I recently started getting serious about studying the FSOT and getting prepared for a career in foreign service but now I feel deflated and have lost a lot of hope. I like to do a lot of research in the very beginning of recognizing a new opportunity. I’m planning on studying international relations in college. I’m 19m and have a decent amount of travel experience in my belt. I own a small business that do part time but I’m seeing all these stories of it taking years on years to become a service officer and I’ve lost motivation. I can stick it out in the long but I’m also partially scared that if I do I’m going to completely regret it. I turn 20 in August and plan on doing a practice run on the FSOT to get my feet wet. Is what I’m feeling normal or am I just overly comparing myself to 25+ year olds who have decades of experience and im being hard on myself?

For context, I took Spanish 1 and 2 my first two years in high school. I opted out from taking AP Spanish Lang/Honors Spanish 3 Junior year because they both conflicted with other classes that I found more interesting, which I don't regret all that much.
Now, I'm realizing just how many colleges recommend 3+ years of foreign language, and my parents are urging me to complete another year. However, the only Spanish course offered during the 1 period I am willing to give up is AP Spanish Lit.
How possible is it that I can regain my spanish vocab, learn how to read older spanish, and lock in before the school year starts? Should I start looking for other ways to fulfill this requirement?

Hello again everyone! As some of you might remember, I posted about a month ago about the foreign exchange I’m taking the Czech Republic. I was wondering if you guys could give me some suggestions on Czech music, travel, culture, language learning, TV shows, etc. to help increase my knowledge of this amazing country. I still don’t know exactly what city I’ll be going to, but I will post updates to hopefully get more tips and advice! Thanks in advance!

I do not have a college degree. Actually, I dropped out of high school due to personal reasons, so I don't even have a high school diploma and have worked as a freelancer ever since.
Some of my customers in the past year have been Japanese, most of whom are small companies or startups (based in Japan). Working with them kinda got me interested in Japan and its people and language, and now I want to live there.
If I offer to work for one of these small companies as a full-time employee and get accepted, will I be able to apply for a working visa with their help?
If this helps, I'm a software and web developer and a Vietnamese born and bred. I also have experience as a personal language tutor. But then again, I don't really have any qualifications as I've always worked as a freelancer.

This is terribly random to mention on this forum, but I recently was messaged on LinkedIn by an employee of Bank of America. We work in the same industry, but I'm in college while he is a career professional in the same city.
He reached out, saying he came across my profile and wanted to connect, presumably about work or career stuff. I obliged, happy to hear from a professional. However, things got weird when he started asking me more personal things. I described a bit of my professional background and my hobbies, to which he responded with a question about my love languages (?). I was taken aback, so I didn't respond for a bit and pondered what to do. He also called me "gorgeous" and mentioned wanting to go rafting together later this week. It just doesn't seem right for me to respond to this behavior from a man about 10 years older than me. There's more to the messages than this, but that's a basic summary.
This all being said, is there someone who works for maybe HR at BofA who would know how to handle this? I really would like to keep the company in my good graces for the sake of my career trajectory, but I also want to make them aware that this is happening, unsolicited. Any advice?

WARNING: This story contains strong language, mild violence & fictional political radicalism.
(Note, this story portrays the human side in a morally negative light. If you do not like that, then turn back now.)

ULJJAK KASERKOR, ANDZAKTAR, THE HOMEWORLD, ANDZAK EMPIRE, 11,772 A.C. 

