Winners

If you don't try, you don't win.

Go: Quiz

Dear Readers:

You've read the "Ready" and "Set" posts, and you are now "Go" with the quiz below.

Copy all the questions (below) into an email message and answer them. 

Send the email to me by 2pm CST, Friday, April 29, 2022: 

afarinrava@gmail.com

If all your answers are correct, you will receive a prize.

Please write the word QUIZ on the email subject line.

I look forward to your email.

Look for the post Winners on Saturday, April 30, 2022, on this blog.

QUIZ

1. What kind of poems did Afarin recite as a toddler?

2. In which country did Noosha first go to school?

3. In which language did Afarin correspond with her father?

4. What was Noosha's "gift"?

5. Why did Afarin meet President Jimmy Carter in person?

6. Which country was Malous from?

7. For which language did Noosha's dad hire a tutor?

8. Who helped Afarin with her compositions in high school?

9. How did Noosha fill the gap between her classes during her first year of university?

10. How did Afarin "kill" her boss?

11. Which part of learning Chinese did Afarin find the most challenging?

12. Why did Noosha focus on editing books and tutoring children?

13. How did Noosha start a chain of ESL classes in Orange County, California?

14. What made Noosha study German again in 2021?

15. Which language is Noosha learning now?

Motivation - Part Two: Gain

I had no motivation at all. I didn't feel like working on my book or on my cabin. I didn't even feel like getting out of bed, but I had to because I needed to take the dogs out and cook for them. There was also a little voice that kept telling me I was letting my writing buddy down. We shared our word count daily, and, for several days, all I could do was apologize for not having written anything. I finally told him exactly how I felt. "What's the point?" I wrote to him.

 
Writing words has a magical power. It made me think, really think, about what the point was... for me, for my dogs, for my friends, for anyone. We all have ups and downs, and we all learn that the downs are a part of life, and they make the ups look really good. I was just going through a down phase.

So many people were dying every day, but I was still alive. Why? Maybe I would live, and maybe I wouldn't, but if I gave up doing the things that make up my life, I would be killing myself, not whatever disease was causing the tightness in my chest.

So I wrote my thoughts down, picked up my tools, and went to work on the cabin. Once I focused on my work, I forgot about how sick I felt. I could feel the tightness in my chest, and I still had difficulty breathing, but I was still alive, and I didn't want to waste my time. I concentrated on my work and got closer to my goal just a tiny bit each day. Every bit of progress I made in my writing and my construction motivated me to do more. I learned that I had created my own motivation simply by writing down how I felt.

Motivation - Part One: Loss

In March 2020, I was writing my book when I got sick. I had chest pains and couldn't breathe but didn't have a fever, so I couldn't get tested because the COVID tests were for those who did have a fever. To this day, I still don't know if I had the virus or not, but I was sick, stressed, and depressed for months. 

At the time, my projects included writing my book and building my cabin, neither of which I had any motivation to work on... because I couldn't see the point in doing anything. My brain knew my sickness could be something else entirely, but my online searches didn't reveal any disease with my exact symptoms. 

After getting turned away from my local hospital - something the hospital now denies ever happened - because they weren't "equipped to deal with the virus" and my symptoms, cough and inability to breathe, I didn't know what to do. I realized no one would help me and I had to rely on myself to do the best I could to survive, so I searched online and followed all the instructions that made sense to me. A friend also recommended an oil, mostly made of eucalyptus, that would help with breathing, which I got. I made a list of natural remedies and followed that list religiously, and it helped me physically, but it didn't take away my stress or my depression.

I had no motivation whatsoever.

Motivation - Part Two: Gain (April 28)

Harriet Tubman

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
Harriet Tubman

L&LL

 

...said the editor

If you're thinking about writing a book, read the anthology ...said the editor, created by Ava Safran.

Supporting Indie Authors

#IndieAuthors #IndieApril #books #contest #Amazon

 

Set

The quiz will be posted on Friday, April 29, 2022, at 11am Central Standard Time...

(GMT-6)

Copy all the questions into an email message and answer them. 

Send the email to me by 2pm CST, Friday, April 29, 2022: 
afarinrava@gmail.com

If all your answers are correct, you will receive a prize, a #book by an Indie Author.

There's still time to prepare for the contest.
All you have to do it get the book and read it.
It's a short read... and you'd be supporting an #IndieAuthor.
https://www.amazon.com/Languages-Life-Lessons-Afarin-Rava/dp/B09HG6KHB3

Reflections... Coming Soon

 

Reading Time

I told you, in Languages & Life Lessons, what my little angels do when I write...

