять элементов” (А2) Т. Эсмантова
“Говорите правильно!” Н.Б. Караванова
“Очень простые истории” Н.В. Кабяк
“Русский язык в упражнениях” С.А. Хавронина
“Дорога в Россию” В.Е. Антонова
“Приходите!.. Приезжайте!.. Прилетайте..!” А.Н. Богомолов
“Поехали!” С. Чернышов
“Голоса” Richard Robin
New Russia: 127 Natural Dialogs and the Verbs You Need Most for Communication
“Русский язык в деловой среде”  Larysa Fast (buisness language) 
B2-C1:
“Владимир”  Г.М. Левина
Учебно-тренировочные тесты. Грамматика. Лексика.
Учебно-тренировочные тесты. Чтение.
Учебно-тренировочные тесты. Письмо.
“Какой падеж? Какой предлог?” А.В. Величко
“Трудные случаи употребления семантически близких слов” С.И. Дерягина
“Игровые задания” (vocabulary and tactic of comunicating)
“Россия сегодня” А.Родимкина (reading & writing)
“Окно в Россию” Л.Ю. Скороходов, О.В. Хорохордина
“Русский язык в деловой среде” Larysa Fast (buisness language)
“В мире людей” М.Н. Макова, О.А. Ускова
“Вперед” О.В. Головко
ADVANCED:
“Русский язык: по страницам российской прессы” Н.Е. Сигова
“Россия: экономика и общество” А. Родимкина, Н. Ландсман
“Россия: день за днем”  А. Родимкина, Н. Ландсман
“Россия: день сегодняшний”  А. Родимкина, Н. Ландсман
“Чистая грамматика”  Е.Р. Ласкарева
“Обсуждаем глобальные проблемы, повторяем грамматику” Н.В. Баско
“Человек в современном мире” Ю.А. Кумбашева
“Падежи! Ах, падежи” Кузьмич И.П., Лариохина Н.М.
“Русский язык в деловой среде” Larysa Fast (buisness language) 
FOR LEARNERS WHO WAS BORN IN RUSSIAN-SPEAKING FAMILY:
Учебник для детей из русскоговорящих семей №1 Марина Низник
Учебник для детей из русскоговорящих семей №2 Марина Низник
Учебник для детей из русскоговорящих семей №3 Марина Низник
EXTRAS:
“Dirty Russian Everyday Slang” Erin Coyn & Igor Fisun
“Современная русская идеоматика” (idioms) Е.Е. Минакова
“Русские фразеологизмы в картинках” (idioms)
“Русский язык в грамматических таблицах”  Редькина М.А.
Grammar materials in pictures and tables 
Russian Grammar in Illustrations
Teach Yourself Begginer’s Russian Grammar
Texts and exercises for all learners (choose your level and practice readind & writing)
If you’re looking for something more specific ask me and I help you to find it! Feel free to refine anything and inquire texbooks for francophone/korean speaking/chinese speaking etc learners if you need them!
Add more textbooks in comments :3
776 notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
21.10.20. it's been a while :') so many things happened since I last posted... I came back from my year abroad, started my last year of law school (all online, stuck in the countryside with no friends and no access to therapy), had so many meltdowns about what to do after I graduate... I've been comparing myself to other people in the studyblr community and feeling like such a failure but!! I celebrated a huge step (8 months!) in my recovery, had some online dates with my boyfriend, tried painting with acrylics for the first time (any tips?), got a new plant, and came across many dogs on my daily walks. I hope all of you are staying safe and looking after yourselves! 💕
181 notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 4 years
Text
Useful Websites for Students
I put together a post containing Awesome Sites and Links for Writers, which is also pretty useful for school work too. Some of these sites I’ve discovered on my own in pursuit of knowledge and other times by friends. Many of them I wish that I knew about back when I was school. Most of the websites listed below are geared towards college students, but a few are aimed at high school students and primary students. So there is a bit of everything for everyone.
Homework Help & Studying
Cheatography – A site that collects cheat sheets that condense information on all kinds of topics, which can be helpful for building study guides.
Study Hacks Blog – Is a college blog that contains a lot of study advice and studying strategies that actually work.
Quizlet – Provides free tools for students, teachers, and learners of all ages to make flashcards to help them study any subject. For many topics, someone has already created a list of flashcards that you can flip through. Generally they might not be exactly what you need, but they will be close enough. You can even print them off.