Standing in the centre of the Andzak Governing District, in the heart of the Andzak Empire, is the Tree of Civilisation. While there is no direct translation into Human Standard, the meaning of the tree, including its name, stood for the long continuity of Andzak civilisation and the Andzak Empire.
Surrounding the tree were the marvellous palaces of the Imperial Government, the Imperial Advisory Council directly appointed by the emperor among them. The palaces were meant to be opulent and expensive, as if you were a lowly governor coming in from the Outer Provinces, the rows and rows of perfectly symmetric crystalline walls combined with the mirrors to allow the Andzak aristocracy to witness the superb influence of the Imperial Authorities.
Looking into those spotlessly clean mirrors was me, Deputy Governor Uljjak Kaserkor. According to Imperial audits of my activities, I am a "sub-par administrator, foreign to both the Andzak Empire and it's traditions, and the Andzak aristocracy" as Councillor Dlirij once said. In short, they've been looking for an excuse to exile me to a low-ranking advisory position on a third-band world out in the middle of nowhere.
And, as such, I am keeping this diary to myself, so in the event that Councillor Dlirij or one of his cronies tries to bring up charges against me, I am capable of fighting them effectively.
So, what am I doing, thousands of lightyears from my homeworld looking up at the Tree? I am here to report to the Advisory Council of an intense gamma-ray disturbance next to the uninhabited system of [UAG-2113]. Gamma ray disturbances of this scale usually mean the development and testing of superluminal weapons, which are severely restricted under the [Interstellar Accords].
Superluminal weapons are capable of obliterating entire solar systems if given enough energy. The most powerful superluminal weapon ever tested by the Andzak Empire vaporised 3 light-years of space, and fried every unprotected electronic within 117 light-years.
So this means it is understandable that the Empire might be concerned by yet another civilisation in hold of these excessively powerful weapons, especially if they don't know who has them, and they're being tested in the Centauran Reserves, an area that has barely been explored by the Empire due to the Centauran Pandemic a hundred years ago.
By my side, is the Military Advisor Vraxh Huljukrj. To be honest, we don't get along, and while I technically outrank him, stripping him of his rank would be an essential guarantee that the Regional Military Consul would be pissed. Vraxh has gotten into the Armed Forces through nepotism with the Consul.
"So you're bothering the Advisory Council with third-world bullshit just because one sensor buoy near a system nobody's ever heard of in the middle of fucking nowhere read some extra spicy particles?"
Vraxh, for whatever reason, still won't understand the severity of the situation, despite me having explained it to him at least a hundred times over the past 2 weeks we've been travelling here.
"I have explained this to you half a dozen times Vraxh, if you pester me about this decision one more time I will eject the rest of your belongings into space!"
To be honest, I haven't been particularly kind to him either. He kept bugging me with intentionally annoying overexaggerated questions over the 2 weeks we've been travelling here, so while he was in the bathroom, I ejected the bed in his room into the vacuum of space. While he wasn't amused, I found it incredibly funny.
"Okayy, fuck! Fine.."
Maybe I'll have even garnered his false support when the aristocrats in the Advisory Council wonder what I'm doing there.
Me and Vraxh right behind me walked up to the meetings desk. Behind the desk, is a short and relatively aged Andzakian in the uniform worn by imperial servants. He is looking at his holopad, appearing to have not noticed the two borderworlders at the desk. I attempted to grab his attention.
"Hello, sir?"
The imperial servant didn't appear to be surprised, and just looked up at the two with a condescending glare, confirming that he did infact know they were there, and just didn't pay any attention.
"Imperial Advisory Council case #1,714?"
He said the words sharply, as if he had already thought of them hours in advance.
"Yes, sir. A gamma ray disturbance in syste-"
"I don't care. Wait in the lobby, when you are called, arrive on time."
The servant interrupted me rudely, before pointing at a sitting area in the lobby.
I walked over to the lobby and sat down, with Vraxh reluctantly following me. After half an hour of awkwardly silent waiting, the loudspeaker in the lobby called,
"Uljjak Kaserkor and Vraxh Huljukrj, attend conference chamber C-1 immediately."
I immediately got up pulling Vraxh with me, before hastily making my way over to the conference chamber.
The guards at the door opened the heavy chamber doors with a loud thunk.
Sitting in the furthest conference seat was- god damn it, I shouldn't have come!
Sitting in the fanciest conference seat of them all, was Councillor Dlirij, with the biggest shit-eating grin I've ever seen.
"Deputy Governor Uljjak Kaserkor. What matters do you disturb the Advisory Council with this time?" Dlirij said, in generic aristocratic government drone.
I steeled myself with my own government training, before responding through nearly clenched teeth,
"Councillor Dlirij, thank you for coming to address my meeting."
Saying it was my meeting whilst also not using the formal address style was something I knew would piss Dlirij off, but thankfully he couldn't do anything about it according to the formal rules of the palace.
Indeed, Dlirij's grin reduced and he just looked me in the eyes, before saying,
"Deputy Governor, get straight to the point. What do you have to show me?"
I laid out a briefcase on the table, opening it and beginning to explain.
"3 weeks ago, an intense gamma event occured in the uninhabited system [UAG-2113], 3,679 light-years from the Homeworld."
I took a deep breath.
"As you would know as a Councillor, Councillor Dlirij, gamma-intense events in this fashion nearly always signal the activation of a superluminal weapon, legally considered an ultraintense weapon by the Interstellar Accords and thus prohibited for any Interstellar State to possess them aside from the Andzak Empire, the Union of Galactic Republics, and the Ksirlok Dependency."
I paused.
"I am requesting an Advisory Council initiated investigation into what caused the disturbance. If this is not achieved, it could be greatly threatening to the order in the Galaxy."
I then handed Dlirij the papers, which he started to look through.
In the silence while Dlirij looked through the papers, Vraxh had said nothing. I gave him a subtle glare for him to contribute, which he did. He reluctantly said, without thought,
"Councillor Dlirij, the Military Consulate will be the next to be contacted, if we do not succeed here."
I was not pleased with what Vraxh had said. He tried to challenge the Councillor's authority with a threat to go to the military establishment if we got nowhere here. I opted to remain silent though.
Dlirij looked at Vraxh with a glare of anger, before looking back down at the papers.
A few more awkward minutes passed, before Dlirij passed the papers back to me.
"So, you spend 2 weeks travelling to the Imperial Homeworld and the most honourable palaces of the Empire, with your little sidekick, just to bother me, Hasjaxhar Dlirij, with gamma radiation readings from one isolated buoy, nevertheless in the Centauran Reserves, where it has been proven by the Imperial Surveying Authority that there is no intelligent life?"
Dlirij's hand moved underneath the table.
"Councillor Dlirij, I believe you are mistaken by what I have given an explained to you, please-"
At this moment the guards burst through the door, before knocking us both out with the butt of their plasma rifles.
...

SEVEN FOUR EIGHT, NEW YORK CITY, TERRA, ALMIGHTY CELESTIAL STATE, 147 A.R. 

