I Dropped Off My Resume At This Place At 1:15 And Got Called For An Interview At 1:45 Holy Dang

Hi all! I figured I should share this playlist I made while I was in my final weeks of classes (aka the hell that is finals)! 

This is just a playlist of some slower, emotional, or soothing tracks for studying, relaxing, or whatever you want to do (I recommend baking!).

Note: This is super kpop heavy, but because I can’t really understand every single word, it helped my tune out the outside world and focus on my work. I wrote a whole lot of essays to this playlist. 

For my fellow Shawols: Hi friends, we’ve been through a lot lately, huh? Jjongie’s music appears on this playlist and I wanted make sure to give you a heads up, just in case you aren’t super comfortable listening yet (and that’s okay).

Even if you aren’t studying, I hope this playlist can give you all some peace of mind and some comfort too. 

Enjoy! ~Lisa <3  (ps. Got any recommendations for more songs? Let me know!)

Hello this is Nina, your local depressed college girl that’s decided to work on turning her life around and starting the new year with a more positive and happy attitude.

I know there a hundreds of similar lists and tips out there but I just thought I’d get all my favourites in one place and that way maybe motivate myself to actually follow them for once. I know my wording isn’t the best but I tried. 

Here’s the few tips I’ve picked up so far and I hope they might help some of you if you are struggling a bit also:

Physical:

Space - your personal/work/study space plays a big role in making you feel productive and motivated. Doesn’t matter if its your dorm room, bedroom, office…you should make it your own as much as you can. Put a plant on your desk, get a nice picture for the wall, hang some fairy lights, get a fluffy blanket for your bed, repaint your walls in your favourite color if you can, just make it cozy and comfy and nice to look at and I guarantee you’ll start to feel better. Try to keep it clean and neat, I know it’s hard sometimes, but working in a clean space makes you ten times more productive.

Self care - start with physical things, drink those 8 glasses of water and keep a tab on it until you get used to it, use handcream everytime you wash your hands, put on moisturizer every morning and sunscreen when you go out, go for a walk around the park at least every other day, and for fucks sake go to sleep at a reasonable hour, you’ll be so grateful in the morning if you do. Show your body some appreciation. 

Mental:

Take some ‘me’ time - we might we don’t have time for this, but it’s so important we make some time. First thing in the morning, during the day or before bed, just take a few minutes and relax. Put on your favourite song, burn a scented candle, drink a hot cup of tea, sit down and just breathe. 

Be proud of yourself regardless - take that ‘me’ time and reflect on your day, pat yourself on the back for everything you did even if it was just getting out of bed. Life is a bitch sometimes and you should be just as proud of yourself for the little things. It’s okay to sometimes be lazy, to procrastinate, to not do anything. You aren’t a machine, you’ll burn out if all you do is work.

Appreciate the little things - on those lazy days it’s sometimes hard to not feel miserable about it. That’s when you should appreciate the little things in life. Get yourself that coffee you love so much and enjoy it, go to a roof, watch the sunset and appreciate the colors, take a photo of anything you find pretty and look back at them when you feel down…make yourself believe those moments made your whole day and suddenly it’ll feel like your life’s meaning isn’t just getting up and working/studying all the time, but enjoying everything you get to do and see in between too.

Other:

Find your interests - and stick to them!! We all like to give up on things if we aren’t immediately good at them. But no one was born an expert. And as cliché as it sounds practise does make perfect. Join a drawing class, a dance club, a writing class, get a course book on your target language, download editing softwear and play around with it, watch documentaries about your favourite subject. If you fall out of your hobby in the end it’s no big deal, but you’ll know you gave it a try and didn’t miss an opportunity to learn something new. 

Journaling - this might not be for everybody, but I found it helps me clear my mind a lot to put my thoughts on paper and have everything organized in written form. I just love having all my things in one place where I can just look and see where I’m at, whether it’s plans for the day, my thoughts, my playlists, pretty pictures, anything really. It’s also a great way to be creative. 

Start now - this is the most important one! Kick yourself in the ass and start taking care of yourself today! Get that glass of water right now, light a scented candle, read that book you’ve been putting off, watch that documentary about your favourite thing. Start enjoying your life right now, even if it’s only for a second, tommorow it’ll be two and three the day after and hopefully soon it’ll be a whole day. 