StudyBlue – Is an online studying platform for high school and college students. The website allows users to upload class study materials, create electronic flashcards to study and share with others, and practice quizzes. StudyBlue allows students to store their notes in the cloud and connect with other students studying the same subjects.
Koofers – This all-in-one website not only helps college students study by providing access to flash cards and practice exams. It also gives you information on professor ratings, helps you generate the ideal class schedule, and posts job/internship openings.
Shmoop – Connects 13 million students and teachers with study guides, practice tests, an essay lab, informational videos, and career advice.
Mathway – Is a free math problem solver from basic algebra to complex calculus with step-by-step explanations.
S.O.S. Mathematics – Is a free resource for math review material from Algebra to Differential Equations. Get help with your homework, refresh your memory, prepare for a test, and so on.
Math.com – Contains explanations on almost all topics in mathematics from basic math to algebra, geometry and beyond. If you need review, more practice or deeper understanding of specific topics, this is the place to look. There are many useful tools such as calculators, study tips, etc. Even games that require some logical thinking.
Symbolab – Performs operations, solves equations, computes derivatives and integrals and more. It even come with a symbolic interface.
Number Empire – Is a collection of math calculators that can help you solve equations, compute derivatives and integrals, matrix arithmetic, statistics, and more.
MathPapa – Helps you learn algebra step-by-step. You can also plug non-algebraic equations into Mathpapa and use it as a calculator. It will show you the final answer and step-by-step instructions how the calculations work. There’s also a mobile app of it for Android and iOS devices.
Citation Machine – Helps students and professional researchers to properly credit the information that they use.
CK-12 Foundation – Is a California-based non-profit organization whose stated mission is to reduce the cost of, and increase access to, K-12 education in the United States and worldwide. They provide a library of free online textbooks, videos, exercises, flashcards, and real world applications for over 5000 concepts from arithmetic to science to history and so on.
Course Hero – Is a crowd-sourced online learning platform for students to access study resources like course materials, flashcards, educational videos and tutors. Its educator portal is a micro publishing platform for educators to distribute their educational resources. Course Hero collects and organizes study materials like practice exams, problem sets, syllabus, flashcards, class notes and study guides from users who upload. Users either buy a subscription or upload documents in order to receive membership and access website material.
HippoCampus – Is a free, core academic web site that delivers rich multimedia content: videos, animations, and simulations on general education subjects to middle-school and high-school students to help with their homework and studies.
Slader.com – Offers millions of step-by-step solutions to all the questions in the most popular textbooks in middle school, high school, and college. Math homework answers, Science homework answers, Spanish, History, Economics, and more.
Free Online Courses
University of Reddit – Is a community project that aims to focus on the teaching, learning, and sharing of knowledge and experience among its users. There are over 100 courses available: Art, Computer Science, Fun and Games, General Studies, Language, Mathematics and Statistics, Music, Philosophy, Science, Social Sciences, and Technology. Within each category are many, many sub-categories, that focus on particular areas of the genre.
edX – Is a massive open online course (MOOC) provider. It hosts online university-level courses in a wide range of disciplines to a worldwide student body, including some courses at no charge. It also conducts research into learning based on how people use its platform. Unlike other MOOC, edX is a nonprofit organization and runs on the Open edX open-source software.
Khan Academy – Is a non-profit educational organization with a goal of creating an accessible place for people to be educated. The organization produces short lectures in the form of YouTube videos. Its website also includes supplementary practice exercises and tools for educators.
MIT OpenCourseWare – Is a web-based publication that contains thousands of Massachusetts Institute of Technology course content. It is a free and ranges from the introductory to the most advanced graduate level. Each OCW course includes a syllabus, some instructional material (such as lecture notes or a reading list), and some learning activities (such as assignments or exams). Many courses also have complete video lectures, free online textbooks, and faculty teaching insights. While some OCW content is custom-created for online use, most of it comes straight from the MIT classroom.
Udacity – Is a for-profit educational organization that offers massive open online courses (MOOCs) for free and Nanodegree programs.
Saylor Academy – Is a nonprofit initiative working since 2008 to offer free and open online courses to all who want to learn. They offer nearly 100 full-length courses at the college and professional levels, each of which is available to access at your pace and on your schedule.
Alison – Is a website founded with a noble goal: to enable anyone to receive free education of high quality. All you need is a will to learn new things and they will provide you with all necessary tools.  