"...Comrades! On this date, July 16th, 147 years since the Revolution, humanity has taken yet another great leap under the leadership of the State. On this day, we have successfully detonated a superluminal weapon."
"A weapon that breaks the laws of the universe, a weapon that propels an object at thousands of times the speed of light, before dropping it back into realspace just before it hits its target. A weapon that, prior to today, the distant enemies of humanity cannot have dreamed of. A weapon that has just obliterated the Wolf 359 star system. Due to the ingenuity of our technology, not only do we get to witness the flash of our excellence, but we can also observe from this distance with our electronics intact!"
"Today, from this date, humanity is not only indivisible, but invincible! We, led forwards by the State, shall never be destroyed by those distant in the void, and our Black Banner shall soon fly on every planet in the Milky Way!"
The crowd cheered.
From my position, it looked fairly typical for a propaganda gathering. Soldiers surrounding the speaking Party official on a tall podium, with the Black Banner of the Almighty Celestial State flying calmly but sternly in the wind. Mounted to structures surrounding the gathering area are various slogans of the Celestial State, among them "HUMANITY INDIVISIBLE" and "THE STARS ARE OURS".
Truth be told, I am not an avid supporter of the ideology or the State. I come from a rural background in the middle of nowhere in North America, and have only joined the Armed Forces because the Party Militia showed up for their quota of soldiers.
In the State, all jobs are connected to, and thus in support, of the Armed Forces. While I was perfectly happy to continue living a solitary life with my family in rural America, I honestly didn't have much choice, and so here I am.
After the gathering, we are told to go back to our barracks and thus be assigned roles by the commanding officer.
I come through the door, and am immediately escorted to the commanding officer with two elite Party Militia members to my side.
"Soldier #7,487,782,311. Due to demand, you are being changed from Military Communications to Reconnaissance starting immediately. You will be transported to the Orbital Station, before boarding a Javelin class reconnaissance ship. The ship will not set sail into the void immediately, so the new crew can get accommodated."
"Got it, commissar. I will be ready in 5 minutes."
The commissar seemed to offer a pleasant nod, before stamping my identity card with the official Government stamp. It read,
"ALMIGHTY CELESTIAL STATE
#7,487,782,311
APPROVAL TO LEAVE THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT
ISSUED BY C.O. #2,349,522 - IF DISCREPANT CONTACT NUMBER ON SLIP"
I packed all of my belongings into a state-issued carrying pack.
Looking at how many belongings I have, pretty much just my uniform and Communication Device made me reminiscent for a time I never lived. How was the world before the Revolution? According to my family, the world was far better before the Revolution. They even had food that they could buy from private individuals, and not just State rations, which I find hard to believe.
The Communications Device had a light next to it's camera that blinked red every few seconds. This was to indicate that the camera was actively recording and watching me. I decided to stop thinking treasonous thoughts, and finished folding and packing my uniform, before taking my carrying pack with me.
After leaving the barracks, I walk past a building with the Emblem of the Celestial State painted on one of the walls, with artistic sunrays surrounding it. There are soldiers saluting the emblem, surrounded by armed party militia, while reciting the pledge of loyalty. I continue walking between two barracks towards the rocket area.
This base is lucky specifically to have it's own dedicated orbital rocket area. If I was stationed out west, I'd likely have to spend hours in the back of a troop transport vehicle being driven to the nearest site.
After a few minutes of walking down the bleak path, I reach the rocket area. There are people queuing to get in the rockets, and I join the queue. All of the soldiers infront of me look at the very least uncomfortable, and some look terrified. While looking ahead of me, a place ahead of me I see a vaguely familiar face.
"Eight one four, do I recognise you?"
His eyes go wide, and he recognises me almost immediately.
You see, this is a childhood friend of mine. Was my neighbour, in the rural countryside and the absence of the state, fuck, even when some parts were controlled by the Resistance, we could play forbidden games from the pre-revolution world.
I moved away from him probably 4 or 5 years ago with my family, which ended up being a mistake. It was in a larger community where the Guards showed up and conscripted me alongside a number of my family members.
"Yes, yes! I recognise you! An-"
Without even thinking, I cover his mouth with my hand.
"Don't!"
His face goes white and he realises the mistake he was about to make, and thus addresses me the proper informal way.
"Seven four eight, how have you been?"
"I've been decent. Can't say too much to be honest. Just bumbled around trying to look for something to do. Then I ended up here. You know how that's like."
Eight four one chuckles.
"Yeah, I know how it is."
We both tried to avoid treasonous language, which prevented us from having a meaningful discussion. It was nice to catch up though.
The line slowly moves forwards. I am close enough to the entrance of the orbital craft to hear a commotion ahead involving my friend.
"Soldier #8,142,327,494! Present your identity documents!"
The Soldier ruffles through his carry pack looking for his identity documents, and after a while, finds them.
"Eight one four! These documents do not have the commissar stamp!"
Two militia members point their service rifles at my unfortunate friend. I am enraged and know what is about to happen, but there is nothing I can do. I look around and see the guardsmen in the guards building, as well as a few guards snipers in watchtowers above us.
I helplessly watch as a third guardsman knocks him to the ground with the butt of his rifle, before he is hand and leg cuffed and escorted away. New militiamen come out of the guards building to take up their positions. I just silently hang my head, performing a neutral expression.
I arrive at the front of the line.
"#7,487,782,311! Your permission slip!"
I feel for it in the pocket in my pants, as that's where I left it.
Except, my pocket is flat, with no identity documents, I frantically feel inside the pocket, and do not feel them.
My face goes white and it feels like my knees are about to give way.
I look inside my carry pack with the guard giving me an intense stare. I find my documents, and hand them to the guard. He checks and verifies them, and I am let past. While walking past the guard, I hear over my shoulder from the other guard,
"Seven four eight. Do not forget the location of your identity documents next time. You know the consequences."
I walk aboard the ship without holding up the line, and sit down in a cramped troop transport seat. It wouldn't matter, entering orbit only takes a few minutes.
I look out of the orbit craft door towards my friend being escorted away into the distance, he gives me one final, depressed look, before him and his escort round the corner.
After a few minutes, the last soldier in the line is boarded onto the ship, and a loudspeaker voice calls to the gathering area that the ships will be leaving.
The landing door closes and the ship shudders. Due to the lack of windows, I have no idea what is going on outside. I am pressed back and down into my seat, as the ship accelerates into the sky.
The acceleration gradually slows until I can only feel the shudder of the ship fighting the atmosphere as it leaves. Gradually, gravity weakens and I begin to feel no weight in my seat.

