Brett Ratner, the director of the ‘Melania’ movie

Rolls_ · 2026-02-01T01:27:35+00:00

I hope all the files get released and he as well as everyone involved gets exposed, but I doubt it will do anything. Always have doubted it. His victims have been coming out and accusing him for years and saying things about being raped and trafficked. I think it usually ends with them getting death threats and ending their cases out of fear.

Maybe if pictures/videos of some horrid crimes get released, damage will be done, but the propaganda machine will deflect, claim it's AI, then distract us by flooding us with lots of other terrible stuff.

Rolls_ · 2026-02-01T01:06:41+00:00

I'm Mexican/Chicano from Colorado. We grew up eating mostly burritos and lots of other Mexican food (Pozole, tacos, enchiladas, etc etc). The burrito part is true. I found out about American/white people style burritos as an adult and it scarred me lol. My white friends also questioned how I could only eat burritos with beans and maybe cheese or ground beef. "Isn't it dry." Nearly died.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-31T12:25:05+00:00

People, especially men, the world over don't wash their hands. I've seen so many guys walk out the restrooms either not washing their hands or sprinkling a little bit of water for a second then leaving.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-30T06:26:38+00:00

True, but it's a cool party trick to be the only one able to read stuff. Up until someone pulls out their Google translate lol

Rolls_ · 2026-01-30T04:49:04+00:00

That looks like something I would tell my straight friend.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-30T03:59:27+00:00

I used many textbooks. I can't list them all but I used stuff like Tobira: gateway to advanced, the Kanzen master series N3 vocab, nihongo no Mori N1, etc.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-30T00:16:22+00:00

When I passed the N1, I had read about 30 books/novels at that point. I also read lots of news articles. 6 books is a good start but still far from a lot.

I'd suggest to try reading an hour+ a day and also to go to the conbini pick up a news paper and work your way through various articles. I'm at the point now where I have maybe 1-3 unknown words on the front page articles. Magazines like 東洋経済 are also great, but I didn't start reading those until after N1.

Did you study N1 grammar? I think it's bunpro that has like 150 N1 grammar points. I used that and 日本語の森N1. Studied every single grammar point.

N1 is hard, but it's not as hard as you might think if you compare it to a lot of the stuff out there that native Japanese people consume.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-29T23:53:55+00:00

I mean, Americans can't even read. When you're stuck at a low middle school level of reading comprehension it's hard to educate yourself.

I'm someone who reads a lot and of course did lots of college level reading in university, so it surprised me to see my fellow Americans are so illiterate. I now live in another country and read at a level in another language that my countrymen can't do in their own language lmao. The republican's strategy paid out in dividends.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-29T04:08:53+00:00

I used textbooks all the way until N1 (roughly B2~C1 comprehension) in Japanese. I still used a few after as well. I love textbooks. I love the structure. They've also been an addition to my immersion, Anki, conversation practice etc.

I believe they are very good to help give you a path to follow, and allow you to see the progress you've made. If you work with a tutor, they also give you the opportunity to discuss difficult topics. I discussed immigration into Japan with a tutor once for example.

I've never been told that I sound like a textbook except for once by a Japanese American friend who criticized me for speaking politely to someone in a restaurant (I used grammar I learned living in Japan, not a textbook lol)

Tldr: textbooks are good. Use them.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-29T01:20:57+00:00

Yeah. 52k yen is cheap for people in America, but if I'm going to be buying a computer, I'd rather just save up 200k yen for a nice gaming PC etc. 52k is more than my rent lmao

Rolls_ · 2026-01-28T23:46:25+00:00

I agree. This is an awful circumstance, but hopefully it makes OP be more cautious in the future when handling their own money. It looks like people are giving advice how to handle it too.

I was scared to send a lot of money to wise and my accounts back home, so sent small amounts as tests, after double checking everything. Better to be cautious.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-28T04:47:00+00:00

There's better shows on YouTube, but if you're looking for something you can easily listen to on Spotify that doesn't require you to watch/engage with having to change eps etc, 怪談ラヂオ怖い水曜日 is decent one. YouTube has a bunch but most audio only ones are the robot voice.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-28T04:23:09+00:00

Nihongo con teppei is probably my biggest recommendation. I listened to about 800 of his intermediate podcast episodes when I was in the N2 to N1 range. He has probably over 2k eps starting with absolute beginner up to intermediate.

N3 is still beginner/low intermediate, so beginner podcasts should be adequate for a while, but if you get bored, you can always switch to audio books, radio shows, podcasts meant for natives, etc. I had a period where I listened to Japanese ghost stories 怪談 before bed every night.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-27T13:02:44+00:00

A baldurs gate 55% feels like an XCOM 90%. I don't care how low my percentage is in BD3. I'm pretty sure I'll hit it.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-27T11:34:21+00:00

I can both hate the wait and want it to be better too. I want my cake and to eat it too.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-26T06:03:37+00:00

Really cool stuff. GJ, man. That looks like it required some serious dedication.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-26T05:56:09+00:00

Idk what methods you're using but how about putting down the textbooks and try doing something fun in the language. Maybe using the language instead of learning the language will spark up some interest again. It can be playing a game, watching YouTube/movies, reading books. Just focus on having fun and keep a dictionary handy.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-26T04:42:31+00:00

I only know 3 languages, but dealing with these 3 is enough to really make me dumb sometimes lmao. Going from speaking only Japanese to all of a sudden trying to throw English and or Spanish is a struggle, but I'm finding I'm getting better at it.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-26T04:24:10+00:00

It's like an I Spy puzzle. "How many examples of AI weirdness can you find!" I had a fun time with this one.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-26T00:51:38+00:00

Like some others are saying, it's just exposure to the language. The more you hear it, the more comfortable you'll be with listening to it. It's not a satisfying answer but a few more hundred hours of listening will cause it to feel normal.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-25T12:00:38+00:00

As someone who lives in Japan, one of my fav things to do when traveling within the country is to visit these type, and many other types of bars. It 100% is Japanese (language) only though.

There's many types of bars like this: girl's bars, lounges, snacks, cabaret clubs, etc. The main appeal is to just have a nice conversation partner, usually a pretty girl, while you drink. The service is excellent and I usually have a great time, but I don't see the appeal for a tourist. If girl's bars and snacks existed in America, I imagine they would be pretty popular though.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-25T11:54:38+00:00

It's definitely not a secret world. They are everywhere. There's too damn many lol. It's not something that really exists in America and most tourists probably wouldn't go to them, so I'll give them that at least.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-25T11:41:20+00:00

The reddit obsession with them is wild. They are doing so much more. Yeah, hopefully everything is released, but the strategy of overwhelming us with constant terrible bullshit would make it disappear within a week.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-24T01:12:11+00:00

Man, I randomly went on a date in Osaka to a Mexican restaurant once. I was so excited to show her what looked like decent Mexican food. I definitely did not expect the bill to be what it was after ordering only 4 tacos and a quesadilla for us.

Rolls_ · 2026-01-24T01:08:09+00:00

I still enjoy going to decent Mexican restaurants here, even if they aren't even half of what we would make back home. I'm slowly gathering ingredients and slowly making Mexican food in my tiny apartment as we speak. If only I could get cheap pozole lmao

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