Japanese figure skating vocabulary - Part 5 ~ 「〇〇プロ」

良くも悪くも、GPシーズンがいよいよ開幕しますね 🎉  ２週間で観客としてイタリア大会に行くつもりです！🤞🏽 For better or for worse, the Grand Prix season is finally upon us. I’m planing on attending the Grand Prix of Italy in two weeks! 

If you scroll Japanese Twitter or watch videos of skating on YouTube you might see comments including 「〇〇プロ」 - are they talking about about skating pros/professionals? Actually, プロ is an abbreviation of プログラム program and the prefix says something about the type or quality of the program.

良プロ - great program

良い (よい) good - as the name suggests, a high-quality program.

神プロ - legendary program

神 (かみ) god - a god-tier program remembered, recognized, and/or revered by skating lovers long after it's performed.

鬼プロ - impossible program

鬼 (おに) devil - this is a program so devilishly complex and packed with (jump) content that only top skaters can achieve.

名プロ - famous/signature program

有名 (ゆうめい) famous - this refers to a program that stands out among a skater's repertoire.

皆さんのフィギュアで神プロは何ですか？私にとって、髙橋大輔選手のFS「Blues for Klook」は絶対に神プロです。観ると今でもステップシークエンスにはゾクゾクします~！😍 So, what programs do you consider “legendary programs” in figure skating? For me, it’s definitely Daisuke Takahashi’s free skate “Blues for Klook”. Even now I get chills at the step sequence. 

Japanese figure skating vocabulary parts 1-4: Season ~ Jumps ~ Performance ~ Scoring

BLUE DUO?????

Every French learner: I hate French (affectionate)

How to start learning French

Hi! I’m basing this guide on this post that I wrote a while ago, and also this fantastic post by @frenchy-french​​. A lot of the resources that I use will also have been made by @frenchy-french​ (she’s a gem, honestly, bookmark her blog if you’re learning French).

I would recommend studying this amazing pronunciation guide by, you guessed it, @frenchy-french. Then, I would recommend that you start shadowing and speaking. Try shadowing (i.e. repeat what is being said after the speaker) a beginners podcast like FrenchPod101 (paid) or Coffee Break French (free).

You can try using an app to learn some basic vocabulary. Duolingo and Memrise are my personal favourites. You can also use Drops if you don’t want to translate vocabulary. Try using it daily (it’ll take at most 5 minutes a day).

Complete an online course or textbook. Here is an article with some recommendations for textbooks. Here is a link to a drive full of textbooks, where you will surely find something for French (credit to @salvadorbonaparte for providing this resource). As for online courses, here is a list of some places to find courses: Open Culture, Class central, Effective Language Learning and Loecson.

Make a native friend and start texting them. You can go on r/Language Exchange, or text them on HelloTalk or Tandem. You could also find a buddy on a language discord. Remember to be safe, and not reveal any private information. Look up words as you go, and try texting only in French the whole time. Start doing this as early as possible. Once you have become more confident texting and/or sending voice messages, try a phone call. You can also practice speaking using HiLokal. 

Memorise some basic vocabulary and grammar. Really, the post I linked at the beginning by @frenchy-french​ is the best for this. For vocabulary, you can use flashcards (like Anki, Quizlet and Memrise). Also, try Kwiziq for grammar. 

Immerse. For now, try listening to lots of music, and watch a bunch of fun YouTube videos (like the ones by Cyprien, and Montreaux Comedy). Also, use the language filter on AO3 to look up fanfiction in French. Switch your phone’s language to French, and follow a bunch of French people on social media. 

Thanks for reading this post! I hope it was useful to you!

note taking/planner templates - download

most recent book purchase!

Here to introduce you to my workspace!

Hoping to improve my skill at taking decent photos and editing them properly, so bear with me.

I have been making my own planner for a year now and will probably share some of my favorite monthly spreadsheets.

The wallpaper is by @emmastudies ✨

My relationship with Japanese is complicated.

I started 16 years ago, when I was young, stupid and, well, 16. Since then I’ve forgotten and re-learned, studied by myself and in groups. There is no end, there is no profound knowledge. I have my N3 (passed twice), got defeated by N2. My present to self for the 30th birthday was trip to Japan with my friend.

I’m not sure that I will ever know Japanese as good as English, but we continue being together for some weird reason.

100/100 - 22.10.2021

This is really officially my last day of the 100 Days of Productivity Challenge! 🥳 It was such a good decision to start the challenge again even though on a few days my most productive action was to do something on duoling and some cleaning. If I remember correctly I started the challenge shortly after I figured out the research question for my master thesis which I, by now, have worked on for about 2,5 months out of the 5 months I have time for it and I am also half way through my thesis! Meaning I have already written about 40 pages out of the 80 pages I need. So maybe I will start the challenge again after I take a short break from it? I guess we'll see in an week or two.