EIGHT ONE FOUR, NEW YORK CITY, TERRA, ALMIGHTY CELESTIAL STATE, 147 A.R. 

As I round the corner, I see my friend's look on his face. Steeled sadness. I appreciated it in a world of no emotion.
The guardsmen around me had tied my leg cuffs too tightly but were also forcing me to hurry up and walk at their speed.
As I am forced underneath the temporary holding shelter, my leg cuffs are cuffed to a support beam of the structure. The guards then walk into the commissar's office, while a guard in a watchtower keeps an eye on me.
I see the landing ship my friend is on slowly start hover into the sky. Blue plasma shoots out of its 4 engine ports. It stops increasing in altitude, turns around and rapidly accelerates. I see it shoot off into the distance with a vapor cone around it's tail. The extremely loud rumble of it's engines slowly gets quieter and quieter, until it disappears from view.
The guards return from the commissar's office.
Both with neutral steeled expressions return to the shelter. I am held down and injected with a needle, and my vision slowly fades to black.

Hi all - realllyyyyy struggling on a work trip at the moment. My anxiety makes me clam up and not want to contribute to conversations. I literally don’t know what to say most of the time and I feel like I’m just the quiet one sitting in the corner looking like an idiot.
If someone asks me a basic question I get too nervous to answer. This seems to happen with people I’m unfamiliar with and just getting to know. I was literally just asked if I’ve been to Florida before (yes) when I was asked which part I blanked and stumbled on getting to the answer. If someone asked me my favorite band or movies - I wouldn’t know how to answer on the spot.
I literally feel dumb. Someone just guessed that I was between the ages of 19-25, assumingely because my social capabilities are so inept.
I’ve always had social anxiety to some degree but feel like the pandemic has almost completely ruined me - I work from home in isolation most of the time so sober interactions in quiet intimate settings are so foreign to me. I also HATE giving presentations. My voice gets extremely shakey, as do my hands, and I wouldn’t trust a word that came from my frantic voice. In high school and college I would rarely raise my hand to contribute to class discussion for fear of sounding like an idiot.
Basically I rarely feel confident. How the HELL will this get better for me at 30 years old? Is anti anxiety medicine a solution? I hate feeling like I have the social capacity of a high schooler.

Hi ladies - realllyyyyy struggling on a work trip at the moment. My anxiety makes me clam up and not want to contribute to conversations. I literally don’t know what to say most of the time and I feel like I’m just the quiet one sitting in the corner looking like an idiot.
If someone asks me a basic question I get too nervous to answer. This seems to happen with people I’m unfamiliar with and just getting to know. I was literally just asked if I’ve been to Florida before (yes) when I was asked which part I blanked and stumbled on getting to the answer. If someone asked me my favorite band or movies - I wouldn’t know how to answer on the spot.
I literally feel dumb. Someone just guessed that I was between the ages of 19-25, assumingely because my social capabilities are so inept.
I’ve always had social anxiety to some degree but feel like the pandemic has almost completely ruined me - I work from home in isolation most of the time so sober interactions in quiet intimate settings are so foreign to me. I also HATE giving presentations. My voice gets extremely shakey, as do my hands, and I wouldn’t trust a word that came from my frantic voice. In high school and college I would rarely raise my hand to contribute to class discussion for fear of sounding like an idiot.
Basically I rarely feel confident. How the HELL will this get better for me at 30 years old? Is anti anxiety medicine a solution? I hate feeling like I have the social capacity of a high schooler.

Junior 3.7 GPA 2 Honors and 1 AICE class this year From a foreign country Next year 4 APs and 5 Honors Debate club congress member 10th-12th grade Basketball in 9th grade Drama Club in 9th and 10th grade Piano since middle school Flute since middle school 4 years of Physics and Biology in my home country French, English, Spanish and Creole spoken as languages Social media page based around journalism Newspaper Writing Contest Creative Writing in French and English Possibly golf or bowling next year ? French and English NHS Female leadership community program Recognized by French National Debate Association and Best Debater prize in 10th grade SAT 1240(720 on English and Reading, this was my first time but I just really need to improve math and I'll be good) I don't really know where I want to go (I just want to leave Florida lol) so can I have any suggestions? (Even international ones)

