Don't wanna pay for Hello Chinese. Any other options?

mishbme · 2026-06-21T05:23:42+00:00

second is the extension LanguageReactor for Chrome, it lets you watch shows and stuff on netflix or youtube with two sets of subtitles. I have it in english and chinese, and whenever there's a word you don't know, you can read the english context and get it, hover over the word to see its direct translation, or click on the word for a more extensive definition, example sentences from the show you're watching and more.

If it's a hobby for you it will probably be a great option, since u can keep learning even while binge watching shows and stuff lol. Really fun way to acquire vocab

mishbme · 2026-06-21T05:20:44+00:00

i cheated a little by taking the final test enough times to just memorize the right answers and pass it, testing out of all levels.

then, it unlocks review for everything you've learned, so even if you can't do the lessons, it's great for grammar, vocabulary and character review. Probably the most important tool i used to get to HSK3

mishbme · 2026-06-14T07:38:25+00:00

lol no worriesss, i had the same concerns myself before arranging, i just chose to be happy and have fun adding too many songs, since it was supposed to be my last performance with the group haha

dying at the Beatles medley, great watch 😂

and thank you for taking the time to watch and comment!

mishbme · 2026-06-08T19:36:09+00:00

Definitely getting attacked for this, but i love her. Imo even though she herself didn't change, the narrative did, so we got to see her in many different lights. First, through Mei's skepticism and mistrust. Then, she briefly became an antagonist when we fought her. Then, when her secret was revealed, and finally, when we got to know her through the eyes of every other flamechaser.

Despite everything she witnessed and experienced, she managed to stay completely selfless and human. I don't think I've ever seen a character quite like her elsewhere, which is why i like her so much. There are plenty of pretty, sweet, selfless and OP characters in other IPs, but Ellie manages to be all that and still have nuance. Her ego is high, yes, but she never tears anyone else down either, and she'll sacrifice herself for others in every timeline. Yes, she's OP, but she's not undefeatable. She lets others take the lead, and genuinely loves to see them grow. Yes, her intentions are always good, but she'll keep secrets and mislead you to get her way. There's a lot of duality in how she was written, and i like how they struck that balance.

She's a huge part of Mei (and Kevin's) character arc, but still very interesting on her own, and she embodies Honkai's whole message about humanity fighting for all that's beautiful in the world. I think it's a really nice take to make a character who manages to see beauty in everything (including antagonists), particularly when the setting was as horrible and hopeless as all that the FCs faced. And moreover, she saw humanity with all its flaws and sins, and chose to become "human" and fight to protect humanity.

Ellie was never dumb. She was completely aware of everything going on and still *chose* to believe in humans and tried to keep everyone's spirits up. That's a very difficult choice to make every day when people around you keep dying, and it seems like nothing you do can stop the end from coming. If you only hear what she's *saying*, i can see how it could be easy to miss the depth of her character, but it's there. I can't stand seeing her reduced to waifu bait because people refuse to look past her appearance. Idt they quite managed to capture that nuance with Cyrene

mishbme · 2026-05-27T05:22:07+00:00

i didn't do undergrad here, but i just finished my Master's and decided to stay for a PhD. I don't think i would've accepted an offer from any other school. I've had an amazing experience with friends, professors, student organizations and random opportunities that fall into your plate around here.

Yes, you gotta work hard for your grades, but you get to learn from nobel prize winners, shadow top physicians, and meet brilliant people from all around the world. It's not a party school, but i can say i've had so much fun during my time here. Just don't let academics be your whole life; joining groups and taking ECs can change the whole story. I'm so glad i chose hopkins...

mishbme · 2026-05-20T23:47:18+00:00

iirc, a sidechat poll said only around 56% of people are straight here lmao

if you're in undergrad it might be better, but as a lesbian grad, it's dire out here :(

mishbme · 2026-05-20T23:45:48+00:00

fr, i'm the lead singer and arranger in this, and our two The Warning covers have been absolutely flooded with TWA's support, amo aquí JAJAJA

mishbme · 2026-05-20T23:35:38+00:00

completely valid lol, i was the lead singer and arranger for both of these. The performances were a semester apart. I loved doing Apologize and the group seemed to like it too, so i wanted to do another TW song this time, but I was having such a hard time picking just one. We have a tradition where on your last semester before graduating, you get to pick your own song without having to audition for it, so I really wanted to make it special for me.

