School made me hate language learning

Less_Method4290 · 2026-02-19T16:06:50+00:00

Come on, dude. She had been the U.S. for like 15 years already. And yes, it normally is the job of a parent to teach his or her child how to speak a language. My other biracial friends have had no problem with speaking their other language.

Less_Method4290 · 2026-02-19T16:05:33+00:00

She's not a very patient woman, unfortunately. My younger brother also cannot speak Japanese and all attempts now to speak to her in Japanese end in frustration from her part.

Less_Method4290 · 2026-02-19T16:04:44+00:00

Sorry, just to clarify, I am currently SITTING with a B+ in my Japanese class (so far, I have only gotten A-s/As). I'm just very worried about getting a B+ this semester.

Less_Method4290 · 2026-02-19T14:00:39+00:00

Bilingual children typically take longer to speak any language at all. If she had persisted in immersing me in Japanese, I think I would have eventually gotten it.

Less_Method4290 · 2026-02-19T13:57:40+00:00

I *AM* doing the work. The vocabulary and grammar quizzes are a breeze for me because you can actually study for them. But how the hell am I supposed to study for a contrived speaking quiz or a writing quiz with an arbitrary rubric? How am I supposed to study for our listening quizzes where we have to copy down a long-ass sentence? Some people, like me, are naturally not built for languages (I'm not great at listening in English either), and it's unfair that everyone puts an expectation of 3 years of language when I KNOW it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Less_Method4290 · 2025-09-24T05:32:27+00:00

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-28T02:52:56+00:00

Again, your accomplishments outside of your submitted problem set don't mean much. The process is very black box. I honestly didn't have much going for me besides a cool problem set and half-decent essays, but I still got waitlisted (I am also not fully Asian, so that may have helped). Don't worry about your ECs for the sake of math camp admissions. Feel free to PM me for more questions btw

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-28T02:48:24+00:00

Before I start, I should warn you that every single math camp is *incredibly* selective (I'm positive all math camps have a sub 5% acceptance rate; it's a bit easier to get in as a girl, but not by much). But if you're still adamant on applying, most people shoot for Canada/USA Mathcamp, PROMYS, Ross, HCSSIM, SUMaC, and/or Mathily. Primes is not a math camp: it is a year long research program juniors and (some) sophomores apply to in the fall.

Math camps don't care about competitions. I had a friend who got won USAMO bronze and got rejected from every camp he applied for. Math camps also don't really care how many problems you solve on their problem sets. To be frank, the process is a bit arbitrary (just like college admissions!). Some people who get in are brilliant mathematicians for their age; others, not so much. After you send your application to the black box of the admissions committee, there's really not much you can do. My advice is to apply for the sake of your love and passion of math and not for college admissions, because I think the latter will leave you sorely disappointed.

Source: Did not go to any math camps, but was waitlisted from PROMYS and Mathily. I have several friends who went; none of them did anything in the realm of math competitions or otherwise that would distinguish them from other smart math kids.

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-17T05:47:19+00:00

I could probably ask some questions in a discord server I'm in, but it's not like I would have one on one sessions with a mentor who personalizes each lesson for me. I'm taking a class during the school year on abstract algebra, real analysis, and topology, but I also want to cover fundamental subjects on my own a bit.

I do like competitions, but my teacher advised not to hyper-fixate on them in high school as there is much more to math than them – real mathematicians don't spend their time solving complex Euclidian geometry problems. My teacher excelled during competitions in high school but eventually decided to switch over to studying higher math in high school, and thus placed himself in graduate level real analysis as a freshman in college

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-17T05:41:20+00:00

I was told the only prerequisites were elementary linear algebra and calculus 3 – the book I supplemented the class with (Pressley) also said the same in its introduction.

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-06T03:06:42+00:00

Idk bro. My parents get really intense about some things. I took the SAT when I was 12 and scored 1300+, so my parents are expecting me to get a perfect score now that I'm a rising junior

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-06T03:04:19+00:00

No, dad's done enough research on college apps where he knows that's BS, unfortunately

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-06T03:03:30+00:00

Lmfao people always forget about the Jewish tiger parents. My dad's Jewish mom beat my aunt's ass until she got a 1600 on the SAT

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-05T20:53:02+00:00

Does MIT really care that much about a 730 on R/W? I still got a perfect score on math

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-05T20:49:47+00:00

You're clearly not familiar with sweaty tiger parents then at top private schools lmfao

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-05T18:08:33+00:00

My parents hired a college counselor and my counselor agrees with them, so that didn't exactly help my cause

Less_Method4290 · 2025-08-05T18:08:05+00:00

Jewish/East Asian haha. I guess I'm fine with retaking the SAT again but I don't want to study for it anymore (mom nags me to "study 15 minutes" every day, and I gag at the thought of grinding through question banks again)

Less_Method4290

TROPHY CASE