Hello! A lot of you have been asking me where and how I’ve learn multiple languages and well, after a few hours of digging through my browser history and bookmarks, I was able to collect all of these resources. I have personally used all of these, so I can assure you they are useful! If there is something wrong with a website or a link, please let me know. Also, if you have any questions or if you want a learning buddy, my ask box is open. (I speak English and Spanish. I’m learning Korean, German, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, and Esperanto)
Note: Learning a new language requires a lot of dedication, more than you actually think! Especially if you’re learning multiple languages at the same time. It isn’t impossible, but it will take time. And by time I mean months and/or years! So please, be patient. Take your time. Don’t rush. Keep in mind that you will mess up and that’s okay. Practice as much as you can. Practice out loud. Talk to yourself if you can. It doesn’t matter if people think you’re crazy. They won’t be thinking the same when you become a polyglot, so don’t mind them. This is for you and your future.
Get started:
Everything listed below is FREE! Some sites do require you to sign up, but that’s for you to keep track of your own process.
That’s it. That’s all I have right now. I’ll try to search for more and will keep updating this list! If you have a request for a specific language, just send me an ask. Have fun and good luck!
My sister just got me started on Memrise for Japanese a few days ago and wow, it’s amazing. It’s not just flashcards but a combination of audio+visual+writing and uses user-submitted, ranked-by-vote mnemonic devices whenever possible. Plus, the way it keeps track of your progress is like a game, giving you points for doing well and letting you compete with other people. 🙂
And you get a bunch of extra points for reviewing old material at set intervals to make sure it sticks in your long term memory! Not to mention it has a very cute design, having each character/word/phrase be a ‘plant’ you have to keep ‘watered.’
I was wondering how many webcomics there were out there with black protagonists (for my own reference). Then I figured plenty of other folks would love to see a list. So heeeeere we go! (Please reblog and add more!)
http://www.prettyheartbouquet.com/ Pretty Heart Bouquet by E Heterick Jackson has a black magical girl (who is trans) as the main character!! it’s very cute and sweet and good!!!
I wish I could say I achieved VIB status at Sephora by building the most perfect makeup collection
one could ever ask for, but alas—as a mixed-race, medium-toned Latinx, a lot of time and money
was spent on buying lipstick that I’d only ever seen swatched on white women. Needless to say, they
either washed me out or made me look like a fool, and that’s when I knew it was time to find some
quality makeup brands aimed at people of color. So if you’re reading this, today is your lucky day,
because I’m passing along some of my favorites so that you can save yourself from the heartbreak
that is spending $22 on the wrong shade of Urban Decay.
Founded by none other than international model Iman, Iman Cosmetics is probably the
most well-known makeup line intended for women of color. They have a really thorough
way of finding the perfect makeup for your skin tone, and you can find their line in
drugstores at affordable prices.
Speaking of affordable, COVERGIRL has a line specifically aimed at women with darker skin. You can mostly find it in Target, drugstore.com, and some Walmarts.
One of my personal favorites, Black Opal was created by people of color for people of
color. Not only is the line affordable, but they have a “Find Your Shade” section similar to
Iman Cosmetics’, as well as shaving products for men. It looks like they’re developing an
affordable haircare line aimed at—you guessed it!—the haircare needs of people of color. As
if all of this wasn’t cool enough, Black Opal also awards scholarships to young women.
Sacha carries some of the most extensive beauty products I’ve seen, and the prices range
from below $10 to $50 depending on what you’re looking for. Their skincare products are also known for being long-lasting and weather-resistant, and their lipsticks have intense color
payoff.
Although Colourpop isn’t exclusively aimed at people of color, I thought I’d include it
because it’s one of my absolute favorite makeup brands. Not only are all of the lipsticks sold
alongside matching lip liners, but most of them are swatched on both light and dark skin, and their color payoff is strong and long-lasting. There’s also about a million different shades
of lipstick and eyeshadow you can try. The best part? Everything is cruelty-free and only $5.
On the higher end side of makeup, black|Up cosmetics was created specifically with Black
and mixed women in mind. With over 18 shades of foundation, ultra-pigmented
eyeshadows, and 30 shades of matte and glossy lipsticks, I can see why their prices rival
Sephora’s.
Fashion Fair is another line with a wide range of beauty and skincare products for a variety
of skin tones, although it was created with the needs of Black women in mind. Two of my
favorite products are the oily and dry skin travel kits, perfect for when traveling on airplanes
takes a toll on your skin. Their prices are also comparable to most of the brands sold at
Sephora.
Cruelty-free, all-natural, hypo-allergenic, and non-comedogenic (meaning your skin won’t
break out). They don’t have a lot of products listed on their site, but the ones they do have are magic.
I love the inspiration behind Hue Noir—the CEO, Paula Hayes, is a Black woman who
worked as a product development chemist and loved makeup. After having difficulty finding
makeup for darker skin tones, she established Hue Noir, a higher end makeup line that is
also organic and biodegradable. You can save the environment and look hot af while doing
so. Again, you’re welcome.
This is amazing! Thank you to whoever compiled this super useful list for PoC because honestly, it is impossible to find products that are compatible with our skin tone. None of the products that I’ve gotten have worked on my skin tone because they were all tried and tested out on white/yellow/pale skin. The frustration that I felt after spending a bomb on a product which made me look like a clown and a joke.. Is real. This article is godsend and so useful for PoC and all the Desi girls who are as frustrated as I am!
You know what’s awesome? Research. You know what’s not awesome? Not being able to get access to research because it’s stuck behind a paywall and you don’t belong to an institution/your institution doesn’t subscribe to that particular journal.
FEAR NOT.
Here is a list of free, open access materials on a variety of subjects. Feel free to add if you like!
Ubiquity Press– Journals covering archaeology, comics scholarship, museum studies, psychology, history, international development, and more. Also publishes open access ebooks on a wide variety of subjects.
Europeana– Digital library about the history and culture of Europe.
Internet Archive– In addition to books, they have music and videos, too. Free! And legal! They also have the Wayback Machine, which lets you see webpages as they looked at a particular time.
Elsevier Open Access– Elsevier’s kind of the devil but you might as well take advantage of this. Mainly STEM, also a linguistics journal and a medical journal in Spanish.
