learning languages taking the time

"Teach yourself polyglottery for beginners - a short course

At this point you already know all the secrets of the polyglots, and we can now talk as equals, as colleagues. And yet, by way of concluding, allow me to offer you some simple and precise instructions. In fact, if you come to feel doubtful about some of them, trust the author: all that will be discussed here is firmly based on science and many years of experience by the polyglots.

Try to follow all the recommendations in the form and in the sequence in which they appear. This is important, for without some of the parts being offered to you, the mechanism may not work. In the details, however, you have complete freedom. For example, it might say that you must memorize a list of words, preferably by yourself, from a notebook. But if you absorb better aurally, ask a family member to read it to you, if you are more visual - write the words in color on a sheet of paper and hang it over your bed. Keep trying different things, keep exploring yourself, but somehow you've got to master that list. For what is recommended, is for everyone, and it's up to you to adapt it to your own personality and talents. The latter are guaranteed to exist. And while you are looking for them, the most important thing is to not torture yourself, to not wear yourself out. Remember: the only type of labor that works with a language is the kind that requires daily, but not strenuous, effort. It's great when you derive pleasure from the effort. If your find this feeling appear momentarily in your studies, "capture" it, try to remember and reproduce it. This is the key to success, while the rest of the tricks are merely assistants. And so, despite the concise and practical nature of this chapter, I will ask you to listen to an ancient fable.

There was once a farmer, who sowed some grain and was hoping for a quick crop. So, as soon as he saw the shoots appear out of the ground, he started pulling on them, so as to make them grow faster. The roots clung to the ground for a while and ... tore off. The shoots dried out, and the impatient farmer went hungry. The moral of the story is: all living things grow gradually, and one can only speed up their development to a point.

As you understand, of course, it's not the plants we are concerned with here. The same can be said of mental health. Its essential ingredient is love of one's own language and respect for someone's else's. That's why we've already said and will say it again, that interest and ability in languages is neither a profession nor a hobby, but a character trait. It goes with this that in your studies you will not have to labor hard, but neither will you get to laze around.

First you have to determine how much you need the chosen language. Whether you are ready to make it your companion in life. Suppose you are not. Then why do you need it?
(...)
Next you will need a textbook of the chosen language. ... It is best to get a textbook for self-learners. ...

(...)

And now, armed with the textbook, patience, and interest, we can move on to the main part - the lesson. Having established the format of the lessons, we will try to stick to it for the most part. In this regard, moderation and diligence are key to success. The format of the lessons consists first of all in their regularity. All polyglots say in unison that one should study daily. I'd like to bring it to your attention that periodicity is a force multiplier: better a short lesson each day of the week than one Sunday from dawn till dusk.

Establish the duration of a lesson. The optimum is 45 minutes a day, only without a minute's break. Usually people want to extend the lesson beyond an hour, they start reading on suburban trains, put in extra time during holidays. However, when they get busy, they make the lessons shorter. I'd like to warn the reader off of such extremes. As far as extending the lessons, at best it's useless, because attention has its limits, and at worst - downright detrimental, for you will quickly get bored with the language. Still, if you have time and desire, plan on a 15-minute or so repeat lesson three to four hours after the main one, and save the appetite for the language until tomorrow. Shortening the lesson also has its known limits - it should last no less than 30 minutes, or the brain just doesn't have enough time to fully kick in. And if you don't have even half an hour, you may wish to take a second look at your life.

So, 45+15 minutes - that's an A+ schedule, 45 minutes - an A, 30 minutes - a C. If your schedule happens to get disrupted, try to get back to the regular routine in the next three to four days. Such a break is not really significant. If, on the other hand, you have stopped for a week or more, there's no choice - start with lesson one.

Try to set a fixed time for your studies and do not vary it needlessly. I understand this may not be easy, but it should be possible nevertheless. According to scientific opinion, the best study time is from 8:30am until 10:30am or from 4:30pm until 6:30pm, and it happens to be the case that in the first case the short-term memory is at its most active, while in the second - the long-term. So, it would be nice to study during these hours, and especially nice if you could do the 45-minute lesson in the morning, and towards the evening repeat it during 15 minutes. By the way, most likely you've been conditioned to this rhythm at school or at work. If not, no big deal - sprinkled through the 24 hours are other, although smaller, productivity peaks. And if you firmly establish any period of time convenient to you and stick to it, one of such peaks will surely happen to be nearby and will shift to your study interval. That's in the nature of things.

