Yall, Tumblr Is Meant To Be Used With The Low-contrast Classic Theme, It's Like I've Opened My Third

200225

Day 3 no WiFi, been using my data sparsely kill me rn💔I just wanna go and watch YT coding tutorials for hours don't do this to me 💔

Look at my lunch tho 🥲

7/10 day, pay for the WiFi plzzzz💔😭

Hi Bloommmmm ^¬^!

It's Angel! I've also been trying to learn Italian, :D

I use Duolingo, LingQ, and StudyStack. LingQ is a bit more helpful though.

I just wanted to know what resources you use to study Italian. I feel like while what I use is helpful, I'm not actively learning something. It'd be nice to get your recommendations on how to effectively study the language — including Chinese!

hiii pokiiiie sorry for this laaate answer I've been really busy with school and stuff but here I am !

How to actually learn a language

Learning a language is exciting at first, then frustrating, then exciting again, then you feel like you’re not learning anything, then suddenly, out of nowhere, you understand something and it feels magical. But for a lot of people, that "magical" moment never really comes because they get stuck in a cycle of half-learning a little bit of Duolingo here, a few YouTube videos there, and months later, they still can’t form a full sentence.

I’ve been there. And I’ve learned that the secret isn’t just "practicing every day" or "using the right apps" it’s about knowing how to learn. Not every language works the same way, and the way you approach it changes everything. So let’s break it down properly.

1. Why Are You Learning? This Changes Everything

Before anything else, you have to ask yourself: Why do I want to learn this language? Because different reasons need different strategies.for example

If you're just learning Italian for a trip, you don’t need deep grammar knowledge. You need to train your ear, memorize key phrases, and practice pronunciation so people understand you.

If you’re planning to study in Italy, then a casual "Ciao! Come stai?" won’t cut it. You need a structured approach, real grammar knowledge, and at least a B2 level to survive in an academic setting.

If you're learning Chinese just for fun, you can take it easy with apps and light immersion. But if you ever want to work or live there, you must take it seriously Chinese isn't a language you can just "pick up" casually.

Knowing why you’re learning changes how you learn. If you only need basic conversation skills, focus on listening and speaking. If you need full fluency, you have to do the hard work grammar, writing, and structured learning.

2. The "App Trap" Why Most People Feel Stuck

A lot of people get stuck at the beginner level because they rely too much on language apps. I did this with Italian at first. I spent like the whole summer in WLINGUA and thought I was making progress, but when I tried to form a sentence on my own and yeah I found nothing stored in my brain

The problem with apps like Duolingo, LingQ, and Memrise is that they teach you words and phrases, but they don’t teach you how to think in the language. You memorize sentences, but you don’t really understand why they work the way they do. yeaaa I can say Duolingo is the like N1 app for me and it's the best for Chinese in my opinion cuz it help u memo the characters cuz they keep repeating them for u and Chinese is all about memorizing so I guarantee duo for this one

So what’s the fix? You have to combine active and passive learning:

Apps (Passive Learning) → Great for exposure but won’t make you fluent.

Textbooks (Active Learning) → Boring but necessary for real grammar and keeping ur mind organized

Speaking & Writing (Real Learning) → Forces you to produce the language, not just recognize it.

For example, when I started learning Italian seriously, I switched from just using apps to actually writing short journal entries in Italian every day. Even if my sentences were simple and full of mistakes, it forced my brain to think in Italian instead of just recognizing words. That’s when I really started to improve

3. How to Learn Based on the Language Itself

Not all languages are learned the same way. Some are easy to pick up, others will absolutely fight you every step of the way.

European Languages (Italian, Spanish, French, etc.)

🏷️ If you're learning a language that's similar to English (or another language you know), you're lucky. The grammar is different but still follows familiar patterns.

🏷️ You can skip textbooks if you just want casual fluency.

🏷️ Immersion works really well watching shows, listening to music, and reading will naturally help you pick up structure.

🏷️ The hardest part is usually verb conjugation (french have the hardest conjugation 🦅) so focus on mastering the most common tenses first.

Asian Languages or characters based languages (Chinese, Korean, Japanese .. )

🏷️ Now, if you're learning something like Chinese or Japanese, it’s a whole different story. You cannot learn these languages the same way you’d learn Italian or Spanish.

🏷️ Textbooks are necessary. Asian languages don’t follow English patterns, so you need structures (u don't have to buy them there are pdf and online one )

🏷️ Pronunciation is critical. If you don’t learn tones early in Chinese, for example, you’ll struggle to be understood.