This is what they do when I read:

USA - 2018

William Arthur Ward

"A warm smile is the universal language of kindness."
William Arthur Ward

L&LL

 

Learning a New Language - 6

Step Six - ATTITUDE

Your attitude plays a crucial role in language learning. It has an impact on the level of proficiency you achieve. Many studies have been done on this topic, and the results are:

Your attitude toward language learning in general is an important factor.

Also, accepting that learning a language needs time and consistent practice affects your progress.

Furthermore, having a positive attitude toward the target culture and language will prove effective in your acquisition.

So... dive in with a positive attitude... and enjoy the process!

Ready

Dear Readers:

Are you ready for the quiz?
If you haven't yet finished Languages & Life Lessons, do it in the next 48 hours.
It's a small book... and the reward is a BIG prize.

The quiz will be posted soon,
and
ONLY people
who answer ALL the questions
CORRECTLY
in the FIRST TWO HOURS 
will WIN the PRIZE

Look for the blog post titled Set in the next few days.

L&LL Hardcover

 

Henry Ford

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Henry Ford

Book Review

 

USA

USA - 2013

 

L&LL

 

Learning a New Language - 5

Step Four - LEARNING VERBS

Learn to conjugate the verb to do.

It's helpful in any language.

Start with the present tense, and then learn the simple forms of past and future.

###

Step Five - LEARNING EXPRESSIONS

Once you've learned to use the verb to do, find expressions that are constructed with this verb, and learn three of the most useful to you from the list. 

Examples from the English language would be:
do homework, do housework, do the dishes, etc.

Nominated!

I am honored that my #memoir, Languages & Life Lessons, was nominated for the 2021 Reader's Choice Awards contest by TCK Publishing!

Please vote for my book if you have enjoyed it. (The memoirs are on page 6.)

https://www.tckpublishing.com/2022-tck-publishing-readers-choice-contest-voting-page/

From USA

 

Martha Beck

"Every day brings new choices."
Martha Beck

Reflections... Coming Soon

 

My Monsters' Names

This is Looloo. 

Looloo

His parents are Koochooloo (Mommy) and Hoppoo (Daddy). 

Their names might sound strange to anyone who doesn't know any Farsi. 

Since I rescued the parents when they were less than a month old, I got to name them.

Koochooloo

Hoppoo

Koochooloo means tiny; it's an endearing version of koochak, or small. 

Ironically, now Mommy is the heaviest of the three.

Hoppoo is the equivalent of doggie (or doggy), an endearing version of dog.

When Looloo was born, in my house, at 3:15am on January 31st, 2011, my first thought was to name him the Persian equivalent of Snowy, but snow in Farsi is barf (with the a pronounced like in pan), and giving him that name (Barfi) would cause unpleasant mispronunciations in an English-speaking country. Also, I wanted his name to rhyme with his parents' names. I decided Looloo would be an appropriate name because he looked like a tiny wolf. I thought of the French word loup, which means wolf, and looloo in Farsi is how small children may call a monster. When people don't see the spelling of his name, they assume it's Lulu... and that he's a girl, so I always make sure I introduce him as the son of Koochooloo and Hoppoo.

 

Learning a New Language - 4

Step Three - MAKING LONGER SENTENCES

In Step Two, you started making short sentences with two basic verbs (to be and to have) and a noun and/or an adjective.

In Step Three, try making longer sentences.

To do that...

First, learn the answers to these questions.

Do nouns have a gender in this language?

How does a noun become plural?

Do adjectives agree in gender and in number with the nouns?

Are adjectives used before the noun or after the noun?

Then follow these easy instructions:

Learn to count to THREE.

Learn to say MY and YOUR.

Also, learn to say AND and BUT.

Now make longer sentences with everything you just learned.

One Last Contest... #IndieApril

If you missed the contests in February and March, don't worry.
There will be one last contest in April.
Because it's #IndieApril, all the prizes offered will be #books by #IndieAuthors.
The prizes will be announced the day before the contest.

How? When? Where?

Just read Languages & Life Lessons (by Afarin Rava), available on Amazon: 
https://www.amazon.com/Languages-Life-Lessons-Afarin-Rava/dp/B09HG6KHB3

Be ready to answer a few questions about the #book.

Check this blog daily starting April 16 and look for a post titled Ready.

You can easily win a PAPERBACK... IF you can get Amazon deliveries.

All the winners will be announced on this blog the day after the contest.

Gratitude Girl

Those who have read Languages & Life Lessons will find some parts of this letter, written by Gratitude Girl, familiar:
https://gratigi.blogspot.com/2021/03/nahid-kashichi.html 

Jason Lemkin

"Play to your strengths. If you aren’t great at something, do more of what you’re great at."
Jason Lemkin