4 Websites Every Spanish Student Should Bookmark

Hey guys,

First of all, sorry it's been so long since I last posted. I've been busy with the holidays, switching medicines (which is sending my mind and body on a wooden roller coaster) (hover here), and starting back at school (my classes seem pretty exciting this semester, actually).

In other news, in case you didn't know, I have an insatiable appetite for learning the Spanish language. It's incredibly frustrating and intimidating, however, to have to remember all of the grammar rules and the meanings of certain words (hover here).

Anyway, there are a couple of websites that I have made friends with this past year and consult them numerous times each week, if not each day. Here they are:

SpanishDict.com
I was required by my Spanish instructors to purchase a hard copy of a Spanish-English dictionary, but SpanishDict has saved me a lot of flipping back and forth. When I'm practicing my Spanish, I use this site religiously. It's time-saving features include:

An awesome search feature that can often detect
if the word you entered is English or Spanish

                               



Tool that allows you to roughly translate text (note: Do not rely on this tool for correct grammar! It is developed by Google Translate and will not always give you the correct verbs/nouns)





SharedTalk.com

This site was developed by Rosetta Stone and is a wonderful tool for conversing with native Spanish-speakers (as well as speakers of many other languages, and you can help other people learn English if you feel so inclined). When you create a (free!) account, you indicate which language(s) you are fluent in and which you are learning. Once you join, you can talk to people via "Text Chat," "Voice Chat," or good 'ol e-mail messages (through a Shared Talk e-mail service).

I had searched all over the web for a credible way to instant message Spanish-speakers, but I constantly ran into stupid chat rooms where everyone either talked in English the whole time and didn't respond to a request for helping me practice, or they were full of spam and explicit content. Shared Talk reinstated faith in me that there are intelligent, patient, helpful people out there. I haven't even had to start conversations with people; I have received numerous enthusiastic messages from Spanish-speakers offering to help me learn Spanish (and some even asking if I will help them improve their English, which has been fun!)

One feature I wish was available on this site is the ability to save your conversations so that you can go back and study them later. I have an idea for a makeshift conversation-saving feature, though. If you maximize the conversation window (with the button on the top left), you could take a screen shot of the key parts of the conversation and save to your pictures. I haven't tried this yet, but I plan to.

OnlineSpanishHelp.com

Getting all of the different verb meanings and conjugations straight in my head (which is already jumbled) is a very daunting task. However, with the verb conjugation trainer on OnlineSpanishHelp.com, I can study the verbs on my own, customize my verb drills, and keep track of my progress (since I signed up for a free account). You can customize the drills by type of verb (-AR, -ER, -IR, irregular verbs, semi-irregular, etc). Here are some screenshots of the drill:



Easy level




Hard level

 This site also has some other helpful games, drills, and basic lessons.

Colby Spanish Site
This website, provided by the Language Resource Center at Colby College, is a phenomenal tool for reviewing and practicing grammatical concepts in Spanish. You can choose from numerous interactive practice exercises and guided reading/listening.

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I hope these sites/tools helped you if you haven't already discovered them. If you are learning Spanish, take some time to explore the uses of these sites, and if you aren't send this post to someone who is. Sharing is caring!

Know any other great sites for learning Spanish? Just want to give some general feedback comments? Share them with me, yes?

Off-Season Purchases for Big-Savings

     With the start of fall classes aiming point blank at our summer vacations, the last thing we want to shop for is bathing suits and cute sundresses. Although it's almost time to pack up the warm clothes and dig out chic scarves and warm knits, this is the time to make some frugal investments for next summer. Clothing companies trade out their warm weather wear to make room for cool-climate clothing. If you're like me, you hesitate to buy spring/summer clothing in the fall/winter even if it's a bargain because you are going to have to wait until the weather changes accordingly to show off your frugal finds. However, you don't want to spend an arm, a leg, and your firstborn child to re-vamp your wardrobe each season. It's time to be thrifty in the off seasons so you can splurge on more instantly-gratifying indulgences (like Starbucks everyday after class!). Here are some trendy brands that are cutting back on price (but not style):

1. Pacsun.com

Bathing suit shopping is a hassle no matter what size you are, and finding a perfect fit online is typically even harder, but I was thoroughly pleased with Pacsun's choices. First off, they have an accurate size chart that tells you which to order based on your measurements and how to determine those measurements. Right now, they are running a sale on swimsuit separates that is "buy one get one free," and each piece ranges from about $12.99 to $19.99. So, say you find a top and bottom that you like, each priced at $19.99 and are buy one get one's, you just scored a bathing suit for $20! I got 3 tops, 2 bottoms, and 2 pairs of board shorts for about 70 bucks -- which averages out to 10 bucks each of course (plus, I got $25 worth of in-store or online credit. Word!)