College Breakup
My boyfriend (‘19M’) broke up with me (‘19F’) three days after returning home from living together at a dorm for a year. We spent fall semester and spring semester together in a dorm and then after three days of returning home, he breaks up with me, I’m heartbroken and I want him back but doesn’t want me. He broke up with me in person. But it was rushed. We have been together for two years high school sweethearts. After he left, he had sent me this text message
None of it was fake Mia. Everything I did, I did it with the best intentions. You’re were everything to me despite my confusion. I just don’t think we’re right for each other. I don’t want you to change. I don’t want you to think it’s you. I know that it seems that I led you on, and maybe I did but I don’t see it that way. I knew I cared for you, I knew you were one of my best friends but I was just confused. I don’t know what it is but I just don’t feel the type of love I should be feeling. It’s just not fair that you feel what you should be feeling in the relationship and I’m not. It’s been eating me up inside Mia. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be doubting my own feelings because I know that isn’t love. I shouldn’t be doubting. I shouldn’t be unsure if you’re the right one for me. That isn’t the love this relationship needs. I’m sorry
And return I sent this text message back to him at 2 AM 😭😭😭
I don’t know how to start this text because the more I replay our conversation you started it off with I think we should break up. Meaning I had a chance to voice why we shouldn’t and why I should stay with you and cherish you and love you and listen to you, but I didn’t. I started to cry and choke up on my words, all I could say was don’t do this. I can’t deny that it has been a hard semester for us. I have been dealing with depression that comes and goes, causing me to be unproductive, and I understand how that can be seen as unattractive and confusing to you because I don’t wake up in time to go see your games, but will tell you heart That I love you and I want to be there for you. I get why you’re confused and it’s my fault. We hurried into relationship out of lust because we love to have sex with each other. It’s weird to think that we started the relationship not really talking to each other because we were moaning in one ear too much to care about what we thought. And when we would talk, we would forget you mean so much to me Samuel and I’m so sorry I didn’t have the correct morals to show that to you when I first met you, let me take accountability how I started our relationship but also let me that we are a team. I want to make decisions with you. I want to continue learning with you. I want to be sober. I don’t want to forget any detail about you. I understand the importance of communication hence why I’m sending you this Bible ass text message. I’m ready to have those tough conversations with you. Rebuilding trust won’t be easy because of let you down countless times, but please don’t let me end the conversation with we are just breaking up. We aren’t two different people we are sarcastic, stubborn, caring, charismatic, driven/lazy motivated people. Truthfully, when you said, we are two different people I don’t think that’s the worst thing it takes someone out of your comfort zone to grow and further develop into the person you want to become, I love you Samuel . I know you say people can’t change but I’m living proof because I feel more logical after meeting you. Lol I’m stronger emotionally unless I’m on my period. I’m a little bitch. Please don’t close yourself off to the idea of change. If you fell out of love with me, still consider me one of your best friends. You still have a platonic love for me remember one argument we had and I ended it with maybe we should go back to the basics and you said well I already know the basics about you, maybe we were looking at a relationship wrong. Every day we should have questions and curiosities left unanswered the day before that we questioned to each other. I just don’t wanna lose you somewhat. I’m willing to change my approach at a relationship to save this one now though I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with how we love each other, we just need more structured foundation that satisfies both of our love languages and doesn’t leave us feeling lonely and like we aren’t going through this together. I wanna fold clothes for you. I wanna make you feel good. I want to be your wife, but I also don’t want to force you to love me hence why am giving you a week to think about things. If you do want to talk by the end of the week, so maybe rekindle our relationship I don’t think we should go back directly to us having sex so often also setting clear intentions for each other even though that’s kind of gay but we both are hurting because of this break up and need to accept that we both need boundaries to be able to be individuals but also also a team team.
I’m heartbroken and just want to get back together with him. I feel manipulated because we had sex almost every day up into leaving college. I feel kind of used and let on if he tells me he’s not romantically in love with me, but he’s still considers me one of his best friends. It means he still must have some type of , love for me.
I haven’t texted him since the break up and don’t intend to text him for a week. Can I get advice for anyone going through a similar situation?
Should I even want to get back with him?
He never even responded to my text so I don’t even know if you want to meet up in a week to discuss anything

So I am an aspiring actor and have acted in a few small things however I’m wanting to move to Thailand once I’m able to and was thinking of going to college in Thailand. Is there acting colleges in Thailand? If so do they accept foreigners and also wheather there is or isn’t how hard is it as a foreigner to get acting jobs in Thailand?

This is strictly my own experience. I've sounded near-native in two different languages in total. I do not sound near-native in Italian anymore.
I can pass for a native speaker on a good day in my main TL.
Downsides:

1. You will impress no one. Everybody will just assume you have foreign parents, including teachers.
2. People will expect you to have native-like cultural knowledge of your target country of adoption.
3. Folks will get greatly offended if you make a social faux pas.
4. Body language may not give you away, but you'll look weird if you do not adapt your body language, too.
5. You'll constantly feel like a spy who's one mistake away from getting found out. My dream was to become a spy as a kid. That's partly why I got into accent reduction. I promise you constantly being careful is no fun.
6. There's almost no chance this whole charade will become fully natural to you. There are thousands of ways you could blow your cover.
7. People forgive foreigners easier for social mistakes and accidental rudeness.
8. The only thing a foreigner might think is interesting about you is that you're not from their country. In other words, unless your personality type is particularly pleasant to be around, passing for a native may just turn you into someone boring in the eyes of a foreigner.
9. The amount of work to get a native-like accent is brutal. I enjoyed the journey, but boy is it a huge waste of time. Be prepared to invest thousands of hours into perfecting a few sounds.
10. It requires constant maintenance.
11. No one will praise you anymore. You were born a native speaker, right? You're not special anymore. And if you try to tell somebody you actually studied for years to get that accent... They'll just dismiss it, or think you're a liar, or get offended.
12. If they do believe you, well, either they'll feel slightly betrayed because you "tricked" them, or they'll be impressed for a minute... Then move on. They most likely do not want a detailed account of your journey learning their language.

