(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best reference books

I totally understand. I need some structure as well.

I've bought so many creative writing books, and I've realized the best ones are the ones used in college classrooms.

This one is my favorite. You can do a writing exercise from it everyday, and you'll improve greatly. Unfortunately it's pricey at $67 (try to get a used version at half the cost).

What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers (3rd Edition)

What's great is that each chapter builds your skills gradually, starting with exercises to write good intro sentences, then to character development, point of view, dialogue, interior landscape of characters, plot, element of style, revisions, learning from the greats, etc.

The authors have said this has been the best way to see improvements from their students, and it's been working for me. Unlike other writing exercise books, this one has a clear structure, and moreover, they really go in depth in explaining the exercise and it's goal -- the technique it's trying to develop.

What I find especially helpful is that the book includes student examples for most of the examples. I own many writing exercises books, and so often I need to a clue on how to execute the exercises or I'm lost. The book also comes with short stories to study, too.

I was so skeptical about the book, since it isn't cheap, but the reviews on Amazon won me over. Read those reviews -- so many people recommend the book.

Note, if you can't afford it, there is the original, much cheaper version. It's much smaller, and doesn't have as many student examples or extra content (like the short stories), but it's costs way less. I'm guessing this was the original book before they expanded into a college textbook. I also own it also and it's still good. It's nice to carry around with me if I don't want to take the much larger newer version.

My other recommendation is this book:[The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing by Alice LaPlante](
https://www.amazon.com/Making-Story-Norton-Creative-Writing/dp/0393337081/)

LaPlante is great at explaining the little nuances, the details in what makes creative fiction work. She goes into more details, and has writing exercises at the end of each chapter, including a short story to read. So she gives more theory of how good writing works. She avoids flowery or abstract advice found in so many other books.

I found it an excellent companion to the "What If" book.

This book is also used in college courses, and it's thick! Lots of material. Fortunately, however, this version I linked is around $13. This is the same exact book as the college version for $52 (named "Method and Madness: The Making of a Story").

Lastly, this isn't a college writing book, but just a bunch of really helpful exercises on how to improve as a writer.

Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

What I like is that he gives examples to his exercises, too, from books, newspaper articles, etc. I really love all of Roy Peter Clark's writing books.

Anyway, good luck. I was in a deep writing funk. Depressed I wasn't improving, and I decided to write everyday using exercises from those books, and it's helped me so much.

Edit: typos.

I remember someone asking a similar question on /r/languagelearning, these are the resources I could come up with:


Vocab:

• This is a good memrise course, with audio and everything
  
  
• Quizlet is also a great resource, you can just search "swedish vocab" and get a ton of sets.
  
  
• There's also Anki, but I haven't been able to find a good deck with audio.
  
  
  Grammar:
  
  
• If you're willing to spend $11.72, I couldn't recommend this book more. It's probably the single most useful resource I own for learning Swedish.
  
  Other:
  
  
• You can get a virtual library card from the Malmö public library, and check out up to 2 e-books a week with it. They have a ton of Swedish children's books that are really useful for practice. If you're interested, I can post the link and instructions.
  
  
• This is a free text-based course from the Stockholm School of Economics that's pretty good. You can download the file on that website.
  
  
• Rosetta Stone Swedish is a really good way to get a strong foundation in Swedish. I personally wouldn't spend that much money, but you don't necessarily have to...if you know what I mean.
  
  
• The Foreign Service Institute has a ton of courses (pdf with audio) that are surprisingly good. They're all available to the public for free, and the audio makes it great for learning pronunciation. This is a link to the Swedish one.
  
  
• Once you get moderately far into learning the language, you can watch Swedish shows for free on SVT, which has Swedish subtitles so you can improve your pronunciation and get more comfortable with spoken Swedish. Unfortunately, there aren't English subtitles (that I've found) so that's why I recommend not going on until you know a bit more of the language.

Ok, so I promised you that I would comment on this piece, if you posted it, so lets just jump right in!



THE BASICS OF STORY TELLING

Just because you are writing non-fiction, doesn't mean that you get to ignore the process of telling a story. In fact, it may be that the elements of a story are more important in non-fiction than fiction.

When was the last time you picked up a chemistry text book 'for fun'? But how about The Elegant Universe? Or A Short History of Nearly Everything? If you haven't read the latter, you should, as it is probably one of the greatest non-fiction science books of all time.

What makes these books more engaging than a standard textbook? They are telling a story. They are leading the reader on a journey of discovery, but are introducing that discovery in a way that makes the reader feel they have some skin in the game. They introduce problems (and questions) that demand answers. They introduce characters that are trying to solve them. There is antagonists (even if it is just nature) and heroes (even if it is just nature). And all this is introduced from the start.

In other words, they have a hook.



THE HOOK

So, lets think about your hook:

>I recently put aside my doubts that all of "reality" was anything but a simulation, created by an advanced civilization, and went for a long walk (for the sake of exploring the "fun" consequences, of course).

Not. Good.

First, you don't really introduce the problem. Sure, you said you put aside some doubts, but doubts of what? What do you mean by simulation? What do you mean by 'advanced civilization)? Why do I care what you are thinking? Why Do I care if you went for a walk -- and why do I care if it were long?

Do you see the problem? You introduce a string of loosely defined terms, which gives us a loosely defined problem. It is hard to care about a loosely defined problem. Worse you give us a character (YOU) that the reader know nothing about, and then probably won't care.

Do you know who the reader does care about? Themselves.

So, I would give a hook that is something related to the reader. You already mention The Matrix, and so you might just start a hook with something like:

"What if the matrix was right all along."

Something like this introduces a well-defined problem (borrowing from popular culture to do so), and then also a character that the reader cares about: themselves.

>I then, more quickly than expected, traversed the five stages of grief and arrived at an interesting realization.

1. What are the 5 stages of grief? Why not just list them?
   
2. Why do I care how quickly you arrived at them.
   
3. I don't know who you are, and how fast you expected to run through the five stages of grief. So, 'quicker than expected' tells me nothing.
   
4. The way this is phrase, it sounds like you were expecting to run through the five stages of grief. If that is the case, then why? I am struggling to understand how thinking the universe is a simulation might induce grief?
   
5. The ending of this is cheap, because you tell us there is an interesting realization, but then you don't give it to us. In my opinion, you should probably never directly assess that something YOU did is interesting (let the reader decide that), and you certainly shouldn't make a claim without immediately backing it up. Therefore, this is a bad end to the sentence.
   
   
   >I'd like to retrace my steps with the hope that you too will attain the same simulated peace that I now possess. Where to begin...
   
   The hook is now over. I do not know what the problem is, I do not know why I should care that you are having this problem, I don't know what your position is or why I should trust that it is 'interesting' and you claim.
   
   If I were not reading for critique, I would not read past this. You need a better, stronger, hook, to draw the reader's attention to the problem that you wish to discuss, and show them how this problem relates to their own life (i.e., why they should care about it).
   
   
   
   CLAIMS OF KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT SUPPORT
   
   The other issue this piece has is the that give above in bold -- you routinely issue judgement statements without sufficient support. Let us look at some:
   
   >the largest of the looming obstacles becomes the realization that all of reality as we know it could cease to exist for reasons beyond our control or even understanding.
   
   How is this an obstacle? And obstacle to what? This just seems to be a fact of one particular type of simulation.
   
   What if the simulation was being run in a manner such that it could not be interrupted? The technology to run this simulation is beyond our grasp, so why couldn't such a mechanism exist? You are making a claim that appears to have no foundation other than you think it to be true.
   
   >It is a reasonable assumption that a civilization advanced enough to simulate literally everything must first have achieved a certain level of peace and stability.
   
   There appears to be a logical flaw here. They did not simulate EVERYTHING -- just the things in the simulation. In fact, THEY must exist outside of the simulation, so that is not everything. In fact, if the laws of physics hold in their own universe, then the simulation we would be in would, by definition, be required to be MUCH simpler than their own world. The laws of thermodynamics dictate this. Therefore, this simulation would just a simple model of something.
   
   Furthermore:
   
   >After all, it's a bit difficult to investigate the nature of reality and advance science while you're busy trying to avoid being brutally murdered by bloodthirsty marauders hell-bent on wearing your skull as a hat
   
   What if, and I am just widely speculating here, the desire to avoid the fate you propose led someone to invent some new technology to avoid this -- like maybe a helmet? Or a better sword? Or something?
   
   Complete peace seems more likely to motivate technological advances. If all was perfect, then why change anything? Our invention of technology is a result of struggles against nature and others. Thus, violence and strife are primary motivators for technology, and it seems more logically sound to argue the opposite of what you are claiming.
   
   > This would mean that our creators posses at least the ability to perceive us as valid life forms, and as such, subject to the same rights as themselves!
   
   WHAT?
   
   We accept that bacteria are life forms, and do not extend to them the rights that we grant other people. Where is there any support that one would expect creators to grant rights to their creations that are on par with their own? I see absolutely zero support for this position. Maybe is exists, but if it does, you need to supply it.
   
   >The opposing perspectives could be summed up as follows:
   >1. Simulations capable of producing conscious simulants should not be created, since the act of turning off such simulations would be an act of genocide.
   >2. The knowledge obtained from simulations outweigh the ethical implications; the end justifies the means.
   
   
   This is a false dichotomy. They could also assume that we are not worthy of rights. You have not established that. So, they could view us with EXACTLY the same view we extend to simulation of people in video games. Do we consider their rights? If not, then why would they consider ours? This has not been sufficiently established.
   
   
   
   OVERALL FLOW
   
   Just as a story needs to have a cohesive plot, your non-fiction needs to have a common thread that connects ideas back to the major problem.
   
   In Star Wars: A New Hope, the story continually comes back to the problem of Luke establishing himself in a wider world. We care deeply about him, and his feeling of insignificance.
   
   In your story, you MUST return to the same idea over and over again. The problem just structure your discussion of everything else.
   
   The problem you REALLY have is this: if we are a simulation, do we have moral rights?
   
   So, this needs to guide EVERY single fact you introduce.
   
   Did the dinosaurs have rights? Then what do we make of the morality of the meteor coming in? What do we think about mammals taking over their environment?
   
   If we do not have rights in the simulation, then should we care about murder?
   
   These are interesting questions, that can be tied back the strange idea of us existing in a simulation. They provide stronger jumping off points for the tangents you are taking. They will provide a structure and focus that you are currently lacking. You need to identify a theme, and stick with it, very closely. In the same way that all actions in Star Wars were related to Luke gaining an understanding of his place in the galaxy, your story MUST always come back to the idea of Morality within and without a simulation.
   
   *
   
   SUMMARY*
   
   The idea that you are discussing is interesting, but the manner you are doing it in is not yet engaging. The reason is that you have not introduced the problem with a proper hook, and you do not identify and tread near an established theme within the piece. These are elements of story telling that will serve you well in non-fiction, as in fiction.
   
   If you want more information on this, try reading [Writing Science*](http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Science-Papers-Proposals-Funded/dp/0199760241). THough this is aimed more at the academic writer, it is a great place to start for understanding how to frame the introduction to serious non-fiction. That is, how to identify the story you are trying to tell, how to make a compelling hook, and then how to follow through on the themes that make your hook compelling.
   
   Let me know if you have questions!

Some of the best I've used:

Story by Robert McKee -- As its title indicates, this book takes a look at story construction from a more theoretical perspective. McKee works mostly in the realm of screenplays but the ideas he puts forth are universally applicable and have already helped my writing immensely -- story itself was one of the big areas where I was struggling, and after reading through this book I'm able to much better conceptualize and plan out thoughtful stories.

Stein on Writing by Sol Stein -- if McKee's book is written from a theoretical perspective, Stein's takes a practical look at how to improve writing and editing skills. The mechanics of my writing have improved after reading this book; his examples are numerous and accessible. His tone may come off as a bit elitist but that doesn't mean he doesn't have things to teach us!

On Writing by Stephen King -- A perennial favorite and one I'm sure you've already received numerous suggestions for. Kind of a mix of McKee and Stein in terms of approach, and a great place to start when studying the craft itself.

Elements of Style by Strunk & White -- King swears by this book, and although I've bought it, the spine still looks brand new. I would recommend getting this in paperback format, though, as it's truly meant to be used as a reference.

Writing Excuses Podcast -- HIGHLY recommended place to start. Led by Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells and Mary Robinette Kowal, this is one of the places I really started to dig into craft. They're at Season 13.5 now but new listeners can jump in on Season 10, where they focus on a specific writing process in each episode (everything from coming up with ideas to characterization and world building and more). Each episode is only 15(ish) minutes long. Listening to the whole series (or even the condensed version) is like going through a master class in genre fiction.

Brandon Sanderson 318R Playlist -- Professional recordings of Brandon Sanderson's BU writing class. Great stuff in here -- some crossover topics with Writing Excuses, but he is a wealth of information on genre fiction and great writing in general. Covers some of the business of writing too, but mostly focuses on craft.

Love this idea - hopefully I've sent a couple you haven't received yet!

That's very sweet of you; I'm glad you liked the music! Rossini is one of my favourite composers. If you've never seen all of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, it's so much fun. Donizetti's great too and in a similar style; here's an aria.

Italian will help you somewhat, and honestly, if you have a good English vocabulary, that will help you a lot too; no other languages necessary. Regardless of how you do it, it's going to require a pretty big time commitment. I majored in Latin, have been studying it for six years, and in fact I placed first in a Canada-wide competition for third- and fourth-year undergraduates in translating a previously unseen passage, and I still read Latin a fair bit slower than English. I can certainly testify to the utility of reading ancient texts in the original, though. I had a bit of an epiphany in fourth year when I was reading Plato's Phaedo (not written in Latin, I know, but it still applies). There was one point where I was interested in how different translators interpreted a particular passage, and when I compared four or five different translations, I couldn't help but notice how different each of them was from the others. It made me realize how much interpretive work goes into a translation, and it made me happy that my studies were enabling me to make those sorts of judgements myself.

If you do decide to tackle Latin, I can recommend two series to start you out that you could choose one of, depending on what kind of approach you like. In my university, we used a very grammar-based textbook called Wheelock's Latin. It covers almost all the important grammatical concepts necessary to read genuine Latin, and includes towards the end unedited passages of real Roman writing. The downside of the book is that it encourages a deciphering kind of approach, rather than learning to be comfortable with the language first.

The other, more welcoming approach is the one taken by the Cambridge Latin Course. I will note that I haven't used the textbooks myself, but I know it's extremely popular in high schools. Those books try to get students reading right away and gradually increase the difficulty and introduce grammatical concepts along the way. It's more like a modern language textbook. There are three or four books in the series. I suspect that these books would be better for an amateur learner than Wheelock.

If I were you, I'd see if I could take a look at both those textbook series before buying anything of them. Some copies might be in a nearby university library or a high school that offers Latin.

After textbooks, good first authors to read in actual Latin, depending on your interests, are Catullus's poems, Phaedrus's adaptations of Aesop's fables, Julius Caesar's accounts of his campaigns in the Gallic and Civil Wars, Cicero's letters and speeches, or bits of Ovid's Metamorphoses or Ars Amatoria.

If you get past the textbooks and are reading real texts, you'll need a dictionary. This and [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Cassells-Latin-Dictionary-Latin-English-English-Latin/dp/0025225804/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347668490&sr=8-1&keywords=latin+dictionary) are good choices. Anything by James Morwood, like this, is not. Having some kind of grammatical reference is essential as well. Woodcock's Latin Syntax is my favourite for its excellent explanations and its great readability, in spite of its thoroughness.

Edit: Huh, this got quite long. Sorry about that. Anyway, don't feel pressured or intimidated by the length of this. I just listed a few things in case you decide to give Latin a shot.

