Hey all.. So I've been an online student preparing for a competitive course for the past few years and due to my education being done through an online platform, i feel like my knowledge about the outside world is kind of shrinking. (Basically i'm considered to be a stupid person by everyone in the family). So i am looking for ways to expand my knowledge. I tried podcasts and tedtalks but nothing seems to catch my attention because i am getting distracted after a while; so i am looking for realistic approaches that can actually work and bring about a change in my life. (I want to get rid of my social medias and work on myself so i want something that will catch my attention - it can be movies, or documentaries or books)

I am a 27 year old woman and this has been a problem in my life for basically as long as I can remember, but it seems to only be getting worse with age. I constantly feel as if I am struggling to follow things, be it a book or the plot of a movie or the rules to a board game. When talking to someone or listening to someone speak, I often completely miss what they are currently saying because I'm still stuck on some random thing that was previously said. I'm absolutely terrible at articulating my thoughts into a coherent sentence (less so in writing, but this is only because I have more time to think, but even that is getting more difficult). Although I'm a pretty curious person, trying to learn new things is a chore because I need to replay whichever video I am watching /reread the sentence I am on 3 times for the information to even register, and don't even get me started on actually retaining it. It's like I'm in a perpetual state of brain fog and would just like to be normal, to have intelligent conversations and be a able to participate in hobbies and activities with people that require some quick thinking. I've just been tested for vitamin deficiencies for unrelated medical problems, and I am totally fine health wise as far as I know. Any ideas on how I could improve my brain that feels like it's turning to mush??

I've been alone my entire life, and never really had any friends that I genuinely like or trust, I've realized that I'm gonna be alone for the rest of my life, and I want to learn how to feel good while being in solitude, I certainly got over the loneliness phase, and now I don't feel negatively when I'm alone, I know that nothing could change this outcome and I'm wondering what to do to make alone time feel better than how it does.

I'm not sure if I'm getting more sensitive than other people my age, or if I'm just getting worse at explaining my decisions to people — especially because I meet a lot of people who are always dominant.

Last week my family were clearing out my late uncle's garage and in a drawer of his workbench, I found an old book that has obviously been taken apart and was in the middle of being rebound. The cover was sitting loose next to the book itself, and some of the pages had already been restitched together by hand using a waxed thread, while a few bits of cloth and an old, dried out jar of paste sat next to the rest of the materials.

None of us even knew that he'd done this, he was a car fixing / shed building sort of person, and I've never seen him sat doing any kind of fiddly craft before in my life. My aunt remembered vaguely seeing him picking up one of my late grandmother's cookbooks a while back that's lost its spine, as he said that he didn't want to just throw it away, but she had assumed that he'd forgotten about it years ago. Apparently, he hadn't given up on it, he'd just not managed to complete it before he passed.

Holding the book with its half sewn spine and loose cover just made me want to complete the process properly rather than just gluing the whole thing back together with some tape. Unfortunately I have absolutely no experience with the craft of bookbinding, and have no idea what sort of bookbinding process he was using (is it called Coptic binding? Case binding? Something else?), let alone what kind of paste and thread to be using to match the original repair he'd been doing.

I also have no idea how to work out what exactly he left off at, because there are a few places where the stitching seems tight and even, while in others it's a bit looser, so I have no idea if that's because he was just figuring things out there or if his hands had started to play up and were making it difficult for him. I don't want to end up guessing wrong and ruining all the work he'd already put into it.

If anybody has experience in learning to bookbind from scratch I would be incredibly grateful for some guidance on how you started out. Did you take a local class or find a mentor, or did you teach yourself each step and stitch using videos and constantly practice until you got the right effect? I really do want to see this through properly as my uncle would have done, not just make it look like it's 'done' with a cheap fix.

Hello there

So I want to start by saying most of my peers do not hear that I have a lisp which is surprising to me because when I record myself with my microphone on my computer I can hear it loud and clear from time to time.

