Tools for International Students

FREE TOOLS CREATED BY KATHRYN

Visit the Student in the States Social Networking Site - It’s not quite as fancy as Facebook, but this is a website designed to help you connect with other international students and support one another. For more information, contact:  Tools[at]studentinthestates.com

Acing Your English Class: Five Pieces of Advice for International Students - In this free little booklet, you’ll learn five practical tips to help you in your English classes. With a little communication and planning, I think you can make your English class a lot easier on yourself. You’ll find five specific things in this guide that you can do in your next English class. For more information, contact:  Tools[at]studentinthestates.com

STUDENT IN THE STATES GUIDES

I’m creating a series of guides that will be offered for sale here on the site. The guides will feature super practical information focused on writing, English, and student life. To be honest, I’m nervous about creating tools that cost you money. I know how expensive international student tuition is, along with your books and all the other expenses that come with living far from home. I don’t want you to spend money on something that doesn’t help you or doesn’t make your life easier, so if the information doesn’t look useful for you, that’s no problem.  My writing on the site, the social networking website, and other free tools will always be free. Enjoy them, and buy something only if you really want it.

Coming This Fall- How to get an A on an Academic Paper - I’m working on a tool that will help you communicate better with your teachers, learn what matters most in academic writing, and tackle what you need to tackle to earn an A on your papers. This is not a quick-fix to getting good grades. I don’t know of a quick-fix to writing, so I can’t offer one. If you’d like a way to improve your writing strategically and over time, though, I’m happy to help!  This will be an extensive tool (including a digital book, audio files, and worksheets). For more information, contact:  Tools[at]studentinthestates.com

FREE TOOLS WE’VE DISCOVERED

Write or Die- Write or Die is a free tool to help you beat procrastination. Basically, it’s a website that acts like a word processor. The trick is that, if you stop writing, Write or Die will remind you to start again. You can set the program to different settings. On the gentle setting, the program will flash red. In “normal” mode, the program will blare a loud noise if you stop. In Kamikaze mode, the program will actually erase your writing if you stop. It’s hard to procrastinate with motivation like that–

Backpack - Backpack is an organizational tool, more than a writing tool. It’s a website where you can create “pages” for your projects. On each page, you can create lists, add photos, write notes, keep a calendar, set reminders for yourself (via email or SMS), and keep a journal. You can also share pages with friends and create discussion boards with people you know. There is a paid version, but you can also use it for free.