The first thing that I suggest is that you buy a reputable book that will teach you how to write. I'm not saying that you're a bad writer, but I would wager that most people write three times worse than they think they can (I am including myself). On Writing Well is a classic, and you might also want to read this one and this one, although I strongly recommend completing the first one. What's included is:

a) Keep it simple. Don't say it's going to be a turbulent precipitation, say that it's going to rain. A lot.

b) Study each adverb and adjective. Any words that aren't necessary should be cut. Is it really important to say that the violin was wooden? Probably not. What about the sentence "She smiled happily"? The "happily" isn't necessary, that's what "smiled" means.

c) Use specific verbs.

d) Consistency is key. Switching tenses or something similar in the middle of writing is generally a bad move.

e) Proofread. Duh. That goes hand in hand with editing.

So, yeah. You should really look into that stuff area. One read-through will help significantly.

Ok. So now that I finished preaching to you, let's move on. I didn't find any templates in my quick search, so that's of no use right now. What you can do, though, is study very well-written program notes. Are their sentences long or short? When are they longer or shorter, and why? Is the tone active or passive (psst. it's probably active)? What's the tone that they use, and what is your impression at the end? You get the gist. If you write down what you think your thoughts for three of these, you'll have a good idea what you're shooting for. Other than that, it's all up to you, so go nuts.

Anecdotes are also a nice way to make things entertaining. Search for stories, or impacts on the audience. Did you know there are at least six editions of the Rite of Spring? Why was the one your orchestra's performing (let's assume) created? Many people also don't know about the riot after its premier. Stravinsky escaped out the back entrance to avoid the aristocratic mob. Say fun things, win fun prizes, or something like that.

It's also important to know that stories tend to follow the path of one person. The Odyssey could have had its crew be the focus, instead it was Odysseus. Inside Out could have placed all the emotions front and center, but it was Sadness and Joy that saved the girl. Keep that in mind if you're going down a similar path.

Man, I went all out on this. Good luck with your program.

Some of these aren't on Amazon, but all of them outside of amazon are on my wishlist, is that okay?

1.) Something that is grey.

[This compilation of xkcd comics!] (http://www.amazon.com/xkcd-0-Randall-Munroe/dp/0615314465/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1KXQQYMQ3MHEJ&coliid=I12D1D7CV12AVC) Though there aren't any formerly-unseen comics included, this is perfect for the lover of the famous (and always relevant) Xkcd webcomics.

2.) Something reminiscent of rain.

[This t-shirt for fans of Incubus that is apparently out of stock now, but I'm keeping it on my wishlist to gaze wistfully at.] (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/315rOsJeWzL._SL135_.jpg)
Incubus has always been one of my favorite bands, and all art that the lead singer (Brandon Boyd) produces is amazing, so I had high faith in this shirt being wonderful if I had the money to buy it.

3.) Something food related that is unusual.

[So I typed in "candy" and this popped up..] (http://www.amazon.com/LOCOMO-Rainbow-Hedgehog-Plastic-Baseball/dp/B00BRWH99K/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_2_49?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1376327288&sr=1-49&keywords=candy)
I'm not sure what I was expecting.

4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why.

[My mom has always wanted to learn calligraphy and someone recommended this book to me] (http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Calligraphy-Complete-Lettering-Design/dp/0767907329/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1KXQQYMQ3MHEJ&coliid=I35YCU37X7E6Y2)
She paints signs for people, usually featuring newborn babies or pets, and she always has to print out a guide and trace it if her customers request a font for their name.

5.) A book I should read! I am an avid reader, so take your best shot and tell me why I need to read it!

[This compilation of postsecrets-- artistic postcards with secrets written on them-- that are all touching in their own way.] (http://www.amazon.com/PostSecret-Extraordinary-Confessions-Ordinary-Lives/dp/0060899190/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1KXQQYMQ3MHEJ&coliid=I22JZDFLS686V8)
If you haven't heard of Postsecret yet, you should check it out [here] (http://www.postsecret.com/)

6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related!

I dunno!

7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (keep this SFW, you know who you are...)

I have two cats, but I got nothing for this one.

8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it.

[This key from KeypersCove] (http://www.amazon.com/Handmade-Winter-Rose-Key-Necklace/dp/B00D3S4GVU/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376329005&sr=8-1&keywords=keypers+cove)
I had a similar one on my wishlist but it's out of stock now.

9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why?

[Cloud Atlas!] (http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas/dp/B00CRWJ5GO/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1376329072&sr=8-4&keywords=clouds+atlas)
Terribly confusing unless you see the [trailer] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWnAqFyaQ5s) first, it's surprisingly appropriate for this sub.

10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain.

[This climbing pick] (http://www.amazon.com/Omega-Pacific-Mountain-Axe-80cm/dp/B002J91R1G/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376330277&sr=8-2&keywords=climbing+pick)
Ever played Telltale's The Walking Dead? Well, one character had a climbing pick that they used pretty frequently to scale buildings and kill zombies..it opened my eyes to the possibilities and dual uses of items.

11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals.

[This book] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Emotion-Thesaurus-Character-Expression/dp/1475004958/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top) for my writing skills, I always have trouble finding just the right way to convey the proper emotion, plus I have severe social anxiety so it would help me figure out how to act in real life as well.

[Or this book by the famous Virginia Woolf] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Waves-Harvest-Book-ebook/dp/B004R1Q41C/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1KXQQYMQ3MHEJ&coliid=IHP0D0N718720) just the type of writing style I'm aiming for.

[Or this book that I'm sure would help me with my technique.] (http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Tools-Essential-Strategies-Writer/dp/0316014990/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)

12.) One of those pesky Add-On items.

Hm?

13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item. Why?

I used to have this on my list, but a [Geiger counter] (http://www.amazon.com/Radex-RD1503-RADEX-Radiation-Detector/dp/B00051E906/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376331004&sr=8-1&keywords=geiger+counter) because I'm paranoid about radiation and etc. Deleted it off my list because it's not useful for everyday life.

14.) Something bigger than a bread box. EDIT A bread box is typically similar in size to a microwave.

I got nothing on my list.

15.) Something smaller than a golf ball.

[These socks] (http://www.amazon.com/Portal-Chells-Aperture-Science-Socks/dp/B008JGPSJU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1KXQQYMQ3MHEJ&coliid=I2KUOG9B813AXT) because they're ultra thin and I'm sure they could be crumpled up that small.

16.) Something that smells wonderful.

I'd put something here, but there's nothing I'm sure of. [This book] (http://www.amazon.com/White-Fluffy-Clouds-Inspiration-Forward/dp/0974512001/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1KXQQYMQ3MHEJ&coliid=I16LKBYPI8BE5U) because it could smell like Brandon Boyd?

17.) A (SFW) toy.

I've got nothing!

18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school.

[This shirt] (http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/rising-t-shirt/13087/) because I find it amazing, oh my god oh my god.

19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be.

[I've been trying to learn Irish for quite awhile now..] (http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Irish-Michael-OSiadhail/dp/0300121776/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376331377&sr=8-1&keywords=learn+irish)

20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand.

[This poster, this poster!] (http://smbc.myshopify.com/products/dear-human-19x27-poster) To see what it's based on, the original comic is [here] (http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2223)

Let me start by telling you to save yourself the trouble. Learning Japanese is a long hard road and once you get to the end you'll realize that the Anime or manga that spurred your desire to learn is actually juvenile and terrible. The economy here stinks and translation is one of the most boring, tedious jobs in existence. Furthermore, even after you achieve intermediate proficiency and can speak and understand a lot of Japanese, you'll realize that it doesn't matter because speaking Japanese requires being Japanese to a certain extent and you won't and can't ever be Japanese.

If that still doesn't persuade you to learn any other language, here are a few resources:

Reviewing the Kanji Forum - This is a site devoted to Heisig's Reviewing the Kanji which is a series of books devoted to learning the Kanji independently and then learning the readings later. I suggest you do this. It will take anywhere from 3 months to a year and you won't be able to read or write any Japanese at the end of it, but in my opinion, this foundation is of profound necessity. After you do this, acquiring vocabulary and understanding even complicated scientific terms in Japanese will be leaps and bounds easier.

Tae Kim's guide to basic Japanese grammar - This is a basic primer. Free and through. Study it and internalize it. It's no substitute for a class and instructors to drill you, but it's free and explains concepts in Japanese grammar in a way that will complement any classes you take and/or let you work at your own pace towards more complicated material.

Anki - Download Anki. It's a Spaced Repitition System (SRS) program. Make two decks. A sentences deck and a vocabulary deck. Whenever you learn a new word, put it into the vocab deck and put interesting sentences into the sentences deck. Finish your reviews every day. (Like braces, this is something that will be with you for the rest of your life, so learn to love it.) Time box your reviews to about 5 minutes at a time.

Kanji in Context - Start working through this series of books. I do something like 2 kanji a day in the vocabulary workbook, putting all the words into an Anki deck and obscuring the kanji I'm learning, such that the answer to the card is to write that kanji. This primarily enforces the readings I'm learning. Writing things increases your ability to dedicate them to memory. I put the sentences into the sentences deck. Prepare to get behind. Maybe you'll slag through it.

lang-8 - Once you've got some conversational Japanese under your belt, sign up at Lang-8 and write some or respond to other journal entries. Native speakers congregate here and will correct your Japanese, talk to you in Japanese, and generally have a conversation.

Buy or research ways to study for the JLPT and sign up for level 4. The goal is not passing this test (only level 1 and 2 really matter and even then, most people who get this certification are NEVER asked they took it) but simply setting a deadline. Level 5 (test changed this year) is crazy easy. Make this your goal. Even if you can't actually get to a testing site or don't have the money, convince yourself that you do and buy some JLPT study guides and work towards level X (again, probably 5). Once you feel confident you can pass level 5, start studying for level 4 and so on. Use the bi-annual deadlines to keep yourself studying. Watch Japanese stuff on Youtube, find a way to go to Japan and do all this in a native environment. Once you get to the end of the road, you'll probably end up discovering that it wasn't worth it.

My recommendation is to learn Mandarin if you're interested in learning an Asian language and something European if you're interested in History. (If you're interested in reading historic Japanese texts, good luck. You'll have to learn Japanese and then classic Japanese. (Most natives can't read pre-WWII newspapers easily or at all-- this is where you're headed.))

I can't speak much about teaching in Taiwan but there are lots of good opportunities and everyone I know who has done it absolutely loves it. I can comment however about learning Mandarin in Taiwan and other tidbits.

As a Computer Engineering graduate, Mandarin is the most useful language you could possibly learn so I highly recommend it. After teaching English and learning Mandarin for a while, you may want to consider using your Computer Engineering degree to help you get a job in Taiwan (at an English-speaking company) - everything in the PC industry goes through here so it could be some interesting experience.

As for learning Mandarin, definitely try to learn some before coming out but don't worry too much as you'll "re-learn" a lot when you're in Taiwan. Focus on learning the tones and learning to understand spoken Mandarin above all else so that you're ready to learn quickly when you land in Taiwan. Remember that you'll be learning Beijing Mandarin abroad and while Taiwan Mandarin is very similar but there are some "quirks." Also, remember that if you move to the South of Taiwan most people speak Taiwanese, not Mandarin, so you may want to be in the North if you're keen to learn Mandarin. Lastly, remember that you'll learn pinyin and simplified characters abroad but if you want to continue your studies in Taiwan you'll be learning with bopomo (ㄅㄆㄇ) and traditional characters.

If you have an iPod or iPhone, buy a copy of Pleco. This will come in very handy for learning but also for writing out any signs you come across. If you want to learn to read Traditional Characters, I can recommend this book: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0824833244. But honestly the best thing to do in advance of coming would be to set up some (Pleco/Mnemosync/Anki) flash cards with typical "menu words" and learn to read them. All the authentic restaurants have no English menu. :)

Send me a PM if you want any more info.

I rather liked Guy Deutscher's The Unfolding of Language, which is about how language may have first developed (all conjecture of course, we can never really know, but he makes some interesting points). Bonus: He writes for the average person, meaning you don't necessarily have to know anything about linguistics to read the book. Downside: It's a bit pop-science. But I liked it anyway. :)

Edit: I've also heard good things about Ken Jenning's Maphead. Ken's really awesome anyway, you should read his stuff. Great sense of humor. And along the same line, AJ Jacob's The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World was really funny and interesting.

Please don't use Rosetta Stone. It's really terrible for language acquisition. And no, it's not all there is... the great thing (and also overwhelming thing) about learning a language is that there are tons of different methods of tackling it!

Here's some resources I've found that have worked well for me:

Grammar:

Genki: This is a great two-part textbook provides a really good introduction into the language. Lots of practice problems as well.

Tae Kim's Guide: A free online resource for learning about Japanese grammar. Also very good, and worth reading even alongside Genki.


Vocabulary:

Anki: A very good SRS flashcard program. (SRS means that it shows you things you know well less frequently than things you are unfamiliar with... very efficient)

Rikaisama: A Firefox extension that allows you to hover over Japanese words in a webpage, and it will automatically display dictionary results for that word. It even has the ability to let you add hovered words straight to your Anki deck as vocabulary cards.

Read the Kanji: A website that provides you with around 7000 unique sentences worth of vocabulary and reading practice, with a really nice progress tracking system. Unfortunately, it's not free.

Kanji:

Remembering the Kanji: An excellent book that teaches you over 3000 kanji with a very strong system. It breaks the kanji into elements, and teaches you them as combinations of those elements. For example, unlike many books which try to teach you a 20 stroke kanji by saying "write it a bunch of times until you remember all the strokes", this book teaches it to you by saying "Hey look, this kanji isn't that bad... it's just a combination of two or three kanji characters that you've already learned."

Reviewing the Kanji: A website meant to be used alongside the above book. Provides tools to review the things you've learned, and track your progress. Also includes user comments and stories to be used as a supplement to those in the book.

-------------------------------

I'd start with those. But when you get further along in the language, even more opportunities for practice open up to you. Playing Japanese video games. Watching Japanese movies and shows. Listening to Japanese radio, or music. Browsing Japanese websites. Singing along to Japanese karaoke. Talking with Japanese natives. Whatever you enjoy. And there's tools to help you with all those things as well.

I've heard several Trumpians slip similar terms into conversations. Just yesterday a pro-Trump friend of mine, drew a comparison between family and nation by saying: "It's like mommy's gone and daddy isn't going to put up with the same bullshit as her."

I don't know if this metaphor emerged naturally or as a byproduct of a broadly distributed theme amongst the movement. In either case, it's been fairly well-described by George Lakoff as "strict-father" v. "nurturant parent" models of political thought. From [a 2004 SvN blog post](* https://signalvnoise.com/archives/000718.php):


> What the strict-father model attempts to accomplish is this: it is assumed children have to learn self-discipline and self-reliance and respect for authority. Now another important part of this model, in America but not in other countries, has to do with what happens when such children mature. The slogan, “eighteen and out,” is common. The mature children are supposed to be off on their own as soon as possible. Good parents don’t interfere in their lives. If the nation is the family and the government is the parent, in the strict-family model, the government shouldn’t meddle in their lives.

> When I looked at the liberal model of the family, I found it a very different model. It assumes the main thing a parent has to do is care for and care about his child. It is through being cared for and cared about that children become responsible, self-disciplined and self-reliant. The purpose is to make children become nurturers, too. Obedience for children comes out of love and respect for parents, not out of fear of punishment. Instead of punishment, you have restitution.

If you don't want to buy/read the books, here are some digestible references:

• http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml
  
• http://www.questioningchristian.com/2004/11/strictfather_co.html
  
  Longer reads for those more interested:
  
  
• http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4jt0p1hw#page-2
  
• https://www.amazon.com/ALL-NEW-Dont-Think-Elephant/dp/160358594X

Yeah, I'm SO happy with the result! No lie I cried a little at the end when it spat out my score and I'm sure it was embarrassing for the lady who helped me check out afterward.

I can't recommend Official Guide to the GRE enough. It's really good at teaching you all the math you need, but I think this ETS math review pdf is the same as in the book? Anyways the good thing about the book is it has two full length, official practice tests that are a similar difficulty as the real test and loads of practice questions. I did every question in here and read the math review like three times.

