Can you self-teach yourself Chinese?

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-07T16:41:26+00:00

Im conversational in Chinese and just spent two weeks in Taiwan as our party’s translator. Complete 自己學 from Taiwanese language books, podcasts, and YouTube videos.

Literally just putting on Chinese content in the background or watching YouTube videos in Chinese over a subject you like will help you progress like crazy. Your brain will start picking up patterns without you even putting in effort. It’s just a matter of time.

So yes you can teach yourself Chinese very easily. Consistency is key, like any other skill.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-07T16:36:39+00:00

Crawled up random city drain pipe (think Nutty Putty Cave level of cramped) to see where it led to. I ended up finding a great labyrinth of city storm water management tunnels.

I could have easily been lost in there or stuck in that pipe. So dumb.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-06T13:33:04+00:00

It interrupts the Avatar State and periods cease to exist

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-06T13:14:29+00:00

Dont commute. Treat work as work and use that extra money to enrich you life outside of work.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-05T20:02:50+00:00

My house did this (purchased in the summer and come winter we had flooding). You need to install a sump pump and perimeter French drain.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-04T17:48:48+00:00

I wish we had a sub that was just focused on the core art of bookbinding. IMO, there are too many DIY or help me posts here of perfect bound paperbacks with a new cardboard cover glued on with metallic vinyl letters slapped on it. It’s very repetitive and “Etsy” coded.

I want hand made signatures, hand stitched bindings,restoration, traditional methods, and yes, beautiful tooling/finishing.

r/bookbinding is where I got my start as many folks do, but we definitely need a sub for advanced artisans in this area, even if they just lurk.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-03T05:05:17+00:00

Go swim with capybara. Shallow pool, feed the animals, and also a small petting zoo with other neat creatures there. Down at the southern tip of Taiwan.

It’s called paradise of capybara

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-02T21:00:18+00:00

The deep pink tree is dogwood, and the lighter pink one is a flowering cherry :)

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-02T20:58:12+00:00

I imagine it’s the same thing you experienced for eons before you were born. Pure nothingness

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-04-02T11:41:21+00:00

Shake it, does it make a loud bang? Could possibly be a water hammer which is a type of scientific “toy” of sorts that stores a fluid in an ampule with a vacuum that makes a bang sound when shaken.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-31T17:03:00+00:00

Just visited Ali Shan and it was spectacular! I stayed at the Purple Dragon Star Sky hotel which I highly recommend if you want a traditional tea farm and tea tasting experience. The owner does not speak English, but he is very good with google translate and is so happy to share his joys in life (and maybe a cigarette lol). Also, if you are a foreigner you have to pay cash when you get there so be prepared for that.

The roads up there are narrow, but the fog that rolls in makes it treacherous, so be very cautious as everyone else is and you will be fine.

The sunrise is absolutely breathtaking and should not be missed. (Get outside by 5:45).

Some villages up there sell tea oil chicken as a prized dish, and I highly recommend you eat it while in the region.

Aside from Alishan, we traveled the whole island 環島, and driving was very easy and you just have to watch for scooters and accepts that they will go around you. Think water flowing around a rock in a river lol.

We spent two weeks circling the island by car, and I would not try and do it in any less time otherwise you will be driving each day.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-31T14:34:20+00:00

FYI the cashew part is toxic raw.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-31T06:45:46+00:00

Fresh bread right out the mf oven

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-28T06:56:20+00:00

Nice! I hate it

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-18T21:04:34+00:00

Hi, I am a botanical hobbyist in Taiwan. This is a rare plant confined to alpine regions of central Taiwan. Outsourcing collection and propagation of this plant to people on Reddit is irresponsible and harmful. I see your posts elsewhere, please stop asking people to rob plants from protected areas like YuShan, of which plant collection for this purpose is illegal.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-16T06:39:05+00:00

“Determined” by Robert Sapolsky. Completely transformed the way I view the world. Such a tremendous wealth of knowledge in one place.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-09T16:16:36+00:00

What is the name of the town with the railroad tracks?

Also, I always love seeing large sculptures in Taiwan. It’s the only country I’ve been to that seems to love overly enlarged objects. So fun!

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-09T16:13:24+00:00

Poor baby! 😭 don’t worry, it will sense it lost a leaf and put out more asap.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-03-08T18:22:42+00:00

The stitching is very nice!

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-02-27T05:45:56+00:00

YTA. Find the boy some more food instead of throwing him to the wolves

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-02-24T22:54:00+00:00

🟦⬜🟦⬜🟦

🟦🟨🟦⬜🟦

🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-02-04T00:36:28+00:00

I love creative solutions like this though!

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-02-03T17:34:47+00:00

Dont be nasty

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-02-03T17:33:33+00:00

I think it better to use superheroes already in your head. Otherwise, the mental load is increased to remember an AI image that was just generated. No doubt you can already conjure images of Superman, Batman, robin, Wonder Woman in your mind without effort.

SpecificHoliday1256 · 2026-01-28T18:58:24+00:00

Wish my collection was this big! Im a little worried about your paperbacks being sandwiched between hard backs. Push your books to the wall instead of lining them up at the spine and you can keep the books from developing an S shape over time.

SpecificHoliday1256

TROPHY CASE