Curiosity
-
-
URL changed, this is now an archived blog
-
Husbands are great aren’t they?
-
z-co:
Hello! A lot of you have been asking me where and how I’ve learn multiple languages and well, after a few hours of digging through my browser history and bookmarks, I was able to collect all of these resources. I have personally used all of these, so I can assure you they are useful! If there is something wrong with a website or a link, please let me know. Also, if you have any questions or if you want a learning buddy, my ask box is open. (I speak English and Spanish. I’m learning Korean, German, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, and Esperanto)
Note: Learning a new language requires a lot of dedication, more than you actually think! Especially if you’re learning multiple languages at the same time. It isn’t impossible, but it will take time. And by time I mean months and/or years! So please, be patient. Take your time. Don’t rush. Keep in mind that you will mess up and that’s okay. Practice as much as you can. Practice out loud. Talk to yourself if you can. It doesn’t matter if people think you’re crazy. They won’t be thinking the same when you become a polyglot, so don’t mind them. This is for you and your future.
Get started:
- Everything listed below is FREE! Some sites do require you to sign up, but that’s for you to keep track of your own process.
- Tips to get you started
- Language Hacking tips (blog)
- More language hacking tips (blog)
- The Polyglot Project (Library with foreign books that lets you translate while reading)
- How to Learn Any Language
- Effective Language Learning
- Ankidroid (flashcard maker)
Multiple languages, one website
- Duolingo (Latin American Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Turkish, Norwegian (Bokmål), Ukrainian, and Esperanto)
- BBC Languages (40 languages)
- Learn A Language (18 languages)
- Conjuguemos (French, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish)
- L-lingo (21 languages)
- 101languages (167 languages)
- Languagepod101 (31 languages)
- Foreign Services Institute (44 languages)
- My Languages (95 languages)
- Surface Languages (43 languages)
- Lingualia (Spanish)
- Linguanaut (16 languages)
- OmniGlot (All languages [basic info for some of them])
- Memrise (Various languages) (flashcard system)
- Livemocha (Various languages)
- Polyglotclub
- Sharedtalk
- Interpals (specify in your profile you only look for language exchange because there can be some creeps in this one)
- Couchsurfing
- Babbel
Specific Languages
Korean:
- Learn to read Korean in 15 minutes! - Really helpful as well
- Learnkoreanlp - Focuses on grammar
- k-is4korean
- Talktomeinkorean
- Learn-korean
- korean-flashcards - Focuses on vocabulary
- Easytolearnkorean
- Korean.go.kr/ - Focuses on pronunciation
- Lang-8 - Community to correct your entries
- Dongsa - Conjugations for verbs
- Howtostudykorean- EXTREMELY helpful when it comes to learning hangul and writing structure!
- hangulpractice - This blog has some useful posts.
- letstteok-korean
- Talktomeinkorea (YouTube channel)
- fluentkorean
- sweetandtasty
- seoulistic - For culture lessons
- GenkiKorean
- Korean Word Game
- English-Korean Vocabulary Quizzes
- Hangul Keyboard - This is also EXTREMELY helpful with Hangul/romanization. It also converts any romanized syllables into hangul
- Korean - Reddit threat
Chinese/Mandarin:
- Hackingchinese
- Chinese-tools - Pretty helpful with pronunciation.
- Chinese Open courseware
- Chinese Language - Reddit threat
- Chinese Textbook
- Chineasy
- Learn Mandarin
- Chinese Hacks
- yoyochinese
- How can I learn Chinese
- Why is Chinese so damn hard?
Japanese:
- Learn Japanese I / II - YouTube
- Guidetojapanese
- Free Japanese lesson
- Japaneseclass.jp
- thejapanesepage
- Japanesepod101
- Tofugu
- Erin’s Challenge!
- Jplang
- Yesjapan
- Marugoto - Includes culture lessons
- Kana Invaders - Fun game for learning Kana
- Another great masterpost for Japanese - So many resources!!!
Esperanto:
- Note: I did a research and supposedly Esperanto is an easy-to-learn language that helps you with other languages.
- Esperantofre
- Esperanto “library”
- Esperanto Grammar
- Esperanto (Duolingo)
German:
- Learn German Online
- German Language Guide
- Mission Berlin - Mystery adventure game
- Basic German
- Deutsch Lernen
- Slow German
- Kids’ Games - For vocabulary
Italian:
Latin:
- Some Latin grammar
- Latin Course - YouTube
Portuguese:
French:
- Learn French Guide
- Coffee Break French
- University of Texas: Francais interactif
- Podcastfrancaisfacile
- French Language Guide
- Lingopolo/french
- Le Journal en français facile
- News in Slow French
- Francolab
- Cliffs Notes
- Native French Speech
- French Podcast
Spanish:
- Spanish - About.com
- @spanishskulduggery
- Study Spanish
- Cliffs Notes
- Destinos
- One Minute Spanish
- One Minute Spanish (Latin America focused)
Thai:
Arabic:
- Books to Learn Arabic
- Mandinah Arabic
- Arabic Verbs (PDF)
- al3arabiya
- Arabic Pronouns (PDF)
- Arabic Alphabet / Also Here / And Here!