2. Forever21.com

Not only do they have cute summer clothes on sale, but they also have sweaters and jackets for half the original price. Also, some of their summer tops can be layered for fall ensembles. Quick tip: Forever 21 is almost always running a deal on free shipping if you spend a certain amount, so try some collaborative shopping with your friends to meet the minimum amount and be eligible for free shipping.


3. Asos.com

If you haven't checked out Asos, you're missing out on eclectic and glamorous clothing that you can't find in many stores. They have a wide variety of items on sale (not just summer items!) and a customizable search engine that let's you choose your price range, color, size, brand, material, etc. Plus, there's a flat rate of $6 on shipping to the U.S. I am falling in love with this site more and more every time I visit it and can't wait to make my first purchase.

Next summer, when prices go back up, you be glad you took the time to do a little out-of-season bargain hunting. Know of any good end-of-summer sales? Post 'em here.

The "Write or Die" Writers' Resource

Lately, I've found that I can't muster up enough motivation/inspiration to write anything, be it a blog post, poem, short story, essay, ransom note, whatever... The point is, I don't see a point. I always over-edit while I'm writing, and have a habit of talking my self out of writing altogether. A wonderful creative writing teacher/friend told me that when writer's block occurs, just write. "Don't think," she says, "just write." Still, that never seemed to penetrate into my writing habits. My dear readers, I believe I have found a resource that will help with writer's block and procrastination.
Write or Die is one of the most ingenious sites I've ever "stumbled upon," although it seems like an idea so obvious that I wonder why I didn't think of it first. Ohh, yeah.. because I was too busy editing my writing or checking Facebook (I think Mark Zuckerburg is the Hitler of social networking that takes out his competition by promoting procrastination. No one can defeat him when they are milking their cows on Farmville or deleting 46 "What Kind of Kiss Are You?" notifications sent by that chick from high school. But I digress..).
The site in a nutshell: Write or Die allows you to set a minimum time goal,  minimum word goal, consequences mode, and a grace period mode. Once you begin your writing session, you must write non-stop until the time is up, and you must meet your word goal. You may pause in your writing for a certain amount of time depending on your grace period setting, and if you don't complete your writing goal in the time allotted, you suffer a consequence (the severity is dependent upon your consequences setting). Because that probably didn't make a whole lot of sense, you should mosey on over to Write or Die and check it out for yourself.

I have yet to try it out, but I plan to sometime in the next few minutes. If you try it too, post your goal, time, consequences, grace period, and how well you did!

Peace, Love, & Hugs,

DB

PS. I'm still working on cleaning up this site. I want to add some pages to take away some of the clutter from the main page. If you have any other suggestions on how to improve stuff around here, lemme know.

Blah Therapy

This past week I've made so many discoveries about myself. While I won't go into extensive detail, I will say that I am thoroughly blessed and humbled by God. 1) I have just landed a job as a receptionist on campus thanks to a recommendation from a wonderful friend. 2) I have the most fantastic boyfriend a girl could ask for. It's true what they say: "You always find something great when your not looking for it." ...or something along those lines? Maybe they don't say that at all and I just made that up? Maybe I should write greeting cards, yes? No. Okay. Continuing..
I found this new site (I'm kind of a time-wasting-site-hoarder, can you tell?) and I must say, it is quite clever. Blah Therapy is designed to provide people with an outlet to vent their frustrations to complete strangers or to help someone else out with their problems. I decided to give it a try, and it yeilded interesting results. So, I signed in as a "listener" and the first "venter" I ever talked to was some Bieber-esque punk trying to pull my leg..

[commentary in purple]

Stranger hey

You Hey there, how goes it?