🏷️ Characters matter more than speaking at first. With Chinese, if you only focus on speaking and ignore characters, you’ll hit a wall fast

I learned this the hard way when I started studying Chinese. At first, I tried learning the way I learned Italian listening to native speakers, trying to pick up words, avoiding grammar at first. Big mistake. Chinese doesn’t work like that. The best way is to follow a structured course with a teacher (even if it’s online) and make sure you're learning characters alongside everything else it's tiiiring at first but it worth u will found teachers in YouTube who explain Chinese course module by module don't go straight to vocabulary or trying to force yourself into writting ，start with tones and pronunciation of initial and finals (mā , jiē ... )

then u will start learning how to read pinyin the more u revise the textbook the more u listen to the language, and greetings phrases for ex the more u will start to memo the words in Pinyin u will see the real characters and u will be like yes this is how nihao look like (nihao - 你好 ）and step by step u will rise from beginner to intermediate ..

4. Speaking: The Hardest Part (But The Most Important)

Most people avoid speaking because it’s awkward and scary. But here’s the truth: If you don’t practice speaking, you will never feel confident using the language.

The trick is to start early. Even if you don’t know much, just try.

Talk to yourself. Describe what you’re doing, even in broken sentences.

Use voice notes. Record yourself speaking and compare it to native speakers.

Find a language partner. Apps like busuu (I use it for Italian ) or HelloTalk are great for casual practice.

With Italian, I was scared to speak at first. I felt like I’d sound dumb. But when I finally forced myself to have a real conversation (even though it was full of mistakes), I realized people don’t care if you mess up. They just appreciate the effort.

For Chinese, it was even harder because of the tones, but practicing with a tutor helped a lot. When learning a tonal language, you cannot guess pronunciation you need feedback.

5. The "Lost Motivation" Phase & How to Get Past It

Every language learner hits a point where they feel stuck. You’ve been studying for months, but you still don’t feel fluent. What do you do?

Switch up your method. If you’ve only been using apps, try writing. If you’ve only been writing, try speaking.

Make it fun. Watch something you actually enjoy. I watch cdrama and I try to pick random words / phrases and I keep repeating them and use them for daily talks

Track progress differently. Instead of measuring how much you don’t know, look back at what you’ve already learned.

I hit this phase with english after like it's been 2y I felt like I wasn’t improving. But then I found a book I had tried reading at the beginning and realized I could actually understand the 60% . That’s when I knew I had made real progress so to improve try to not compare urself to fluent ppl !

sources for chinese and Italian

Chinese textbook (pdf download textbook and workbook)

buusu the app (the best for Italian if u don't know how to start )

youtube channel num 1

youtube channel num 2

@bloomzone

270225

Woke up (duh) - sink routine - stretched - breakie (forgot to take a pic) - grocery shopping - watched ep1 of hannibal - took a fat nap coz of pain meds - rearranged my entire closet - late lunch + rotten mango podcast - made those hairclips out of boredom - doulingo lesson - shower - stretch - winding down by continuing hannibal.

Highlight of my day: mini magnetic chess set! And the hairclips :D

Remember the post I made about the importance of having a chess game on the go? Yeah I got one with the shopping!!! I'm so excited to have spontaneous games with anyone, also the practice will keep me off the brain numbing dopamine factory that is tiktok. Maybe I'm romanticizing this whole chess thing too much, but I feel like my frontal lobe is developing pretty fast rn.

The hairclips, well, they will be a great accessory on my wigs, they're so me :)

This song has been on my mind the entire day. I think it's because of the 'you run like a girl' trend, it breaks me every single time.:

20 question to ask yourself to find your sun

inspired from heya by ive the members represent the tigers who want to eat the sun !

the myth

(the story is so long I cut it out btw)

There is an old Korean legend of a tiger, fierce and restless, who climbed mountains in pursuit of the sun . Some say he wanted to devour it, to claim its light for himself. Others say he was drawn to its warmth, its brilliance, its quiet power. But what the story truly tells us is this:the sun cannot be taken by force. It can only be reached by the one who climbs with a pure heart.In this life, we are all climbing. Each of us faces our own mountains doubt, fear, failure, the weight of the world... And within us, like the tiger, burns a hunger: to find meaning, to become something more, to reach a dream that feels impossibly far.

this story reminds us no matter how high the peak, no matter how long the journey, if your heart is sincere and your vision clear, you will reach your sun.