ETS has two more free official practice tests, same thing as the ones that come with the CD in the book. I did both of these too and half of the Manhattan Prep free practice test to practice quant.

For more practice questions I used the Manhattan GRE and Ready4GRE phone apps. They give you some free and you can pay if you want more. The Ready4 questions felt like good practice to me and the Manhattan ones were a little harder than the ones in the ETS book.

All my friends recommended signing up for Magoosh. I didn't because it is pricey, but sometimes people sell their accounts if they still have time on their subscriptions so check GRE facebook groups or /r/GRE. They have some free things: some video lessons and practice problems, and explanations of problems from the ETS practice tests/practice books. I heard the Princeton Review and Kaplan practice tests and questions are too easy compared to the real thing, but the Manhattan Prep 5lb Book of Practice Problems, official ETS extra quant book and extra verbal book, and Manhattan Prep study guide set are all supposed to be good.

This is my second time taking it. I def did not prep enough for the first one! This time I did a full practice test first for a baseline, wrote down topics I was bad at, read the math review, did the exercises from the book, and did all the practice problems from the book. Then I took another practice test, started doing questions from 3rd parties, and spaced out the rest of the practice tests.

For the writing I read a lot of sample essays that scored a 6 or 5 and made outlines for different essay prompts. I was too lazy to write even one full practice essay though so I might have bombed that part, ahaha. I spent about a month studying and $20 on the ETS official guide.

TBH I might be taking the GMAT now so maybe I'll join you guys. Good luck studying! :)

As a Latin student, I'm obviously biased, but you should choose Latin. Latin is a really fun language, and it's really not that difficult. Since you've studied Russian, you already have a background in declined languages, and your Spanish will help with the vocab. English will help too, regardless of the fact that it's a Germanic language.

If you pick Latin, look into Wheelock's Latin. I use this book, and I think it does a really good job of explaining everything. It's also loaded with examples and practice work, and has a nice answer key in the back if you get stuck. Since it's a course "based on ancient authors," many of the passages are excerpts or adaptations from authors like Cicero or Caesar. It teaches you about Roman history and culture in addition to the language, which I think is nice.

I've also heard plenty of good things about Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, but I haven't used it very extensively.

There's also the Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, which is really helpful. They also have a Greek version, if you decide to go with Greek.

Wiktionary can be useful as well, as it gives full declensions or conjugations for tons of Latin words.

If you progress to a high enough level, you can read the news and tons of ancient authors in Latin.

Also, if you study Latin, we can be language twins. :P

I'm surprised people haven't said much about the actual writing itself. Tone is an issue, but the actual structure of your writing needs work. I'll pull a few examples that way you can see what I mean.

"Unless you’re a member of an isolated ancient tribe living under one of the six remaining trees in what used to be the Amazon rainforest, you have almost certainly heard the term “Machine Learning” floating past within the last few years."

Your first sentence is almost a paragraph. This is a problem. Writing should be succinct and to the point. Clarity and strength of word usage will make what you say much more meaningful.

"In fact, personally, I’m convinced that if humanity doesn’t eradicate itself prematurely, there won’t be anything left humans can do that can’t be done much better, faster and cheaper by a suitably designed and programmed computer (or a network of them)."

This is a sentence in your third paragraph, which is again almost an entire paragraph by itself. You also severely diminish the strength of your sentence when you use things like 'In fact', 'personally', 'I'm convinced'. Your readers know that you are convinced because you are the one writing it. You need to convince them.

"Even though a computer can do just about anything, making it do what you want it to do can be very hard indeed."

Adverbs are not your friend. - Stephen King

Strength of sentence structure is impacted when you use adverbs like 'very'. And throwing on an 'indeed' doesn't do you any favors either. Make a point to think about what you are adding to your sentences with these words. Is the answer "I am adding nothing with these words."? Then those words should not be there.


I'm going to leave you a list of books where you can learn from writers that will help you with these things. Try not to get discouraged. We all have a lot to learn, so just think of it as part of the process. I would HIGHLY suggest you at least look into Elements of Style.

Sol Stein's On Writing

Stephen King's On Writing

Elements of Style

Depends on what you're looking for:

• Grammar approach: Wheelock's Latin. If you like grammar and syntax (which I do), you'll be right at home here. This is a rather popular college textbook.
  
• Reading approach: Ecce Romani - want to read a story and learn the language more inductively? Hit up this textbook. It does have a decent grammar backing, though you may want some more explanation at times. Very useful with cultural and historical explanations. A high-school text.
  
  
• Immersion Approach - Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata - want a book that is purely in Latin and will slowly teach you how to read Latin? Choose this. Like Ecce, tells a story, but no English explanations whatsoever. Immersionists and oral Latin folks are big fans of this. I'm told this has been used at the American Academy at Rome.
  
  
• Grammar-Lite Approach - Jenney's Latin - a bit off-put by the enormity of Wheelock? Still want grammar? This is a high-school level text that is grammar-centric, but won't smack you over the head with it. Note: hasn't been updated in a while, might find this one in older Latin programs.
  
  
• Immersion-Lite Approach - Cambridge Latin Course - not a big fan of total immersion like in Lingua Latina? This text will have the story and English explanations of Ecce, but with much more Latin around. This textbook probably does the best job of teaching history, culture, and mythology as well. You might also be an Anglophile if you choose this book, as it's huge in the UK.
  
  These are the big ones that I know of. I'm sure there are more out there, so other folks, please comment! I'm also sure that some of my own biases might have come out in the post. I've personally used all of these in my classroom (high school Latin teacher here) to some extent except for Cambridge.
  
  Best of luck to you in your pursuit of learning!
  
  edit: clarity

I used Duolingo to get the basics before I moved here. It's absolutely not perfect, but I found it was very good for giving you a fairly decent vocabulary and explaining the basic grammar rules.

If you try working your way through the course a little bit every day, and keeping a notebook with any new words you come across, you should be off to a very good start.

I then also got this book to get the hang of the grammar a little more - it's much more in-depth than Duolingo, but still explains things in quite a simple way, good for getting quick answers if you come across a construction you don't recognise.

Apart from that, the rest of my Swedish I got simply by living here and speaking, reading, hearing it every day, and also taking weekly classes. But I guess that's harder for you to do in the US! Watching Swedish movies with English subtitles (and later Swedish subtitles, once you get better) would help a lot, as well as listening to the radio, watching Swedish YouTubers etc. It can be a slow process, but you'll get better with time.

There's also 'lättläst' (easy-reading) books available - basically condensed versions of popular books written in simple Swedish. They help a lot with reading practice. There's also 8 Sidor, which is a news site/app with all the articles written in simple Swedish. Reading them and looking up any words/expressions you don't know can be a good way to expand your vocabulary.

I don't know how much advice I can offer, as I write coming-of-age pieces that aren't necessarily vast or world-building. I may misjudge your audience.

However from a personal level, I can tell you that I come to a story for a character and the plot he/she goes through. I know that in scifi world-building is a huge element, but books involve stories, and stories involve characters, and the character should be mentioned as early as possible. Not just the fact that he's a sweaty pilot--say something painterly about him, humanize him.

As a reader, I don't mind being confused about the plot if I like something about the character. If he's 19 and scared out of his mind and there's someone waiting at home for him. Throw the readers a little treat, and they'll be patient on their leash.

Then, once you've roped them, you can find ways to sneak information. Use dialogue during this mission to explain to the readers important details in a natural way.

And don't forget that you may want to reveal some details to the readers in later chapters instead of earlier on. The right amount of confusion is a plot device that keeps people reading the next chapter.

Game of Thrones has what people jokingly call "sexposition," which (as you may have guessed) when exposition is revealed through the dialogue of people having sex. I'm not suggesting you use sex scenes as liberally as GoT, but keep in mind that it's easier to read important details while characters are doing things or talking than it is to read great big chunks of information--especially if we don't care about the characters yet, or know what they're going to do.

Again, I don't know if this is at all helpful--if it's relevant to your audience--but I think it applies to general readership.

Also, I highly recommend 2 excellent books, "Stein on Writing" and "How to Grow a Novel," both by Sol Stein. He's an old editor with plenty of brilliantly sharp writing and editing advice. He has a lot of "rules", but it's really fantastic advice if you take it with a grain of salt.

https://www.amazon.com/Stein-Writing-Successful-Techniques-Strategies/dp/0312254210

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312267495/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=09Q68W3D49Q8ZQ5PJTTR

So I’m also learning Japanese too and the best method I have found was the Japanese from Zero! series. George is a great teacher and he makes the lessons entertaining as well. He clarifies the lessons and tries to make it as simple as possible.

I was able to start the lessons without the books for the first 5 videos and then eventually got the book on Amazon . It has really helped me so far. Another thing I also use are apps that help me further memorize the hiragana and katakana. I use Learn Japanese!! app on my IPhone and Kana Drill.

Also George has his own website online where you can further help yourself with games, flash cards, etc. I just really like the feeling of having a teacher motivating you to learn instead of practicing on your own. It lessens the feeling of being easily overwhelmed and he helps you on knowing what to learn next.

Either way good luck !

Edit: link

I have a load of dishes that I love to cook, but I found it got a lot simpler once I knew the basics. This isn't a list of recipes but hopefully will get you excited to get into the kitchen, and at the bottom is a few extra links:

Basics

• cutting, dicing, slicing - once you get your knife skills down everything becomes a lot easier.
  
  
• Temperatures - you don't need to blast meat in the oven for it to be cooked. Get a food thermometer to be safe, and means you can get that rare bit of meat if you want.
  
  Flavours and seasonings
  
  
• onions, carrots and celery tend to be my "base" vegetables (one onion, few sticks of celery and carrots). They help bring out the flavours.
  
  
• When making a soup, add the various herbs your using to the onions and garlic when you're frying them off in the beginning. Adds to the oil flavours and helps season it better.
  
  
• basic seasoning (salt and pepper) - remember to season!!
  
  
• spice combinations - my go to are oregano/garlic/basil for something light, cumin/corriander/tumeric for something more curry-like and then ginger/lemon grass for Thai flavourings.
  
  Tricks
  
  
• It's said the difference between home cooking and restaurant cooking is shallots, salt and cream. Just sayin'
  
  
• Slow cooking was my fail safe when I started cooking, wack everything in, low temperature, 8 hours, boom.
  
  
• Foil dinners! Get some meat, veg, seasoning, wack in some foil, dump in oven. Voila.
  
  Chefs to check out
  
  
• Michel Roux
  
  
• Jamie Oliver - check out his website, really good for simple recipes.
  
  
• Marco Pierre White
  
  Books
  
  
• Flavour Thesaurus this is my baby, so useful to find out little tricks.
  
  There was also an /r/AskReddit post a few months back, I saved this post from it as it was quite useful in showing fail safe recipes to show off.
  
  Anyway! Food is my thing. Happy to PM you more stuff!

To learn Latin, I always suggest Wheelock--I think the fourth edition was new when I studied Latin, so I can't swear by the 7th edition, but it probably hasn't changed too much. Others frequently advocate for LLPSI because it's closer to immersion (the way most modern languages are taught) than grammar-first (Wheelock's and my preferred method). Obviously you'd need more than just the first volume of LLPSI, but that's where you'd start.

As for Latin resources, the Latin Library has a ton of free texts, including the Latin Fathers. At least some of them are OCR scans, though, so be aware that there may be typos here and there.

For Ancient Greek... I learned with Groton, which tries to be the Wheelock of Greek, but doesn't do as well. Every time someone asks this on r/AncientGreek, there's never a consensus on the best textbook.

Once you understand how the language works, you can start reading texts without translation, as long as you have a dictionary handy. My recommendation is that you always try to figure out each word yourself before turning to other resources, but if you get really stuck, you can use parsers (Whitaker's Words for just Latin, Perseus has parsers for both). Perseus also has a lot of texts available, both original language and public domain translations, and the code for their database is open-source. Even if you don't use their parsers, Perseus has Liddell & Scott (the Liddell-Scott-Jones "Great Scott"/"LSJ" and the "Middle Liddell" sizes), Slater, and Autenrieth dictionaries for Greek and the Lewis & Short (as well as its abbreviated Elementary Lewis) dictionary for Latin.

If you're flush with cash, the Loeb Classical Library has, I would like to say, almost everything in Greek and Latin side-by-side with translations. It's an easy way to read and study the classics without first learning the languages (or while you learn the languages). If you have access to an academic library, you can usually find/access them without having to buy them. Now that I work far from academia, I just have to lament sadly that I can't afford it. (Before I get too old, maybe I'll buy an individual license for the digital version.)

As for Church Fathers in general, like I mentioned above, many Latin Fathers are available for free, and most (not quite all, I don't think) Church Fathers are available for free in translation. The Greek texts are harder to come by, mostly because they aren't collected in one quick place that I'm aware of (except perhaps sites like Perseus).

Trying to find free resources can be a challenge because university presses are behind most publications of classical texts, which means (1) they get to copyright the texts because of their translation, critical apparatus, or editing, and (2) those copyrights last a long time when assigned to an institution instead of a person, especially when they keep refreshing them with new "editions" that barely change.

And I have these in my list on amazon. Would love to get some opinions on them:

 

How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

 

Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More

by Robert Bly

 

Words that Sell

by Richard Bayan

 

Tested Advertising Methods

by Caples and Hahn

 

Writing That Works

by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson

 

Confessions of an Advertising Man

by David Ogilvy

 

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

by Al Ries and Jack Trout

 

The Robert Collier Letter Book

by Robert Collier

 

Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose

by Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee

 

Letting Go of the Words

by Janice (Ginny) Redish

 

Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers

by Harold Evans

 

Can I Change Your Mind?: The Craft and Art of Persuasive Writing

by Lindsay Camp

 

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

by Roy Peter Clark

 

Read Me: 10 Lessons for Writing Great Copy

by Roger Horberry and Gyles Lingwood

 

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads

by Luke Sullivan

 

WRITE IN STEPS: The super simple book writing method

by Ian Stables

 

On Writing Well

by William Zinsser

 

The Wealthy Freelancer

by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia

 

Write Everything Right!

by Denny Hatch

 

The Secret of Selling Anything

by Harry Browne

 

The Marketing Gurus: Lessons from the Best Marketing Books of All Time

by Chris Murray

 

On Writing

by Stephen King

 

Writing for the Web

by Lynda Felder

 

Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

by Ann Handley

 

This book will teach you how to write better

by Neville Medhora

Two resources that a majority of folks here will (without doubt) plug to you:

Kanji Damage

Heisig's Remembering the Kanji

Both of these are based around learning the components that comprise the Kanji (radicals) as opposed to learning each Kanji stroke by stroke. Make some flash cards and drill! I would suggest writing them out, but others seem content using an SRS like Anki. Some people also advise following Heisig's method and NOT learning the Japanese pronunciations until you've learning a hefty majority of the common use kanji, while others say you should learn the readings while you go (the Kanji Damage way). I've been chugging through Heisig's book at twenty kanji a day and it's been pretty easy.

Overall, as has been said over and over in this subreddit, do whatever you need to do to make learning it easy for you! Try stuff out and if it doesn't stick, move on to the next resource. Best of luck!

EDIT: I'd also like to add how even though kanji will seem really intimidating at first, once you get in the groove you'll find it's incredibly easy. Seriously. I'm at over 300 Kanji after three weeks of studying and can easily retain 90% of that when I'm studying and reviewing. If you approach it from the right angle, it shouldn't be too bad! :)

I don’t know what the availability of ingredients will be like where you live, but Yotam Ottolenghis books are beautiful and a real lesson in new flavours and textures. I have this at home and feel inspired to cook every time I flick through it https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jerusalem-Yotam-Ottolenghi/dp/0091943744

Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking is wonderful and covers lots of basics and classics, although it doesn’t have photographs so could be a bit dry for him https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Art-French-Cooking-Boxed/dp/0307593525

If you’re raising the next Heston Blumenthal, this book will really help him understand how to combine flavours. It’s not a recipe book though, more of a guide on how to think of your own flavour combinations https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flavour-Thesaurus-Niki-Segnit/dp/0747599777

And finally, how about a personalised recipe book for him to make his own - something like this https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/473998816/free-personalized-recipe-book-wooden?ref=shop_home_feat_1

Hope he has a great birthday!

