u/igorrto2

For context, I am a Russian native speaker and I have experience with language learning (English C1, Japanese B2, Chinese A1, Greek A1). Basically, I let a small group of my subscribers decide what I should learn, and somehow they conspired to advise me to learn Macedonian. I've included this language in the poll for a reason, I frequently go to Greece during summer, and the part of Greece that I go to is in Aegean Macedonia, so there is a lot of tourists from Macedonia that I want to chat to and practice the language.

I am also interested in your culture and I've been to Macedonia four times when I was a kid (we travelled by car). I am also tempted to ask, if I learn some Macedonian, will I be able to talk to people from Bulgaria?

Posted here whether I should learn Greek and I’m glad I started it. For context, I go to Greece with my family every summer (we have a small house here) but I never spoke a word in Greek. However, this year, I decided to make a change and I’m glad I did. Here is my experience.

Unlike Asian languages that I’m used to studying, Greek has rich grammar. So I focused a lot on grammar, memorized all present tense conjugations, gender conjugations etc. nominative and accusative case.

I tried to use Greek whenever possible as long as I didn’t inconvenience the other person. I also know a lot of food vocabulary and was able to use it at Lidl to read labels. Learned 20 words a day using Anki. I wouldn’t say I got far, but at least now I can say something to my Greek neighbor, who seems delighted that I can say like five words before my speaking abilities collapse.

My goal now is to come back next year and be able to say more than Θέλω έναν καφέ με ζάχαρη παρακαλώ. I like the sound of the language and it’s fun to study it. χαίρομαι πολύ που μαθαίνω ελληνικα!

I’ve recently discovered this subreddit and started browsing its top posts. I’ve noticed an alarming tendency that you guys force yourself to study for hours, make coping strategies, suffer strong mental fatigue from studying etc.

As a guy who likes learning, this isn’t how i would approach it. You need to get yourself interested in the topic you’re studying. What you guys are doing is forcing yourself to do it against your will. Instead you should think of what makes what you’re studying interesting and motivate yourself that way. I can’t study anything unless I find it interesting. And if I don’t, I’ll find a way

Studying is temporary. You will graduate and most of it wouldn’t be useful in the job market. A desire for learning, on the other hand, can persist your whole life, if you encourage it. In my country people say: "We don’t study for school. We study for life"

I saw like 6 today. They also were rude and two of them decided to fly right in my face

Up until today I enjoyed killing harmful bugs. If a saw a wasp I would go out of my way to kill it. If a scary bug approached my table, I also killed it.

However, after injuring a grasshopper today, suddenly I feel guilty for my actions. I didn't value bug's lives at all before, but after being called out by a person I know, suddenly I felt empathy for a creature I've never felt empathy for before, for which I only felt hatred and fear. What did that grasshopper do to me? Why did I feel the need to kill it, just because it was huge?

So, I know this whole post is weird, but from on I wouldn't kill bugs if I can, and will instead gently carry them out of my house or ignore them.

It's time to make a post that would make me seem like the biggest asshole.

Since I was a kid, insects always made me very scared and annoyed by their existence. Mosquitoes, flies, wasps, scary bugs, I've hated all of these critters. They're brainless and they invade my personal space.

Now I am an adult. I still fear insects, but now I don't fear them as much, so I'm brave enough to actually approach them. I take my trusty fly swatter and chase around the wasps until I kill them. I feel genuine satisfaction when I slap their lives out of existence. I've been stung by wasps before and my grandmother once ate one and lost consciousness, so in a way I feel vengeance when I do so.

I do have to clarify I only kill bugs that I dislike. I find butterflies beautiful, and I'm ok with bugs that are minding their business outside my property. However, even if a bug is harmless, if it approaches my table it WILL die. I'm not even going to bother sparing them.

