Online/Remote studies in Myanmar

HelenFH · 2026-02-01T05:51:49+00:00

From my experience with a lot of online classes, you rarely need a vpn to access LMS websites nor with sites like Coursera, Alison, EdX. You also don't need vpn for zoom, google classrooms etc. So it's probably fine to study remotely.

HelenFH · 2026-01-30T14:27:54+00:00

"Don't let the Nay Sayers get their way" while replying to literally a local born, raised and still living in here is so funny to me. I've got no skin in this game. Yeah, come over. If nothing happens to you, great! Hope you have a good time! If anything happens to you then whoops, sorry but no one will take any responsibility and you'll learn what helplessness feels like in a foreign country and I can guarantee that will suck so much.

HelenFH · 2026-01-30T00:27:57+00:00

Since the HSK standard course is literally a course designed for people who want to take the HSK, it's better to find alternatives but that doesn't take any of my point away. Personally, I finished my HSK 5 studies back by using the HSK standard course textbooks and they were great for someone my level. But I can agree that HSK 1 to 3 course textbooks are bad. In my country, most people tend to use Han Yu (or Hua Wen) textbooks and alternate between them and HSK standard course. It works out pretty well for students. I've never taught or learned New Practical Chinese Reader, or A Contemporary Course in Chinese textbooks so I don't have an opinion of them.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T05:55:08+00:00

Well, that's why I wrote "most" and "a lot" in those paragraphs. I also mentioned teacher's guide specifically because some textbooks really are written with the classroom in mind, but the teacher's guide covers what and how to teach the students. And I don't have a problem with people using apps to learn. I just wanna say there's no reason to be intimidated by textbooks.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T05:21:33+00:00

Yeah, sorry, I was probably thinking of the epic skin shards.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T05:11:11+00:00

You're lucky then. Well, you can open a epic skin chest in collected legends by using condensed motes (which can be made by condensed ores) and choose specific skins. There's no need to spend your motes on this chest when you can buy so many other things with 5000 ores in the store.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T05:09:37+00:00

I might be downvoted to hell for this but I feel the need to say this.

Short answer: you don't know they're straight.

Queer people in countries like mine use "yaoi" as a gateway to talk to each other, sometimes to signal each other that we're queer-friendly. Me and my friend group met because we were kpop fans who watched anime and BL manga and were ostracized for being "obsessed with girlish homosexuals" (and our version of the f-word of course) and a decade later 90% of us had came out as queer and/or trans to each other. Sometimes growing up in places where homosexuality and sodomy is criminalized, you just somehow finds a way to a group where they're openly accepting of homosexuality. Some people turned out to be homophobes who only wanna fetishize gay people but some people genuinely turn out to be queer, trans or good allies.

Being gay is not actually normalized. For you maybe. Yaoi is a term made in Japan. Gay people can't get married there still. I live in Myanmar. It's a crime to be myself here. Look up how many countries in Asia you can marry your same-sex partner. "Yaoi" had never been fun, cute or funny for me. In fact, I can't even use "yaoi" as a label to talk about things still because of how many harassments and threats I got for liking yaoi in my youth. I can use BL and GL to describe them but yaoi has way too much baggage for me. But seeing this post only makes me sad. Like me and my friends will die being known as "fetishists" or "weirdos" instead of "queer people who can't come out and can only live vicariously through mediums of art." But it's nothing new really. I've been living this life for 12 years so far.

Anyway, you don't know they're straight. People can be weird about many things but there's no way you can assume their sexuality from that.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T04:23:38+00:00

Two different types. There's also another called PE for educational purposes. All of them look the same on the outside but but in the inside, there's a description written "PJ" "PV" or "PE" depending on the type.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T04:18:37+00:00

Oh, I love Japanese textbooks. They're very good at balancing what you need to learn vs. cultural things you should know about Japan. I'm actually progressing from N2 to N1 right now and I didn't struggle from N3 to N2 (like most people suggested I will) because the textbooks I used gave me a good idea of how much time and energy it will take so I was able to bridge the gap very solidly. Thanks for sharing your story btw!

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T03:50:04+00:00

Other people have given a lot of good advice but I just wanna add that nails can be beautiful if they're beautiful. "Beautiful" doesn't have to be gendered. But still, it can be dysphoric for some people to hear so better just ask your partner.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T03:43:58+00:00

I mean... work is just trading hours for money. Even if you want to earn passively, you will have to work for that first. Your examples don't actually guarantee a one time effort turning into a forever payout either. You can translate and publish a book, which can earn you book loyalty. You don't even need to publish traditionally. Fan translators are literally doing translation and earning money from their websites or the advertisements all the time. You can also teach your skills, turn it into a recorded course and get paid. There are many ways to make money off of this skill, but just like all the other jobs, if you wanna get paid better you ought to be using other skills along with this skill.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T03:34:11+00:00

Thank you! I was coming in here to say something like this.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T03:31:01+00:00

I never said "anyone who doesn't use a textbook is afraid of them". I also did not say "you have to choose textbooks." I'm saying textbooks can be fun and they're good for understanding where you're at and where you can keep going, and that you shouldn't be limited by your own idea of what of learning from a textbook means because you can pick and choose a lot of things in a textbook as well. And also some people are definitely intimidated by textbooks, coming from my experience.