I loved working on accent reduction, because it became a true passion.
But it is thankless, and the end result will pretty much never be perfect.
Please do not glamorize sounding like a native. It's an arbitrary goal that says nothing about your true linguistic abilities.

For those of yall who are still curious and want to apply or have already applied to this program, I’d love to share my experience with how it went! For context, I attended the Business & Communications Summer Abroad Internship to Tokyo, Japan last year 2023. Feel free to ask me any questions regarding the internship, Japan, tips, etc… and I hope this helps!
Getting the internship (Pre-departure) To start off, I was very scared when I didn’t hear back about whether or not I had a secured internship. Maria from ICC reached out sometime in March and April for an info meeting about my preferences. Communication was definitely very slow but I imagine that ICC was pretty busy with so many students. They were finally able to get back to me sometime in late May to say that I have an internship. The experience varied for each person in the program, some got their interviews early enough, while others desperately waited until June before the program started to have it confirmed. We were all assigned to different companies which were smaller in size and were typically startups. Around 2-4 people were assigned to the same company so definitely reach out to your peers! A couple of people also found out that their internship would be done remotely or hybrid, which is both good and bad, depending on how you would like your experience.
Housing situation: ICC also arranged our housing arrangements. They didn’t get back until either late May or June (I forgot but it was super late) where we would be placed. We were all placed in sharehouses, so you would be living in your own room (thank god) and with fellow interns. There were multiple sharehouses that we were assigned to, but it was a great way to meet people and make new friends to tour around Japan with. Rooms were super tiny with barely enough space, but at least we all had our own mini fridge and AC. The sharehouse itself was also super small unfortunately, but there was a kitchen, enough bathrooms, and laundry machines. There were too different programs that went to Tokyo, Japan during this time (Business & Communications, Computer Science & Engineering) but we were all mixed together. I was in a sharehouse with a bunch of CS people even though I’m in the Business program. Also, be warned that you need to separate your trash on trash day or they won’t even take it!
First week (Language classes): Classes were around 2 hours long each day for a week and were held at a fancy building in Shibuya. It was useful for people who didn’t know any Japanese to learn basic key phrases, but I personally didn’t find it useful as someone who has already learned a good amount. There were also Japanese college students that helped out with the class which was nice. I went to the first class, and then skipped the rest (so pretty much optional), so I can’t give much info about the contents of the class. But, since the classes were short, we all made plans to explore Tokyo after the classes. I highly recommend booking any whole day activities such as Disneyland on this week because you won’t be able to do that once you start the internship. Make good use of this time to explore Japan because the weather in mid-June is like perfect!! I can give more recommendations for places to explore if anyone wants.
The internship: This is different for most people, but my internship was held in-person every weekday from 9-5 which was kind of grueling because I wished I had more time to explore during the day. Those who had remote internships were able to work in cute cafes which made me jealous lol. But while my office was super nice (in a high rise building in Shibuya), there wasn’t much work I had to do, cause supervision was lenient. So I spent a lot of time just doing nothing, but honestly that’s my fault for not putting my all into the internship. At first it was fine, but when you are stuck in an office for 8 hours a day, it gets super irritating. And on top of that the commute was so annoying - I always had to wake up early to rush to the train and commute is ~1 hour for me ahhh. At some point, you start living off the convenience store meals too, because you gotta save money lol. What sucked was that after the day, you are either so exhausted that you just go back home to rest, or walk around and explore the city on your own or with friends. But that also tires you out hella.
The planned trips: ICC took us to a good amount of fun places. It may be different for each group, but we had a trip to Fujikyu Highland (an amusement park) which was crazy fun and some people even decided to stay the night there to climb Mount Fuji! We had a trip around Asakusa where they took us to a restaurant for lunch and then took a ferry from there to Odaiba. We also had a trip to Mother Farm (I didn’t go for reasons I forget) but it was basically a zoo and yes there were capybaras. They also hosted a talk somewhere in Shinjuku with Domino’s pizza and charcuterie. And at the end of our internship, there was a BBQ night. The trips were optional, but you need to tell ICC beforehand. Plus, you paid for it, so why not go?
The assignments: Assignments weren’t too difficult. You mostly had to write a few paragraphs about your experiences and also respond to discussions. I think a few of us turned in our assignments late cause we forget, but you gotta do those annoying essays sigh.
My thoughts: I definitely tried to make use of all my time in Japan. The people in my sharehouse were super nice, we all got along so often went out together to restaurants, clubs, etc. Definitely made the experience so much more fun because of that. Also I recommend booking your flight to leave a few days after the program ends to fully enjoy more of Japan before you head back. It was a pretty expensive program (~$10,000 for the program alone), and if you consider the flight ticket, meals, shopping, and any other fun expenses, its definitely A LOT. You WILL lose a lot of money on this trip, so save up for it if possible. Hope this helps, and seriously ask me anything, I'd love to share more!!