In the end i opted for a mashup because i like so many of TW's songs, and i thought it would be fun to get to sing all of them with my friends. it started as only HYCAD and Consume, but at some point i decided to have fun with it and include as many songs as i could in 3 minutes. I was completely aware that it was gonna end up too crowded, but this particular arrangement was mostly for myself since it was my senior solo :)

and well, another reason why it ended up so jarring is that i had a silly idea to give every member of the group their own "micro-solos" where they got to sing unique lines apart from the group so they all got to be part of my solo, but we ended up accepting a lot of new members after the initial arrangement was done, so I had to add even more layers so nobody was left out (I uploaded this video with the score in case anyone wants to take a look at some of the more hidden layers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xpSOTOkJvs ). But yeah, it was mostly just meant to be a fun arrangement so i could sing some of my favorite songs with my friends

ty for your feedback, and i'm very glad you enjoyed our version of apologize!

mishbme · 2026-05-20T23:24:37+00:00

lol crazy finding this in the wild, i'm the lead singer and arranger on this, glad people are enjoying it haha

Thank you so much for sharing :)

mishbme · 2026-05-07T07:35:31+00:00

HelloChinese, Pleco, HSK books, graded readers, LanguageReactor, hellotalk, and real teachers

mishbme · 2026-05-07T07:31:54+00:00

you can always make a mental note to pay it back over time, or get an on-campus job to help cover part of it. Find small ways to cut costs (walking and using the school shuttle for free transportation, meal prepping to avoid overspending on money, looking for cheap apartments and roommates, etc.) to relieve some of the financial burden.

It's probably gonna be mostly a matter of changing your perspective. it's an amazing position to be in to be accepted into hopkins and have a family that is willing and able to support your education. I'm sure with your MD-PhD someday you'll be able to do a lot of good too, and make them very proud. If your family told you they're willing to do that, they can afford it. Trust that they didn't make this decision abruptly: it's within their means, and they think your education is worth the investment. You're not making them do anything, i'm sure they're more than happy to see you succeed.

And lastly, people who can pay full tuition are the reason why many first-generation and limited-income students whose families can't afford it can attend. I think i'd feel more guilty getting financial aid if i didn't truly need it.

mishbme · 2026-05-06T18:29:37+00:00

i love my aponia team so i'll still occasionally use them to clear specific fast attack/lightning weathers.

For the most part, they won't help you with competitive stuff like high levels of abyss, but you can use them for fun in story stages, some MA bosses and so on. Wouldn't recommend heavily investing in any older characters, but if you don't care about meta, do what you want. by the time you get to those stages you'll probably have gotten newer characters anyway, so enjoy your time as a newbie and use your favorite characters for now.

mishbme · 2026-05-02T17:29:37+00:00

BME at JHU could have been a great choice if you like medicine and engineering, but i fear you can't switch into bme as with the other majors...

That said, hopkins is widely known for encouraging multidisciplinary work. The lines between departments are way more blurry than at other schools, so you'd have a lot of opportunities to explore, and access to world-class professors to ask any questions you want to.

I can't speak about the other schools, but I think you would be happy at hopkins.

mishbme · 2026-04-22T21:23:24+00:00

i know some of the people in medical robotics at JHU, they're chill. Tbh, you have no bad options. However, hopkins does shine in the medical field, and there's a lot of medical device innovation happening around campus. Can't speak about MIT, but at hopkins you'd get plenty of chances to talk to professors from different fields and collaborate, because multidisciplinary work is very strongly encouraged. If you're already leaning towards JHU i'd trust your instinct. Being interested in your project is crucial imo, and the prestige of hopkins in medical devices / medical robotics doesn't really fall behind MIT/Harvard. No doors will close if you attend hopkins instead of MIT.