Don’t worry. Start now. Get up, take a few deep breaths, stretch, count to ten with your eyes closed. Then take out your books and a notebook and a pen. Get on with it. Start reading, annotating, take down your notes. If you feel your focus faltering, sit back, take a few deep breaths, walk around a bit, get back to your books. It’s never too late.

the one problem i have with people my age and younger is that a lot of us do not have hands on hobbies. like i have spoken to so many people my age who go to work, go to school and then fuck around on their phone/computer for hours and then ???????? like no wonder ur depressed and have low confidence in urself. u need to get ur hands on something, feed those dopamine receptors! learn how to play guitar, garden, scrapbook, fucking make model trains. i don’t give a shit, MAKE SOMETHING!!

it feels better than drugs when i finish making a thing—and then show it off or gift it.

and then so people my age say to me ‘well—i can’t draw/paint/knit/etc. like you can. my stuff would be terrible.’ yeah, well duh—a part of developing skill is sucking at something and then practicing it over and over and over again until you suck less. u’ll have a hard time feeling lonely or bored when you can’t stop thinking abt a technique you want to try or something you want to make for someone else. making things has SAVED MY LIFE. it gave me a reason to keep living day after day when i wanted to die.

making things improved my generational relationships (when i worked for the newspaper i would talk to customers abt jamming recipes or cross-stitch, one of my grandmas always gives me pattern books and tell me abt when she knitted things for mom, my other grandma is giving me a wedding quilt that HER grandma gave her 50 years ago because she knows i will appreciate it). it also got me likeminded friends who also make things.

take a ceramics class! pick up water colors, bake cakes! learn to work on cars! make soap. DO SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE STARING AT A SCREEN.

Romance language culture

is reading a book in a language you don’t technically speak but have no difficulty understanding.

29.12.2018 / welcoming in 2019 with a new bujo spread!! this covers the end of december 2018 and january 2019 ♡ I don’t know about anyone else, but I have a good feeling about this coming year!! 

Creo en Ti por Reik: Vocabulario y Gramática

Esta canción escuché por la primera vez hoy y me sentí que “Creo en Ti” (video abajo)sea una de mas canciones lindas de mi vida. Entonces, quiero compartir con ustedes alguno vocabulario clave y algunos puntos gramaticales que aparecen dentro de esta canción. ¡Disfruta! 

TR: I heard this song for the first time today and I felt that “Creo en Ti” is one of the most beautiful songs of my life. So I want to share with you some key vocabulary and some grammar points that appear within this song. Enjoy!

Letras (Lyrics)

Vocabulario Calve

creo en ti - I believe in you

(la) noche - (the) night

(el) cielo - sky (or heaven depending on context)

(la) calle - street

(el) laberinto - labyrinth

rendir (v.) - to defeat (this verb has many meanings, in this context, it means defeat)

(la) piel -skin

(el) corazón - heart

desarmar (v.) - to disarm, to take apart, to disassemble

(el) amor - love

(las) luces - lights

(el) alma (n.f.) - soul

indestructible (adj.) - indestructible 

(el) dolor - pain

(las) fantasmas - ghosts, phantoms

(la) paz - peace

(la) caída libre - free fall

Gramática 

Porque el cielo ha conspirado en mi favor - Because the heavens have conspired in my favor: 

ha conspirado = present perfect tense (haber + participio pasada)

Me haces bien - You make me better (literally: you make me well)

me (pronombre) + haces (hacer en el presente 2a persona) + bien (adjetivo)

Creo en ti - I believe in you

Creo (creer en el presente 1a persona) 

Creer means to believe. When pared with “en” + “persona/pronombre” it means “to believe in…”

Me ha vuelto indestructible - I have become indestructible

volverse (con pronombre) = to become

“vuelto” is the past participle of volver(se), it’s irregular

me vuelvo (presente) = I become

me ha vuelto (pres. perfect) = I have become

Mi dolor se quedo kilómetros atrás = my pain stayed kilometers away

se quedo = quedarse en el pasado 3a persona

this verb always needs a reflexive pronoun

Past tenses

te encontré   = I found you

crucé = I crossed

esperé = I hoped/waited (what a fun wordplay)

This was super fun to work on! I didn’t include everything because that would take forever! I love this song so much, it’s so cute and sweet. 