We did the exact same thing with our left-handed son (likewise as recommended by The Well Trained Mind). He's 5, and his penmanship is remarkably good. He was coached on the strokes for each glyph one at a time, but we let him figure out how he was most comfortable drawing them. My wife and I are both right-handed, so we can't really "guide" his hand, but we can go through the motions with him.

Last year, he also practiced writing his letters daily, with the help of a guide that he could reference if necessary - his penmanship is quite good for a 5-year-old, I think, though that might just be my bias talking. :)

Cursive is an interesting additional question. It's a dying skill in the age of computer communication, but I think we'd still like to teach it. I was taught Specerian cursive via copybooks like these. I dunno if we'll use that or something else, though.

These are castings of species you can find in the US. Somewhere there are probably better quality photos but these are the best I could find. I saw these in a presentation given by Dr Tschinkel and he had a bunch of really awesome high quality shots that might not have made it to the web.

I actually met him and Dr. Holldobler (mentioned in the linked video) one summer in Arizona.

For anyone interested the book Journey to the Ants by EO Wilson and Holldobler is the laymen version of their seminal book The Ants... which is pretty much the bible for anyone that studies ants.

Interesting factiod: You can find some interesting species just about any place in the world... in the US there are about 400+ species including army ants, fungus growers, slave making ants, etc.

First, I would check to see if the language requirements are for entering the program or if they are for achieving candidacy. I know it varies widely by program, but if it is a candidacy requirement (or even maybe a requirement to be fulfilled by the end of the first year), the program you enroll in might have a path to achieving proficiency that doesn't require remedial language courses or self-instruction.

That being said, I am doing this right now. I would recommend a healthy dose of Duolinguo, but also some French for reading books. Karl Sandberg's French for Reading is an excellent resource that is aimed at the academic. Additionally, I have heard that Jacqueline Morton's English for Students of French is great, too. I have also picked up a few side-by-side French/English novels to practice on. After about a month of this (maybe 3-5 hours a week), I am already feeling like I could struggle bus my way through the exam if I could beg another half hour out of the proctor.

There are some informal extension courses offered by some universities for rather cheap, as well. Just googling "French reading summer online" or something like that makes a bunch of them pop up.

Lastly, in the next few weeks I am going to be rounding up some music theory/musicology articles in French that have English translations (or perhaps the reverse) so that I can practice. PM me if you want me to send them to you when I get them.

In the past few months, I have taken up the hobby of learning Latin. I just ordered Wheetlock's and it should be here tomorrow so I can get into the real work of studying. I bought these 3, which seems to a common path.

Wheelock's Latin, 7th Edition

Workbook for Wheelock's Latin

Thirty-Eight Latin Stories Designed to Accompany Wheelock's Latin

$43 for all 3, which is a pretty good deal IMO.

---

As for some free material online to get things kicked off, here are some links for you:

Latin Dictionary - good to look up words, has some lessons available.

Another Latin Dictionary site that has a pretty good basic lesson setup

Youtube:

Learn Latin - Gregory Myles Youtube channel - click on his channel and watch the few videos he has. Great intro to Latin.

A reading of Lingua Latina per se Illustrata - Good immersion type learning. A lot of people recommend the book as well.

If you like learning about how languages develop and change, this book will probably have a big effect on the way you see language shifts. It's an entry-level summary of the basic language evolution principles that allow, for example, modern linguists to reverse engineer ancient languages with scant records.

The book jumped to mind because, if you understood some of these concepts, you'd never argue that people will descend to pointing and grunting. Using intense words to describe relatively mundane phenomena (e.g. "awesome") is something people often bemoan, but as those words become banal people continually seek new ways to make their communication - their very voices - stand out from the crowd in its intensity. That's a bit of a treadmill, but it's not necessarily one that actively lacks virtue.

Using "lazy" language like contractions, malapropisms, nonstandard spellings, metatheses, and so on isn't necessarily "destructive" to a language in a holistic sense, either. If certain terms or formations lose their specificity in a miasma of misuse, the need for that specificity doesn't necessarily go away. As long as people have need to communicate with specificity, they will reach for ways to do so when the moment requires it. Language is the tool we all use to convey meaning, and we're tool-makers at the very core of our collective being.

There are some "errors" I actively object to because they interfere with my speedy comprehension of written material in a jarring way. Some of that, I'm sure, is my own conditioned outrage. (For example, a sentence like "it's suppose to be this way," is jarring to me, but it's tough to make a sound semantic argument why "supposed to" and "intended to" should have identical meaning that precludes the use of "suppose to" without feeling like you're throwing good linguistics after bad.) Some of it I feel has genuine utility in easing comprehension, e.g. they're/there/their, its/it's.

Some corrections, such as less/fewer and further/farther, I feel are pedantic. As you might gather from my username, I have a certain appreciation for the pedantic, and I'm aware that I'm not alone in that capacity. I don't think that's any great sin, in and of itself! I will often correct people on matters of pedantry on the off chance that they, too, appreciate a good bit of pedantry. Overall, I try to control the image and tone of that communication carefully, though, because of something my Aunt, a professor of linguistics at University of Texas, told me a long time ago:

"One person can't hurt a language, but they can hurt feelings. Act accordingly."

This is a professor whose career's work was in recording and preserving endangered languages in the Yucatan.

So yeah - lighten up, there, son. Ain't none of these people gonna hurt English none, so long as folks've got stuff to say and use English to do it. If something trips you up, decide if it's because of a specificity/fluency barrier or just a learned "correctness fetish," and then do the needful.

The Utah Concealed Firearm Permit (CFP) is administered by the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) in Taylorsville. Here is their website, with all the information you need in order to apply. You must first take the approved Utah training course from a Utah-certified instructor. You can find an instructor here.

A good EDC pistol will vary. My recommendation is to spend some range time renting pistols, preferably along with an experienced but non-judgmental friend, and don't decide to carry a gun until you absolutely fall in love with it (and you know you're accurate with it, too). The right EDC handgun for you will not be the right EDC handgun for someone else. Since you're on a budget, but you will be trusting your life to this gun, spend the 60-80 days you're waiting for your CFP to arrive to save up and have enough cash to get a gun from a reputable manufacturer. Read reviews online and talk to people at the range. You can still get a great carry gun from a quality manufacturer for less than $500.

Before you start to carry, read something that will prepare you mentally and also guide your training (yes, training--dry-fire practice, drawing from concealment, situational awareness, etc). I recommend this book as a starter guide, and this one for exploring the deeper concepts of carrying. Anything by Ayoob is excellent, really.

From your physical description, I'd say you're not looking for anything smaller than a compact gun (subcompact or pocket guns likely won't fit your build or hands). Of course the actual size and grip style of "compact" varies from make to make. Like I said, shoot a bunch of guns and fall in love with one. That way you know that you'll practice with it, and you won't be subject to buyer's remorse.

The Utah-approved CFP course will teach the basics of gun design, but brushes over cleaning. Ask your instructor(s) for details on anything you want more info on. They got into this because they want to educate you. For a good resource on this, check out the Gun Digest Book of Gun Care for handguns.

WE DONT FEAR YOU.

WE DONT FEAR YOU.

WE DONT FEAR YOU.

WE DONT FEAR YOU.


"'You cannot accept that we don't fear you'"


I've pointed this out a few times, Trump is a "Father Figure", and it's a CLASSIC Father that abuses his wife and children, year, after year, after year. And they take the abuse. But yet the wife and kids will stay. Until one day, "Dad" goes too far. The kid's rebel.


Trump supporters are wired to "LOVE DAD", but one day Dad goes too far, and the kids rebel, and walk out saying, "WE ARE NO LONGER AFRAID OF YOU, DAD!" That happens. The sense of freedom is unbelievable.


A Trump supporters brain can be rewired, it takes a very strong jolt of reality to do it, but this could.


PLEASE read Lakoff, ($4 on Amazon used will CHANGE your life) he is brilliant at taking apart the "Father Figure" aspect of Trump voters. And one day, the kids do leave. It's not impossible to reprogram a brain. Think this quote by AOC will live on in the history of Ameria, for generations. 4 women, take on Dad, and he will crumble. It can happen.


"You cannot accept that we don't fear you'" 1000 years from now, they'll look back at AOC, and the teachers of the day will say to the 3rd graders, "See what you are capable of? Yes, these women changed the world, you can too."


\> Ten years after writing the definitive, international bestselling book on political debate and messaging, George Lakoff returns with new strategies about how to frame today’s essential issues.

Called the “father of framing” by The New York Times, Lakoff explains how framing is about ideas―ideas that come before policy, ideas that make sense of facts, ideas that are proactive not reactive, positive not negative, ideas that need to be communicated out loud every day in public.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/160358594X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

I'd say don't take a class. You'll be paying a lot of money for a generalized approach intended to strengthen a bunch of peoples' GRE scores, instead of focusing on what you need help with. Suck at verbal and good at quant? A class isn't going to spend more time on verbal just because you suck at it.

I'd recommend hiring a good private tutor and/or joining Magoosh. Magoosh is $80 for six months and it's by far the best prep material I've found. It's all online and has videos teaching you different types of material. Those are like a Khan Academy for GRE prep. They also have questions and a quiz mode, so they throw questions at you and also give you an estimated score range based on how many you get right. The questions are much harder than the real GRE so they prep you really, really well.

I'd say also get the Manhattan Prep 5-lb Book of GRE Problems. They're really good, reasonably challenging, and harder than the real test. They don't teach you "tricks" as much as teach you the actual material you need. Avoid Kaplan and Princeton Review like the plague, since their questions often have a lot of typos and aren't good prep. Also for sure get the Official Guide to the GRE, since it's the only place to get official ETS questions. They resemble the ones on the actual test the most. If you're having trouble with a particular topic, Manhattan Prep also sells guides for individual subjects like word problems and geometry that are really good. ETS also sells books of Quantitative and Verbal questions for extra practice.

Good luck!

The NRA offers a solid set of rifle and pistol 101 classes. One of these would be a good way to get started. After that, competition is a great way to meet experienced shooters and grow your skills. The same applies with classes taught by a good instructor. Check out IDPA for practical pistol shooting. You didn't specifically mention what kind of firearm you're planning to learn.

There's a lot of culture and history wrapped up with firearms. Unintended Consequences is a great way to get a quick overview of that. I see that it's now out of print and rather pricey, but perhaps your library has it.

Tactical Pistol Shooting is a good text on serious use of a pistol. After that, Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals is your guide to reaching the stars. The book will make no sense the first time you read it, but keep shooting and returning to it, and it will not only take your shooting to the next level but change the way you experience the world. Gabe Suarez's books are also good discussions on fighting with pistols. The hardware section in In the Gravest Extreme is woefully out of date, but the sections on legal use of lethal force still apply.

FM 23-10 is a good text on shooting a rifle. The Art of the Rifle is a very readable intro text but leaves out a lot of important things. Jim Owens's book on sight alignment and trigger control is a masterpiece, and his others are worth the price. Green Eyes, Black Rifles is the best book I've found for getting down to business with an AR-15.

But really, you're not going to learn all this from books. They'll mostly help once you've reached a level of proficiency where you can begin to accurately self assess your performance. Note that you'll be ahead of 95% shooters at that level. See Unskilled and Unaware of It for an overview of that. I thought I knew how to shoot a pistol when I showed up for my first IDPA pistol class and ended up getting my ass handed to me. It was quite a humbling experience. After that, I took some classes, spent time shooting with master-class pistoleros, and developed my skills. A few years later I was placing at the top of local matches and teaching other newbies to shoot. I've gotten fairly good with a rifle and carbine thanks to a few classes and shooting with guys that have spent time downrange.

Julie Goloski likely wouldn't appreciate the comments on male family members being the only ones qualified to teach shooting ;-)

Can't help you with shotguns.

Grube is my personal favorite. To take the Republic as an example, I think Grube’s translation (put out by Hackett) is the most academic/literal. I think Bloom’s translation isn’t bad, but it’s actually best if you want a more politically motivated commentary. It is also rather nice to have the Loeb (Shorey as translator) – that way, even if you don’t know the Greek, you can find it and look it up to see for yourself the various translations and changes in context. Reading a few translations is a good idea to get a handle on differences of opinion – but I’d start with Grube. Also, you should consider http://www.amazon.com/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334595563&sr=1-1 - the translations used are generally pretty good and it also includes texts under dispute, which can be interesting (I’m not sure if there are other editions that are so “complete”).

Wheelock's Latin (link to the seventh edition on Amazon) is an excellent place to start, and at US$15, it's a pretty good deal, too, as textbooks go! I had six years of Latin in middle and high school, so if you need a hand, feel free to ping me. It's a fun language, and learning it taught me as much about the structure of English and other languages as it did about Latin. Best of luck!

Yes absolutely. I think ideally it would be cool if there was a BCS Duolingo course for the first 1/4th of the tree, just to get the basics and exposure to the differences between BCS, then you can pick which one you want to advance with later on after understanding the basics. Pretty much exactly like the BCS Textbook teaches it. I think this would draw more widespread attraction to BCS learning, and would eliminate some confusion for people traveling to holiday to Croatia/Bosnia/Serbia. I would guess that most people don't know just how similar the languages are.

https://www.amazon.de/Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian-Textbook-Exercises/dp/0299236544

Example Page of BCS Textbook

With that being said, I am extremely excited about this course. I've been hoping for a Croatian one for a LONG time, and been working my way through my BCS textbooks in my spare time. Super pumped!

And count me in for Alpha Testing!

Well this one's kind of an interesting possible case of language change. See, lol started, of course, meaning "laugh out loud". Eventually, though, it's taken on its own status as a general term to indicate something is funny. It no longer necessarily means the person is actually "laughing out loud". One piece of evidence for this includes that it has its own pronunciations (/lɑl/ as in "lawl" or /lol/ as in "lohl" or approximately "Lowell", where the vowel rhymes with "pole") apart from pronouncing the initialism (that is, "ell oh ell"). Another piece of evidence is that it has its own derivations relating to this more general concept, as in doing it for the lulz. Applying the original literal meaning to this idiom would suggest this be read as *doing it for the laugh out louds or *doing it for the laughs out loud or something else that is just essentially nonsensible.

So, how does this apply to lol out loud? Consider the relatively famous case of the evolution of the word "today" from Latin to French. The Latin word for "today" is hodie (similar to hoy in Spanish). hodie is reduced from hoc ("this") + die ("day"). Derived from this, in Old French people thus said hui for "today", which more or less meant "this day". Eventually, though, this wasn't enough, and people eventually came to say au jour de hui, which literally means "on the day of this day". This was reduced to aujourd'hui. Finally, in modern times, some people now apparently colloquially say a jour d'ajourd'hui, or "on the day of on the day of this day". (source, see also Deutscher's Unfolding of Language for more details). So, hopefully you can see a connection: even though lol may in some cases literally mean "laughing out loud", it is not out of the realm of language change for people to eventually start saying lolling out loud unironically, as the original form gets reduced and/or loses its original literal connotation.

It’s a fundamental personality trait. Some people are drawn to this this “strong father” archetype and enjoy authoritative leaders and a social hierarchy based on social darwinian justice. Others, i.e. educated people (seriously, look it up), prefer egalitarianism and freedom of choice, with a solid social safety net. These are less likely to believe that the people that happen to be “on top” morally better than those currently on the bottom. Whereas the authoritarian thinker finds comfort in believing that everyone is getting exactly what they deserve.

