PRONUNCIATION DIARY PART I

(Or What Language Are You Speaking Anyway?)

I'm going to start this with a question that just begs to be asked: why is it that in twelve years of grammar and high school the only person who bothered to ever correct my pronunciation of English sounds was my father?

I know that sounds somewhat odd, right, but it's true. Sure, there have been people who'd have us practice 'v' and 'w' and 'th', but they never corrected anyone. Which, frankly, sucks.

It was the 'th' sound my dad started bothering me with because 'three' sounded like 'free' when I said it. Admittedly, I was ten or so, but still, that's pretty bad, and I didn't want to end up in a joke.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

(Or the Second Vocabulary Learning Post)


In the first vocabulary post, I mainly focused on my ideal vocabulary learning strategy. Which, you know, is all well and good, but sadly I often don't have time or energy for everything I should do in order to really master new words. So what I want to focus on today are little tricks I found in other people's posts that could help me make vocabulary learning more time efficient, and some ways that aren't really ideal but can still be useful. 
Part I: "Borrowed Ideas"

• Sticky notes. I saw this idea here and here, and I saw it in use before. I know an American who's married to a Slovene woman, so he's trying to learn Slovene. They have sticky notes all over their apartment, and I suppose if you see a note that says hladilnik every time you open the fridge, it's eventually going to stick (pun not intended). I know this is an example of somebody who can already speak English, but I'm sure sticky notes are useful for learning any language.

THE CRISIS OF CREDIT SUMMARY

(Or Why Obsessively Stalking Lecturers' Websites Is Always a Good Idea)

I'm not sure if we were supposed to post our summaries, too, or just reflect on them, but considering the first thing I said to my schoolmates after I'd got the corrected version was "We shall never speak of this again", it's probably safe to say that sharing my foolishness with the world is not very high on my bucket list. Then again, I can describe the mistakes well enough.

You are not my sun,

Nor I your moon,

No bright-shining light,

No pillar of steadiness

We are trees,

You and I,

Growing together

From the same soil,

The same grass,

Intertwined,

So our trunks 

May lean on each other

When winter-cold wind comes

And we shiver for warmth

Random Thought of the Day

Apparently, lemon balm tea helps with depression. How about that.

VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES

(Or Sometimes Sharpies Are Not Enough)

Not that I could afford sharpies, mind you; they’re way too expensive in Europe, and if I had them, I certainly wouldn’t be using them to help me learn vocabulary. No, I’ve been forced to find other ways.

Before I start talking about those ways, I should probably mention what learning a new word means to me. I used to believe, once upon a time in grammar school, that knowing a word meant knowing its most common translation, and that was it. Well, maybe the preposition that went with it.  Oh, the ignorance.

AUTUMN FAVOURITES

(Or The Things That Caught My Eye in the Last Few Months)

I saw somebody on youtube do this, namely list random favourite things she'd come across that month, and I thought why the hell not. It's something to write about, and at the same time a nice way to spread word (*cough* shamelessly advertise *cough*) about all the awesome things out there that are absolutely worth attention and time.

(A/N: Stating again that these are things I  enjoyed. Meaning, you might hate them, and that's fine. Personal taste and all that. Just don't say I didn't warn you.)


* The first thing I want to mention is definitely The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Let's just say it's a bestseller that actually deserves to be a bestseller. I will do my best to write a separate post about it.

* Dr Perkins tea with camomile and lemon balm. Can be bought in Hofer (found under the name Erneuerunstee). For me, it works as a stress reliever. I might not be the best judge since almost any kind of tea would help me against stress...  Then again, lemon balm does have calming effects. I probably don't even have to start on the benefits of drinking camomile tea, do I? (Sadly, I have yet to find some health benefits of dipping chocolate into hot, freshly-brewed tea. Someday, though...)

















*Creator shoes. You can't see it in the picture, but they're actually the prettiest forest green ever. I've been watching Creator's shoes for ages, and now—I still don't have them. I only get to watch them on my favourite person in the world and save money for when I do buy them. Because yes, you guessed right, they're a bit pricey.

* The Hundred Foot Journey.

That's a movie about an Indian family that moves to Europe after losing everything in a fire.  They end up in a French town somewhere in the countryside and open a restaurant across from an already-established restaurant with a Michelin star. Rivalry ensues and new friendships are born because hey, if you can't beat them, join them. Full of family dynamics, tasteful humour, and genuine emotion.