Review: Duolingo

Today I would like to take the time to review a wonderful little program called Duolingo. If you've never heard about it, then I shall enlighten you: Duolingo is a website where you can basically learn a new language without paying so much as a penny. By either installing the Duolingo app on your phone or going to their website, Duolingo.com, you can sign up and begin to learn a new language.
Now, I want to stress that I have no affiliation with Duolingo, in fact they probably have no idea that I exist. But I LOVE this program, and have been using it every single day lately, so I thought I better review it for you all. The main thing that I love about Duolingo is obviously the cost of it (or lack thereof). It essentially does exactly what Rosetta Stone teaches you, but it doesn't require you to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a language program. Another thing that I have really been liking about Duolingo is that it shows when you have a "streak" going; that is, how many consecutive days you have been improving on a new language by using Duolingo. By having this streak feature displayed on my Duolingo profile, it makes me want to lengthen my streak even more.
Also, both the app and the website are extremely user friendly and very easy to use. There aren't a lot of over-the-top features, it's just a straightforward program with loads of vocabulary for you to learn. They offer 5 languages currently for anyone to learn, and you can even learn multiple languages at the same time. That's a little too much for me, I'm just sticking to Spanish for the time being! But they offer Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese for all to learn.
So, here is my final review for Duolingo, summed up: a free, fun, easy to use program that is very effective in teaching you the basics of a language. I would HIGHLY recommend it to any of you who want to learn one of the 5 languages that they offer, and why not? It's completely free!

A screenshot of a Duolingo account.

Why Do We Need A Reason To Learn?

Why is it that so many of us only attempt to learn new things either for school or a job? Why don't we take the time out of our lives to learn something new for no reason, simply because we think it will be fun? What has brought this topic to my attention and inspired me to write this blog post is the fact that I am currently taking a Spanish class for school, and so far am thoroughly enjoying it. Since I am enrolled in this class, I obviously have an incentive to learn as much Spanish as I can in order to do my best in the class. But why is this?
I've always wanted to learn a second language, and I have attempted to learn Spanish in the past, but I never really gave it a good attempt. Even though it was something that interested me and that I thought would be really fun to learn, I didn't stick with it. I think the reason for this was because I really didn't have a purpose to learn it. But now that I do need to learn Spanish, I am reviewing and doing homework every day in order to soak up as much as possible in preparation for my Spanish class.
So I guess this all leads me to my ultimate question: why do we need a reason to learn something new? Many of us (myself included) do try and learn something new based on the fact that we think it's fun, but typically we give up and stop trying. Only when we have a reason for learning it, whether it be to pass a class, complete a task at work, or because someone else is telling us to go do it that we keep up with learning something new. So, I will end with this: go learn something new because YOU want to, and make yourself the incentive to learn it!

The Delicate Balance of Work and Play

I am currently a student, and with that comes the homework, due dates, assignment deadlines, and basically just a hell of a lot of stuff that I have to keep track of in my life. And I know a lot of other people who are in the same situation, whether it be another student, someone who simply has a crappy job that they despise, or even if you have a job that you love (good for you!) you still may have lots of deadlines to deal with.
But with all of this being said, I feel that it is not only a good idea, but a necessity, to take at least a tiny bit of time EVERY day to do something fun and enjoyable for yourself. This could include taking 30 minutes to take a brisk walk outside, or to read a book that you have really wanted to read but haven't made the time to yet, or even just 5 minutes of quiet time to lay down on your bed and take a breather. Whatever you want to do for yourself, do it.
Now, I'm not saying to jeopardize your job or your role as a student by putting off too much stuff so that you can go have more fun. We all still need to be committed to these things no matter how much we may utterly hate them. Simply what I am saying is that it wouldn't hurt if you planned just a few minutes of the day to do something for yourself, to give yourself a little slice of your precious time.
Again, this doesn't necessarily mean you need to plan some extravagant trip for yourself to an exotic location (although go for it if you have the time and money!). It just means that I think we all should give ourselves a break every now and again, and it's not going to hurt us. In fact, if anything it will probably help us a lot more than we realize.

Molly's Recipes: Refreshing Fruit Smoothies

The weather is just beginning to turn now, and it's starting to get to the point where I can actually enjoy some cold foods again! Lately, I have especially been craving fruit smoothies, and so I've been making a lot in my blender lately. Here are just two recipes that I've made that are extremely fast and easy to make. Enjoy!

Berry Blast Smoothie:
Ingredients:
6 frozen strawberries
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1 medium frozen banana
1-2 cups water

1. Start by combining all the ingredients in a blender. Turn on low speed and gradually turn the speed higher and higher, until everything is well combined in the blender.

2. If the smoothie is giving you a hard time when trying to blend it up, add more water to thin it out.

3. Pour into a large serving glass and enjoy!

TIP: If you're like me and you love the flavor of banana in your smoothies but texturally you don't like them, try freezing your banana overnight before making your smoothie. This way, you can incorporate the flavors of banana into your smoothie but the funky texture of the banana will not be present in your beverage.

Serves: 1

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Tropical Medley Smoothie:
Ingredients:
6 frozen strawberries
8 frozen mango chunks
1 medium frozen banana
1-2 cups water

1. Start by combining all the ingredients in a blender. Turn on low speed and gradually turn the speed higher and higher, until everything is well combined in the blender.

2. If the smoothie is giving you a hard time when trying to blend it up, add more water to thin it out.

3. Pour into a large serving glass and enjoy!

Serves: 1

Prep Time: 3 minutes

And there you have it, these are just 2 of my recipes for delicious and refreshing healthy fruit smoothies. Even though these two recipes are only different from each other by one ingredient, they taste really different, and I urge all of you to go try a fruit smoothie for yourself! You don't have to stick to just these two recipes, either. You can always incorporate milk to make it creamier, frozen greens to make it even healthier; really whatever you feel like adding! Leave your own smoothie recipes in the comments, I'd love to try them for myself.

My Favorite/Least Favorite Movies of 2013

Here I am again, giving you all a completed list of my top 10 favorite movies from this past year of 2013. I have seen a lot of movies this year, so this took me awhile to put together! But after finally figuring out what my personal favorite movies were of this year, I decided to post the list here on my blog for all of you to read. So, without further adieu, here is my completed favorite movies list for the year 2013, with number 1 being the best:

My Favorite 2013 Movies:
1. Oblivion
2. About Time
3. Now You See Me
4. The Impossible
5. The Book Thief
6. The Way Way Back
7. Captain Phillip's
8. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
9. Dallas Buyers Club
10. Gravity

I also took the liberty to figure out my five least favorite movies of 2013 as well, so here you are, with number 1 being the worst:

My Least Favorite 2013 Movies:
1. Scary Movie V
2. We're the Millers
3. Identity Thief
4. Homefront
5. Austenland

So that's it! My completed favorite and least favorite movie lists for this entire year. I'd love to hear what movies you loved or hated of 2013, so leave in the comments the name of your all-time favorite movie and all-time least favorite movie from this year. I'd love to read them!