• PhD Studies

    PHD Year Two – Done!

    The first year of my PhD was full of refining my research plan, rewriting most of it, and conducting interviews for my empirical article known as Article 2. I also started a systematic review known as Article 1. During the first half of 2024, it was sometimes a struggle to balance full-time work and a PhD. The systematic review that had started well was put on hiatus and the little focus I was able to have, was given to the empirical study. The highlight of the Spring was my first international conference in Madrid and my very first poster presentation. That week in Madrid gave me a lot of confidence…

  • PhD Studies

    Getting started with academic writing

    Scientific writing can be a scary thing for a new PhD student, at least that was the case for me. I wrote my research plan for a couple of years and once I was accepted into the program, I mostly read and collected data during my first year. I did not write at all! I felt that I was never ready to start writing, instead I read one more article, and another one, and then ten more. This week I published a video on my YouTube channel about getting rid of my fear of writing. Watch the full video above or directly on YouTube, but here are my three takeaways:

  • PhD Studies

    Reflections on choosing which language to study and the effect on motivation

    I was listening to a webinar on English learning in Japan, and it was mentioned that many Japanese students might lack the motivation to study English or see themselves as English users in the future. It got me thinking about how language choice, and if it is a choice, affects second language learning motivation. My experiences choosing languages If I first take myself as an example, I have experience learning English, Swedish, German, Latin, Cantonese, and Mandarin. When it comes to English, is a compulsory subject in Finland and as a global language, there are many incentives to learn it. I never had to consider whether I was motivated to…

  • PhD Studies

    Attending international conferences as a PhD student

    Attending conferences is a great way to share your research with a wider audience, meet other researchers and PhD students, and learn scientific discussion. That is what I learned this week while attending my first international conference! For a video, click here for my YouTube channel. Submitting an abstract Each conference has its requirements, so check them carefully before preparing, and submitting your abstract. As a PhD student, you can usually give a paper presentation (a talk with presentation slides) or a poster presentation (introducing a printed poster and discussing it with others). The following details are according to my experience at the PLL5 conference. You usually submit a short…