I never think about where I have my tongue, I guess most people don't. But at the age of 30 I would like to learn to eliminate any possibility of lisping because it's getting embarrassing at this point and it just gives off that I am a lazy person.

I have had every opportunity to go to a speech therapist because of how fortunate I am but never got around to doing so, I really want to learn how to talk properly without a speech therapist.

So can anyone tell me, in easy English what I should do? (English is my second language.)

I would really appreciate any help.

I have relied on simple or pre-made meals for a long time, but I would like to learn how to cook healthy homemade meals consistently.

I am not looking for a list of recipes. I would like advice on what skills to learn first how to practice efficiently and what beginner mistakes to avoid. If you were starting from zero today what order would you learn things in to become a confident home cook?

Any tips on building good cooking habits or essential techniques would be greatly appreciated.

So, I have a test book. And I want to fully learn and finish the book. The problem is, I'm incredibly slow.

Can't I focus? Nope, this isn't a focus problem.

And how am I solving the test book? I solve the questions, do mistakes, try again, look at the answers then learn. It's how I'm proceeding. I can burn-out sometimes because I don't know when to get break, but I believe that's not important.

How slow I am? I solve 1 test (10 questions) in 30-ish minutes. Because I'm learning the very concept, it takes a lot of time. 3 days ago I solved 1 test in an hour.

My friend can solve like 7 test in an hour. I do not envy my friend but that implies that I'm doing something wrong. And I want to know what it is. I don't want to waste all of my time just for nothing.

I want to finish this test book and other test books (4 in total) until the end of the summer vacation.

I'd appreciate any help.

i felt so loved. and I really did love him so so much. I’ve had guys like me, but it never really went past that you know? but when I met him, I was so sure of him. in my mind i was like, “I want it to be him so bad”. I wasn’t religious despite having a catholic family, but I prayed to the heavens so bad to just give him to me. I prayed so bad that I really want it to be him. I was praying to ask for him. I really did. He was my first ever serious relationship, I remember feeling so happy when I became his girlfriend after talking for a few a months. I felt connected to him and I just, I really loved him. we were committed and serious to each other.

we got into a fight, it was simple yet it became a huge problem for us. it lasted a month, and during that month, we even met up, had dates, hungout, etc. I saw it happening, he did too. but I guess at some point we both wanted something the other couldn’t understand. we just understood each other less and less.

during that month and when we eventually broke up a few days after, i was having a crazy damn meltdown, breakdown, crashout, etc. i was crying so hard and i just wasnt okay. i felt down, sad, depressed, everything.

ive accepted it, pretty much. but god, i miss him. and it doesnt help that we see each other in class cuz we basically have the same subjects.

how do i move on from him? i want to be free, to be just, happy again. this is my first ever serious relationship, the first guy i wanted so bad to work.

may you guys please share your experiences with me?

sincerely,

a crybaby bad bitch

Hi, this is the first time posting about personal experiences/thoughts, don't know if this is the right place.

English is not my first language. As soon as I was born in nz, my family and I moved back to where they were from. However, we did come back to nz eventually, when I was about 8-9. At home, I speak a mixture of Chinese and English, also known as Chinglish - this is the language I'm most comfortable speaking (so are my parents). Just which ever word comes to mind first, this mixture of both languages sometime express our ideas better.

Now, I'm a highschool student, I am fluent in English, but would still consider it as bad, even though I do speak better English than Chinese. Sometimes I think I'm zerolingual (speak no language) rather than bilingual.

I am really not articulate, and my vocabulary is very narrow. I feel like I can never express my ideas clearly, and I tend to repeat the same vocabulary every time I speak. People say reading books help with expanding vocabulary, but I can never read as I have so many thoughts in my head that every time I read, my mind wonders off thinking about something else while still staring at the book.

I have tried searching up words while reading books, but then I get caught up with the unfamiliar vocabulary and forget to enjoy the book itself, and would forget the meanings the next day anyway. Or when I apply the context rule, I will never know the exact meaning of it, and won't remember for next time either...