Stranger bad

You Tell me what's going on

Stranger im going to kill myself [at this point I was thinking, "Either he's a complete moron for warning a stranger that he's gonna kill himself, or he's bored and wants to see how elaborate he can make his story to pull me in." I decided to push his buttons..]

You Can you talk to me about what led you to that desicion?

Stranger my girlfriend is pregnant

Stranger but the baby isnt mine.. its her ex's

You Ohh. How do you feel about your girlfriend?
You Do you love her?

Stranger yes but im going to kill myself so it dosnt matter

You So you don't care what's going to happen to her or the baby? If you love her you will forgive her and help her through this. not take the 'easy' way out.

Stranger nope. i hate her now

You even though the situation sucks right now, there is a reason it is happening to you and not someone else. I truly believe everything happens for a reason and life isn't going to throw you more than you can catch at one time. If you overcome this, you can overcome anything. everything else will seem easier after dealing with this

Stranger f**** the world
You [I layed it on thick. Insert unfortunate event that directly affected me but is too personal to share on the web] and honestly, i thought that was the worst thing that could happen my family. the thought of [::cough::] scared me and I didn't want to live. I've been suicidal many times before [no need to alert the institution. I've would never take my own life]. but there's nothing that can happen to you that you can't handle. I swear on my life

Stranger dude.. i was kidding but im sorry man..

You i know. lol. the guilt trip worked

Stranger f*** man. your good

You i know :]
You i should get a freakin' award or something

Stranger ill present it to you man. haha i fel like an a** now :o

[I told him that it was a pretty dumba** thing to do, but that I wasn't mad. He then proceeded with some small talk like what I was doing, what I want to major in, and...]

Stranger :) hey do you play any sports?

You not really. used to play soccer, but i hated being on the team. loved playing tho. sadly I havent really been keeping up with the world cup. shame on me. u?

Stranger awwh man, haha i was gonna ask you for your name and number :D

[Woahh there, Seabiscuit. CALM DOWN. Needless to say, I said, "I don't thinkk sooo" and changed the subject. But he swung it right back around..]

Stranger yeahh. so can i know your name/?ill tell you mine

You even if i told you, how would you know i wasn't giving you a false name?
You i've always like the name Olivia
You and Aleeah

Your partner has disconnected.

--->Win.

I talked to a girl on there today who actually needed help sorting some stuff out, and I'd say it went pretty well. I won't post it because it wasn't nearly as amusing as the first conversation, but it was nice knowing that I helped some chick clear her mind just by reading her dilema and giving her some feedback. Woo.

Need a little mood booster? I'm going to wager that at least one of these graphs make you laugh...or crack a smile at the very least.

In case you've never heard of them, let me introduce you to "blackout poems." You can find them scattered around the web in various places, but one in particular caught my eye. I want to try one of these one day, for sure. More examples and information can be found here.

Dude! You've got to see this artist paint with bbq ribs. It's absolutely one of the most entertaining things I've seen in a long time. Also, check out some of his other stuff, like cheese puff-ed Conan O'Brien and lipstick-ed Angelina Jolie.


Well, I think I've spread enough url love for one post. Goodnight & God bless.


DB

DIY and PSYCH

I've been on a DIY kick lately. The thought of making something with my own two hands that is useful and visually attractive excites me. Of course, I'm not very good at finishing projects, so I don't want to waste a bunch of energy and money on something I won't complete. For example, my sewing skills are very basic, but I've always wanted to make some cute dresses (like the fabulous ones at ModCloth, which are too expensive for my taste). But my concern with sewing is the technicality of it all and the likelihood that it will look painfully homemade.

Speaking of DIY, take a look at this site, KnittaPlease. Knitting graffiti??? Oh, heckk yeahh. Adding cuddly goodness to a world of concrete and metal -- sooo right up my ally.
With the craziness of starting college classes and quitting my job, my stress level hasn't exactly improved lately. In fact, I'm chewing on my nails right now. Stopppp ittt, Daniiii. I need to try a few minutes of relaxation a day. Do a little stretching, a little clearing of my mind  ...We'll see how that goes.