Hi everyone, this is my first post here so if I do something wrong it’s simply naivety so please be kind. I am 6 months this into a contract role and was literally thrown into the role - it’s also a new Industry for me, being banking, and I came from law so it’s literally like being plonked into a foreign speaking country and not knowing the language or the customs…very nerve wracking. What has shocked me is the total lack of support I am receiving. I work few days home, few in office and most of my team I don’t see face to face; my colleague who trained me and who is also sort of my boss never responds to my questions if there is a task I have not completed before and have a question to be answered in order to complete the task …she quite often ignores me, which is ok some of the time as I’m forced to either guess the answer or find the information to proceed with the request, but sometimes I cannot source the info I need and I am forced to seek assistance, which isn’t being received, which has increased my stress levels so much it’s now starting to effect my health physically and mentally. I am no longer happy in my job, I’m depressed, unmotivated, uninterested and no longer care about my job at all really… and feel extremely alone with no support and stressed a lot of the time. What should I do? Would love to hear from anyone if you’d like to weigh in, I would massively appreciate some opinions and advice here! :)

Moved into a place with two girls who are best friends. They went to college together, graduated, and I (25F) am a bit older. One of them I generally like-- they're both sweet, but the other one is kind of weird. Non-confrontational, a bit passive aggressive, and acts indifferent generally. Her vibe has been throwing me off. All three of us aren't clean at all, and I can admit to that. They both throw parties with their friend group and invite me, and I sometimes engage to be friendly, but generally keep to myself. I can be a bit of a black cat at home, but I pitch in and am friendly. The one I don't fuck with doesn't really make eye contact with me, and gives me one word answers, which is frustrating. She was nice at first, but I think maybe she's feeding off my energy(?)
Anyway, she's been telling me to clean my dishes out of the sink, which I've been doing to completion the past 3 times because I don't wanna argue, but I am positive they both leave their shit in the sink. She constantly leaves pans out with residue from her food. Recently when they had a party they left balloons out on the floor for a week afterwards which I told them to clean up.
So recently, the sink has been gross, so I said to them both in our chat to be more mindful. She hit me back with a response saying both her and our other roomie (her BFF) clean their dishes ASAP which I know is a fucking lie because I saw her shit from this morning in the sink and I regularly clean her pan to use cause she's bad at doing it. I confronted them both about it, and one of them was super agreeable, understandable, and mature, but this chick tried to argue with me a bit, gave me a bit of a cold shoulder, and generally was pretty stand-offish during this convo. Not to mention she had been having a friend over without telling me, and I told her to be mindful of telling me. I asked her during our confrontation if she had anything to say, and she said no, but I could tell by her body language she was annoyed about something. I asked her about this, and she said she was annoyed because I asked why she was annoyed Lol.
So basically since it's the 3 of us, and the two are close friends, I know theyre both talking about me behind my back in the house, and I feel like the villain right now. I have this habit of wanting to call shit out before it happens, but I know it's not productive with her. IDK I'm venting, but I just feel a bit outnumbered here and like I'm wrong despite the fact I was trying to stick to facts and be cordial.

So I want to learn to speak Tagalog. Yes I know there are many variations. I’m looking for the most prominent one similar to mandarin/cantonese.
Quite simply I work in nursing and so many people are from the phillipines. I hear Tagalog all day long. Not a problem.
But I’m also on dialysis . Have kidney failure. And there’s this girl these that I talk to a lot….. she speaks Tagalog. I though it would be cool to learn a bit….im a simple man…. When I was with my ex I learned beginners French……
Anyways, I’m reading a book on Tagalog and watching some videos and its the same problem I had with French. I know Spanish and English. So I try to speak those when I try another language. But I learned those by starting with the alphabet then gramatical rules. Then progressing to words…. For example CAT = ccc—aaaa—-tttt…. And GATO…… gh… ah…. Ttt….O. And French - CHATTE. I can literally hear those words, they sound similar and spell them out because I know those alphabets and grammar rules. When I’m reading or listening to Tagalog…. It sounds different. The letters don’t seem to always correspond with the character itself. And I’m trying to find a book on grammatical rules.
Question: how do you guys teach children Tagalog? Outside of school? What resources/ rules, things help them learn….
They say it’s harder to learn a language the older you get. I disagree….. it’s more that the people teaching you are adults. And they are teaching you as another adult and not as they would a child learning the rules. My approach to Tagalog would be to try from the basics and build to try to avoid any bad habits.
Anyways , thank you.
Serious people only please. If you hate foreigners, that’s a you problem. I have no problems with anyone. This is a serious enquiry. Looking for actual learning material.

I'm procrastinating and am in a storytelling mood, so here is one full of teenage stupidity.
Part one: The crush that only lasted two weeks : D
I was 16 (F) at the time and decided to dual enroll in a community college to take French, so I could knock out the two years of foreign language requirement in one semester. I had never taken French before, so jumping right into the college level was tough, but luckily the college provided peer tutors.
There was only one French tutor. He was 23, spoke three languages, was well-traveled, had dark curly hair, etc. I thought he was very attractive.....for about two weeks. I got to know him and discovered he hated any disagreement. If we had different opinions on food, he'd shut the conversation down. If we had different tastes in art, he'd shut the conversation down. This was very annoying and made me lose attraction to him, so I decided we would only ever be just friends.
Part two: The promptly ignored red flags
I was very shy, so for a while, he was my only friend. We hung out all the time. He'd help me with my French and I'd help him with English. He'd walk me to my high school. It was a good system in my mind, but here were all the things in our friendship that I ignored:

