Sunday Shout Out: Duolingo

Pretty much since I left Sixth Form, I have been keeping my French and Italian books (GCSE and AS-Level) with the complete intention of reteaching myself French and starting again with Italian (I didn't do a whole lot of Italian, and all I remember is how to say 'my name is...' which I don't think will get me very far).  Every place I have lived since I moved away from my parents, I have taken these books with me.

I am really passionate about foreign languages. I love how they sound, and I hate that I can only speak one language fluently (and for that reason often wish I'd been born somewhere else where English is taught as a second language practically since birth). But I'm not good at foreign languages.  No matter how hard I tried, how much I studied, I still lagged at the back of the class, and managed to get a 'U' in AS French. For those of you who know me, you'll know that I was a bit of a swot in school and graded fairly high in most of my classes. The burn of course is that French was the only subject I actually tried at, yet it was my worst subject.

Anyway, a couple of months ago one of my brothers (or two of them, I'm not sure), mentioned DuoLingo - a free site which helps you learn foreign languages. I dutifully bookmarked it then forgot all about it.  Last week I watched this New Year video, and Sanne mentioned the DuoLingo app. As I'm beginning to get used to my smartphone, I figured I'd give it a go. I've been using it for a week and already I have learnt words I'm fairly certain I never knew.

DuoLingo teaches you in short themed sections. You translate to and from your chosen language and are also able to practice your pronunciation. As i said, it is both a website and an app (they sync together), and for anyone thinking that this is the year to learn a new language, or refresh your memory, I have to point you in DuoLingo's direction.

Oh, and you can follow me here.

[Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, or form, sponsored to write about this site. I just want to share it with you.]

The Man Who Smiled: Memories That Have Made Me

I am so super excited today as I am starting a new series on this blog called 'Memories That Have Made Me'.  

So much has happened in my life already, and a lot of those experiences have stayed with me.  They are not all monumentous, nor are they all life changing.  But every single one of them (and the countless more that are buried deep within me) have made me who I am.  

I hope others will join in with me and post their own memories on their blogs (or write about them in their diaries).  I will be posting mine every Friday, but it doesn’t matter when you write yours or if you wish to do them fortnightly or monthly – your writing should fit with your schedule.  If you do join I ask that you link to my blog with this link: http://emptythoughtsrewritten.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Memories%20That%20Have%20Made%20Me (until I’ve worked out how to create a button for you to display) and that you will link your POST (not just your blog link please) in the comments each week (until I’ve worked out how to make a linky thing for you to add your links to – I’m really not very tech-savvy!).

I'm kicking off this series with the memory that actually kicked off the idea in the first place.  I really hope you'll enjoy it and I look forward to hearing your feedback and reading your 'Memories That Have Made Me' posts:

For the seven years I went to High School (this includes 2 years of Sixth Form), I walked there and back almost every day.  It wasn’t a particularly difficult walk (for me back then, now I can’t walk down the drive most of the time!) and I found I really enjoyed the time it gave me to just be in my imagination.

But when I think back to those walks, I very rarely think of what it was like, I just remember a certain man.  I never knew his name, and to be honest, I can’t actually remember what he looked like.  But I remember him as the man who smiled.  I would see him almost every morning; as I turned out of my close, he would be going in the other direction on his way home from his morning walk.  And every morning he would stop and smile at me and say ‘good morning’, and I would do the same.

One year we came across his house while trick-or-treating, they called me Buffy – they had a china doll with this name and they thought I looked like her, I remember the name simply because I was horrified that they’d named me after the character Buffy the Vampire Slayer (this was before I liked the show and actually hated it).  After that I would pop a Christmas card through their door every year.

I was shocked that he recognized me and had told his wife about me.  Even more so when he thanked me for cheering his mornings.  Now I wish I could say the same to him.  Back then I was too shy to say hello to most strangers, but he taught me that a smile from a stranger can totally change a day from awful to wonderful.  Since leaving High School, I have made an effort to smile at every single person I pass on the street, no matter how bad my day is.

So thank you stranger who smiled at me as I walked to school, you literally changed my life and I hope I am creating a ripple effect by following your lead.  I will always remember the effect you’ve had on me, and I hope that you are still smiling wherever you are.

Challenging My Perceptions Of Myself

I believe in constantly learning new things and discovering new ways in which to see the world.  However, recently I’ve started challenging my perceptions of the world in a completely different way.  Instead of looking outward to see differently, I’ve found that I am looking inward.

Let’s start at the beginning.  I am a writer.  I have always known that I was a writer and that is where my talent lies.  I’ve never questioned this, just followed along.  I have accepted myself as a creative through my writing.  I am also a crafter.  But I see myself more as an amateur creative – I make cards and cross-stitch.  Until recently I’ve only really stuck to the basics and haven’t really seen them (especially the cross-stitch) as part of my creativity.

And then I decided I wanted to start a creative business revolving around writing (because that’s what I’m good at) and cross-stitch (because I have fell so far in love with it that I want to do it all the time).  For this to work I’ve had to radically change my self-imposed view of myself.  I am having to design my own charts, which inevitably means that I am putting pencil to paper and drawing ideas.

When I realised that that was what I would have to do I became terrified.  I can’t draw.  I’m the person that doodles stars and hearts because that’s all I can make come out right.  And now I had to trust that I could not only come up with ideas (something I’ve always struggled with), but that I would be able to get them down on paper.

Earlier this week I had a massive break through.  You may remember that I managed to do alittle designing despite being very ill, I didn’t admit that I was terrified of looking back to see how much editing they would need.  Of course they did need a little tweaking, but overall, I was proud of my work.  And on Saturday I outdid myself in drawing the perfect cupcake (quite a task when you’re as much of a perfectionist as me).  I have now accepted myself as an artist.  I may never sell my artwork in its original form (I am currently drawing to transpose my designs into cross-stitch charts) but I have come to terms with the fact that I don’t suck nearly as much as I thought.

Is there anything, like drawing, that you tell yourself you could never do, let alone be good at?  Why not challenge your perceptions of yourself and see what happens (you may well suck, but perhaps with a bit of practice you will find that you can do it) and share your experiences either in the comments here or on your own blog (and like here so we can read it).

How I'm Learning Online

I realise I have been MIA for the past week, but I have been kick-starting my business plans by attending a virtual event, Profit SOS (the talks are still available but only if you wish to purchase the VIP 'tickets').  The course involved 2 webinars each day and I have to say it was quite a learning experience for me.  Not only did I get plenty of very useful information, it opened my mind to all the possibilities the internet has for learning.

I've always known that the internet is a great place for information.  It is the first place I turn to in most cases when I wish to know something.  But until now I've been 'playing it safe' by just looking at written pages of information.  Now, I'm not saying that that isn't a great way to learn (personally, I love reading anything and everything I can get my hands on); but it isn't the only way to learn (and for some people it isn't a particularly easy way to keep information in the mind).  I am now open to trying more virtual events as well as using video and podcasts/webinars to boost my learning.  I'm thinking that later this year I will be looking into Psychology and Sociology courses available (apparently many univerisities make most of their courses available for anyone to access).

But for right now I am going to focus on using everything I've learnt and starting to put it into practice.  If there's any part of learning I fall down on, this is it.  I'm a very academic person so like learning by taking in information; and writing essays is usually as practical as I like to get.  Obviously, simply knowing tactics isn't going to get me far in actually creating and running a business.  I realise that I'm in for an even steeper learning curve but I am excited to be on this journey and hope you all enjoy following along.