So this explains, for example, some of the defense of the current president. He is the president, thereby he deserves to be the president. He is “wealthy,” thereby he is better than those who are not, and has moral authority. It doesn’t matter what he says or does, because authoritarian people rigidly respect the power structure, because it makes their world make sense.

This is mostly coming from this book (and some psych papers that I can’t recall at the moment):

https://www.amazon.com/ALL-NEW-Dont-Think-Elephant/dp/160358594X

Take a look at this recent post. There are some good suggestions in there.

I posted in there, but it still applies here: Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded. Great book, easy to read, and I saw great improvement in my writing.

This is my kind of question. I will play the hell out of this game when you finish it!

If you can find this book in a library (or pay iron price) then it's by far the most complete and fascinating book on ants, with incredible detail on a lot of genera. Unfortunately it's getting on a little bit in age, so some parts are inaccurate or gaps have been filled. Wilson has written a bunch of books on social insects, most of which are pretty good.

There are so many species you are not likely to get a complete account from any books though, so if you have some journal access try reading papers on species that interest you. For best results you could stick to really well studied species like S. invicta.

For just general cool facts and probably the best macro photos online I read Alex Wild's blog myrmecos.

Um if you think of questions about a specific species we could also try to answer. In general for all of your numbered questions there are multiple species that fit that could be really interesting to play with.

edit: Actually, because not that many non-Aussies are familiar with this badass genus, maybe check out Myrmecia. They hunt by leaping onto the backs of prey like tiny stinging panthers. Also they are vicious bastards that will chase you for some meters when disturbed.

Well 정보은씨?, you are in luck.
One possible solution for you is to grab a copy of the Remembering Traditional Hanzi series by Heisig and study the "meanings" of the characters. I would also recommend using something like Anki or Skritter that make use of Spaced Repetition Schedule for better retention rate.
I recommend learning the traditional characters because both some Chinese speaking world and Korea use the traditional set of characters. The mainland China uses the simplified characters and if you want to make the transition to the simplified characters, I heard it's not that hard.
As you are learning the characters, you can manually input the Korean way of reading the characters or rely on the Korean readings that Skritter provides.

If you work consistently, I think the above step should be done in a matter of months. Then, you have given yourself a strong foundation in characters.

I would also suggest perfecting your Mandarin pronunciation as you are learning the characters.

>But what exactly does a linguist do

If you mean job-wise, this here shows some of the different kinds of trouble you can get into as a linguist.

If you mean what kinds of things you can study, the school I go to requires classes in 4 core areas of study: phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax (I think most universities probably have a similar requirement.). From there you can then take advanced topics in those areas or in other areas like sociolinguistics, areal linguistics, language acquisition.

The program I'm doing is focused in language documentation, so that involves learning how to go out to the field (or wherever you find a consultant) and make records of languages with little to no description. This includes gathering material to write up descriptions that can range from simple overviews of the phonology or the morphology of the language to writing a whole grammar of the language (like this one).

>why did you choose this for studying

I've just been interested in foreign languages for as long as I can remember. Trying to figure out how they work the way they do is just an extension of that for me. I really like syntax and historical/comparative, and also just learning how other languages express things.

Wikipedia is actually a pretty good place to start learning about the subject. The Language Instinct is pretty good and The Unfolding of Language is really good to see how languages can change over time.

I would second Mas Ayoob's stuff. Some of it is a bit dated, but still great stuff especially for the application of deadly force. His book In the Gravest Extreme is sort of considered the de-facto "self defense firearms 101" by most people.

Judicious Use of Deadly Force, and Shoot to Live are on youtube and are very fascinating, especially the Judicious Use of Deadly Force.

I'd also recommend checking out videos by Clint Smith, the operator of Thunder Ranch.

Coming into firearms from martial arts I quickly noticed that the mindset is exactly the same. That is, from a self defense stand point and not a sport fighting stand point. Martial artists who try to learn "not to die" as opposed to "win" have exactly the same mindset as defensive firearms proponents. Notions such as de-escalation, only acting when you are basically justified in stopping another human and possibly removing their right to live and things like that. The whole pride fighting, bar fights, etc have no place there. And just like martial artists, skilled firearms instructors across the board teach situational awareness above everything else and emphasize that the gun is simply a tool in the repertoire of a person seeking to not be a victim.

I really agree with swilkeni in that it is a martial art all its own. Throughout history the martial fields concerned with actual defense (and in this case offense and defense are practically the same thing), save a few small examples, are primarily concerned with the use of weapons. You can see that in any culture's history, from Japan where modern martial arts concerned with unarmed fighting are entirely a modern invention, to Europe and where ever else. People who want to survive learn to use weapons, simply put, and in America we have the right to carry the most effective single weapon a modern human can get: a gun. =D

> I believe people do act selflessly everyday but I don’t think I makes rational sense to live this way. Why would I ever serve anyone’s ends other than my own

To put it bluntly, this isn't what the word "rational" means. Rationality is about taking the optimal path to a specified goal. It doesn't say anything about what that goal is. And that goal is always subjective and arbitrary, regardless of whether you are rational about achieving it.

So, in economics, they often talk about the rational, profit-maximizing business strategy. But "rational" and "profit-maximizing" are totally different things - maximizing profit is a subjective goal, and there are less and more rational ways to achieve it. I could just as easily talk about the rational cost-minimizing business strategy, which is a different objective that recommends a different path. Or an irrational profit-maximizing strategy that is clearly inferior for that goal.

So I dismiss your implicit claim that you are being more "rational" than an altruist who gives away all his money to the poor, because that's conflating the objective idea of rational decision-making with a subjective goal.

As a result, there's not really much for us to argue about, because it's not clear exactly how you've gotten to your conclusion, besides a misunderstanding of the word rational.

If you want to get into an empirical argument about humans, I think there's plenty of evidence that can change your view.

• Humans are exceptionally cooperative and selfless among all life on earth. Very few organisms are as gregarious as humans or live in societies as large, and those that do are similarly oriented around "selfless" behaviors like participating in warfare.
  
• humans are exceptionally selfless compared to other primates. Chimpanzees and bonobos live in dominance hierarchies in which the strong regularly appropriate the resources of the weak. As much as you can condemn human parallels like piracy and slavery, our species norm seems to be egalitarian forager groups that look nothing like chimp troops.
  
• in social experiments, humans regularly forgo benefits because they perceive them as "unfair" to someone else. This is true for humans across cultures and across environments, even when taking the pot is clearly the rational "selfish" strategy.
  
• under the right circumstances, humans are reliably willing to sacrifice their lives for non-kin, or even for abstract entities like nations or religions. The last three US Medal of Honor recipients died by literally jumping on hand grenades to save the lives of their fellow soldiers.
  
  It's no good to say people who jump on hand grenades or donate blood are "really" selfish because it makes them feel better or something, because you've essentially defined "selfish" to be "anything people do". If you take a stricter, more commonplace definition of selfish like "consistently chooses one's own material benefits at the expense of others'", then no, humans are exceptionally non-selfish among organisms on our planet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0299236544/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487088409&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=serbian

This is a book I am using. I have a Serbian girlfriend as well. If you are good at teaching yourself languages, this book is amazing. I also have her help me with examples that I can use newly learned words or phrases in. I also use uTalk which is a free app in the play store to help learn useful phrases.

I have always used the Chinese Link textbooks. I also see Integrated Chinese everywhere. Also, I highly highly highly recommend all of the Demystified books! I have both the Chinese and German and they are fantastic! Also Heisig's books are really popular and they also come in traditional. Hope this helps! I am pretty experienced in trying out tons of different resources for Mandarin! :)

Why do you want to learn French? The answer can have an effect on what kind of course materials you should look for.

If you're main focus is conversation, than Language Hacking French would probably be the best fit for you in conjunction with italki lessons and videos on youtube.

If you're main focus is reading (to read literature and that sort of thing) than something like French for Reading would be a better fit, in conjunction with something like Duolingo stories.

Language learning, as I once heard, is like travelling. There are planes, trains, cars, and boats, and whatever you pick is based on what you want to experience/personal preference.

I'll stick to recommending science communication books (those that don't require a deep background on biological concepts):

• On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection - Charles Darwin, bonus points if you can get a 1st edition reprint (before his colleagues made him change a lot of important things); it is a must-read but it might need quite some time to truly understand it, it is a heavy read.
  
  
• A lot of people recommend the Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins but that one is one of his most controversial books and if you decide to read it, you should take everything with a pinch of salt; for Dawkins I prefer to recommend the Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution and the Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design. Just beware of Dawkins, he's a little dogmatic in his approach.
  
  
• The Dialectical Biologist - Richard Levins & Richard Lewontin.
  
  
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Thomas Kuhn, this one will change forever your conception of science as a whole.
  
  
• The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature - Matt Ridley.
  
  
• Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, and the Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History - Stephen J. Gould.
  
  
• The Ghosts of Evolution: Non-sensical Fruit, Missing Partners, and Other Ecological Anachronisms - Connie Barlow.
  
  
• Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? - Frans de Waal, this one is about animal cognition but has an incredible underline of all the deficiencies and prejudges on science.
  
  
• Microbe Hunters - Paul de Kruif.
  
  
• Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution, and What is Life? - Lynn Margulis.
  
  
• The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan.
  
  
• A Short Story of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson.
  
  ---
  
  For books that everyone studying biology ends up reading, my candidate would be Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry, by Nelson & Cox but that's a textbook.

I highly suggest you read the book The Unfolding of Language

It is one of my favorite books, readable to a layman yet delving into some pretty complex stuff in terms of grammatical complexity, phonology etc. It is basically an introduction to linguistics and morphology class nicely encapsulated in one very well-written book.

And it deals specifically with your question.

The author of the book analyzes linguistic creative destruction, that is, what we perceive to be the "erosion" of grammatical structures actually helps to build new ones over time. A good example he gives is the latin verb conjugation giving way to that in the romance languages. Latin loses the structures like amavero, I will love, whereas French takes the infinitive amare --> aimer and adds the verb avoir, have. So we get the complex French conjugation system wherein the future is denoted by "aimerai", "i will love", for example.

Anyway, I highly recommend that book if you ever have a few lazy days to read through it.

I've never used Japanese for Dummies, so I don't know how far it takes you and how well it allows you to transition to more advanced learning materials. As has already been mentioned, the easiest method is to exhaust all the grammar your current book can teach. The most popular alternatives to JfD are Genki and Japanese from Zero. If you asked anyone who studied Japanese for a while, if they used either book or at least heard about them, they'll most likely say yes. On top of that, it's easy to build up on your knowledge after you finished the textbook. After Genki 1, you can use Genki 2 and after you finished that as well you'll be quite good at Japanese.

If you want to practise natural speaking and writing, I'd recommend to take a look at an app called HelloTalk. It basically lets you chat with native speakers of a language of your choice for free. It might feel like it's still a little too early to try that but when I look back at how I learnt Japanese, I wish that I would have used that app much, much sooner. It's never to early to start speaking/ writing!

I really want to learn Japanese. I watch a decent amount of anime, and it'd be great to be able to watch it without subtitles (as in, have it open in a tab while I do other things). I'm also planning a trip to Japan next spring, and knowing the language would definitely be handy. I already know Korean, and I've heard the grammar is similar, so it should be slightly easier to learn, but the writing/reading is going to kill me.

This book seems to have good reviews and appears to be a structured way to learn some basics.

This is one of the first of a few Japanese songs I've listened to and thoroughly enjoyed.

I tried looking up a joke, and the only one that provided an explanation is...

Q: What is Michael Jackson's favorite color?

A: あお！ (Say "ow!" like Michael Jackson style. Means "blue" in Japanese)

Other than Japanese, I'm hoping to make some time to learn French using the duolingo app. I started when I went to France this past year, but I ended up losing my phone and was too busy with studies and travels to continue on. I'd say I'm close to native in Korean and about intermediate in Spanish. I've been working on my Spanish vocabulary using memrise, because that's what usually destroys me when I try to speak it or listen to someone else speak.

Oh, and this is a fun song we listened to in my high school Spanish class.

I'm on the same journey, friend. I started with ordering some nice gel pens, and that helped. But I moved on to an entry level fountain pen, the Pilot Metropolitan Fine, and it has really sparked my love for writing. I ordered some Spencerian Script workbooks here and the theory book here, and already started last night with taking it slow and working on my grip. I wish you luck!

5lb Manhattan book helped me immensely for the quantitative section. The ETS quantitative reasoning book is also a great resource.

Lastly, use Magoosh if you enjoy studying on the computer. The software Magoosh provides is well worth the money. The ETS website also has a bunch of mock-tests you can take too, so make sure you take those as well.

Good luck!

Hmm, that's a good question. A combination of Republic and Laws would certainly be a great distillation of Plato's ideas, but it could be difficult to parse if you aren't familiar with the format of the Socratic dialogue and some basic background on Socrates himself.

Personally, I'd recommend starting by reading a short dialogue like Euthyphro to familiarize yourself with the format, moving on to the Apology to get some background on Socrates, and then finishing with Theaetetus to get a firm grasp on the ideas behind the dialogue format.

That shouldn't take too long if you're a good reader, and it'll make a reading of The Republic and/or Laws much more enjoyable and fruitful.

As far as translations go, this collection is my personal recommendation. (That is quite expensive, but I happen to know there are several editions available on Library Genesis, including a Kindle edition. If you don't know what Library Genesis is, shoot me a PM and I'll get you a copy on pdf or however you prefer it.)

Hope this helps, cheers!

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[readacted]

If you want to know EVERYTHING about ants, I recommend E.O. Wilson's The Ants.

However, this book is quite expensive and very dense. Journey to the Ants,also by Wilson, is a much better option for laypeople. It has almost all the information you're looking for, nice pictures, and is honestly very exciting to read. It captures the imagination and is very... inspirational! Check it out from a library if you can.

A good way to increase your knowledge base is reading. Here are some books I have read and would recommend.

A. Navy Seal Shooting by Chris Sajnog.

Probably the best book to learn about the fundamentals. Chris covers the mental mastery of shooting better than any other book I am aware of.

B. In The Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob.

If you own guns for self defense I would recommend this book. While this was written in the 1980's it is still relevant today. It is the definitive work on deadly use of force law in the United States.

C. Combat Shooting (Or any other book) by Massad Ayoob

Ayoob has established himself as perhaps the authority on defensive handgun use through his extensive use of case studies.

D. The Book of Two Guns by Tiger Mckee.

This was written primarily revolving around the AR-15 and 1911. However, It's principles are applicable to any fighting rifle or handgun.

I remember writing a grant proposal for fieldwork in the first year of my PhD. Me and my supervisor edited it together (he thought ti would be a good exercise. No content was changed, but the entire text was red from the 'track changes' after working on it for two hours!

It's pretty normal and a others said: the learning curve is steep.

(PS: there are some great books out on academic writing. This is one of my favorites: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Science-Papers-Proposals-Funded/dp/0199760241)

Short answer: Have a triliteral for "speak", then answer questions like

• If I put m-rh-n into a pattern for creating verbs (*emrhen) what does that mean?
  
• If I put sh-k-t into a pattern for creating nouns (*shekt) what does that mean?
  
• What other words can I form from m-rh-n and sh-k-t?
  
  Some cautionary advice: give some thought to the shape of the language before triliteral roots developed and what sound changes created the sense in the speakers' minds that three letters chosen from within the word would carry meaning as opposed to a whole root - your language will come out better for it. The Unfolding of Language has a pretty good overview of the process in Semitic - if you're not careful you'll end up creating something not interestingly different from Arabic.

Also not a chef but here are some good theory and technique books:

Larousse Gastranomique -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Larousse-Gastronomique-Hamlyn/dp/0600620425

The focus is obv iously french cooking techniques and application etc.


Leith's cooking Bible -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leiths-Cookery-Bible-3rd-ed/dp/074756602X

Prue Leith is highly respected in the U.K for her culinary school...this book gets used a lot in my house

The flavour thesaurus -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flavour-Thesaurus-Niki-Segnit/dp/0747599777

Once you have techniques you can look to build on them creatively so theory of what flavours work together is pretty crucial.

