Problem
I have been making lists of German, Spanish and Italian words in my notebook as I do my daily lessons on Duolingo and add words picked up from other sources such as emails, newspaper articles, Facebook pages and food packaging. However, I now need to find the pages which are only half full, and to use them to revise.
Answers
Advantages Of Separate Notebooks
You might be wondering why I don't have a separate notebook for each language. I started doing that. I would do that if I were taking language lessons in a class, instead of only online.
Advantages Of One Notebook
But I soon had a book for German, a book for French, a book for Spanish, Another for Latin, Greek, Welsh. The books cluttered up the working space and it took time stopping to find another book each time I found a new word. It was easier to have them all in one place, one notebook.
Notebook Size and Weight
I would also have to carry six or more notebooks with me on any trip out. The same applies on long travel.
Advantages of Small Notebooks
I soon started having one small, fat, thick notebook, It has a ribbon page marker and an elastic pen holder. It is small enough to go in my shoulder bag, and many jacket pockets.
The advantage of carrying it with me is that I can add words I think of or see or hear during the day.
The problem with taking the notebook out of my home or office is that I might lose it.
Advantages of Large Notebooks
My other book is A5 size and stays at home on the desk or nearby. Being large and brightly coloured it is easier to find in a hurry on a cluttered desk or side table.
At this point the pages on languages need to be easy to find and separate from other items such as To Do lists and travel directions and lists of websites, comic poems I compose and songs.
How To Number Pages
I now do what I should have done the day I started the notebook. It's what I have done to notebooks in the past. I write the page numbers on the top right of each right hand page, the odd numbers. Later, if I have the time and energy I will go back and write in the even numbers.
I can write an index on the back page and / or inside back cover.
If you start early in the book's usage history, you can count the number of pages first and leave enough lines for one line per page. I often draw a line down the middle of the page or fold the page in two vertically to get more words on a page. This applies particularly on the larger A4 size book because the pages are so large. But it also applies to the smaller book because I want to cram in as many words as possible in that compact ook before starting another to fill up my dwindling shelf space.
Today I discovered another trick for finding space for the contents list. I had run out of space on the inside back cover, the back page and the front page. I closed my notebook and looked down at the blank front cover. I thought, at least I can write down the subjects on the cover, the contents alphabetically, like I do on the outside of box files, without listing the pages.
I started to write the contents of the first page on the top left. Then I thought, I can make a complete index. The page already has a frame. A divided it into three columns. I counted the pages. Under 100. That meant about 30-page numbers down the left of each column. I listed the numbers, then drew horizontal lines with the aid of a ruler.
I tried to keep the handwriting neat. I wrote in capitals. I wrote slowly. I took care to keep the letters on the line, not floating above and not doing diagonally.
It would be neater to print the contents. When I have time I shall do so. There's nothing stopping me from sticking a neattypee-written list on top of my hand-written contents list.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I have been making lists of German, Spanish and Italian words in my notebook as I do my daily lessons on Duolingo and add words picked up from other sources such as emails, newspaper articles, Facebook pages and food packaging. However, I now need to find the pages which are only half full, and to use them to revise.
Answers
Advantages Of Separate Notebooks
You might be wondering why I don't have a separate notebook for each language. I started doing that. I would do that if I were taking language lessons in a class, instead of only online.
Advantages Of One Notebook
But I soon had a book for German, a book for French, a book for Spanish, Another for Latin, Greek, Welsh. The books cluttered up the working space and it took time stopping to find another book each time I found a new word. It was easier to have them all in one place, one notebook.
Notebook Size and Weight
I would also have to carry six or more notebooks with me on any trip out. The same applies on long travel.
Advantages of Small Notebooks
I soon started having one small, fat, thick notebook, It has a ribbon page marker and an elastic pen holder. It is small enough to go in my shoulder bag, and many jacket pockets.
The advantage of carrying it with me is that I can add words I think of or see or hear during the day.
The problem with taking the notebook out of my home or office is that I might lose it.
Advantages of Large Notebooks
My other book is A5 size and stays at home on the desk or nearby. Being large and brightly coloured it is easier to find in a hurry on a cluttered desk or side table.
At this point the pages on languages need to be easy to find and separate from other items such as To Do lists and travel directions and lists of websites, comic poems I compose and songs.
How To Number Pages
I now do what I should have done the day I started the notebook. It's what I have done to notebooks in the past. I write the page numbers on the top right of each right hand page, the odd numbers. Later, if I have the time and energy I will go back and write in the even numbers.
I can write an index on the back page and / or inside back cover.
If you start early in the book's usage history, you can count the number of pages first and leave enough lines for one line per page. I often draw a line down the middle of the page or fold the page in two vertically to get more words on a page. This applies particularly on the larger A4 size book because the pages are so large. But it also applies to the smaller book because I want to cram in as many words as possible in that compact ook before starting another to fill up my dwindling shelf space.
Today I discovered another trick for finding space for the contents list. I had run out of space on the inside back cover, the back page and the front page. I closed my notebook and looked down at the blank front cover. I thought, at least I can write down the subjects on the cover, the contents alphabetically, like I do on the outside of box files, without listing the pages.
I started to write the contents of the first page on the top left. Then I thought, I can make a complete index. The page already has a frame. A divided it into three columns. I counted the pages. Under 100. That meant about 30-page numbers down the left of each column. I listed the numbers, then drew horizontal lines with the aid of a ruler.
I tried to keep the handwriting neat. I wrote in capitals. I wrote slowly. I took care to keep the letters on the line, not floating above and not doing diagonally.
It would be neater to print the contents. When I have time I shall do so. There's nothing stopping me from sticking a neattypee-written list on top of my hand-written contents list.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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