• Constant touching. We'd be in the middle of a tutoring session, and he'd playfully kick me under the table. I'd tell him to stop, and he wouldn't. Other examples: If I wasn't paying attention to him, he'd touch my ear or jaw. If I was walking faster than him, he'd grab my arm to force me to slow down. It never mattered if I asked him not to touch me.
• Taking pictures of me without my knowledge. He asked me once if we could take a picture together, and I explained that I don't like being in pictures. So he started taking pictures of me when I wasn't looking.
• Constantly commenting on how I looked. "You're so pretty." "Dang those eyes." "I like it better when you wear red." "I like that you don't wear makeup." "You're like a pretty bird. I think that's what I'll call you from now on." "I like that you're slim."
• Making me feel bad for not talking to him. If I took too long to respond to his texts he'd sometimes send messages like, "I get the feeling that one day you're never going to talk to me again." To which my bumb butt would respond with, "What?! No, I love talking to you! Why would you think that?"

Why did I ignore my discomfort with him touching me, taking pictures, etc.? Because I sincerely thought I was the problem. I thought he was being a normal friend and I was in the wrong for being too insecure to like that stuff.
Part three: The confession
He told me he loved me in a text. Two weeks before my French final I woke up to this:
Him: "I'm in love with you, but I think you only see me as a friend. Is this true?"
Me: "Yes. I'm sorry..."
Him: "I'm dead. You killed me."
Part Four: The falling out
He started posting passive-aggressive things on Instagram about me and also ignored me in person until after finals. Luckily, I was able to work up the courage to ask a classmate to be my study buddy, so I wasn't screwed for the final.
I tried to still be his friend after, but then COVID happened. From 2020-2022 he would send me a simple "Are you still alive?" message for every birthday and major holiday. I responded to them at first but got frustrated with him blaming his loneliness on me. I blocked him after I found out he was flirting with my friend, who was younger than me. She was 16, and he was 25 at the time....
Oh boy does being an adult now put the past in an interesting perspective...

I don’t really know where to start, so I’ll just spit out whatever comes to mind first.
I’m from England, I’m a white boy, I have autism & ADHD, I’m in year 10, and I don’t know what to do with myself. This isn’t just exam stuff but it’s life stuff in general as well.
In year 10 we’ve started covering GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) content in lessons, and so teachers are constantly emphasising how things will be on the exam and that we need to revise and that all of it is important stuff. But there’s so much. Dear God there is so much content that you have to take in and revise and remember and regurgitate and if you can’t regurgitate on exam day? You’re just fucked. You get one singular chance to get a good grade on your GCSEs and if you’re having an off day, or forgot to revise one event, or got an unfamiliar question, or the stress gets to you, you can’t do anything about it. It doesn’t fucking matter if you do excellently in lesson, it doesn’t matter if you’re a brilliant student, it doesn’t matter if you have a passion for the subject, if you can’t put pen to paper on this ONE FUCKING DAY then the REST OF YOUR LIFE is completely fucked. There is a ONE MARK DIFFERENCE between getting a five and a six, and if your number one college needed a six… oh well, I guess you can’t get in there anymore. THE ENTIRE IDEA OF EXAMINATIONS IS FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED and it makes me beyond livid that it’s still like this today. I can’t be the only person who finds it so utterly demeaning to get a score equal to someone who spends their lessons not engaging when you’ve had your hand up constantly and been getting notes down consistently.
Why is it like this?
Why can some people grasp new and complex concepts with ease and perform excellently in exams whilst other people are sat, dumbfounded and pull their hair out in exams out of stress? I take Maths, RE / RS, Spanish, Computer Science, History, Drama, English Language, English Literature, and the Sciences. In fact, Science is a brilliant example. I’m currently in a triple class in science, purely because of being an active and inquisitive participant in lessons. But I’m only okay at exams. What really hurts the most is that there are people in the class who can be disruptive and shit who get consistently higher grades.

Hi everyone,
I’m David from California, USA. I’m 22 years old. I’m looking for a serious relationship with a loyal lady. My hobbies are reading books, listening to music/podcasts, watching movies/tv, playing guitar, learning about foreign languages and cultures.
Favorite movies/genres: Romance movies: Titanic, and The Notebook
Comedies: Just Go With It, Grown Ups, Billy Madison, and etc.
Favorite music: Country Music, Classic Rock, some Hip Hop, and old school Soul music like Motown.
Artists: George Strait, George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Bon Jovi, and etc.
Favorite foods: pasta, burgers, chicken wings, ice cream, cookies, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and etc. I respond pretty fast so feel free to message me.
I want this in a partner:
Kind, loyal, caring, supportive, loving, respectful, understanding, and has self respect. Inner beauty is more important to me than outer beauty, but I do hope to be still attracted to who ever I’m talking too. I look forward to your messages ladies. I love movies, books, music, and learning foreign languages and about other cultures.
I also want someone who is: loyal, kind, loving, caring, respectful, understanding, and affectionate.
I also HIGHLY 100% respect ALL females. I 100% believe that EVERY woman should be treated like queens and respected, honored, loved, and adored by their man, because without any women no human being would be able to be born into this world. Please chat me up and tell me more about you, your interests, and why you would make a wonderful partner. Also please include your pictures when you message me. Thanks and I hope to meet my special someone! Btw I have a visual impairment and a mild hearing loss and other disabilities.