I’m not sure what you’re saying. You’re saying using tools, communicating, and understanding death is not incredibly smart? You do understand that only humans and apes alike can do that, correct? I never said Chimps we’re smarter than humans so I’m not too sure what humans have achieved has anything to do with this? Yes humans have done and do more but we’re the most advanced/complex animal in the world. Saying Chimps aren’t that far behind is very true because they aren’t. Chimps are very intelligent in many many ways and only a little ways behind human intelligence. That is fact not opinion dude.

Here check out this book and maybe you’ll have a better grasp at what we’re dealing with:
https://www.amazon.com/Are-Smart-Enough-Know-Animals/dp/0393246183





https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/are-
humans-smarter-than-chimps-think-again/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2120078/Natasha-chimp-genius-stuns-scientists-human-like-levels-intelligence.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/chimp-intelligence-vs-humans-2017-1

I don't like these novelty-approaches to language learning like duolingo, they seem like a waste of time.

I think the most efficient way is to study the basic grammar structure, acquire a good vocabulary, and get as soon as possible to a point where you can read written text. If you decide for German, I suggest the book "German for reading" by Sandberg or "German quickly", combined with the daily use of Anki to acquire a basic vocabulary (say, the most commonly used 3000 words).

If you choose French, French for reading + Anki.

Even if you want to speak or listen, I still suggest your first move must be to reach reading competency as soon as possible. It can be done in 2-3 months (read the reviews of those books), and after that it will be very easy and enjoyable to work from there toward your other goals. And if you lose your enthusiasm, you can keep on practicing by just reading books or sites you enjoy, instead of just quitting and forgetting what you have learned.

We read this book in a graduate writing seminar I took this semester. It was the first book we read and I thought it had some great ideas on how to develop a writing schedule and stick to it. We followed it with "Writing Science" by Josh Schimel which really gets into the details of how to write WELL, not just a lot. It's much more dense but worth looking into if you're committed to improving your writing. :)

As the other poster said, you should look at examples from your field/program/group. Examples of previous students are some of the best places to learn what belongs in your manuscript.

If you're in STEM then I'd recommend the book, Writing Science, by Schimel:

https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Science-Papers-Proposals-Funded/dp/0199760241

It's a great primer on what makes a good paper. The style and way of thinking presented in that text, combined with analyzing previous dissertations, is what I've used to write my dissertation.

You should also ask your PI for any of their prior students' dissertations that stand out as a good example. They'll likely have some that they can name and possibly send to you.

Hmm. Now I'm trying to think of all the animals shown to have a decently high order of intelligence. There's the Hominids (Humans, Chimps, Orangutans, Gorillas) that have high level social intelligence, self awareness (mirror dot test) and problem solving/tool use. Chimps have incredible visual memory Cephalopods (Octopi & Cuttlefish) have shown tool use, incredible spacial awareness, and extremely complex brains for invertebrates. Some birds, especially some species of Corvids and parrots have demonstrated tool use, problem solving, strong memory, and language (African Gray Parrots notably excel at language).

There's also a scattering of various other mammals that demonstrate intelligence, including dolphins, killer whales, elephants, pigs, and many breeds of dog. I don't know, intelligence is a weird thing. I'm not entirely sure we as humans are actually entirely intelligent enough to fully know the alien forms of intelligence other species are capable of.

If you're interested in further reading on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Are-Smart-Enough-Know-Animals/dp/0393246183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483298053&sr=8-1&keywords=are+we+smart+enough+to+know+how+smart+animals+are

You seem to have a good grasp on things. It looks like some of the linked threads follow a similar path, and I'll probably be following a very similar path myself. Nice books, too. I have quite a few myself. I'm not quite sure which of these are good (since they all had great Amazon reviews). I have the following:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014RTDPBA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078G5P6Q4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4789014401/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/478901441X/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4805312270/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572229195/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GW5KTDK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0976998122/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0658014900/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(Although Genki I and the Genki workbook, plus the Kata/Hira quick guide looks good)

Yes, I took it on July 5th. I used this book for practice tests mostly the week before the GRE. Every day I used this 5 lb. book of practice problems to go over math concepts I needed extra work on and these flashcards for vocab. It seems a little overkill in retrospect, but I was damn determined not to take it twice. All of these helped me enormously, probably about equally. By combining them I was able to raise my scores about 25 percentile points each between my diagnostic test to actual test day.

Best of luck! Just study hard and keep your cool and you'll do just fine.

Two that I haven't seen mentioned:

The Flavor Thesaurus by Niki Segnit: This is a bit more of what I was hoping the Flavor Bible would be. It focuses a bit more on unconventional pairings and the "why" of how they work. While the ingredients involved are limited, it's a book that like SFAH, can be applied everywhere.

The Drunken Botanist by Amy Steward: I really appreciate the breadth of knowledge that this book provides. While it's cocktail oriented, it really gets into the history and process of creating each alcohol. This book really is a delight.

Other than that, I really adored Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and Thug Kitchen (for a more traditional cookbook).

Recommended these a while back, great, assessable reads.

The Language Instinct by Stephen Pinker
http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-Instinct-Mind-Creates/dp/0061336467/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343383543&sr=8-1&keywords=the+language+instinct

Patterns in the Mind by Ray Jackendoff
http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Mind-Language-Human-Nature/dp/0465054625/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343383561&sr=1-1&keywords=patterns+in+the+mind

And if you are into etymology, check out

The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way, by Bill Bryson
http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Tongue-English-How-That/dp/0380715430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343383614&sr=1-1&keywords=the+mother+tongue

The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour Through Mankind's Greatest Invention, by Guy Deutscher
http://www.amazon.com/The-Unfolding-Language-Evolutionary-Invention/dp/0805080120/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343383676&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=guy+deucher+language

Again, all superb books.

Your choices as a foreigner to get going are between titles that contain either "Croatian" or "Serbian" (if you find older material, it'll be likely advertised as "Serbo-Croatian"). "Bosnian" stuff is still pretty much restricted to this book which might actually be overkill as a total beginner learning independently.

The most important thing is to get started with a decent course. Teach Yourself Serbian, Beginner's Croatian and Beginner's Serbian are good starting points if you're really motivated (FWIW, I've used all three). You could also get a taste of the language(s) in everyday life by watching short videos involving Croats and Serbs.

If you learn the basics of any of Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian, you'll be able to start communicating with him. If he plays along and speaks to you in his native tongue, he might adjust somewhat by using fewer features/words characteristic of Montenegrin or speaking more slowly or clearly and using a slightly more formal register than he would when he's with his friends or family.

I'd say avoid Jowett--it's freely available, sure, but the translations are old and tricky to read.
/u/wokeupabug recommends an excellent book (I got it myself recently--I'm loving it).
Amazon link here.

He's not kidding. Mnemonics are the shit.

I'm learning kanji at the rate of 20 per day with the help of this book's mnemonic system. I spend at most five minutes per character, and after studying them and writing them down only once, I am able to remember them incredibly easy.

With the help of anki for review, it only takes me about four separate reviews spaced over a week or two to remember a character, essentially, permanently. According to my anki history, I've never failed a card that the system considers "memorized", and my success rate for cards a week or less old is 82%.

Before I came across that book I linked a little bit above, I was trying to memorize them by rote, writing each character down dozens and dozens of times every day until it stuck. I could only do maybe three or four characters each day, and I almost always half-forgot them three days later.

> I want to get my CCW, and I really enjoy shooting at the range, but I'm not sure if I'd actually carry all that often. It seems like an immense responsibility knowing that I'd have a tool that could literally end a life strapped to me, as well as that somebody could disarm/steal it from me.

Good. You should be thinking about this. You should be thinking twice before considering carrying or firing. Go read In the Gravest Extreme and consider carefully if you want that responsibility. And then, if you do, start practicing. Practice carrying. Practice shooting, both at the range and, if possible, at some defensive shooting course. Most defensive shooting situations aren't range-style shooting; they're "Oh, shit! I'd better pull and get this guy who's <3 yards away from me"-style shooting. It's fast, it's stressful, and it's not at all what most people practice. Go learn about the laws in your state, and memorize them. If your state says that "no guns" signs have the force of law, consider carefully what you plan to do in such a situation. Leave your gun in the car? Okay, do you have a way to lock it up out of sight? Bring it with you? Okay, better make sure it's concealed deep, and that you're absolutely okay with getting arrested and charged with an unlawfully-carried weapon. Avoid the business entirely? Okay; make sure you're aware of any political/familial ramifications this may have with the people you're with. Etc. Etc.

> I'm also not sure if I could even conceal the gun I want to buy (Glock 19) without it being painfully obvious.

Concealing most handguns is fairly straightforward, and while I don't have specific experience with the Glock 19, others in this thread have said it isn't a problem. Worst-case scenario, you could always get an easier-concealed gun. Subscribe to /r/gundeals - I see concealable handguns on sale for cheap all the time.

> I'd like to have the license (as well as learn from the class you need to take) for the off occasion I'm going somewhere I'd feel safer carrying. Thoughts?

Being comfortable carrying is really more about repetition and familiarity than just taking a class and suddenly being comfortable with it. You have a lot to learn and it's going to take time. Some of it is physical (the aforementioned range time and practical application classes) and some of it is mental (reading, getting yourself in the right mindset, learning to avoid conflict unless there's no other way, etc.), but there's a lot there. Plan for that, and you'll be all right. I mean it. I know it sounds like a brush-off: "Oh, you'll be fine." But seriously; it really is just getting used to a few things.

Hi u/Calicox,


Brandon Sanderson has a series of lectures he did at Brigham Young University when teaching a creative writing class there. Here's his lecture on character, but the others I've seen are also worth your time.

You may find the following books helpful:

This
This
This
This
This
This
This


Best,

DR-M

There's a book that is very popular right now called, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?.

Since reading it, I've realized that people who doubt the intelligence of other animals are saying a lot more about their own intelligence than the intelligence of the other animals. The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness stated unequivocally that all birds, mammals, and many other animals are without a doubt conscious individuals.

I just bought some basic Spencerian copy books off of Amazon, along with some pilot varsity fountain pens. I think it was less than $25. So far I am really enjoying it!

I've been thinking learning it with someone else would be awesome, to try to stay accountable on practicing. Interested?

Edit: The books and the pens if anyone is interested.

Anki/memrise.

Also, there is a very good croatian textbook on amazon that is only like 40 bucks used: https://www.amazon.com/Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian-Textbook-Exercises/dp/0299236544


Memrise on laptop/phone is free and pretty efficient just for vocab.

Do you have any advice for learning croatian for someone who is in diaspora and didn't grow up speaking it in the home.

I'm taking my CHL class this Saturday, and have been doing a ton of reading.

The Ayoob book you linked, The Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry is excellent. I also got a lot out of his Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery. Highly recommended. I also picked up In the Gravest Extreme, but haven't read it yet.

Lessons From Armed America by Kathy Jackson and Mark Walters was pretty good. It follows the format "one chapter anecdote, one chapter analyzing the issues from the anecdote". It's less than $5 for the Kindle edition.

More Guns, Less Crime is a very, very detail oriented book wherein John Lott undertakes a statistical analysis of the effect on crime rates of all kinds when states enacted concealed carry laws. Extremely thorough, though unfortunately not so readable unless you're a lawyer, statistician, or savant. Around $5 for the Kindle edition, so not much lost there.

I got Understanding Oregon's Gun Laws by the Oregon Firearms Federation. It's direct and to the point, and not only explains the laws, but has plenty of the author's commentary on what he thinks of them (for better or worse). Obviously no good to you if you don't live in Oregon, but finding something similar for your state would be a good idea.

Hope that helps! I'm obsessively reading all the good books I can on the subject before I buy my first gun and get my CHL, so I'm looking forward to what other recommendations pop up in this thread. Thanks for posting it!

I don't want to sound like a jerk but maybe take a creative writing class or something?? Writing good isn't easy, and I feel like there's too much to go over to put in a reddit post.

edit:
or read this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Memoir-Craft-Stephen-King/dp/1444723251

or this https://www.amazon.com/Stein-Writing-Successful-Techniques-Strategies/dp/0312254210

very helpful books.

Oh cool, thanks!!

5lb book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937707296/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_yl7jtb0T1P1FK

I can't really think of anything else off of the top of my head - if I do think of or come by anything, I'll be sure to message you! Good luck!

Here are some links from the sidebar:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Svenska/comments/y76c3/modthe_official_swedish_links_thread/


http://www.reddit.com/r/Svenska/comments/yc67u/modthe_official_toolsresources_thread/


As I understarnd it, this one is pretty good:
http://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Swedish-Grammar-Practical-Mastery/dp/0844285390/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1381010462&sr=8-2&keywords=swedish

Also, we got a skype group for learners when you are good enough to start reading/writing. PM /u/Estre for that.

Good luck!

If you are a serious learner of the language, then this is site all you need IMO: All Japanese All The Time. I stumbled across this site while in college and in the course of three years (one of which was spent abroad in Japan), I learned Japanese to a very high level. If you are still a student, it will be even easier for you to take on this method.

One more thing. This is also a part of the AJATT method, but deserves separate recognition: Remembering the Kanji. In all my years of learning Japanese, this book was the single most useful text I've ever encountered.

Good luck!

Writing Down the Bones is pretty good, as is Stein on Writing Actually, anything by Sol Stein is good for a aspiring writer, if for no other reason than it'll be an outstanding example of good writing.

In the words of Chuck Wendig, "Finish your shit." Just completing the manuscript will teach you a lot, and it's great experience for you as a writer. If this is your first novel-length work, it will likely be painful to get everything out there, but do it anyway.

Perhaps don't think of it as a trilogy right now, though. Write a complete story, take it where you intend to take it, and just write the best manuscript you can. A novel is stressful enough, so you don't need to add on the idea of writing Book 2 and Book 3 to yourself during this process.

There are good resources out there for showing emotions, etc. You can show it with creative tags, or by the characters' actions. Many writing guides will tell you to at least try to stay away from adverbs. If you feel yourself using too many of those, try to cut most of them out and replace them with something else. Instead of "he eyed him contemptuously" try to show that contempt on his face through a few words of description (jaw tightening, clenched, eyes narrowing, top lips curling up, etc). Here's a decent resource for helping you to describe emotions (a handy tool that might help you out of a few tough spots here and there).

With respect to motivation, I leave you with the quote attributed to R.A. Salvatore: "If you can quit, then quit. If you can't, then you're a writer."

Japanese From Zero is a wonderful way to learn! Here's the link to the first book if you're interested

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Zero-Techniques-Students-Professionals/dp/0976998122/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=japanese+from+zero+1&qid=1565528459&s=gateway&sprefix=Japanese+From&sr=8-1

The author George also goes over the entire first 4 books in video lessons which is a great addition to help reinforce what you've learned after reading a chapter.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOcym2c7xnBwU12Flkm5RcLIEhvURQ8TB

I was just listening to this short podcast the other day on this topic, its an interview with the primatologist Frans De Waal who has done a lot of work in this area ( wrote a good book on the subject too ), and he talks a good amount in the podcast about just that, how he has seen the paradigm in ethology and animal science change over his career, to a more complicated and nuanced understanding of animal cognition: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wt6bj

Insects specifically have a lot of surprising capacities. They can learn, communicate, learn to recognize people's faces, they have a lot of memory, navigational abilities, different permutations of language, it's even being looked into that they might have aspects of metacognition.

Some other interesting articles on insect intelligence:

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/i-asked-leading-entomologists-whats-the-smartest-bug-in-the-world

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26263427

http://bioteaching.com/insect-brains-and-animal-intelligence/

I had fun reading through this BCS textbook. I keep meaning to go back through and do the exercises and use the workbook, but I've been tied up. It's fun seeing all three presented side-by-side-by-side, though, and you could certainly focus on one (I was particularly interested in Croatian).