Lynda – Is an online education company offering thousands of video courses in software, technology, creative, and business skills. The ones in blue are available to watch for free, so you don’t need a membership for them. However, others in grey require a lynda.com library subscription for access. But there is a way to get it for free and that’s by checking if the courses are available online through your local library’s website. There is a growing number of libraries that are providing their members free access to Lynda.com courses.
Udemy – Is an online learning platform. It is aimed at professional adults who want to add new skills to their resumes, or explore their passions. Unlike academic MOOC programs driven by traditional collegiate coursework, Udemy provides a platform for experts of any kind to create courses which can be offered to the public, either at no charge or for a tuition fee.
Codecademy – Is an online interactive platform that offers free coding classes in 12 different programming languages including Python, Java, PHP, JavaScript (jQuery, AngularJS, React.js), Ruby, SQL, and Sass, as well as markup languages HTML and CSS
Math Planet – Offers courses in high school math such as Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Geometry for free. They also have practice tests for the SAT and ACT.
AcademicEarth – Has a collection of free online college courses from the world’s top universities. They also make sure that there is something for everyone: whether you want to explore a new topic or advance in your current field, they bring it to you for free.
Harvard University - Harvard Open Learning Initiative – Offers a series of free or low-cost courses. In addition, you can also browse Harvard University’s Digital Learning Portal, which features online learning content from across the University, both free and fee-based options.
Open Culture – Has 1,200 free online courses from the world’s leading universities: Stanford, Yale, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Oxford and more. You can download these audio & video courses (often from iTunes, YouTube, or university web sites) straight to your computer or mp3 player.
Open2Study – Is an initiative of Open Universities Australia that brings you the best in online education with their four-week, introductory subjects. Open2Study provides free, specialized short courses, entirely online, across the world, in a range of subject areas. When you successfully complete your course you’ll get a free Certificate of Achievement, which you can use to demonstrate your interest in learning about a certain area.
Information & Research
Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine – Introduces a fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers; not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods. In a way it’s basically a little bit of everything; a search engine, an encyclopedia, and a calculator that can answer nearly any questions you have.
Virtual Learning Resources Center (VLRC) – Is an online index hosting thousands of scholarly websites, all of which are selected by teachers and librarians from around the globe. The site provides students and teachers with current, valid information for school and university academic projects using an index gathered from research portals, universities and library internet subject guides recommended by teachers and librarians.
Stack Exchange – Is a network of question-and-answer website on topics in varied fields, each branch of the site covers a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process.
Microsoft Academic – Operated by the company that brings you Word, PowerPoint and Excel, it is a reliable, comprehensive research tool. The search engine pulls content from over 120 million publications, including scientific papers, conferences and journals. You can search directly by topic, or you can search by an extensive list of fields of study. For example, if you’re interested in computer science, you can filter through topics such as artificial intelligence, computer security, data science, programming languages and more.
Refseek – Is a web search engine for students and researchers that aims to make academic information easily accessible to everyone. RefSeek searches more than one billion documents, including web pages, books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers. It also has an option to search documents directly; providing easy access to PDFs of academic papers. 
WorldWideScience – Is operated by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, a branch of the Office of Science within the U.S. Department of Energy. The site utilizes databases from over 70 countries. When users type a query, it hits databases from all over the world and will display both English and translated results from related journals and academic resources.
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) – Is a great tool for academic research with more than 1.3 million bibliographic records of articles and online materials. ERIC provides access to an extensive body of education-related literature including journal articles, books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports, policy papers and more.
iSEEK – Is a targeted search engine that compiles hundreds of thousands of authoritative resources from university, government, and established noncommercial providers. It provides time-saving intelligent search and a personal Web-based library to help you locate the most relevant results immediately and find them quickly later.
ResearchGate – Is a unique social networking site built by scientists, for scientists. Over 11 million researchers submit their work, which totals more than 100 million publications, on the site for anyone to access. You can search by publication, data and author, or you can even ask the researchers questions. Though it’s not a search engine that pulls from external sources, ResearchGate’s own collection of publications provides a hearty selection for any inquisitive scholar.
Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) – Prides itself as being “one of the world’s most voluminous search engines especially for academic web resources.” Utilizing 4,000 sources, the site contains results from over 100 million documents. The advanced search option allows users to narrow their research, so whether you’re looking for a book, review, lecture, video or thesis, BASE can provide the specific format you need.