Inner Longing & direction:

1. What "sun" (goal, activity, feeling) do I find myself staring at longingly, day after day?

2. What pulls me forward, even when I can't fully explain why?

3. If I felt free to chase anything without fear of failure, what would it be?

4. What activities make me feel most alive and connected to something bigger than myself?

5. What inner "fire" feels like it's burning within me, waiting to be ignited?

Obstacles & perseverance:

6. What "rivers and forests" (challenges, obstacles) might I face on this journey?

7. What voices might tell me I'm foolish for pursuing this?

8. How can I stay motivated even when the "sun" seems too far away?

9. What does perseverance mean to me in this context?

10. What am I willing to sacrifice or endure to get closer to my "sun"?

Meaning & transformation:

11. What does my "sun" represent to me (e.g., enlightenment, creativity, connection, impact)?

12. What kind of person will I become if I pursue this goal with all my heart?

13. How will this journey transform me, regardless of the outcome?

14. What lessons might I learn along the way?

15. Even if I don't reach my "sun," what value will I gain from the pursuit?

Action & clarity:

16. What is one small step I can take today to start moving towards my "sun"?

17. Who can I reach out to for support or guidance on this journey?

18. What resources do I need to gather to help me on my path?

19. How can I measure my progress and stay accountable?

20. What does success look like to me, and how will I celebrate it (even the small wins)?

@bloomzone ⌨️

Ehhh

040525

Stayed home, nothing motivating except thinking about doing art

170325

Too much to talk about, undoing my hair rn, did a sudoku puzzle 😝, might do 1 more b4 bed, I'm enjoying this.

what was it all for? 110225

I had a conversation with my aunt today. University came up. And for the first time in years, she said, “You should do what you love. I don’t want you to do something just because other people tell you to. It’s your life.”

And I just sat there. Because what the fuck?

Where was this energy when you told me art is just a hobby? When you told me I had to do architecture because money? When I spent years convincing myself that the thing I loved most in this world wasn’t real enough, wasn’t valuable enough to be my future?

Where was this when I forced myself through physics and math, subjects that drained me, killed my confidence, made me feel stupid and small? Where was this when I spent night after night feeling like a failure because I couldn’t mold myself into what you wanted?

And now, after all that, you’re suddenly saying, “Yeah, do what you love.” Like I didn’t just lose years of my life trying to be something I’m not. Like I didn’t break myself over and over again trying to meet your expectations.

And the worst part? I don’t even think she realizes how much this is fucking me up. How much I hate that she can just say that now, like it’s easy, like it doesn’t matter that I wasted years of my life because I thought I had no choice.

It’s like someone keeping you in a cage your whole life, telling you there’s no way out, telling you it’s for your own good. And then one day, they just open the door and go, “Oh, you can leave if you want.” And you’re standing there, shaking, realizing you could’ve walked out a long time ago.

And now I’m supposed to feel grateful? Relieved?

I don’t. I feel angry. I feel lost. I feel like I want to cry and scream and tear my own skin off because what was it all for?

I could’ve taken art in Year 12. I could’ve gotten A*s. I could’ve been confident in my skills instead of scrambling to prove to myself that I’m not a fucking idiot. I could’ve spent those years thriving instead of suffering.

But no. I had to do physics. I had to do math. I had to sit in classrooms where nothing made sense and watch my grades drop and feel like I was slowly disappearing.

And now you tell me it’s okay, I can do art? NOW?

And what if I do? What if I actually go ahead with it? Is she secretly going to sit there thinking, damn, she should’ve done architecture? Will she be supportive on the surface but secretly waiting for me to fail? To regret it?

Because that’s the thing with African guardians. You never really know what they’re thinking. They’ll say one thing but mean something else. They’ll act like they support you, but in their head, they’re already preparing for the “I told you so.”

And maybe that’s what scares me the most. That no matter what I do, I’ll always feel like I’m on the verge of disappointing them.

I hate this. I hate that I even have to feel this way. I hate that the thing that makes me happiest in the world is the thing that feels like the biggest risk. I hate that I’m still here, questioning myself, wondering if I’m making a mistake just because they made me believe it was one for so long.

And I can’t help but think… if I had been allowed to just be myself from the start, if I had been supported instead of redirected, maybe none of this would even be a question.

apologise for the vent, for souring your scroll, but I feel like I'm at my limit, this has tangled up my brain, and as scary as it sounds I feel hopeless, pointless, I don't fucking know, I don't want to think any more. Fuck.

170225

I missed 3days so I'll post the loser playlist tomorrow 😔

I'm eating dates rn tho, yum.

9/10 day, tomorrow I'm gonna try and draw something

I did these today will delete later (graphic design is my passion 😼):

I have a 3rd even better pic but it's kinda suggestive, features me, and isn't the vibe of my blog :p

These pics are the vibe of my day :p

210425

Woke up late, didn't work out, spent the day on tiktok and binging House m.d. Gonna finish my friends gift tomorrow tho, coz I had a new idea to add lol.

Oh, yesterday I did a clown makeup look:

In a few days I'll be a clown for my little cousins birthday and I'll do face paints for the kids too. I should prolly learn some party tricks tho.

I wanna do this other looks maybe, don't want kids to be scared of me as a clown 😭