Let's establish the location of the studies too. Preferably, it should be fixed. As to where to study, it makes no difference whatsoever. If it's at home or at work, find yourself a comfy spot where you can settle down for half an hour without disturbing anybody; if it's in public transport on the way to work, so much the better! Generations of polyglots, include the author of this book, have studied languages in streetcars and buses and couldn't be happier with it. ... There is only one important thing here - to ride without transfers for half an hour and that there be no one to talk to... Squeeze through to the nearest lamp or window, open the book and bury yourself in the wonder world of languages.
(...)"

read more here

quelques images du film "le silence de la mer"

Par Pierre Brouton

D'après les nouvelles de Vercors
"Le Silence de la mer"
et
"Ce jour-là"



avec
# Julie Delarme
# Michel Galabru
# Thomas Jouannet

"En 1941, en France, un officier allemand réquisitionne la maison d'un homme et de sa petite-fille pour y loger avec eux..."

Lire sur ce film ici

cutest thingy!!!! my favorite amphibean

put yo' face on a billboard

Found an awesome place to do just that!!!
www.makesweet.com

das lesende mädchen by franz eybl

1850
Franz Eybl (austrian painter)
Das lesende Mädchen (the reading girl)
Belvedere Gallery - Vienna

so sweet! I love this =)


and then a far more known painting
from 1776 by the french painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard
"a young girl reading" (La Liseuse)
National Gallery of Art - Washington D.C.

PASSION PIT is what I need

chicken factory

part 1



part 2


shocking documentary about the side most of us don't want to know of how our food is produced.
The part where they talk about Nestlé shocked me as well.
I don't think I will ever buy things from Neslé again.




We Feed the World
Directed by: Erwin Wagenhofer
Language: German
http://www.we-feed-the-world.at/

i wish I had been there when...

reblogging not ripping

this is originally from raiscake.tumblr.com
(reblogged image and text)

"To those who are…. single

Love is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you just let it fly, it will come to you when you lease expect it. Love can make you happy but often it hurts, but love’s only special when you give it to someone who is really worth it. So take your time and choose the best.

To those who are…. not so single
Love isn’t about becoming somebody else’s “perfect person”. It’s about finding someone who helps you become the best person you can be.
(...)

To those who are…. heartbroken
Heart breaks as long as you want and cut as deep as you allow them to go. The challenge is not how to survive heartbreaks, but to learn from them.

To those who are…. naive
How to be in love: Fall but don’t stumble, be consistent but not to persistent, share and never be unfair, understand and try not to demand, and get hurt but never keep the pain.

To those who are…. possessive
It breaks your heart to see the one you love happy with someone else, but it’s more painful to know that the one you love is unhappy with you.
(...)"

READ MORE HERE

Chemotherapy or a Limousine?

I had a dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin came over
Baby-sat all four of my kids

Then in my dream
I told the doctor off
He said if you don't want to do it
then you don't have to do it
He said the truth is
You'll be okay, anyway

Then in my dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin and the doctor
Went and had a talk with my boss

Something about insurance policies
They kept the door closed at all times
I couldnt hear or see

When they came out they said
You'll be okay, anyway
And I smiled cause I'd known it all along.

No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I don't have to pay for this shit
I couldn't afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo
and on any given day I'd rather ride a limousine

No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I ain't about to to die like this
I couldn't afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo
And besides this shit is making me tired
it's making me tired
it's making me tired
You know I plan to retire some day,
And I'm gonna go out in style
go out in style
This shit it's making me tired
it's making me tired
it's making me tired
I'm-a gonna go out in style go out in style

When I woke up
My kids were being quiet
I knew it was a dream right away
I called the limousine company

Then I got dressed
I dressed the kids as well
The limousine pulled in
And we piled in

The doctor he asked which way we were headed
I said, Sir, let's just go west and he listened obediently,
Sophie only wants to listen to radio BBC
Michael sat on my knees and whispered to me
All about the meanies
Jacqueline was being such a big girl
with her cup of tea looking out of the window
And Barbara
She looks just like my mom
Oh my god, Barbara
She looks so much like my mom

No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I don't have to pay for this shit
I couldn't afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo
and on any given day I'd rather ride a limousine

No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I ain't about to die like this
I couldn't afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo
And besides this shit is making me tired
it's making me tired
it'smaking me die
You know I plan to retire some day,
and I'm-a gonna go out in style
go out in style
This shit it's making me tired
it's making me tired
it's making me die
I'm-a gonna go out in style go out in style

Style
Style
Style?
Style.
Style..?
Style
Style..??
Style.

I had a dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin came over and
Baby-sat all four of my kids

I had a dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin came over and
Baby-sat all four of my kids

Sophie only wants to tune us into radio BBC
Michael sat on my knees and whispered to me
All about the meanies
Jacqueline was being such a big girl
with her cup of tea looking out of the window
And Barbara
She looks just like my mom
Oh my god, Barbara
She looks so much like my mom
Oh my god, Barbara
She looks so much just like my mom...

brainfart on the 1st of may

for the first time in my life I inhaled Helium!
Not very exciting but it gave me some good laughs =)

well, guess that was that for the day