Franz de Waal is worth checking out:

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0393246183/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_d7T2Db5K15A6K

Some of Richard Dawkins' biology/evolution books are packed with info about animals, too. While not an easy read, The Ancestor's Tale goes through all kinds of interesting adaptations of animals from humans going backwards through the ages. It's a masterpiece. Highly recommended.

$130 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759

It's really an amazing book though. Hardcover, full size, images, drawings, everything you'd ever want to know about ants. Great coffee table book for weirdos (like me) who love ants

Is she interested in broad edge calligraphy (stuff that looks like a medieval manuscript) or pointed pen calligraphy (stuff that looks like fancy cursive)? If it's pointed pen, these are a set of copybooks for one form of pointed pen (note that they're meant to accompany a theory book, sold separately). If broad edge, here is a free downloadable pdf of Italic, one form of broad edge calligraphy.

You could also make such a book yourself fairly easily. Just find a ductus (the diagram of a letter with little arrows) of the alphabet or alphabets she wants to practice. This book has a bunch of them, and you can find others by googling "[name of alphabet] ductus." Cut out each letter in a graphics program and paste them in front of some lines. Print and bind it into a book, and voila.

(This next section is going to use some fairly basic calligraphy terms. If you don't understand what something means, please read through our wiki and google any terms you don't understand. The answers are out there, I promise.)

If she's doing broad edge, find out what size nib(s) she'll be using, then determine the x-height of the alphabet you want to put in your exercise book. There's usually a nib ladder to the left of the ductus. That will tell you the x-height.

Let's say it's Textura quadrata, the x-height is 5, and she's using a pen with a .8mm wide nib. Then you can go to a guideline generator like this one, set the x-height to 5 lines, set the nib width to .8mm, and get a pdf that you can paste the letters from the ductus into.

Once you have your pages, you can bind them yourself, or just turn them into a pdf, take the pdf to a copy shop and ask them to turn the pdf into a spiral notebook (or whatever binding they offer that strikes your fancy).

George Lakoff will help you understand conservatives (and swing voters) better than any pundit ever could.
He also does a great job of explaining the moral nature of politics, and how liberals can formulate better moral arguments to persuade what he calls "bi-conceptual" voters.

Edit: The poll referenced in this very post is one of many examples I've seen in recent years of actual data backing up Lakoff's theories. When combined with recent studies showing the differences between the parts of the brain liberals and conservatives use to process political/moral issues, Lakoff's concepts are dead-on.

I'm afraid there is still a ways to go, but you're practicing diligently so it's just a matter of time.

Write slower! Take your time and use space to form letters. Stop using the oblique holder for now and use a mechanical pencil and lined paper to study proper letter forms. Form it properly and completely before moving on to the next letter. Keep in mind your letters should be oval/rounded in shape and not sharp and tight. It is better to have extra space between letters than have it all cramped up.

If you can afford it, buy this set or print this out and and fill up all the books. Or print out some spencerian letters, put a thin sheet of paper over it and trace over everything carefully, repeatedly. Good luck!!

Morthy demands:

old posh Englishman: old posh Englishmen like to write, right? (Writing Stuff)

Never seen in public: these slippers would look ridiculous in public (Other Stuff)

Most phallic: this is the best I've got(Other Stuff)

Akeleie demands:

Most geeky: probably my Adipose toy (Other Stuff)

Achieve a goal: I would love to be a writer (Writing Stuff)

Deserted island: who doesn't need a ukulele on and island? (Other Stuff)

Thanks for the contest!! :D

To learn them. For Japanese, this is great and widely considered one of the best ways to learn the kanji (and some vocab along the way); for Chinese, this (Traditional) and this (Simplified) are two of your options. Another is to just learn them out of whichever textbook you get and while studying vocabulary separatedly. There are probably some other hanzi books too; you might wanna have a look over in /r/chineselanguage for that sort of thing.

However, I suggest getting a good base in one of the two character sets (Japanese or Chinese) before you start with the other, to minimise any confusion. I knew probably 1.3k kanji (as in, I could recognise them and sort of figure out the meaning; I couldn't pronounce all of them) when I tried learning Chinese as well, so I didn't have any problems with that.

I moved to Belgrade 2 months ago and I'm currently learning the language, too. I have some language lessons in Belgrade. The best way to really learn the language is to live in the actual country, it helps a lot just to hear people talk Serbian every day.

I can also recommend two books, which are really good and go in depth into the grammar, too.

What you currently have, and what Pilot Parallels are are called broad edged pens. Italic is a broad edged hand. Spencerian, on the other hand, is a pointed pen script. Although I don't do pointed pen hands, you need a pointed pen nib, and preferably an oblique holder, instead of what you currently have. See the wiki.

To learn Spencerian the IAMPETH website as well as the Spencerian Copybooks are recommended.

I'm not sure whether learning Italic first is recommended or not. Someone who is more knowledgeable with pointed pen scripts should speak up :)

This gives 0 actual value to anyone- it's just a list of positive traits. Also, the writing is sub-par at best, I recommend reading a guide: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Tools-Essential-Strategies-Writer/dp/0316014990/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522185432&sr=8-3&keywords=writing

I know this comment wont be seen, but there's an excellent book on this subject called "Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are?" It does a great job of wiping away the foolish concept that animals are dumb creatures simply following instinct.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Smart-Enough-Know-Animals/dp/0393246183

On Amazon, I once found an Emotional Thesaurus That's not exactly what you're looking for, but I liked being able to pick an emotion (such as wistful) and look at the different words and actions related to it.

Hope that helps!

Get a gun(most of the ones mentioned already are great), a good solid holster(kydex or good leather), a good gun belt, and training. LOTS of training. Not just a one or two day CCW class. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is learning the laws of self-defense. Books by Massad Ayoob and Andrew Branca are great ones to start with. https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Force-Understanding-Right-Defense/dp/1440240612/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536779297&sr=1-1&keywords=massad+ayoob&dpID=51WYSSJTfLL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536779297&sr=1-4&keywords=massad+ayoob&dpID=51886MD5PDL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.amazon.com/Law-Self-Defense-Indispensable-Citizen/dp/1943809143/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536779464&sr=1-1&keywords=laws+of+self+defense&dpID=51M9dKSERKL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

I already have Penguin classics' version of The Republic and Wordsworth Edition's version of The Symposium and the Death of Socrates. However, I haven't read them yet. Also I know it's quite a hefty investment, but do you reckon it would be good a idea to just get Plato's complete works? (http://www.amazon.com/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405360481&sr=8-1&keywords=plato+complete) I've also heard that John Cooper's translations and notes are good for a beginner (according to A LOT of Amazon reviews). Thanks a lot.

I think these are both worthy reads. Fairly easy to dip in and out of too:

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer - Roy Peter Clark

The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase - Mark Forsyth

The last one I found especially interesting.

The Negative Trait Thesaurus, with the Emotion Thesaurus, Positive Trait Thesaurus and the Emotional Wound Thesaurus.

Also Careers for Your Characters: A Writers Guide to 101 Professions from Architect to Zookeeper which "Provides over one hundred descriptions of occupations that can be used for writing fiction, detailing the daily life, jargon, and salaries of such fields as dentistry, entertainment, law, and architecture."

And The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook is good for times when I can't get online to find names.

Master Lists for Writing is also a good one.

The Psychology Workbook for Writers

Creating Character Arcs Workbook

Thinking Like A Romance Writer: The Sensual Writer's Sourcebook of Words and Phrases A friend got me this for Christmas, mostly to laugh at, but I thought I'd add it anyway.

Since we're talking about language learning, I wanna plug the Pleco app. The dictionary is priceless. The paid add-ons are worth their weight in gold. Also has Cantonese support. Amazing app. Truly.

If you think characters are daunting, check out remembering the hanzi which is made by someone who learned Japanese as a second language and came up with a way to memorize the characters and stroke orders with minimal effort. He made the same system work for Chinese and well.

http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/virginia.pdf

http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/northcarolina.pdf

Go take a good class from a reputable local instructor and ask questions.

> From what has been implied, but not outright said to me, I can carry hollow points (in VA where I live) and I wanted to confirm this.

Yes.

> Can I also carry them in NC (my parents live there and I travel there semi-regularly)?

Yes.

> When I am driving (in both states) can I have my gun holstered still?

Yes.

> In both states, when carrying, can I have a round chambered?

Yes.

Edit: Your questions also lead me to believe you should read some books/ watch some videos on the use of deadly force. Ayoob's "In the Gravest Extreme" is a good start.

I'll assume you're just making a one-off joke; the field of animal intelligence and how to assess it (and how well equipped we even are to assess it) is very deep and interesting.

Here's a good layman's primer https://www.amazon.com/Are-Smart-Enough-Know-Animals/dp/0393246183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483298053&sr=8-1&keywords=are+we+smart+enough+to+know+how+smart+animals+are

I know people are recommending books in these replies, and I've got another one that might help your Mom understand why it is worth the trouble of getting a real gun, even up in Canada.

In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, by Massad Ayoob.

It is focused on the mental aspects of using a firearm for protection. It builds the case for trying to avoid violence if at all possible, but emphasizes the importance of being ready, willing, and able to protect your life and presents the firearm as the most effective way to do that.

Reading journal articles is a good start but be careful because there are many poorly written published articles out there.

A book that could be really helpful is Writing Science - I haven't read it all personally but my supervisor outlined the major points in it before I started writing my thesis and it had some really good advice.

https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Science-Papers-Proposals-Funded/dp/0199760241

Kyle did a nice job there. The framing pressures at Fox News are at such full force that you have to be very active in counteracting them. Otherwise you will fall into any of a long list of games they play with their average viewer to gain support for their conclusions. I would suggest a book by George Lakoff called Don't Think of an Elephant, as it's about that very subject

I've got a copy of French for Readng which I've found helpful. Its focused entirely on increasing reading comprehension and French-to-English translation skills, plus it briefly reviews grammatical rules covered by other materials.

Also, English Grammar for Students of French is an excellent resource for improving your grammatical foundations in both English and French.

I'm all for an open mind. But for me, there is quite enough of a world of flavour in coffee to explore without adding other stuff, whether milk or whisky residue...

But I'm all for others exploring the boundaries of the tasty and acceptable. The astonishingly great Flavour Thesaurus lists a bunch of great coffee combinations that might be worth exploring idc (although not all perhaps in a cup).

Here's the extract relating to coffee - its really worth a read.

It lists some combinations that I've never tried, but probably should, including coffee and goats cheese. I wonder whether I should make that my next kickstarter...goats cheese flavour beans...mmmmmm ;-)

And then, of course, there is the classic pairing of coffee and garlic http://blog.khymos.org/2007/04/22/coffee-espuma-with-garlic-and-chocolate-tgrwt-1/ This isn't crazy stuff: Heston Blumenthal was one of the original proponents of this pairing. But others have followed, like this guy, who captures it very well

>Next to matching food by common flavour components or a range of flavour components in common, you can also use foodpairing to pair food that doesn't match. Like chocolate and garlic. The trick then is to search for a third food product that has something in common with chocolate and with garlic. An example is coffee. Coffee has flavour components in common with garlic: Dimethyl disulfide and with chocolate: Methyl pyrazine.

I have a background in linguistics as well, and found this grammar book very helpful: Essentials of Swedish Grammar
It's efficient and streamlined. You can read through the whole thing in a sitting or two, and come away with a really good overview of Swedish that helps prime you for further study. So while it's not comprehensive, it's great for diving in to Swedish at the start.

Regarding the Alman Kültür you mentioned, the closest thing I am aware of in Sweden are libraries and other organizations which frequently host what is known as Språkcafe (Language Café) where people gather to learn and practice Swedish.

If you are interested, maybe check out one of Lakoff's books like "Don't Think of an Elephant. This critique rings true for me as I work in community mental health, mostly with children and families. I see the impact of differing parenting strategies/structures every day. I am biased I'm sure, but I think securing funding for basic access to healthcare, education and mental health services for children would go a long way towards solving our problems in this country. The right-wing worldview is not pro-social and in some cases is downright anti-social. Lakoff puts forward a number of solutions for this problem.

I agree that the structure of our democracy most likely needs to be altered. This could mean moving towards a parliamentary system and/or it should include efforts to increase voter participation and civil society.

So I recently found out about these books called Japanese From Zero. He has an entire Youtube channel dedicated to the books and questions from people. IMO he's been a great teacher and provided tons of free content in addition to the books. There are currently 4 JFZ books. https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Zero-Techniques-Students-Professionals/dp/0976998122/

Here you go, man. This has been so useful in my studies, it's worth the 15 or so dollars for it gives you a massive leg up in grammar and such. Give it a THOROUGH read, find a good partner on /r/language_exchange, and get yourself some decent courses on memrise. As a bonus, feel free to PM with any questions or even to practice your speaking. I'm not a native speaker, but have a pretty decent grasp on the language. Lycka till!

Thanks a lot! I'm sure I'll get more relaxed and less shaky over time. But in the mean time, do you think I should get this? I've been contemplating for a while now, and I want to know whether it would help or not.

This textbook, combined with the accompanying grammar, provides a pretty comprehensive introduction to the language and with enough study should get you to a satisfactory level. Plus it includes examples of not only Serbian, but Bosnian and Croatian as well, which are pretty much the same with some slight differences in vocabulary and grammar that you'll start to pick up on as you study.

One of the best books I have ever read is “Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded” https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199760241/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_6MpxCb2Y2PH49

The book is easy to read and has DRASTICALLY improved my science writing. I read this book with my undergraduate lab (like 4 years ago) and still reference now in my PhD program.

if you're interested in book recommendations, I've been been reading the unfolding of language, which has some good discussion about the sort of processes that cause inflections to appear and disappear. I've found it to be a very easy and interesting read!

Just took the test on Saturday and got 170V/168Q. Let me tell you a few things about prep:

1)DO NOT waste your time or money with Kaplan/Princeton/Barron's etc.. they are inadequate and full of distracting typos.

2)Do use Magoosh.com and/or the Manhattan course. They both come with top-notch instruction and lots of practice tests/questions. I actually used both. For even more practice questions (which you probably won't have time for at this point) check out the 5 lb book of questions.

3) Definitely memorize every word on the free Magoosh vocab flashcards. Knowing these words saved my verbal score.

4) For the love of all that is holy please use the official GRE book that is put out by ETS.

5) Do not ignore the essay. It requires a very specific type of writing. Even if you are a "good" writer you will be disappointed in your score unless you write the way they want you to. What you may not know is that every essay is graded by one computer reader and one human reader. For $13 you can actually have 2 essays graded by the exact algorithm the computer reader uses and you'll get an idea of where you stand.

Found this comment:

Just took the test on Saturday and got 170V/168Q. Let me tell you a few things about prep:

1)DO NOT waste your time or money with Kaplan/Princeton/Barron's etc.. they are inadequate and full of distracting typos.

2)Do use Magoosh.com and/or the Manhattan course. They both come with top-notch instruction and lots of practice tests/questions. I actually used both. For even more practice questions (which you probably won't have time for at this point) check out the 5 lb book of questions.

3) Definitely memorize every word on the free Magoosh vocab flashcards. Knowing these words saved my verbal score.

4) For the love of all that is holy please use the official GRE book that is put out by ETS.

5) Do not ignore the essay. It requires a very specific type of writing. Even if you are a "good" writer you will be disappointed in your score unless you write the way they want you to. What you may not know is that every essay is graded by one computer reader and one human reader. For $13 you can actually have 2 essays graded by the exact algorithm the computer reader uses and you'll get an idea of where you stand.

OP Please educate yourself and read THIS book. I don't believe it's the ultimate training guide but it has a very good discussion of mindset. Also THIS book might be even a better starting point.

I get your point about being able to carry but you need to listen to the comments in this thread.

