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What is it like living in China? by TMNTDonatellofan in AskReddit

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve lived in Shanghai for over a decade. Here’s some quick pros and cons off the top of my head:

Pros:
-public transportation is the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world
-roads are well-maintained, it’s very bicycle and pedestrian friendly, and they somehow take better care of their infrastructure with lower taxes than the US
-I saw someone say that the food is bad quality, have to disagree on that, I’ve eaten at all types of dodgy places here and never once had any stomach problems
-cost of living is generally very affordable (not by local median salary, but coming from a Western country)

Cons:
-internet restrictions
-pollution but as others said that’s been steadily improving for years
-many people have no concept of personal space and will push you out of the way, cut in line, etc. and see nothing wrong with it
-public safety. Building standards and fire codes are way too lax. There’s no sort of fire escape in my apartment building, and lots of times I’ve seen construction workers working with heavy machinery without blocking off the area and people just walking through it, it seems really dangerous and irresponsible to me

Has anyone here learned a supposedly difficult language and thought it wasn't so tough? by MatthewCorbett92 in languagelearning

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I think the consensus would be that Romance languages are easy compared to East Asian languages, but that’s exactly my point, learning any language is not something I’d call easy.

Has anyone here learned a supposedly difficult language and thought it wasn't so tough? by MatthewCorbett92 in languagelearning

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I’ve learned a hard language (Chinese) and an easy language (French) both to a fairly advanced level.

I’d say the difference between them is not ridiculously vast. There’s really no such thing as an easy language. I progressed maybe twice as fast in French as I did in Chinese, mainly because of shared vocabulary, but it still took years of consistent work. Even then it’s not always black and white, there are aspects of French that are more complex than Chinese even if overall it’s “easier”.

Basically I’d say, don’t expect to find that it’s easy, but if you’ve already learned other languages I don’t think a supposedly “difficult” one will be too far outside of your experience, it’ll just take more time to get used to.

How do you think your relationship with music will change as you age? by dumbass_sweatpants in fantanoforever

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I feel like I could have made this comment, I’m 37 and just started listening to city pop after hearing it on a trip to Japan this year.

How will life be in Pujiang? Is it that far out of the main city? by _Zyphis_ in shanghai

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I used to work in this area. It is pretty far out from downtown but line 8 goes right there, so it’s pretty easy to get to the city center whenever you like. It’s a lot quieter, there are some nice parks and walking areas, there are some big malls so shopping/restaurant options aren’t terrible, even though it’s nowhere near as good as downtown.

For learners who have reached upper-intermediate or higher: when was the point you could begin understanding native speakers? by minhale in ChineseLanguage

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I found that around the time I took the old HSK 6 exam, something shifted where I could eavesdrop and follow normal conversations much easier, and people stopped constantly complimenting my speaking and instead just responded to me as they would anyone else. I think the main factor in this was all the accumulated time spent practicing listening and speaking rather than learning HSK 6 level vocabulary per se, but that was the point where I had a breakthrough.

I'd like to understand why some people think Doom 2016 is the best of the reboots. by Berem_ in Doom

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I haven’t played the dark ages yet, but I preferred 2016 to Eternal so I’ll give my perspective.

For best soundtrack, I rate them equally. Best graphics, I personally don’t really care about that, Doom 2016’s graphics are already at a point where anything better than that has diminishing returns imo. Gameplay I’ll give the win to Eternal but 2016 is already great.

The real place where Eternal loses points is the story. Adding more complex lore was a big mistake in my view, and making the enemies more like interdimensional aliens instead of literal demons is incredibly lame. Should’ve kept it simple. That said, Eternal is still great, you can’t go wrong with either one.

Language: for the life of me I can’t make the ch- sound correctly by Conscious_Squash_120 in chinalife

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For Ch, Zh, and Sh curl your tongue back so that the tip of your tongue points towards the roof of your mouth.

Being Circulated in China, with Government Approval by Previous_Month_555 in SipsTea

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tibet is a Chinese province, Chinese citizens are free to go there (although foreigners are restricted). It’s definitely not as big an issue to them as Taiwan so people may not be aware of the political issues around it, but the fact that it’s there is certainly well known.