The picture gives you a small glimpse on how my days and my week are structured. Normally, I'll just do the task I'm most vibing with at this moment. The 8 hours of work are mandatory now but there is lots to do anyways so I should get used to it. So you see, despite of working I did a lot of stuff for my thesis this week: correcting chapter 2, reading literature, transcribing the sources, continue writing chapter 3 (not in the picture, did this today) and writing my introduction, which I indeed did by hand at first, as you can also see in the picture. The plan for the rest of the week is to finish the introduction, to proofread chapter 3 and continue writing on chapter 4. And very importantly: to order some pages and maybe another document from the archive, which I have been putting of for weeks now...😅

『〜ば、～のに』 would have... if (only)...

意味 - Meaning

This construction is used informally and expresses regret over something that one would/could do if conditions were different. Since the 〜ば form or 条件形 conditional form is used here, I like to think of it using these constructions: 

if Ⓐ, ... would/should (have) Ⓑ

if only Ⓐ, then Ⓑ 

To express that “it would be / have better if Ⓐ” or “should (have) Ⓐ”, use 〜ばいいのに・〜ばよかったのに

接続 - Formation

Verbs and い-adjectives take their respective 〜ば form (条件形 conditional form): 

Verb (ばform)、～のに

い-adjectiveい + ければ、～のに

However, な-adjectives and nouns do not use 〜ば, but rather なら:

な-adjective+なら、～のに

Noun+なら、～のに

例文 - Example sentences

車で行けば、間に合ったのに。 If I came by car, I would have been on time.

もうちょっと早く連絡してくれれば、迎えに行ったのに。 If you had contacted me a little earlier, I would have gone to pick you up. 

猫アレルギーさえなければ、家で猫が飼えるのに。 If only I didn’t have a cat allergy, I could have a cat at my house.  (NOTE: 〜さえ〜ば expresses “as long as”, but because of the regretful 〜のに it carries the connotation of “if only”)

昨日、もっと早く寝れば、朝起きられたのに。 If I’d gone to bed earlier last night, I would have been able to get up in the morning. 

Let me know if you spot mistakes or something isn’t clear!

Scots Word of the Day: bogle

Meaning: ghost/goblin/supernatural being

Let’s use it in a sentence: ah saw a bogle at thon windae!

Translation: I saw a ghost at the window over there!

100 days of productivity — day twenty two

i spent most of the day travelling but read dracula on the train, so here’s a photo of that 🦇📓🩸

How to study a language at school

Hi! I’ve studied several languages throughout my time in the education system, the main ones being French, Arabic and German. I thought I would give some advice on how to make the most out of classes, and how to study outside of them.

Learn all the vocabulary you are given in class. You can use flashcards (digital ones, like anki, quizlet and memrise, are very good).  Personally, I have two sets of flashcards on anki: one for class vocabulary, and one for vocabulary I have learnt outside of class. You can also try to use mneumonics and songs to learn them, so that they stick in your head (when I was a kid, I remember learning the Arabic names for fruit by singing the vocab list to the tune of ‘centuries’ by fall out boy - it was very effective!). Also, try to write them down, and keep on testing yourself on them. Note down any useful extra words as well, though you don’t have to memorise them. They are just nice.

For each topic, try and generate some points to make before you have to write or speak about them. For example, if you have to talk about the generation divide in your target language, then try writing down your opinions in English first. Then, try figuring out a few ways to express those points in your target language. Maybe try memorising some set phrases, or relevant strings of vocabulary (credit to @wilstudies​ for this idea!).

Do practice questions. Use practice questions for grammar especially. Also, try doing exam specific practice, like reading and listening tasks. You can use work/textbooks for this. You might also be able to find them online.

It’s kind of a no brainer, but don’t waste your lessons. Do all the tasks set for you, even if you don’t like them, and do your homework. Also, make sure to ask your teacher for the meanings of certain words, or to explain grammar you don’t understand. Maybe try speaking in your target language during your lessons with the person you are sitting beside.

Immerse. Try watching youtube videos, and read social media posts in your target language in your free time. Maybe listen to a podcast while you are walking to school, or read fanfiction when you are bored. Switch your phone’s language to your target language. Just try to listen to and read content that you can understand at least 70% of.

Thanks for reading this post! I hope it was useful to you!

so weird how in english some words are really just used in expressions and not otherwise… like has anyone said “havoc” when not using it in the phrase “wreaking havoc”? same goes for “wreaking” actually…

reply with more, i’m fascinated

““You’re not a monster,” I said. But I lied. What I really wanted to say was that a monster is not such a terrible thing to be. From the Latin root monstrum, a divine messenger of catastrophe, then adapted by the Old French to mean an animal of myriad origins: centaur, griffin, satyr. To be a monster is to be a hybrid signal, a lighthouse: both shelter and warning at once.”

— Ocean Vuong, from “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”

i feel this person on a spiritual level

Thought I could show you some of my notes! ✨

Here are some of the notes from my Discourse Analysis course, which I absolutely loved!

I usually prefer writing on regular sheets of paper instead of notebooks, which is why I now have two shelves full of empty notebooks… because impulsively buying pretty stationery is life. And of course I’m using Muji pens and Mildliners, because 10/10.

Okay, back to procrastinating! Byee