- Arabic For Language Exchange
- Peace Corps
Hindi:
- A Door Into Hindi
- Learning Hindi
- NYU Hindi Course
- Quillpad - Great for typing
- Namaste Dosti
- SU Hindi Course
- ispeakhindi
- Hindi Script
Vietnamese:
Greek:
- Some Greek Grammar (New Testament)
Romanian:
Welsh:
Dutch:
Russian:
- Speak Russian
- Russian Alphabet
- Taste of Russian
- Master Russian
- Russian Open Courseware
- Russian Handwriting
Swedish:
That’s it. That’s all I have right now. I’ll try to search for more and will keep updating this list! If you have a request for a specific language, just send me an ask. Have fun and good luck!
(via takashi0)
-
I don’t understand Why people AREN’T talking about:
If you urinate in your pants: People think that’s gross
If you defecate in your pants: People think that’s gross
If you ejaculate in your pants: People think that’s gross
If you sneeze without covering your nose: People think that’s gross
If you cough without covering your mouth: People think that’s gross
If you hock a loogie: People think that’s gross
If you’re on your period and bleed through your pants:
People think that’s gross, but it’s THE PATRIARCHY’S FAULT!So true, lol
XD -
When a teacher tells you to cover up your bra strap, remember something.
Its underwear.
Guys are told to pull up their pants if they are sagging, and girls are told to hide their bras.
It’s supposed to be a professional environment, and you are not allowed to have your underwear showing in a professional environment.(via sunnyaunt)
-
What sorcery is this? Once again, it’s not magic; it’s science! These beads are white until they are exposed to ultraviolet light. Then they all turn different colors of the spectrum. Great for knowing whether the shade you’re in is shady enough, or the clouds are cloudy enough, to keep you from getting a sunburn. Nivea even used them to make an awesome billboard in Brazil to advertize sun safety.
I NEED THEM.
(via sunnyaunt)
-
-
One of New York Central’s “Mercury” engines in Chicago, 1936.
Where did these go, because I desperately want them back.
You do NOT want them back.
They look neat but there’s a reason these beasts were retired. The Mercury Streamliners, as they was known, got off to a good start. They improved the quality of travel and attracted many tourists to the rail service, which in the 1930s was already growing less popular as a result of the flourishing air travel industry.
But it was not to last. In 1938, a Mercury Engine plowed into a cow named Bessie in upstate New York and, lacking a cow catcher, the collision tore off part of the sleek streamlined veneer that covered the engine underneath. This is what a Mercury Streamliner Engine looks like under its slick armor:
Clearly visible are the three toothy skulls with phallic lobed craniums and bladed jaws. The public was horrified.
To explain, the Mercury Engine was designed by Hans Richard Giger, father of future “Alien” creature designer Hans Rudolf Giger. Like his son, Hans Richard was known in the art world for his dark and disturbing designs. Having won the design contest for the Mercury Engine based on its exterior, the manufacturers were willing to ignore the unseen undercarriage’s necessary skeletal and demonic fashions.
Once seen however, the jig was up. The public demanded the engines be taken offline, and it didn’t happen a day too soon. It seems the Swiss architect had designed his trains with much the same mentality with which Ivo Shandor designed 55 Central Park West- As a doomsday device.
Had the Engines been online only ten days longer, they’d have seen The Day of The Awakening of the Unholy Star, a Neokhlystic holiday on which the world was mourned in preparation for the end of all time. As designed, Giger’s trains would’ve come to live, devouring and digesting their patrons in a blood sacrifice to the Satanic Lord of Carnage, Beelciftan. Had the sacrifice been accepted, the apocalypse would’ve swept from New York across the globe. So said the legend.
Here’s the thing- Legend or not if the Mercury trains had remained online a week after they were revealed as demonic devices, their owner, Bill Gruss von Krampus would’ve had the funds he intended to send to the Nazi Regime in Germany in 1938, which would’ve allowed them to start their nuclear program two years earlier. This would’ve given them the Bomb in 1943, two years before the United States completed its Manhattan Project.
So the demonic plot may well have come true in reality had the unsettling underskeletons of these beasts been revealed. There is now a monument to the Cow of Albany that died to reveal the truth.
Thank you Bessie, for without you the world would be a different place, if it still existed at all.
(via takashi0)
-
Study: Humans Feel Empathy for Robots Experiencing “Pain”
In September, a Japanese man was arrested for kicking an emotion-detecting robot named Pepper in a fit of drunken rage. The $1,600 humanoid robot survived the assault but was left with some damaged, slow-moving parts.
If thinking about this situation makes you feel bad for Pepper, you’re not alone. In a study published Tuesday in Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from Japan showed the first neurophysiological evidence that humans feel empathy for robots in pain. The team performed EEG (electroencephalography) brain scans on 15 adults who looked at pictures of human and robot hands in painful or nonpainful situations. Photos showed the hands being cut by a knife or a pair of scissors:
@peppermintcrack OUR BABIES NEEDS US.
(via sunnyaunt)
