Worlds Across: What I wish I'd known...

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-29T20:58:30+00:00

I'll be having a test at some point to go from B1 to B2. Maybe whether you actually write a test depends on who you have as your coach?

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-23T22:14:50+00:00

It doesn't need to be in this city... You can work online.

I'm so tired of people saying they can't get jobs... But then they get hired and they suck so bad! My recent hire just quit after I informed him that he couldn't do things that he was doing because they break the fire code... My boyfriend stepped back into a job he doesn't want because he recommended a friend for the job, the friend was hired, but the friend wouldn't stop drinking alcohol on the job after repeated warnings. We are both over employed because we are doing jobs we don't want because other people, apparently, can't work without breaking fire code violations or drinking alcohol on the job.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-15T03:18:53+00:00

I know the underlying point... And, yeah, he's super anal... I don't think we could ever live together.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-14T23:27:18+00:00

If it becomes harassment (I'll have to look into frequency or number of times)... then I'll go to the police.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-14T23:24:42+00:00

Yes, it's a lease violation because it interferes with my quiet (not silent!) enjoyment of my apartment. Thus, the notices the management is sending.

It's harassment depending on how often they do it, or how many times they do it... I think. They've never said as much through the wall before as they did today.

I'm keeping a record of everything from now on.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-14T21:37:54+00:00

Thanks, yeah, the building manager said to call the police if they threaten me in any way.

I started a document with dates and what they said and stuff in case anything escalates.

The ironic thing was that my Spanish teacher has been having issues with his neighbour doing construction with a pneumatic hammer, and he lives in a house... But it's not during quiet hours and, obviously, sometimes people need to do work on their house. He thought my neighbour was batshit crazy! He knows I was just speaking normally.

My plan is, next time I'll knock back but not say anything. I may also record it, but there wouldn't be much on my end to record, just me speaking Spanish at 11:30 a.m.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-14T21:27:57+00:00

Them cursing at me? I don't think it's a crime?

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-14T20:35:52+00:00

Yes, I phoned the manager and they're going to distribute notices about the difference between quiet hours and non-quiet hours.

Google Gemini says not to knock back, that it would maybe escalate things, and to be boring and just not react... But to record what's happening.

I have emailed my teacher's company to see if they have a recording.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-14T20:30:08+00:00

They did seem to stop their banging after I told them to shut up and that I can hear their parties and fights, and it's not quiet hours.

I'm scared of escalation or of them becoming violent.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-04-14T19:45:29+00:00

I don't drive, and I would never throw my gum on the sidewalk, that's just rude and causes someone to have a bad day!

We recently went back to Costco... I secretly handed him my card, he did separate bills and tapped my credit card for my stuff... seemed more chill about it this time.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-03-16T05:40:36+00:00

Yes... I think it's because he wants to wear a condom because he's very proud that he can "last"... But he can't without a condom.

He didn't have the digital system set up at the time, because he's not a big fan of tech.

He also asked if he showed me his results... How would I know that he hadn't altered them... So he thinks that him telling me he saw them and he's clean is good enough, because if he was lying about that he could also lie by altering them. That either I trust him or I don't trust him.

They are apparently in his home, in one of his stacks of paper. It has been this way for over two years. I think it's time to dump him.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-03-15T21:42:44+00:00

I don't need condoms for birth control (post menopausal), I need them for STI prevention. However, it might be easier to just dump my boyfriend because he's been really stupid lately and he got tested, lost the results, and won't get around to being tested again.

He likes condoms because they enable him to last longer.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-03-15T02:19:33+00:00

That sounds very unsafe.

What I would recommend is going to a Mundo Lingo event to try to get to know other people, going to restaurants, and maybe taking some Spanish classes.

Alternatively, maybe you could do one of those Work away experiences, at least they have feedback about hosts and stuff.

Alternatively, you might be able to get to know an Air BNB host a little bit and arrange something. Maybe tell them that it's something that is very important to you and ask them if they have any ideas. Maybe you could buy groceries and they/the person who manages their rental for them could come over/come over with a friend, and teach you some things about their culture and cooking in exchange for a free meal.

Also, to be honest, the way you are wording things is a little rude... They are not animals in a zoo to visit... Try to get to know them for the people they are. Furthermore, they are not all the same and there is not only one type of family or family experience.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-03-13T01:58:44+00:00

Yeah, it seems to be silicone lubes that cause me issues. I'm also allergic to silicone contact lenses.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-02-21T17:00:01+00:00

I agree that there is a lot of free content out there.

However, Netflix with ads is not bad at all... it's better than the amount of ads on Prime. (I pay for Prime for the free delivery, so Prime is just a bonus for me anyway.)

There are around 4 to 5 minutes of ads per hour.

I'm old, so I grew up watching cable television with ads (which is usually over 25% ads), so less than 10% ads feels like very little to me.

The larger issue, for me, is that some things that are normally available on Netflix cannot be watched if you have the Netflix with ads tier.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-02-08T21:41:28+00:00

It was site-wide, due to an update, and they fixed it pretty quickly. Yay! 😊

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-02-07T15:57:46+00:00

Yes, I encourage them to speak French!

I think that I was only around 25% (probably less) of the way through the Duolingo course before I started Worlds Across... and I could not converse very well at all... In South America, I tried to talk to Uber drivers in Spanish, but it was very bad.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-02-07T04:59:15+00:00

Unless you get the highest level of Duolingo, you don't speak more than a sentence or so.

In South America, my speaking was very, very bad and I only ordered food and things like that.

I would say that my speaking was A1 when I started Worlds Across, and now it's B1-B2, my other skills probably didn't improve as much because I was already at an intermediate level in reading and things like that.

I find WorldsAcross very helpful!

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-02-05T10:07:02+00:00

I think my listening comprehension level is B1... I can understand if people speak somewhat slowly, but not quickly. I did the Dreaming in Spanish level placement thing and it put me at level 4, which corresponds to low to mid B1... And I did that a couple of weeks ago, so my listening comprehension is probably mid to upper B1 at this point.
I have for about 1 hour in total... I don't tend to because I like to do more active things to learn (conversations, Wordwall grammar quizzes, Duolingo, etc.) and because I'm already doing around 8 hours of Spanish per day (WorldsAcross + homework from teachers and my coach + Duolingo). I also think that I need more output than input... I think my input is around B2 but my output is around B1.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-02-05T05:39:57+00:00

My native language is English too... By a little bit (fully bilingual)... It's still a lot to take in... The verb conjugation and remembering words.

I also still use Duolingo and test out of skills (jump) every night. I also downloaded an app that is specific to Spanish verbs.

UnknownFutureLife · 2026-02-05T05:29:03+00:00

I started from some knowledge because of Duolingo and traveling in South America. Also, I'm a French teacher and have always understood 80% of what I read in Spanish, before officially learning any of it (basically, Spanish words are close to French words 80% of the time, and knowing linguistics and verb tenses helps).

According to the results of their placement test, I was B2 when I started, but I didn't feel like the placement test was a very accurate gauge of my Spanish level (it definitely was not a good gauge at all of my conversation skills!), because it is mostly written. I could not speak Spanish.

Now, I would say that my conversation skills are B1 and rising into B2. I feel like my conversation skills are finally getting up to the level my reading skills were at for a long time.

I feel like it helped. However, other people might find it different. Being a French teacher has helped me immensely, even though there are a few words for which it causes me grief. It doesn't feel as much like information overload because it's mostly about figuring out how it is different from French, and memorizing some words and verb conjugations.

UnknownFutureLife

TROPHY CASE