How To Learn a New Language and Improve It | Tips + Apps

                                                   Picture by Kerri Lee Smith | Flickr






 I am not a professional in languages or anything like that, I'm just a teen girl who wants to share her own experiences with foreign languages. I don't remember telling my story in a post before, but if I did I'm just going tell it again. I moved to Brazil when I was just 7 years old, I didn't speak portuguese very well and I had a hard time learning it, actually until this day I get really confused in translating english to portuguese, it's like the words escape from my mind, but it is not a huge problem. I never considered portuguese my second language, I always told myself that both languages were my first language, because I learned them both at the same time and I have the same level of knowledge in both of them. 

 When I was 10 years old, my parents were afraid that I was going to forget english and they enrolld me in a english course, in fact I finished it last year and got my diploma. And this year I decided that I wanted to learn a new language, I thought a lot about which one I should choose and I chose French. I don't think it is a hard language to learn, because of it's similaraty to Portuguese, but of course it is challenging, because I never learned a totally new language before, like without having knowledge of the basics.

I decided today to share some tips on how to start learning a language and improving it, taking as a basis my experience on this topic. These are basic tips that I use and that can become part of your lifestyle and I am sure that it can improve your skills in short time.

1. Practice Everyday

A very simple tip, but very efficient. I study french and english everyday and I can asure you that it makes a big difference. Take a little time to review or learn some new vocab words and grammar everyday and you will master the language in no time. I set myself a goal of 10 vocab words every week, it is the perfect amount to learn, memorize and put it in to use.

2.  Read & Write

I can't tell you enough how reading helped me improve my english and portuguese. I prefer reading books in english by the way. If you are more advanced in your chosen language I say pick up a more complex book, with the classic and formal speaking of the language, that helps a lot on improving vocabulary. 

Writing is very important way to practice your grammar, creating this blog was for me a way to practice my english writing skills and not forgeting it. I really recommend having a journal or just writing essays to exercise your writing and improving it, it really helps.

3. Communicate & Listen

Speaking and listening to other people makes the process of learning a new language so much easier and fun, apart of improving your accent it can make you fluent a lot quicker. Two years ago when I was studying in the U.S, I noticed that my english was a lot better than when I didn't have interaction with others that spoke the language.

Watching movies and listening to music are all fun ways to improve a language. You can learn new words and pay attention to how the language is spoken and much more other benefits. For me what help a lot was youtube videos, I started watching them 4 years ago and it helped me so so much.

4. Travel

 A very efficient way to learn any language, I can asure you. You connect with people, put the language in practice and even learn about the culture of the country you are visiting. Of course if you want to train the language you are studying, you have to go to a language speaking country, like spanish, there is lots of different options like Spain, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru and many others.
There is even the option to study abroad and stay in family houses to learn and experiencie a life in another country.


5. Courses

If you need a little help in learning a language I would  recommend you to enroll in a course. It helps a lot if are not the type of person that likes to teach yourself. Look for a good quality and well known school, look for recommendations and for teachers experiencie, ask if any teachers were born or lived in a country that speaks the language, I think it is very important. A good course is the one which can offer language and culture.


6. Apps

So helpful, especially when there is no time or in a hurry. My favorite app is Duolinguo, it is just so fun to use and you can choose as many language as you want, in my app I have french and italian It is kind of a game, but you are learning with it.

Hope you enjoy this post and that you are having a great Easter Weekend.

Ana

How to check off all things from your To Do List more efficiently

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 I made a promise to myself this year to be more organized and have a more balanced life. A back story of last year, I was so stressed out, lost weight, had anxiety almost all year around and just was dying to have a break from school. And last summer (december) I told myself that I would never loose control again and that 2015 would be different, and it is.
 I feel a lot more happy and I don't get stress out that easily any more, and I think that one of the things that helped me is an agenda. I can do everything I have to do and still have leisure time. My friends always ask me "How can you have time to watch so many tv shows when we have so much do to?", and my answer is organization. I get really suprised when people tell that they don't have any time to just sit around and enjoy some Tv or read a book for an hour, because it is just a matter of balance.

 And today I thought of sharing one of the methods that is helping me a lot this year, it is of course a pretty common one, but very efficient, it is the To Do List. I never thoght that I was going to become a list type of girl, but that all changed when I got my agenda. It such a simple thing to do, but it works wonders, and I'm going to share some tips to help you with your To Do List.