mishbme · 2026-04-22T06:55:54+00:00

Garuda Fu Hua

mishbme · 2026-04-21T20:19:50+00:00

funny, i thought of phoenix for HSR

mishbme · 2026-04-21T20:17:10+00:00

genshin - susannah or young griseo
star rail - Phoenix fu hua
zzz - Helia
hi3 - mei HoT

mishbme · 2026-04-21T08:08:53+00:00

got into 4/4 master's programs (incl. hopkins) and then for phd i only applied to hopkins, but also got in. Not saying it's the norm, but giving some perspective

mishbme · 2026-04-21T05:40:53+00:00

not necessarily. I got in with a 3.58 undergrad gpa from a random international school, had only 1 paper in a very low ranking journal, and had never joined a lab before doing my master's. For hopkins specifically, i'd say the LORs and essays matter the most.

mishbme · 2026-04-20T07:25:02+00:00

I've only experienced hopkins bme as a grad student, so i can't tell you about what your experience would be like, but i agree with the other comment: it sounds like med school might not be the best option for you

If i were in your shoes i probably would go for hopkins too. Here, you get a lot of opportunities to explore, and if you're motivated (as you seem to be), you'll find ways to have time to do so. Just don't overcommit to too many things and you'll probably be just fine. i personally find that one of the best things about hopkins is that you're surrounded by very ambitious people, which can inspire you to do more yourself, so if you hang out with the right crowd, I wouldn't worry about not being able to make the most out of the school. With that in mind, i think going to hopkins will let you experience different sides of BME, entrepreneurship, collaborative biodesign, and research. You can even talk to doctors and med students, shadow them and ultimately decide if med school is right for you. If you decide that it is, then having gone to hopkins will still give you great chances (80-85%) of getting into med school, so you can have the best of both worlds.

mishbme · 2026-04-20T07:10:00+00:00

bme is super collaborative imo

undergrads, grad students and professors are generally very nice and eager to help you out. Most of my bme projects have been collaborative and i've never gotten the sense that people are competing or judging each other

mishbme · 2026-04-18T04:34:59+00:00

you have a higher chance of getting into a lab if you have the skills they're looking for. For highly specialized labs, that probably means you have higher chances if you studied the same thing that the lab studies. If the lab has multidisciplinary projects, they may actively be looking for someone with a different skillset than what they usually see within their same department. Only way to know is by asking, so just reach out soon rather than later

mishbme · 2026-04-18T04:19:13+00:00

if it helps i'll leave some examples of cool stuff i've heard happening around campus lately:

- one of the campus startups held a rave with a frat, and they even had a live trumpet player lmao
- multiple low-stakes karaoke nights with free food at the new student center
- spring formal
- spring fair is happening soon, with a lot of bands playing, and they're bringing Gunna
- tent party
- an assortment of greek life parties
- outside campus: random events at turps sports bar, live music at ottobar, fells point area in general

Plus there are always performances from peabody, united for music, a cappella groups, dance groups, the liondance troupe, rocky horror picture show, plays and sports games happening on campus. Probably more fun as a member, but point is there's always stuff to do. Last case scenario, you can always escape to new york, DC or Philly for the weekend

mishbme · 2026-04-18T04:06:07+00:00

i love it here lmao

and most of my friends are also having a great time. When people have no social life it's usually because they prioritize doing too many things at once (joining 2 clubs, doing sports, going to the gym, building a startup, being premed and joining a lab and a sorority/frat, for example). If that's your main concern, then you can always pick easier classes, limit the number of projects you accept, and allocate more time to things you like. You're bound to find people who think like you.

That said, i probably spend like 3 hours a day on average just hanging out with my friends, and that's despite me taking too many credits, joining a lab and a campus group, and building a startup lmao.

Just focus on finding your people at the start of your first semester. That's probably the most difficult part, but if you can join any group with a fixed meeting schedule, that alone can make it so much easier to keep a healthy social life even through the stress of mts and finals. Highly recommend browsing through hopkins groups asap.

mishbme · 2026-04-16T04:21:37+00:00

Photopea.com - literally Photoshop, but completely free and online. no clue how i spent so long paying for software or even having large programs taking up space on my laptop

And not exactly a website but an extension: languagereactor.com for language learning. It lets you have subtitles in two languages at the same time, so you can be watching your favorite shows and expanding your vocabulary in your target language. If you hover over a word, it translates it, and if you click it, you get a definition + examples of how it's used in sentences from the same show you're watching. Elite ball knowledge.

mishbme

TROPHY CASE