I'm not sure about what questions you could ask a coach, but any information i'd ever want to learn about writing can be found in the following books:

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444723251

Stein on Writing
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0312254210

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0060545690

Maybe some questions you can answer for us? Why have you sought out a writing coach? What kind of writing do you do? How long have you been writing and at what level?

You may get some better responses after these questions. :)

I can give you three books that I recommend without reservation. The first is the easiest to read and a solid introduction to fiction editing. The second goes into more depth, with an excellent workflow for the revising process in the latter chapters. The third is the most dense, like a college class in fiction editing with a focus on how the 19th and 20th century masters actually revised their works, but it is also the most thorough.

Self-editing for Fiction Writers (written by two editors)

Stein on Writing (written by an accomplished editor)

Revising Fiction (written by an college professor, writer and editor)

There are some good book resources if you want to take the time to read through them. Schimel's Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals that Get Funded seems pretty well recommended on Amazon.

Link to free serbian flash cards
https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/serbian
Link to android app for these flash cards (iOS also exists): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki

Probably the best book for learning the language: http://www.amazon.com/Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian-Textbook-Exercises/dp/0299236544/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417903285&sr=8-1&keywords=bosnian+croatian+serbian+a+textbook+with+exercises+and+basic+grammar

But if you're really serious I'm sure you can find a local school or culture center that has classes.

I would recommend Remembering the Hanzi. It doesn't teach you the word in Chinese but the method helps you absorb and learn to write the most common 1,500 characters in Chinese. This method helped me learn to do some basic reading and is a good complement to Chinese studies. This site seems to have a copy of it. Not sure if this site works but its worth a shot.

Yeah, I've certainly sailed that ship many times, but for Swedish I actually take classes at my college for it. Honestly there aren't that many books out there for Swedish, but one I would recommend is this one http://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Swedish-Grammar-Practical-Mastery/dp/0844285390/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1325031203&sr=8-3

There's a book called the Emotional Thesaurus that might help. I hear good things about it and I see articles reference it everywhere. It might be really good for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Emotion-Thesaurus-Writers-Character-Expression/dp/1475004958

This is one of the most informative and entertaining books I have ever read. It discusses how language has changed and keeps changing, and how the so-called "degradation" of language is actually what's responsible for its amazing complexity.

Here's a link for an authoritative translation: https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492.

We used this during my undergrad studies. Hackett is a solid publisher for anything philosophical, FYI. As far as commentary goes, this text has intros to each work and annotations throughout. SEP will be a good second hand resource outside of that.

http://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323049320&sr=1-3


http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Digest-Book-Concealed-Carry/dp/0896896110/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323049320&sr=1-1



i also recommend these books to help you figure CCW out. However I hope you will take my last bit of advice to heart.

Do not kid yourself about carrying a large gun if you have the slightest doubt that you wont do it. I personally have a snub nose and a g30 for when I don't feel like carrying my 21. And it happens quite a bit. Just going to the gas station for a pop can quickly turn bad. But Im not going to spend 10 minuets gearing up for an 8 minuet trip. I know that, and Im ok with it. It takes ALOT of personal discipline to carry such a big gun. Its uncomfortable at times, its harder to travel, it limits the wardrobe, it can make hugs very awkward if your not used to it, etc. Please dont waste your money on a gun that you wont carry. By all means get the 30. I own one, they're great! You can LEARN to overcome its difficulties and short comings much easier than you can learn to always put on your beast no matter what.


let me know if you have any questions comments or concerns

Some additional free sources of info are

defensivecarry.com and ar15.com under handguns and carry issues.

Come here /r/LearnJapanese , And there are a quite a few options they have in their sidebar.

Other thing i would recommend is, Japanese from Zero.

Im currently just starting out as well.. Not great at memorizing vocab, But i have hiragana fully memorized.

Edit: your second question... how long... it will be a very long adventure, and depends on where you would like to place yourself. There are a ton of KANJI, which all of multiple meanings depending on context and such. But if ur goal is to be fully fluent... well from what i gather, not to be a downer, it will take many years. (specially if you are not immersed in Japanese). Myself, i want to learn cause i love there Music, Anime, and a few JDrama's. So i would like to be able to understand them, ye know, not just Sub them all the time.

Randomly throwing this out there: Silent Siren and Maneki Kecak have some wonderful music.

​

Edit 2: Tip: Try not to pay to much attention to Romanji. You can get stuck in a root if you do it that way. Japanese from zero will start off with partial romanji but halfway through the book it will be full hiragana.

As I'm a Brit I am going to dazzle you with Amazon UK's most spectacular offerings:

Giant Inflatable Unicorn 6-Person Party Island

Personalised Lifesize Cardboard Cut-out

BBQ Shack

As for me, I'd be happy with a copy of The Flavour Thesaurus

Found this to be a great read when starting to carry. https://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001 it's more for mental awareness and handling a firearm than physical technique. It's a bit outdated but easy to get through. You could probably find a PDF as well.

Hello,
I recently took the GRE, and after not getting the scores I wanted, continued my search for a better book to study. I have a few friends that studied using Kaplan, and got mediocre scores (not blaming it on Kaplan..fully anyways), and I used "Cracking the GRE". From what I've picked up from myself and others, these books teach you how to "game the developers", which isn't the correct way to go about it. Gaming the test isn't going to help you when you simply need to have a better understanding of the material.

I bought this book and have been going through it. Each chapter is a specific topic of questions, with about ~100 of each. For example: 1 chapter for Algebra, one for Inequalities, etc. It also has a practice section at the beginning to help you determine where you can further focus.

5lb Book of GRE Practice Problems
They have the answers and good explanations at the end of each chapter as well.
It's big and heavy, and a little intimidating, but you'll work through it. I know I am, slowly but surely.

Sol Stein is a masterful editor; below is a good book to read.

https://www.amazon.com/Stein-Writing-Successful-Techniques-Strategies/dp/0312254210

Watch your comma usage. Too many commas slow down and break up the flow of the sentence.

Am not trying to be hyper-critical, just calling it like I see it and want to help.

Yep, that's definitely true. This, incidentally, is what Heisig set out to do with Remembering the Kanji, to give an English speaker the same advantage in Japanese as a Chinese speaker (that is, know how to write each kanji and a rough approximation to its meaning).

I prescribe these two books for you to read in this order:

Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

1. https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Tools-Essential-Strategies-Writer/dp/0316014990
   
   On Writing Well, 25th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
   
   
2. https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-25th-Anniversary-Nonfiction/dp/0060006641/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539787015&sr=1-4&keywords=on+writing+well
   
   Read these two books carefully and apply the advice to your own writing.
   
   Good luck.

I very much recommend the book Writing Science, by Joshua Schimel. You wouldn't know from the title, but it's one of the best books on writing (academic or otherwise) ever written. I'm actually putting together a graduate-level course based on the book for next year!

If your fiction is suffering from contact with stiff, over-formal academic writing, this book can help.

Then you've got to work on framing, and making your comments shorter.

Use line breaks.

And don't go over three sentences.

***

• Formatting also helps.
  
• It makes it harder to skip things.
  
• Do you think asking questions can help people engage critically?
  
  ****
  
  PS - Always directly link to something you want someone to check out.

> My knowledge of kanji is laughable at best.

Heisig's Remembering the Kanji has a very novel approach to learning the kanji, although It's not for everyone. The problem for me was that I was both being too lazy, but also that it works best with English as your primary language.

As for vocabulary training I'm not sure.

Actually their grammer is fairly good. Just make sure you read the notes before you start each skill (available on website-version not the apps).
Comments are quite informative too (not available in iOS app).
There are a lot of grammer books.
Here is a good simple book

Warning: The Complete works of Plato (encompassing both Socrates and Plato) is ~1800 pages. However, if you are inclined, this is the translation you should read.

If you'd like a more digestible Plato read, perhaps find a best collection/textbook.

If you are interested in philosophy, perhaps pick a specific field and find an anthology of readings for that field. For example, the philosophy of religion. You could also search the field on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and find some primary source work.

1. You left off the next response--if a human were not intelligent enough to know it was being raised for food is it OK? For example, killing children after a few months the way veal calves are? (Side note: you may be surprised how little we actually know about animal intelligence. Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? delves into the topic if you are interested.)
   
   
2. This is the classic "Because I can't do everything, I will do nothing" argument. You're correct that we are not morally perfect beings. But we can objectively say veganism is more moral than not.
   
   
3. Seems to be a reiteration of point 2.
   
   I also have a question for you. Do you eat "humanely" raised meat, eggs, and dairy 100% of the time? If not, how do you justify your consumption of factory farmed animal products?

You can definitely afford language textbooks, especially pre-used ones.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0061997226/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

The best latin textbook out there for $7. New for $12.

>if my French were better I'd get more from it

C'mon, reading French is easy! They teach it to divinity students in like 6 months (for many PhD programs in religion, one is still expected to have reading French and German as languages of secondary scholarship, even if there's no particularly good secondary scholarship on your topic in those languages. Some, like Harvard, will let you substitute two other languages if you really need it, but others, like Chicago, demand you pass your French and German reading exams no matter what). Because of this and similar graduate school pressures, there's a little cottage industry of "French for Reading Comprehension". I think people were quite keen on the book French For Reading, though there are competitors like Reading French: For Students of Theology, Biblical and Religious Studies and French for Reading Knowledge.

>It's been a pain because work that I assumed would only need minimal revision needs major revision in light of the direction I'm going now, and that is taking time.

Haven't you realized yet that everything in academia takes much, much longer than you anticipated?

Rather than The Republic, I would recommend Cooper and Hutchinson's Complete Works, which is probably the best collected Plato out there.

It's hard for a reader to understand what's happening in the mind of a character that doesn't talk. That being said, there are plenty of mute characters that are beloved (Hodor from GoT, old Yeller, the Companion Cube from Portal), some of which have their own character arcs. I think your biggest challenge will be accurately portraying his thoughts and emotions through body language.

A lot of beginning writers skimp on body language. They'll use smiles, tears, and teeth-grinding so much, you'd think their characters are only capable of smiley happiness, sobbing misery, and controlled rage. However, they can use dialogue to add variety and context. You can't. You gotta do a whole character arc with nothing but body language and actions.

So, amp up your body language descriptions with this guy. Make sure he's doing a variety of things, not just nodding, smiling, or goring someone. A reference that helps a lot is the Emotion Thesaurus. It lists 75 emotions and the body language that goes with each one. If the reader can "see" his emotion combined with the actions he's taking, then they'll see how he changes across his arc.

I started learning a few months ago and i'm doing it slowly because that's what works best for me.
So here it is my routine:

pimsleur - 1 or 2 lessons a day (done)

anki - main resource 20 words a day + 2 times review (every day)

memrise - 25 words a day + review (every day)

swedish grammar book - for some grammar with exercises (not everyday because it becomes boring to me)

watch swedish tv/films/videos- to emulate immersion + motivation tool (every day)

listen to swedish radio - whenever i can (every day)

reading books- starting with childrens books and work my way up (haven't started yet but i have to find the motivation)

I still have to find a conversation partner so i can advance faster. (Doesn't need to be a native speaker but if you want to help i'll be appreciated.)

I would also recommend the Flavour Thesaurus. It splits foods out into Sweet, Spicy, Fruity...etc flavours and tells you what ingredients works well with what. Eg Cardamon is listed under fruity and works with Chocolate, which I think is listed under Nutty or Earthy.

I’ve been using a textbook called “Japanese from Zero” and it’s a dream. It’s so, so easy to learn from and it teaches you how to read, write, and speak in a natural way.

Japanese from Zero! 1: Proven Methods to Learn Japanese with Integrated Workbook and Online Support https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0976998122/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xbk7Cb5AD6WWV

I am, but i have my high school finals in march and the pre boards are starting this month, so i'm not getting much time to study what i like.

Apart from that i'm starting to learn what forms of verbs mean and how their ending affects the meaning. Like 'ita' means the meaning is related to past tense, and 'tai' means it's about wanting something.

Though i couldn't find any good websites for learning grammar* and don't really wanna spend money on books, even though i've found some good ones.

[shoutout for /r/VeganForCircleJerkers]

um i'm unfortunately not sure what to say that could help. so it's really to make your application more appealing?

if you didn't hate it more than French, i'd just say you should skip learning french to help with latin...and just dive into latin instead. i wish i could lend you some of my feverish adoration of/passion for french.

you could also maybe just take a French-for-reading approach, which would be faster and easier. There's a book with that title, but i also just mean studying in such a way that you're only going for reading comprehension.

book

Heisig is a pretty good book if you only want to learn characters and he has a simplified and traditional version.

http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Traditional-Hanzi-Meaning-Characters/dp/0824833244

I'm going to echo /u/Jake_Lukas and (strongly) recommend the Cooper edition. The translations are more up to date and reflect additional decades of scholarship; the translators have generally at least one substantial work/commentary on their respective dialogue; and you get all the pseudoplatonica.

We used the Cooper edition in all my upper-division undergraduate and graduate philosophy courses and even consulted the translations found in that edition in my classics courses when we needed to.

So for a "deep dive," I think you want to go with Cooper's Complete Works over Jowett.

Depends on what method of learning you subscribe to. The book you suggest is fine, and the Genki books are fine for the standard way of learning.

Learning Kana is easy...actually easier than English as there is no guessing, there is only one way to pernounce "ichi" as written in kana. The problem is Kanji, and oh what a problem it is.

I did not succeed as to learn any language takes a good amount of effort that you are willing to put in but here is a method I subscribe to. Using this book you would learn how to read Japanese using Kanji the quickest. The thing is, that what you are learning in this book isn't actually how to read, but more how to reckognize each kanji symbol. The idea is that once you learn how to recognize each Kanji, it will be 100x easier to put words to it. This book falls into the method that this guy http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/ follows. Which while crazy, I can see being effective.

Japanese is hard fyi

For me, the most helpful tool has been https://www.hr4eu.hr, although it teaches Croatian. The page has plenty of exercises for grammar and vocabulary, and there are even written assignments that they check for you. Just keep in mind the differences between Serbian and Croatian.

If you're into textbooks, this book is said to be very useful: https://www.amazon.com/Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian-Textbook-Exercises/dp/0299236544

building on thesaurus resources: http://www.amazon.ca/The-Emotion-Thesaurus-Character-Expression/dp/1475004958

This one gives a variety possible actions related to an emotion. Might help you find a new direction (or calm you down). It's a writing resource mostly but I think it may be applicable in what you're trying to accomplish.

A book called the flavour thesaurus - gives you ideas about flavours and ingredients that you would never think would work. Great book.

Amazon links:

UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0747599777?cache=491187175f09a05db83b12da483baf58&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1406286051&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1


US. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/160819874X?cache=04994d44197dcca0cb588b9bb14ac61b&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1406286098&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

You inspired me to bust out my copy of the ant bible, The Ants, as I realize I know less about the nuptial flight than any other aspect of ant life.

E.O. Wilson & Bert Holldobler write:

> It follows that the brief intervals between leaving the home nest and settling into a newly constructed nest is a period of intense natural selection among queens, a dangerous odyssey that must be precisely timed and executed to succeed. We should expect to find an array of physiological and behavioral mechanisms that enable the young queens simultaneously to avoid enemies, to get to the right habitat on time in order to build a secure nest, and to mate with a male of the same species.


Then, I was dismayed to discover that they dedicated 20 oversized pages to mostly male and female sexual selection and how colonies time and coordinate their mating flights (ants mate in midair). I'm going to have to leave this one to Google, and more recent research. I'm sure someone has performed experiments about nest site selection.

Last thing I'll add more anecdotally from my readings, is that myrmecologists usually emphasize great urgency during this period of a queen's life (even in the above passage). Therefore, if I were conducting an experiment, I would hypothesize that queens will stop at the first viable site and not "shop around," as the risk to their lives is so high.

The standard around these parts is the John M. Cooper. The Complete Works is a handsome volume.

Here

edit: "These parts" refers to where I went to school... several good sized Canadian departments.