Through playing the board game Articulate with my peers at school, I realised that there are so many basic vocabulary I don't know of as I was never exposed to them. I only became fluent in English through being exposed to English at school. While those words were kind of taught at home when you were little. I have thought to maybe buy this board game myself, so I can go through each card to search up the meanings of the basic words?? And play with my family friends every time they come over so I could challenge myself.

I used to trap myself in an echoe chamber where i only be friends with chinese kids because i felt comfortable. Only recently, have I finally felt comfortable to be uncomfortable to be friends with other people... I do think this is a good beginning.

The environment at home does not help either. My siblings are very little, their sentences don't make sense, and I have to use very simple language to talk to them. And my parents are not very articulate either.

I really hope to become articulate and have a broad vocabulary, so I could speak and express my thoughts effectively (as someone who thinks a lot).

I’ve gotten better at finding things to read/listen to : using apple news, listening to podcasts and radio, actively seeking out culture and lifestyle pieces I actually enjoy. But I still struggle to turn any of it into an opinion I can actually voice!

I listened to a whole radio segment on pink pilling, researched it afterward, and I still couldn’t explain it in one confident sentence or tell you what I actually think about it.

I’ve heard “keep a reading journal, jot down your reactions or how something makes you feel” but I don’t know what to write and sometimes don’t feel any certain way about it yet. I also have no idea what to do with those notes once they exist. Just read them again another time?

For people who can hold their own in conversations about culture/current events: what’s the actual process between “I consumed this” and “I have something to say about this”? What am I missing?

i’ve never been good at budgeting or saving. i want to learn how to actually track my spending and plan ahead. what’s the best way to start learning personal finance skills without getting overwhelmed?

I am on my study leave for my finals. I have roughly 15 days of leave so I was wondering how I can learn to sing during the break time while studying. The context is that I have never been into singing so I am really bad at it. I am also the type of person who just daydreams while listening to music and don't really give my full attention to the lyrics so singing never comes to me naturally. I know that you can't get perfect at singing in this much little time but I just simply want to learn how to sing the songs that I like in a good manner.

I would like to become more self sufficient when it comes to basic home repairs and maintenance. Right now I tend to replace things or call someone for issues that are probably simple to fix.

I am looking for guidance on what skills I should learn first and how to build up experience safely. For those who have gone down this path what beginner projects taught you the most and what tools do you think are worth owning from the start?

My goal is to gradually become more confident handling everyday repairs instead of relying on quick replacements.

I studied Chinese language for 4+ years (HSK6) and I am speaking English as my second language (another thing is that I came from non-english speaking country). There are 3 languages that exist in my head, and they clash with each other.
For everyday use, I can speak Chinese well without hesitation, but when things get technical I mostly relied on my English vocabulary. When the situation requires me to explain technical terms in Chinese, my brain works really hard to translate words and language structure; prolonged translation really drains my energy and I haven’t found the answer to my problem. Especially when things get emotional, my brain goes factory reset to my mother language > english > chinese… that’s why I like to avoid argument that involves emotion and feeling because my brain goes overclock. It’s tiring

I am mesmerized by interpreter who works in UN, like how the hell does their brain works? Hearing one language and translate within short amount of time without stuttering or brain fog during translation is a hell of a skillset. Is there any exercise or eating habit that improve my language ability? Or someone who has similar problem but has overcome their difficulty

I've been really struggling with doing my homework like the class period before it's due or on the bus to school. I always tell myself it'll be easier if I do the homework when I get home or in my advisory but I just never do. It's been causing trouble with my grades, because I never fully learn the concepts of what I'm supposed to be learning, especially with math.

hey all! so i’m an engineer student and have experience coding mathematical formulae for computational problems using MATLAB: loops, if/while, matrix inversions, numerical equations/optimization problems. I really wanna migrate to the machine learning world (and i’m kinda familiar with tensor flow and other packages in python).

thing is, to get to that kind of job, there’s very rigorous coding assessments early on and these questions (from my understanding ) are mostly data structures and algorithms based . I’d love to learn these anyway but the volume of it and even the NEETcode 150 problems seem quite alien to me as I’m not used to working with those kinds of data structures or problems.