1. Write everything and anything

Write everything that you have to do in the day, it can be as simple as washing the dishes or it can be as harder as to finish an important project, but every simple task that you write on your list is going to be easier to finish and you feel accomplished. Some of the things that I write is to make coffee, clean and organize room, study for tests, write ideas for blog and many other things.

   

    2. Prioritize

On the top of the list write things that are important and due tomorrow, like projects, tests, and medical appointments. This will help you finish the main things of your day and not feel guilty about forgeting the important tasks.




   3. Have settled tasks and make a routine

Set everyday goals for yourself, like mine are stretches, study french and Italian, read, and study for the SAT. I do them every single day, and that helps me stay focused and develop skills, and I look foward everyday on doing them after I do my important tasks.





  4. Multitasking

If you are the type of person that can do more than one thing at the same time, this is for you. Do something simple with something more challenging. I like to do my stretches while I study french and italian, or watch a video class while washing the dishes. This helps when you are in a hurry and don't have time to check off everything on your list.






 5. The Leftovers


We all have those days that we have no time to finish all task on the list, but you can always put it on the other days list, or on the weekends list. But make sure that the only thing that are left are the simple tasks, things that weren't that important to finish that day.






Hope you all are having an awesome weekend and that this post helps you to start making lists and organizing your life, but if you already do that hope that you find some new tips that can improve your list making skills.


Ana

What to wear for a beginners ballet class tryout?

I was very anxious not knowing what to wear for my first class, bacause I didn't have any slippers or a leotard, but I called the school and they told me what should I wear and stuff, because I didn't want to buy ballet shoes and clothing without knowing if I would like the class or not. I'm here to help you if you are thinking of going at a tryout class.

The only rule is comfiness, wear something that makes you feel comfortable and that is stretch approved, because you don't want to rip your pants while stretching muscules. I recommend wearing some long leggings, because them it will be easier to slide when stretching on the floor.

I don't think there is a specific top that you have to wear, it can be a flowy blouse or a tank top, but one time my teacher was saying that wearing a tight shirt can help to see the spine alignment and the posture.

Like all beginners I didn't have ballet slippers, than I wore a pair of socks for the first week, a good pair of thick sneackers socks can be a good ballet shoe for your tryout.

Hair always tied! This is very important, because you don't want to dance and have your hair always coming at your face. I recommend doing bun or a ponytail or even a braid, but the bun is the best thing because there won't be any hair moving around while you dance.

Hope this helps someone that is thinking about joining a ballet school, and hope you have a great day.

Ana

(picture from Flicker)

5 Tips To Get Into Reading

I already told the story of how I got into reading, but I did kind of lots of mistakes that almost got me tired of reading, and these tips are almost all based on experiences that I've been through. I got into reading by starting with the wrong book for me, it was too big and with a topic that I wasn't even interested about and it took me a year to read it, and what I learn about that event help me to choose better reads and in consequence never getting bored of reading again.

1. Find a topic that you are interested in. This is one of the most important steps, because if you are reading something that you don't like, you will get tired and bored of reading it and probably not going to read anything ever again with the thought that every single book is going to be like that. Well, it is not like that at all, you just have to figure out what interests you more and what would you like to read about. If you like video games or fashion, Egyptian mythology and Star Wars, I'm sure you are going to find books about those topics and like them.
2. Start small. I recommend starting with a book that has less than 300 pages, it is not to long that you will get tired of reading and dropping it in the middle, and it is not too short that it can't be considered a book. Of course, if you don't feel comfortable in reading this much pages you can always start with less, or if you feel like you are ready for a bigger number of pages you can always read more. 
3. Take your time. If you need a week, a month or even a year to finish a book, don't worry, take your time and don't put pressure on yourself  and do not do it for peer pressure of others either. Of course one day you will have to challenge yourself to read on a small space of time for a school assignment or even if you become an avid reader, but it does not have to be now if you are just starting to get into reading.
4. Find your style of reading. One of the things that I like more about reading is the diverse styles that they can be found in. There is a lot of styles you can choose from to read, like comic books or newspaper, graphic novels or series, physical books or ebooks, and much more. The fun about all of this is that doesn't have to be about one thing OR the other, you can read each one of these styles if you like them and never get bored of just reading one type. Find the one that you feel most comfortable with and start right now.
5. Find a place to read comfortably without distractions. If you are new to reading I would totally recommend reading somewhere you feel comfortable and relaxed at and where there is no one and any technology that can distract you around. Well, sometimes your comfy place is a crowded subway or somewhere that is filed with computers and cell phones, this is a very personal option and tip, but a very important one. Finding a place that you feel secure at is a key step for your reading to flow naturally.