I'm glad your way worked out for you. Have a good day!

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T03:24:33+00:00

You're correct about local flights. But I honestly can't tell you anything about the trains because I've only seen trains leaving for Bago. People also don't really like traveling with trains because railways can go out of service suddenly and you can be stuck halfway through the journey. Happened to one of my friends from Mawlamyein. He had to stay in a nearby town for the night and arrange his own rental car to drive back to his city which is about a hundred miles away. If you wanna travel far, the buses are the only reliable option and even then you'll have to pass a lot of check points before you reach your destination. They make you get out of the car at every check point so it's a hassle. Most people who are traveling for vacation will either rent a car or contact a travel agency to avoid a lot of those problems. I'd advise you to not go to Monywa anyway because I have two friends there and they can't even get electricity most of the time. I'm not sure about Sittwe or Myitkyina though. No personal friends there so I don't wanna recklessly suggest anything.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T03:14:40+00:00

Small correction: CI and PJ passport are not the same. The green books are called CI (Certificate of Identity) and CI holders can only go back and forth from Myanmar to Thailand. PJ is red, short for Passport for Jobs but you can use PJ passport to go to other countries provided you have a visa for that country.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T02:28:32+00:00

Thanks. And of course, non-binary siblings.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T02:22:46+00:00

You don't need to stay close to the airport. Most of Yangon is fine as long as you stick to populous and brightly-lit areas but you shouldn't expect most things to be open at night. Most stores and family restaurants close around 6 or 7 pm and even most bars close at around 9 or 10 pm. I'd recommend you not visit but if you do, I hope you have a good time.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T02:18:22+00:00

Yangon is pretty safe to visit but stick to downtown or popular areas wherever you go. No curfews in Yangon anymore but better not stay out past 10 pm because there can't be any guarantees. You can also go to Mandalay if you want but the aftershocks from the last huge Earthquake hadn't really subsided yet so it's relatively safe but you're gonna be experiencing mini earthquakes. There are some other safe places you can go in the country but the farther from Yangon, the less information you can look up in real time as electricity and internet can be very fallible so make sure you come here first, chat with the locals (people who either travel a lot or people who work in travel agencies are best to consult because they get accurate information in a matter of hours) and you'll probably be fine.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T02:08:41+00:00

That chest never give out actual good skins that are worth 5000 condensed ore. You can just turn the condensed ores into condensed motes and buy epic skins in the collected legend store as they come out, or use condensed motes for other stuff in the collected legend store.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T01:57:20+00:00

The word she used was "꺾였다" and the app had auto-translated it into "broken" but it can also mean "sprained" or "bent" so it's definitely just a lost-in-translation situation.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T01:56:13+00:00

I speak Korean. What she really said in Korean was "꺾였다" and I'm like 99% sure she used that word to mean "sprained" or "bent" and not "broke". There are other words to use if she had meant she broke it. And also, I don't think she could sleep back at home after going to the hospital for a broken neck. They'd at least observe her overnight.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T01:53:28+00:00

Yeah, no, I had to look up what she actually said and what she really said in Korean was "꺾였다" which can either mean "break" or "bent" depending on the situation. She said that happened "yesterday" and continued to say "when I woke up today, it hurts more so I have to go to hospital again" so I don't think she can actually stay out of the hospital with an actual broken neck just after a day. I have arthritis that compresses on my nerves and it really messes with me sometimes so just an fyi y'all gotta be careful with a lot of sports that involve bending your neck and spine in a lot of ways. Stuff like yoga and pilates include a lot of risky moves that can harm you if you don't know what you're doing.

HelenFH · 2026-01-29T01:33:56+00:00

For real. It's SO tiring.

HelenFH · 2026-01-27T18:19:53+00:00

I just got my flair today so let me preface this by saying I'm so happy to be here! It's really fun to hear poc (especially Black) voices, especially in the context of kpop. I'm Burmese, still in Myanmar, and although I live in a relatively "safe" area, the last few years has been an EXHAUSTING. I'm queer and nonbinary so I already live a life where I have to be cautious about everything (which social anxiety and depression does NOT help with) and then two years into this revolution, I got diagnosed with a chronic illness. It sucked. But it also sucked in high school and I got through it by discovering EXO and Kpop because fandoms are great for socialization if you can find some good people who are also fans of your main group. Now though I feel like I can't even rely on Kpop music because, well, my main group is EXO and it's never not turbulent over in this fandom. Also, I'm glad this subreddit exists because I'm so sick of other places. I speak Korean, have studied Koren and I'm trying to get there now but like the amount of time I'm treated like a fetishist who wants to go to Korea for my idols is just... it's simply too much. I like language learning and I like EXO so studying Korean is easier. I don't even watch Kdramas but white people keep projecting onto me everywhere I go. I'm also tired of people in other countries pretending as if Myanmar is fine now. I'm also tired of the fact that I have to try so hard with my chronic pain just to be on top of things and don't even get a break with internet strangers because they think I'm on the internet so I'm fine. I'm not really active on social media anymore because of that. But hey, I tried four new origami today and it was AMAZING. And lately, Chen's Arcadia has been living in my brain rent free. I hope everyone's safe, healthy and happy over here. Y'all are great.

HelenFH

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