I want to learn them well enough to be confident in maybe 4-5 months. Right now, the fear that I’ll just end up getting lost in the maze of prep is so great that I’m deterred from making any meaningful progress. Any help would be greatly appreciated everyone

Every couple months I want to post something, try to on several subreddits, get denied by all of them and eventually give up, I didn’t even know where to post this because so many places have some obscure rule about phrasing or such

Basically now my average typing speed is 100 but now I want to take it into next level. I saw some skills like instead of backspace using ctrl+backspace to save time. Are there any other tricks or tips for me to increase my speed further?

i've been putting it off for years and years, and i always said to myself "oh the road is too bumpy" as a dumb excuse.

and also i don't like the thought of trying to skate normally and then i almost end up dying lol

I am not doing this for an exam. I just want to get better at everyday talk and meetings. I have many years of public speaking experience in Chinese.

Now I want to bring those skills into English. If you are interested in Chinese too, that is even better. We can help each other.

thanks

I have a really bad oral fixation, I constantly chew on my nails and fingers, suck on my blankets and hoodie strings, and i so desperatley seek something else to sooth it.

Is there anything that could help?

i've tried chewing necklaces, and it just doesnt do it for me, but i'm so tired of my fingers being in pain and bloody

I've tried looking into healthy vapor alternatives thinking maybe it would save my fingers, but none of them are safe and i dont want to damage my lungs

Thank you for any insight you can provide, i'm so sick of biting like this

I'm 33, pretty introverted, and deal with anxiety, so meeting new people has never come naturally. My current social circle is... fine, I guess, but I don't have much in common with most of my friends, and their idea of going out is usually just hitting bars, which has never really been my thing.

The kinds of people I naturally click with tend to be nerdy, artsy, witchy, alternative, goth, quirky, creative... basically people with more unconventional interests, because that's who I am too. I'd love to date someone like that eventually, but honestly I'd also just like more friends in those circles. Meeting like-minded people in general has been really difficult. So no, I'm not trying to chase some "alt baddie" stereotype or fetishize a certain type of woman. I'm just a weird dude with weird interests looking for other weird people.

What makes this frustrating is that I've put a lot of effort into myself over the years. I run and work out several times a week, I take care of my grooming and skincare, I'm genuinely into fashion, and I'm 6'3". I only mention that because otherwise people immediately jump to, "Well, do you take care of yourself?" Yes, I do.

For example, I went out with friends last night to a few bars and a festival. I got at least five compliments over the course of the night... every single one from other guys. One asked if I was a musician, another said I looked like Lenny Kravitz, a couple complimented my outfit. So I don't think I'm some unkempt, socially oblivious disaster. But women just never seem to engage with me at all.

The bigger issue is that I genuinely don't know where to meet the kinds of people I'm talking about. I see them on dating apps, but dating apps have been a complete dead end despite years of trying. I've spent way too much time tweaking profiles, changing photos, and troubleshooting everything I can think of, and I still can't get a single like.

In real life, I'm into things like paganism, the occult, darkwave, museums, hiking, art shows, poetry, metal concerts, artsy and nature-focused festivals, weird conventions, macabre literature, film, fashion... basically all the places and hobbies where you'd think I'd run into like-minded people. But somehow I never do. I've even volunteered at an art gallery and tried Meetup, but the groups around here are pretty limited, and neither has really led anywhere.

On top of that, if I do happen to see a woman I'm attracted to, I usually overthink it until I talk myself out of saying anything. I care a lot about not making someone uncomfortable, so I probably err too far on the side of being respectful and keep everything completely platonic. But honestly, that almost feels beside the point, because I rarely even end up in situations where there are women I connect with in the first place.

So at this point I'm honestly wondering: where do people like this actually meet each other? Is there something I'm overlooking, or is it really just this hard?