Infotopia – Describes itself as a “Google-alternative safe search engine”. The academic search engine pulls from results that have been curated by librarians, teachers and other educational workers. The search feature allows users to select a category, which ranges from art to health to science and technology, and then see a list of internal and external resources pertaining to the topic. So if you don’t find what you’re looking for within the pages of Infotopia, you will probably find it in one of its many suggested sites.
PubMed Central – Is operated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The database contains more than 3 million full-text journal articles. It’s similar to PubMed Health, which is specifically for health-related research and studies, and includes citations and abstracts to more than 26 million articles.
Lexis Web – Is your go-to for any law-related inquiries you may have. The results are drawn from legal sites, which can be filtered by criteria such as news, blog, government and commercial. Users can also filter results by jurisdiction, practice area, source and file format. 
CollegeMajors101 – Wondering what you can do with a degree in biology or dance? College Majors 101 offers lots of information about what you can do with dozens of majors, as well as what you can expect academically if you pursue these majors.
College Insight – Is the brainchild of the Institute for College Access and Success. It gathers detailed information on thousands of colleges. You can find statistics for any school on such topics as college affordability, graduation rates, and college diversity, including the racial and ethnic breakdown of students and professors. 
Fastweb – Is an online resource in finding scholarships to help you pay for school. All you have to do is make a profile and you’ll have access to their database of more than 1.5 million scholarships.
Books & Shopping (Student Discounts & Deals)
Online Research Library: Questia – Is an online commercial digital library of books and articles that has an academic orientation, with a particular emphasis on books and journal articles in the humanities and social sciences. Questia’s library has over 5,000 public domain, classic and rare books that you can read online absolutely free.
The Book Pond – Is an independent online selling service for UK university students and graduates. They allow you to sell your old academic textbooks or buy the ones you need from other students who don’t need them anymore.
Chegg – Is an American online textbook rental company that specializes in online textbook rentals (both in physical and digital formats), homework help, online tutoring, scholarships and internship matching.
Open Book Project – Was made specifically for the academic community. Students and teachers can find free textbooks and other open-source education materials.
Bookboon – Is a source for free textbooks in PDF form that focus primarily on accounting, economics, engineering, IT, marketing, and management. The books are modest in size, most run from 50 to 100 pages.
Boundless – Offers openly licensed, high-quality, customizable digital courseware at a fraction of the cost of traditional textbooks.
Project Gutenberg – Offers more than 43,000 e-books, completely free. Comparative literature students taking only Jane Austen at Binghamton University, for example, can find every book on their syllabus via Project Gutenberg. Titles available on the site span categories such as archaeology, horticulture, microbiology and World War I. Copyrights are expired on all of the titles available for download via Project Gutenberg, so students studying history or classic literature may have more luck than those taking courses in other subjects.
Open Textbook Library – Contains textbooks that have been funded, published, and licensed to be freely used, adapted, and distributed. These books have been reviewed by faculty from a variety of colleges and universities to assess their quality. These books can be downloaded for no cost, or printed at low cost. All textbooks are either used at multiple higher education institutions; or affiliated with an institution, scholarly society, or professional organization.
Internet Sacred Text Archive – Is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics. Texts are presented in English translation and, where possible, in the original language.
StudentRate – A site that allows college students to take full advantage of their school ID to get student deals and discounts on clothes, travel, textbooks, electronics, and lots of other things.
UNiDAYS – Is totally free to join, and used by over 4.3 million students every day. Signing up provides discounts on fashion, technology, music, stationary, food and more. It’s super useful when online shopping, and useful offline too.
Save the Student – Calls itself the number one student money website in the UK. It gives budgeting advice on how to make money and how to save money. Gives you checklists when looking for a student house, how to pay bills, what to take to university.
Student Hut – Is an online resource that helps prospective students find highly rated university courses, student offers & freebies, jobs and guides.
Student Beans – Is a popular UK hub where students could find useful stuff like offers and discounts on everything from travel, to fashion, to health and beauty and gadgets. And what students can get for free, from Uber vouchers to free drinks and trips to America. It has a dedicated jobs section, advertising part time jobs, internships and grad schemes.
Groupon – In college, every dollar counts so it helps to have Groupon when you can’t find any Student discounts and deals going on. When you and your friends are looking to try out a new restaurant, or if you’re looking for some alternative Friday night plans, make sure you check this first. It offers deals on everything from dining out to shopping products based on your location.
