japanese learning
Bliu Bliu Review! Language Learning
Recently I came across the site Bliu Bliu, which offers an interesting program that focuses on reading comprehension and words being classified as 'Easy' or 'Difficult'. This is a fun, aesthetically pleasing way of approaching reading and so I thought I would do a short review.
When you first arrive on the website, you'll be prompted to pick a language. I chose Japanese to show you all as an example!
First, you'll be tested with some sample words so Bliu Bliu can see what you know and what you don't.
As you mark more words 'Easy' or 'Difficult' Bliu Bliu will then tally how many words it thinks you know based on what you respond.
Finally, they will issue you a final number and you can start your account from there!
After pressing continue, you'll be immediately prompted with more readings. If you click the words in red, it changes the status of the words from Difficult to Easy, and thus they are added to your words list.
When you go to the main homepage after creating your account, you'll see two things.
These are all the possible readings you can go through, based on your proficiency level. You can change your level and add or subtract more texts via your settings in the toolbar.
This is the toolbar that is on the left hand side. Here you can edit your profile, linguistic level, find more things to read and even change the language you're studying. As you can see, at the bottom they offer a way for you to subscribe to their premium service.
See that little timer next to my photo? That's how many minutes of study Bliu Bliu allows you per free session, however as the photo details you do get more free minutes, it just takes some time for them to recover.
I've only just started using this program but here are my pros and cons:
Pros:
Great resource for reading!
Beautifully designed site, makes it fun and easy to use
Time refreshes rather quickly, so you don't need to wait hours for a refresh
Cons:
Some of the words aren't really words, but more parts of other words
Reading through each reading is a bit confusing when the furigana is in parenthesis next to the kanji, so I'll look into if there's a way to remove the furigana.
Not sure if it's worth it to pay for this service.
I hope you can try this site for yourself! Thanks for reading!
daily life
Goals for 2017 // ２０１７の目標
(This is a post that was transferred from my Wordpress blog. Original post date is the first week of January, 2017)
We're only a week into 2017 and I've already thought of a dozen project ideas for this year. The biggest challenge is sticking with them, as I have the nasty habit of starting something and leaving it unfinished. So I've decided to make a nice little blog post detailing them, in the hopes that will make me stick to my resolutions. By the way, I made 6 goals because 6 is my favorite number. :)
Goal 1: Become more body-positive
In 2016, due to a combination of late night vending machine binging and sleeping at 2 am every night, I gained about 10 pounds. I noticed this the first week of December, and totally freaked out. It's not that I hadn't noticed, but more that I didn't want to look at my body more than I had to. However, I made a choice to take a step back and look at what I was eating, and I'm glad I made that choice. I've lost the 10 pounds I gained in the matter of a month, and the weight loss has done wonders for my confidence.
This being said, I still have a long road ahead of me. I tried taking a full body photo of myself today, and ended up deleting it with a sour taste in my mouth. I still have ways to go in terms of my weight loss (I'll address that in another Goal) but as the days pass, I'm actively trying to love the skin I'm in.
Goal 2: Get somewhere with Japanese
The title sounds like I'm being hard on myself, but I've really been struggling these days to find what study method works for me. When I was in Japan for 2 weeks this past June, I picked up a lot of new Japanese from being in an environment where I couldn't speak English.
Now that I'm back home, I'm not retaining information as easily, and it's hard not to feel unmotivated or exasperated at my (lack of) progress. I used to use Memrise (a wonderful language learning website) a lot, so I'm hoping I can kick myself into gear and start learning some useful things before I head to Japan for my study abroad.
Goal 3: Reach my goal weight
The last time I was 100 pounds, I was a freshman in high school. Those were the days I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain a pound, but since then my body has matured a lot and no longer allows such shenanigans. I'm currently only 117 pounds, so I don't have far to go.
The one thing that may end up hindering my weight loss is the god-awful vegetarian selection offered at my University. There were many days last semester where I either went hungry or ate cereal because there was no food I could eat. I'm still on this meal plan, but it's only for one more semester so I'll grin and bear it. One perk of next semester is that my schedule is pretty light, so I'll have more time to go to the gym.
Goal 4: Build strong friendships
The beginning of the year was rough for me. Basically, it made me realize that nobody is perfect, and that I shouldn't depend so heavily on one person. It also taught me to let things go, and to see a situation as something positive.
In 2017, I want to strengthen the bonds I have with those around me that I may have neglected. I want to build healthy and happy friendships , and maybe make some new friends along the way.
Goal 5: Get closer to God
This may come as a shocker, but I'm really working on my faith these days. I've never been a religious person, despite attending Catholic school and going to mass most of my life. I've never felt a connection with God, and a part of me always wanted to have a bond with Him.
After the 'friend breakup' I had, my gut told me to contact my friend Charis, and have a personal Bible talk with her. Charis has always brought me along to Christian events, such as mass or bible talk, and I've always had fun because the community was so welcoming. Even though I didn't believe, I was invited to events with open arms. After my personal Bible talk, I went straight to Barnes and Nobles and bought a Bible and a notebook. This year, I want to learn more about the Christian faith and explore what opportunities faith can bring me.
Goal 6: Be Happy
Maybe you saw this one coming. This is a goal I make every year, and 2017 is no different. Last year had a rough start for me, but ended up being a pretty good year. I went abroad, I entered a new relationship, and I focused on my mental health a lot more.
I want to spend more time documenting my happy times, and make an effort to do things that make me happy. I want to notice the little things in life, and keep working on my mental and physical health. I want to stop being so critical of myself, and my failures. I want to stop scolding myself over things I did wrong, because in the end, I tried.
And that's something worth celebrating💕
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