• in order to study vocabulary,
  • 1) the cheat code is to use anki to make your own decks (ex: general words), properly tag them by themes (clothes) and add the words in the native language on the front (skirt) and target lang in the back (der Rock)
  • 2) then custom study by entire tags throughout the day or week; it might seem time consuming but it's worth speeding up the process 100%, plus it's also impressive how, just by knowing what words mean, you're able to understand the meaning behind sentences and/or translate them even if you don't know grammar
• to get good at verb conjugations, it's better to study it together with vocabulary: make a list of all verbs you know or are trying to learn and then conjugate them
• same for gendered languages (that attribute gender to nouns): either write the word in the target language and then answer the meaning in the native language together with the gendered article or vice-versa
• in order to better memorize vocabulary that is difficult to remember, it's good to write them down with the non-dominant hand
• some websites will be obviously better than others, as is for youtube content; if one is too counterintuitive or hard to follow, look for the other
• rmbr that there r 4 aspects to communication: reading, writing, speaking & listening. becoming fluent means mastering those four aspects, and neglecting even one means being blindsided once u need it.
  • if i had to rank em from easiest to hardest, it'd be: 1. reading 2. writing 3. listening 4. speaking. knowing ur weaknesses is a good thing to keep in mind as the hardest ones for u r the ones that need the most time investment
• if u need a motivator: select a text in ur target language, any text, that is advanced enough, and read it every so often. like once every two or three months. you'll slowly track ur progress & see how w each reread you'll be absorbing and understanding more of the text that is directly proportionate to how much you've studied. (also)
• the sooner u abandon subtitles or other aids to focus only on listening comprehension, the sooner you'll get better at it. if it feels scary or demotivating atm just rmbr u can always make it a transition rather an abrupt change: at first juggle between a seconds long practice without subtitles & a minutes or hours long video or movie with subtitles on, then gradually increase the amount of time spent on practice without aids as u feel more confident w ur improvement, etc.
• if speaking practice during self study seems difficult, then it's good to go back to the very basics: study articulation points. also pitch.
• keep a semi detailed log to track all ur progress & milestones, w dates n everything, including when u started studying, when it kicked off, from when to when u studied vocabulary n grammar, at which point a conversational lvl was achieved, etc. this is especially important in the case of trying to learn more than one language later, as it will allow measurement of how long it takes for u to learn
• in case of feeling overwhelmed, try the 3-week rule

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• hot to study:
  • 1 ) introduce the subject
  • 2 ) learn about it
  • 3 ) search, read and try to understand
  • 4 ) take notes
  • 5 ) review it
  • 6 ) write about it
  • 7 ) keep revisiting and absorbing details
• for studying sturdier subjects like health or politics, physical flashcards with keywords or short sentences for answers might be better, since the process of writing them down helps memorization plus they're unlikely to amount to over one thousand cards like vocabulary in language learning
• forms of studying a subject:
  • highlight while reading
  • do the kaplan method (x)
  • write notes or keypoints to summarize
• types of intelligence:
  • linguistic intelligence (“word smart”)
  • logical-mathematical intelligence (“number/reasoning smart”)
  • spatial intelligence (“picture smart”)
  • bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”)
  • musical intelligence (“music smart”)
  • interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”)
  • intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”)
  • naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”)