Amazon Student – With a student email (an valid .edu e-mail address), you get six months of Amazon Prime for free! Which means free two-day shipping, cheap textbook rentals, and discounts on anything from electronics to clothing. You’ll also earn $5 for each friend you refer, and they’ll get $5 credit as well. When the free trial ends, students will have to pay a fee of $49 per year, which is 50% off the cost of Prime membership. The student fee includes extra perks such as unlimited instant streaming of movies, TV shows and music. If you don’t want that, just make sure to cancel before your free trial ends.
CollegeBudget – Is like Groupon for college students. There’s all sorts of discounts on clothing, electronics, activities, and more. 
Apps & Tools
Sleepyti.me – Uses the sciences of REM cycles to calculate the optimal time you should go to bed in order to feel well-rested, especially when you have to be up at a certain hour.
Alarmy – This app ensures that you get up in the morning for work or school by being very annoying. You set it up by registering a photo of an area or room in your house. Then once the alarm is set, the ONLY way to make it stop ringing is to get out of bed and go take a photo of the registered area. There are other options as well, such as doing a math problem in order to turn the alarm off or shaking it for a certain amount. It’s available on Android and iOS.
Ginger Software – Contains a free online spelling and grammar checker that will correct any mistakes you make. They also creates apps and products that help people communicate more productively and efficiently on their mobile devices and desktop computers.
Plagtracker – Is a plagiarism checker that scans content to determine if any part of your essay has been plagiarized. Teachers aren’t the only ones that use this, students, website owners, and anyone else interested in protecting their writing do.
Hemingway Editor – Is a proofreading tool that helps you to see and fix potential problem areas in your writing. It color codes each potential error type, so you can address them one at a time. It’s a standalone program that costs $20 US, and you can download it to a PC or a Mac computer. But there is also a free online version of it that you can try.
Student Loan Calculator – Was made by the College Board to make it easier for college students to stay on top for their student loan payments.
Desmos – Is a free online grapher and scientific calculator. 
Mint – Is a free money manager and financial tracker app from the makers of TurboTax that does it all. It’s available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch as well as on Android.
My Study Life – Is a free app that lets you coordinate your calendar and to-do list. It is designed especially for schools, a planner that can be customized for rotating schedules and long-term assignments. You can even set up reminders about your homework due dates. The app is available on iPhone, Android, Windows 8, Windows Phone and the web. 
Habitica – Is a free self-improvement web application with game mechanics overlaid to help the player keep track of and remain motivated to achieve their goals. They do so by turning all your tasks (habits, dailies, study time and to-dos) into little monsters you have to conquer. The better you are at this, the more you progress in the game. If you slip up in life, your character starts backsliding in the game. It’s also available on Android and iOS operating systems.
Todoist – Is a free app that keeps track of all your tasks, projects, and goals in one place. Its clean look keeps you focused, and the app allows you to organize tasks into categories like household chores, reading lists, and long-term projects. You can access Todoist from any device, so you’ll always have it with you.
Dropbox – Is a file hosting service that you can access your work from any computer or device. You can also share documents with friends or group members which their edits will show up instantly for convenient group work. Basic account is free with 2 GB of space, but you can earn more space on your Basic account by referrals and enabling camera upload on mobile. Each referral that signs up for Dropbox will give you an extra 500 MB, and switching on automatic photo upload expands storage by three GB. The maximum free Dropbox storage can amount to 16 GB, so 28 referrals on top of your starting storage will get you there. Also, Dropbox is compatible with more platforms than Google Drive which is good if you need your cloud storage to across a range of devices.
Google Drive – However, Google Drive provides you with 15 GB of free online storage from the start, so you can keep photos, stories, designs, drawings, recordings, videos and whatever else in one place as well. Google Drive’s web client has more features, greater file type support and a better search tool than Dropbox. Unfortunately, Google Drive isn’t available for Linux and there isn’t an updated version of it for Chrome, Firefox, IE and Safari browsers.
Mircosoft OneDrive – Is another cloud storage service that you can access your files and photos from anywhere and on any device. As well as share and work together with anyone in your life. They use to offer 15 GB of free storage, but they’ve recently changed it to 5 GB. They also cut the previous bonus 15 GB of storage when you activate your camera roll backup.
Miscellaneous
UCampus – Makes it easier for you to find the information and resources you need as a college student. It also provides you with opportunities on your campus and in your city that you may otherwise miss.