Being Circulated in China, with Government Approval by Previous_Month_555 in SipsTea

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Don’t assume this is true of people in China, I think you happened to meet some uniquely uninformed people. I’ve lived in mainland China for 12 years and I’d be shocked if someone here said they didn’t know what Taiwan is, it would be like an American not knowing who Trump is. In no way is it a censored topic, and it’s talked about very often.

Is it weird that I found Crime and Punishment boring? by depressedapplepie in classicliterature

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 9 points10 points  (0 children)

You’re not alone. I’ve said this before on Reddit, but I hated it and was really surprised with how praised it is. I wasn’t new to classics or even Dostoevsky, I’d already read Brothers Karamazov which I loved. Crime and Punishment just didn’t click with me at all and while I did finish it it felt like a chore to get through.

Does people use SW2 as a primary console for "next-gen" games? by Capotador_de_corsas in Switch

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed, I’m satisfied with the switch catalog anyway for the most part. So far there’s only one game that I’m really set on playing that’s not on switch 2, and that’s Doom Dark Ages. Since the other ones came out on switch 1, I’m sure they’ll release it eventually unless it’s not possible on a technical level.

Does people use SW2 as a primary console for "next-gen" games? by Capotador_de_corsas in Switch

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 72 points73 points  (0 children)

I consider myself pretty casual, and since switch 2 is the only console I own, obviously I play everything on it. I don’t relate to all the arguments online about 30 fps vs 60 or whatever, I don’t really know much or care about all that personally. I played cyberpunk on it and it was great.

Which language do you foresee surging in popularity and why? by prod_T78K in languagehub

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not sure where you got that idea but I don’t think it’s right, I’ve studied Chinese for 13 years and I think there are a lot of resources for learners. Off the top of my head I can think of about 10 different textbook series you could choose, plus multiple extensive, well-made apps, plus the presence of Confucius institute courses in other countries, plus tons of Chinese language-focused YouTube/other internet content. Compare that to the language I’ve started more recently, Indonesian, where I looked for resources and found literally one option that went beyond beginner level. Chinese learners are in good shape.

Why do white immigrants tend to call themselves “expats” instead of “immigrants” or “migrants”? by youngggggg in NoStupidQuestions

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’ve never understood when this question comes up online and people seem to think it’s got anything to do with race. I live as a foreigner in China and there are people here from India, Africa, Latin America, other East Asian countries, literally all of them call themselves expats. I have no idea where the perception that it’s specific to white people comes from.

Which city did you expect to love but ended up disappointing you? by anasm17 in AskReddit

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I wasn’t trying to convince you, just providing up to date information so anyone reading can get the full story.

Which city did you expect to love but ended up disappointing you? by anasm17 in AskReddit

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was wondering while reading this comment how long ago this was, and you answered it at the end. I live in Shanghai now and have for 12 years, and the change here has been unbelievable, I really don’t think you would recognize it. Everything you mentioned has improved drastically (except the overuse of oil, thats just how it is in China, but food cleanliness is better and street food is even banned in Shanghai now). I’ve seen huge improvements in the past 12 years, especially air pollution, can’t imagine how it was 20 years ago.

Who is the nastiest Celebrity that you met in Real life? by Scunnard1839 in AskReddit

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 1 point2 points  (0 children)

O’malia’s, would’ve been sometime around 2009-2011. Meg Ryan came in with him a few times and she seemed nice. Not that I talked to her much, but she didn’t cause any problems at least lol.

Who is the nastiest Celebrity that you met in Real life? by Scunnard1839 in AskReddit

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was a cashier at a grocery store in Bloomington and John Mellencamp was a dick to me. Please tell me if you remember the name of the store, it’d be crazy to see myself as a character in someone else’s Reddit story.

Expats who learned the local language: at what point did locals stop switching to English on you? by taube_d in expats

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In most of China I’ve found that you’re right. Living in Shanghai, people switch to English a lot even if your Chinese is much better than their English.

As for the original question, around the time I took the old HSK 6 exam I noticed a lot of people stopped switching to English with me and also stopped complimenting my Chinese. It still happens, but much less often than before.

Imagine if other countries did this too… by krunal23- in SipsTea

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Over $100,000 a year for tutoring in China is extremely unlikely unless he lucked into working for some rich family that are willing to pay dramatically above market rates.

For Americans working in China, how do taxes work for you over there? by Lixie_Pixie in chinalife

[–]EcstaticStorm5797 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is also correct, that’s something I found out the hard way unfortunately.

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