u/wtfmari

I've noticed that most videos on Preply are one shot, not edited. Although they don't specify in the guidelines that the video can't have cuts, I've noticed some people saying their video was rejected just for being a little more complex (different scenarios, for example). I sent a video that is more on the complex side (different scenarios and angles to catch the attention + subtitles), so I'm worried I'm going to have to redo it as something more bland, as I feel like being creative is something that could attract students. So, to those who have been approved, how creative were you able to be with your video? Are there cuts, different scenarios, subtitles, pictures?

Edit: They got back to me the next day! They did tell me to edit a few seconds of it where I show one of my certificates, as it could reveal my full name (although it's very small and brief), but made no further complaints.

Did any parts of Toxic Love Story seem visually uncanny to y'all? Like, on the interviews...? I was under the impression that the whole Leslie segment was AI, but saw very few people commenting on it. Also didn't find her last name to look up if that's the actual person. The color grading is also very strange... could it be to make it less obvious? A.I. has been used before to anonymize victims' families in The Investigation of Lucy Letby (clearly disclosed and horrendous) and children in Trust Me (not clearly disclosed I think and went unnoticed by me), so maybe I'm just extra suspicious when it comes to Netflix.

I've seen some posts before about tutors not liking the 60 minute lessons, that they would rather have 45 or 50 minutes (like on Preply) and then a pause. I've been feeling like this for a long time and honestly feel pretty burned after an hour of teaching. My students, however, don't mind long lessons at all and have even booked two in a row a few times before (and then I realized I just couldn't keep doing it and talked to them about it haha)! I stopped offering 60-minute packages and will try to make the 45-minute ones more appealing on my next price update later this year (by making the 60 minute ones pricier). I know it's impossible on italki to fully deactivate 60 minute lessons, but has anyone simply stopped offering 60 minutes on the schedule, that way students would just go back a step and pick 45 minutes instead?

Whenever I tried death racing in the past, I've always left superhero movies out because I've never watched any of them before (don't judge haha). I get confused about what should be watched first and guides online usually go "well if you want just the basic understanding here's an essencial list of only 600 hours of things to watch beforehand!". This year I'm more invested, but then there's Avengers Doomsday being predicted for Special Effects... so my questions are:

- Whenever Marvel movies were nominated in the past, how much did you invest in getting the lore before watching that one nomination?

- How seriously should I take fans that say these movies are inaccessible if you're unfamiliar with the MCU?

- Should I just raw dog it when it gets nominated and ignore the apparently immense background?

Any suggestions from nerds and fellow noobs will be immensely appreciated.

I tutor Portuguese as a foreign language. I struggle most with students who output early, which I think is more common for Portuguese than languages like English or Japanese because they go "I already know some Spanish from high school, I can just go ahead and practice speaking Portuguese! It's pretty much the same, right?". Then they construct sentences that, out of 10 words, a good 7 would be incorrect. I find this issue nearly impossible to reverse and correcting is useless when almost everything is wrong. It rarely ever happens with NATIVE Spanish speakers, who usually show interest in actually learning the new language instead of doing "conversation practice" on the first week...

The early output students get overly confident with their speaking, they don't get that I only understand them because I speak Spanish, while most Brazilians would struggle following what they're saying and would not have the patience to do so for very long. I emphasize that we'll focus on guided immersion and that oral practice will be limited to what has already been modeled, but they insist on just practicing "conversation" instead... Are there any short introduction posts or videos that I could send them that focus on the specific consequences of not having enough immersion when you choose to output? Something that would help them understand that they need to pause speaking for a bit and start listening and reading instead? Any tips are welcome!

I'm a bit confused with the new Oscar rules. It says that for songs submitted as the first new music cue once the end credits begin, the video clip must include the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits begin. Just watched Toy Story 5 and, if I remember correctly, it was not the case. Yet there's a lot of buzz around Swift getting a nomination... am I misinterpreting the changes? Will they not apply next edition still?

Edit: thank you for the clarification, it was indeed a misinterpretation of the rules

I've been struggling with my sleep because it's when intrusive thoughts show up more and it's also when I engage more with my current compulsion (online searching), so basically I get very tired but keep fighting sleep until the last second. Had this very dumb idea that if I could make myself very tired faster, I would not be able to fight it off and that would regulate my sleep cycle, so I took 0.5mg of melatonin (most people would take between 1-10mg), put my phone away and went to bed. Oh boy. It gave me major anxiety, heart palpitations, dry mouth, nausea and of course all of those were triggers for my intrusive thoughts and looking up symptoms. I'm ok now and did eventually sleep but I do wish more people talked about the side effects of melatonin and how it can worsen anxiety symptoms. I'm curious to see if other people with OCD reacted similarly to melatonin and also how y'all have been managing the horrible before-bed-ocd experience, because I could use some suggestions.

Uma frustração recorrente que tenho aqui em Fortaleza é a falta de sessões legendadas em horários razoáveis. Quase sempre elas ficam restritas a salas VIP caríssimas ou horários ruins, enquanto as dubladas dominam a programação. Sempre que esse assunto aparece, dizem que “brasileiro prefere filme dublado” e que o público que prefere áudio original é irrelevante pro mercado, mas fico me perguntando o quanto isso ainda é verdade hoje. Depois da pandemia e do boom do streaming (e subsequente esvaziamento das salas), tenho a impressão de que o público que ainda frequenta cinema mudou bastante e tende mais a preferir áudio original. Parece uma profecia autorrealizável: colocam as sessões legendadas nos piores horários, pouca gente vai, e isso vira a "prova" de que não existe demanda. Então podemos realmente confiar nesses dados?

Posso estar errada e talvez o modelo atual seja realmente a melhor maneira de navegar o tal "fim do cinema" que as pessoas tanto anunciam. Mas talvez parte dessa crise seja justamente porque o mercado só não está sabendo se adaptar ao público de hoje, outra geração, outras preferências... O que vocês acham?

Eu assisti o primeiro filme há alguns anos e não lembro de detalhes sobre o que aconteceu, mas lembro de ter achado bobão e na época avaliei como 2/5. No entanto, estou vendo pessoas dizendo que esse segundo é muito melhor, que é incrível, etc. Então queria saber de quem assistiu e gostou: vocês tinham gostado do primeiro também? Acham que vale a pena?

Sinto falta de clubes de leitura presenciais aqui em Fortaleza. Sei que há um ou outro, mas vejo que o público costuma ser 50+ (bom pra eles haha) e eu queria me conectar com leitores da minha idade (pessoas entre 20-35 anos) Meu ponto é que, pra uma cidade tão grande, não temos tantas opções. Então estou pensando em começar algo do zero, se alguém tiver interesse avisa aqui nos comentários :)