Talktyper – Provides Speech Recognition for free. It makes voice dictation freely available to anyone with a computer.
My Money Steps – Is a free online debt advice service from National Debtline. They will tell you what options you can choose from to deal with your debts and give you a personal action plan to help you manage your money.
StudentRecipes – This site offers over 5000 quick and easy recipes for students by students. As a student you often don’t have the time or money, but with this site you can find plenty of recipes that are quick and easy to cook but more importantly cheap.
theSkimm – Is a free daily email newsletter that focuses on delivering a summarize version of all the top news stories for you with a bit of sassy humor. They also have an app called SkimmAhead that will sync important events, like the return of your favorite Netflix show or a presidential speech, with your iPhone calendar (and soon Androids as well).
UnplugtheTV – Is a website meant to replace mind-numbing television. Instead of wasting your life watching TV, you’ll be watching something much more mind-opening and educational. The site has hundreds of educational videos to help you learn or gain a new perspective. If you’re expecting to see cats being cute and double rainbows you’re going to be disappointed.
HackCollege – Is a lifehacking website on a mission to teach students to work more effectively. In addition to offering practical advice and tips, the site also provides information on quality open source software.
Hollar - Is not a dollar store in the sense that everything costs a $1; instead, almost everything is priced between $2 and $5. Free standard shipping is included for orders of at least $25. A lot of the items they have you’ll be saving 50-90% here than elsewhere on the web. So can find a little bit of everything from toys, apparel, electronics, beauty, accessories, party supplies, home essentials, and so much more. There’s also an app version for Androids and iOS.
PrintWhatYouLike – Lets you print the good parts of any web page while skipping ads and other junk, which is a great way to make sure that your ink last longer.
14K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 4 years
Text
Tumblr media
Lately I have been reading a lot of articles for my master thesis project. I don’t know about you, but after a week of literature review I am not able to remember what each of the articles were about or if they had any relevant piece of information. That’s why I developed my “keep track of what you read” system. 
STEP 1 - organize your folders
Create a subfolder inside your project folder and give it a catchy name. I call mine “articles”, nice, huh? Then create a subfolder inside that folder and call it “to_read”. Now, every time you get a new article, you will put it into the “to_read” folder.
STEP 2 - give your PDFs a nice name
The default file name when you download an article is something ugly like “1-s2.0-S0140674607612379-main.pdf”. Change this for something that will allow you identify the article easily. I try to stick to the system “first_author (year)”.
Tumblr media
STEP 3 - use the cloud
I have all my stuff stored in Dropbox or Google Drive. It’s the best if you are going to work from more than one device as it will keep your stuff synced and always accesible.
STEP 4 - create a reading log
My master thesis project is about auditory verbal hallucinations, language, and dynamic causal modelling, so I have to read articles about these three topics. To keep track of what I’m reading, I created an excel document in Google Drive with 3 different spread sheets, one for each of the topics. Now, every time I start reading an article, I open this document, I go to the spread sheet that fits, and I write down its title. 
STEP 5 - read the article and take notes
I am a color coder, so I highlight the articles as I read them. Something interesting? Yellow. Hypotheses? Green. Relevant results? Blue. Then I take some notes of the important stuff, either in my research notebook or in a Word document, depends on my mood. Once you are done reading, move the article from the “to_read” subfolder to the main “articles” folder. At this step, you could also consider to use a reference manager like Mendeley or EndNote, but that’s a topic for another time.
STEP 6 - update the reading log
Now write in your log a couple of sentences (or more!) about the article you just read, just to jog your memory in the future. You can also copy some quotes you think will be usefull in the future or references to other articles cited in the text that you might want to check later. It’s up to you.
Tumblr media
STEP 7 - hyperlink
If you have everything stored in the cloud, you can add hyperlinks from your reading log to the articles and/or to the notes you took on them. If you took notes on a paper notebook, write down which notebook it is and the page number where you can find those notes (numbering the pages of your notebook is a must!).
Now, remember that everybody works differently and this is only the system I use, but I strongly recommend keeping a reading log. I might seem like an overkill when you only have to read a couple of articles for class, but you’ll be gratefull for it when you have to use something you know you have read about… and you can’t remember where you read it.
2K notes · View notes
sveta-studies · 4 years
Text
wow, I'm turning 22 today... am I now an actual adult? (no)
7 notes · View notes