If you have any questions, reply to this post and hopefully I can help you out. This is my first time making one of these!

pro-tip for all language learners: if you’re in the beginner level, USE THOSE CHILDREN’S VIDEOS!!! Yes, those videos with cartoons and rhymes. Yes, even if you’re a 37 years old man with two kids and a job. Those videos are the most fun and probably the most efficient way to build up your base for any language. Don’t let any irrelevant “shame” stop you from enjoying your language learning experience. 

How to Make a Language Notebook

I’ve been using a language notebook for about a month now, and I finally figured out a format that works for me, so I figured I’d share it with you guys! Keep in mind these are only recommendations, feel free to do your own thing if you think it’ll be more convenient for you!

Okay, so to start, here’s what you’ll need:

1) Pens

I recommend three pens of different colours. I used blue, orange and black. The blue is for words/ sentences in my target language. I chose a dark colour so they would stand out more. The orange, a light colour, is for words/ sentences in my native language (or English, in my case). It’s a lighter colour because it makes the blue stand out more, so I focus more on the words in my target language instead of the English ones. The black is for titles, drawings, and words in another language that isn’t my target or my native. For example, I compare German with Spanish in this entry: 

As you can see, the German phrases are in blue because it’s my target language. The explanations in English are in orange, and the title and Spanish words are in black.

2) A notebook

Some people recommend separating grammar and vocabulary. This is an excellent idea if you have many notebooks or notebooks with different sections. If you don’t, it’s not a problem. I only use one notebook, which works for me, because I don’t use it too much (it’s mostly a space to write down stuff I like, not stuff I will necessarily use). If you plan on using your notebook in a more serious manner, but cannot afford to get several notebooks, I recommend you write everything concerning vocabulary (or grammar) in the front of the notebook, and the rest (grammar or vocabulary, it depends) at the back. Make sure to not use a very thin notebook though!

If you don’t feel the need to separate grammar and vocabulary, there are ways of dividing the topics:

3) Sticky Tabs

I have four different topics in my language notebook: vocabulary, grammar, verbs, and miscellaneous. To divide them, I add sticky tabs of different colours next to each entry. For example, vocabulary is pink, grammar is blue, verbs are orange, and miscellaneous is green.

This allows me to see what the topic is immediately, and it makes my notebook very colourful!

4) 4cm margin

It doesn’t exactly have to be 4 centimeters, but it shouldn’t be more than a third of the page. This margin (I place mine on the right of the page) is for any notes you might want to add about the entry. For example, definitions, formal/ informal forms, etc. It doesn’t necessarily have to be used for every entry, but it’s easier to trace it for all, instead of just adding it when you need it. It’s also a good place to put the sticky tabs (refer to the previous image). I trace the line with a pencil so that it’s lighter and more discreet than the rest of the writing, but that’s up to you.

5) Index/ Key

One last thing you’ll (maybe) need: an index/ key! I don’t personally have an index, because I have too many entries per page, but a key is definitely useful if you use the sticky tab method. I still haven’t gotten around to making one, but that’s because I’m lazy Just write it (or stick it) on the back of the cover so you don’t waste a page on it.

Next you’ll need to decide what to write in the notebook. If you already know what to write, great! If not, here are some suggestions:

- Class notes

- Grammar rules/ verb conjugations/ etc. that you struggle with

- Funny sayings or random slang you learn

- Tumblr posts (these are great because they are generally explained simply, but make sure to check the info, because there might be some small mistakes)

- Journal entries (these are a great way to practice what you’ve written in previous entries!)

It doesn’t all have to be useful, necessarily. I have jokes, and puns that I might never use, but that are funny anyways. I find it’s a great way to stay motivated!

If you want more photos from my notebook, you can find ‘em here :) 

So yeah, that’s all! :D I hope you guys like it, and feel free to ask me questions about my language notebook!