As for the ethical question, as I mentioned before, bugs are brainless, and I don't think they even have a soul. I don't support animal torture and love dogs and cats, but a bug's life is worth nothing to me, zero empathy. People always say I'm a psychopath for thinking this way

So basically today I had a serious conversation with my dad. He told me that wanting a stable job, a car and apartment is not motivation, that I need to want something bigger from life, have dreams and goals

Honestly I’m not sure what I want beyond existing, I don’t really want a family, I don‘t want anything too fancy, I don’t desire a successful career. I want to come back from work and browse things on my computer, chat to friends, to learn new stuff and to drive a car to my apartment/the store. I used to be suicidal but I’m not anymore and I’m medicated.

So I decided to do what I always do when I’m not sure what to do - I decided to ask Reddit! Can you guys suggest me some kind of a life goal? I honestly don’t want anything but be safe, have my own stuff and do stuff I like

Hello guys. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but there is a chance my country’s power and heat stations may be bombed this fall and winter. Since winters here tend to be cold, I’d like to find a way to generate electricity myself so I wouldn’t freeze lol. What I want is heat, stove and a way to charge my phone. How would you approach this situation? Is there some kind of a generator I can install? Preferably not gas since gasoline may be expensive/in deficit too in the future.

i know winter is like half a year later but i want to tackle this issue before too many people would want to do that. Gotta stay ahead. Thanks!

Hello everyone! I am a 22 year old guy from Moscow. I studied Japanese at Waseda university, and even though I can read a lot of stuff, my conversation skills are lacking and I want to sound natural, less like a textbook. I am also studying Mandarin Chinese, but I’m still a beginner. My hobbies include making video games and studying languages. I also speak English at approximately C1 level, and I can help you with both Russian and English

日本語での自己紹介

こんにちは! 私は22歳、モスクワの出身です。早稲田大学で日本語を勉強していました。たくさん読めますが、会話能力が欠けているので、教科書と言う風に話すより、自然的に話したいです。中国語も勉強していますが、まだ初心者です。趣味はゲームの作りや言語学を含んでいます。英語が上級レベルぐらい話せるから、ロシア語も英語も手伝えます。よろしくお願いします!

Basically, for context. My family has a small house in Greece where we go sometimes during summer to swim and relax on the beach. I’ve been there many times, and I’ve always been fascinated with Greek people and culture. I think Greek people are chill, and I’ve read a lot about ancient Greece in the past.

Im going there in July and I’ve been thinking, should I learn a little bit of Greek and practice it there? I have experience with language learning (English C1, Japanese B2, Chinese A1, German A1). My goal is to be able to do basic stuff like order in restaurants, ask for prices and chat to my neighbor.

I am thinking of studying through some kind of a student book, as well as learning vocabulary through Anki

It’s currently almost 5 am and we’re being under attack. In an effort to calm down, I shut myself in the bathroom to post on Reddit. It’s kinda chill actually, although I can hear stuff exploding from time to time, and Ive witnessed a drone fly by. I stay off the windows, don’t worry.

It’s actually my first time in a drone bombing. It’s exciting, in a weird way. By the way sharing drone bombing locations is illegal so I wouldn’t be giving out details, as it may sabotage the military.

I am an anti-war person so don’t even bother asking questions about the Russo-Ukrainian war. I mean, I will respond, it’s just that at this point discussing it is beating a dead horse. Imagine discussing the same thing over and over for years, its exhausting.

I apologize if my English isn't good, I'm not a native speaker.

I often find myself rethinking certain anxious events in my head from time to time, and I'm juar wondering whether I'm alone on this one. For example, I often think of that time the train stopped at the station for an hour due to a human related accident, I ran out to buy a bottle of water from a vending machine, left my bag in the train, and the moment I returned the doors closed and the train took off. I know nothing bad happened, but the thought that I could have left my bag was so terrifying I still relive that and it leaves me terrified even now.

I also keep reliving things like my driving exam, which was scary due to the strictness of it, or one time I almost got scammed out of money, that one time my relative went missing for three days, or the one time my leg was bleeding out and I couldn't stop it. I don't know why I do that, it didn't use to be this way, it's like my nervous system is in complete disarray. All these events are relatively recent.

Btw I'm medicated and it helps with anxiety. Couldn't find anything useful online regarding this phenomenon.