My psych teacher makes me want to smash my face onto the desk repeatedly. Please allow me to rant for a moment. Reasons she works my nerves:
1. She reiterates everything. No, please continue defining adolescence for the next ten minutes since none of us here have experienced it yet.
2. She misuses words by replacing them with a similar sounding, but completely different word. For example, today maturation became masturation, autonomy became anatomy, and egocentrism became egocetracitosmistical.....umm...egocet....
3. She says "um" so often that I can't focus on what she is trying to teach. I know you know what I'm talking about. When someone uses "like" or "um" after every other word, all you hear is "like" or "um."
4. She showed a movie in a collegiate class. A movie. Not a documentary. Not an educational visual aid. Not even Magic School Bus. She showed The Notebook. You know the one that everyone has either seen a thousand times or has vowed never to watch because it's so cheesy...or too scary?? (I used to be a fan of the movie, but after watching it a few times, it gets annoying). Her justification for the movie was the fact that "Allie" has Alzheimer's disease. If you have seen the movie you know that it does not go into enough detail to deem the movie educational.

Forgive my harsh words and pointless whining. Just thought I'd share that tidbit.

Before I close this post, here's a quick promo:
Feel free to converse with me on Twitter as well. Let's make Twitter suck less :]
Also, I'm a new fan of StumbleUpon. It's opened a whole new world of reasons to procrastinate. Do me a favor and submit this blog to Stumble? There is a link under the Twitter widget on the left side of the page. I'd be much obliged, m'dear.



Peace, Love, & Hugs,

DB

Hey, Your Shoe's Untied.. Made ya Look!

I accidentally tricked myself into spilling my guts about some stuff. But I spilled my guts to myself, and now I'm kinda glad I did. How do you accidentally spill your guts to yourself? It's simple, really if you, like myself, bury your most painful memories and feelings and "grin and bear" life as it comes to you.
I started a new blog entry and convinced myself that I was going to be honest with the world and lay it all on the coffee table for everyone to see. Thing is, as I got about half way through it, I realized that being honest with people doesn't necessarily indicate revealing secrets. Sure, I've got some crazy, Lifetime movie material stowed away in my past, but that's then, this is now.
Although I'm not posting that draft, I can honestly tell you getting it all out in a more tangible form than just my thoughts helps to alleviate some of the pressure of hoarding those thoughts and feelings. However, maybe one day I'll share snippets about my struggles with an anxiety disorder, but I like the thought of being able to choose who I share that with. If you ever want to talk about anxiety, depression, or anything of the sort, do not hesitate to message me about it. It's easier to share with someone who's been there.
Switching gears, there's this game I stumbled upon tonight, and it's wayy addicting. Check out the Wikipedia Game. Let me know how you do :]

Peace, Love, and Hugs,

DB

I Think It Was Called "Pimp and Circumcision" Or Something

Graduation could not have been anymore boring. But I'm free from high school now, and I don't anticipate missing it for at least another five years or so. I didn't even throw my cap up with the rest of the class. I just stood there waiting until the heard of photo-taking buffalo charged toward us graduates. I can't begin to tell you how frustrating it was to go all the way around the field in search of an open gate to meet up with my family who I couldn't find anyway. Finally found them and my mom is all, "Pictures! Get together... smile!" I got some fantastic gifts and cards (and cash!). My mother dearest got me a laptop, a gift for which I am eternally grateful. Of course, I kind of wish I had complete and solitary control over it. A password protected User desktop doesn't serve much purpose if your mom calls you at work and insists you give her your password. And then laugh at your choice of password.
One of my friends that came to my graduation after party gave me a book called Confederacy of Dunces. You've probably heard of it if you are into literature. It's supposed to be widely known among the literary elite. So far, it's grabbed my attention, and I'm only on page 7. If you have read it, what did you think of it? (no spoilers, please!).
Speaking of literature, if you know anything about the Brontë sisters and enjoy nerdy English humor, then you'll probably giggle as much as I did when I saw the sisters kicking some misogynistic tail.
There are two things I do in life against my better judgement: 1) chew gum in school and 2) listen to Lady Gaga's music. Gaga's songs are so trashy yet catchy. They make me wanna throw on a gawdy leotard, suede knee-high boots, and fake eyelashes that cause mini hurricanes when I blink. Then I wanna turn off my Telephone and Just Dance. And maybe poison people in a diner with my multi-million dollar Single Lady. [check out this acapella Gaga tribute, homes.]

I'm gonna go put on my yellow nail polish I bought today (oh, coooool kiddd).

DB