Nick talks about decisions at different ages in people's lives. This will help with IELTS Speaking Part 3 or Writing Part 2. 

IELTS with Nick - World Knowledge 

What kind of big decisions do people make in their lives?

...
Тихо тянулись дни, тихо вставало горячее солнце и обтекало синее небо, распростершееся над Волгой и ее прибрежьем. Медленно ползли снегообразные облака в полдень и иногда, сжавшись в кучу, потемняли лазурь и рассыпались веселым дождем на поля и сады, охлаждали воздух и уходили дальше, дав простор тихому и теплому вечеру.

Если же вдруг останавливалась над городом и Малиновкой черная туча и разрешалась продолжительной, почти тропической грозой — все робело, смущалось, весь дом принимал, как будто перед нашествием неприятеля, оборонительное положение. Татьяна Марковна походила на капитана корабля во время шторма.

— Гасить огни, закрывать трубы, окна, запирать двери! — слышалась ее команда. — Поди, Василиса, посмотри, не курят ли трубок? Нет ли где сквозного ветра? Отойди, Марфенька, от окна!

Пока ветер качал и гнул к земле деревья, столбами нес пыль, метя поля, пока молнии жгли воздух и гром тяжело, как хохот, катался в небе, бабушка не смыкала глаз, не раздевалась, ходила из комнаты в комнату, заглядывала, что делают Марфенька и Верочка, крестила их и крестилась сама, и тогда только успокоивалась, когда туча, истратив весь пламень и треск, бледнела и уходила вдаль.

Утром восходило опять радостное солнце и играло в каждой повисшей на листьях капельке, в каждой луже, заглядывало в каждое окно и било в стекла и щели счастливого приюта. 
....

Нескучные истории - Not boring stories

Отрывок из романа Ивана Гончарова "Обрыв"

朋友们你们好！今天的零食是一个故事，叫做 “小猫种鱼”。
听起来有点儿怪怪的，对吧？你们是不是很好奇呢？我们一起边吃边学吧！

编著：张丽萍

从前有一只小懒猫，他很喜欢吃鱼，但是他不喜欢和妈妈一起去钓鱼。
小猫对妈妈说：“钓鱼太累了，要是不用钓鱼也能有很多很多的鱼就好了”。

小猫经常去附近的农场玩儿。
春天的时候，小猫看见农民把花生种进地里。秋天的时候，农民收了很多花生。
春天的时候，小猫看见农民把玉米种进地里。秋天的时候，农民收了很多玉米。
春天的时候，小猫看见农民把土豆种进地里。秋天的时候，农民收了很多很多的土豆。

小猫想：要是秋天我也能收到好多好多的鱼就好了，我就不用去钓鱼了。
于是，小猫找了一些小鱼，小心地把小鱼种进地里。
小猫等啊等，一个月，两个月，三个月过去了，小猫想：秋天的时候，我一定会收到很多很多的鱼。

故事到这儿就结束了！你们觉得，秋天的时候，  小猫会有很多鱼吗？

词语：

种 [zhòng] to plant; to grow; to cultivate
怪怪 [guài guài] strange, odd
好奇 [hào qí] inquisitive; curious; inquisitiveness; curiosity
编著 [biān zhù] to compile; to write
从前 [cóng qián] previously; formerly; once upon a time
钓鱼 [diào yú] to fish (with line and hook); to dupe
农场 [nóng chǎng] farm
农民 [nóng mín] peasant; farmer
花生 [huā shēng] peanut; groundnut 
收 [shōu] to receive; to accept; to collect
玉米 [yù mǐ] corn; maize
土豆 [tǔ dòu] potato 
要是 [yào shi] (coll.) if
于是 [yú shì] thereupon; as a result
结束 [jié shù] termination; to finish; to end; to conclude; to close



解馋小零食

2022年12月28号 - 小猫种鱼 (Elementary)

Writing is great for your speaking, but it's not necessary! What's great about writing is that it gives you a way to LOOK at YOUR words. To see how things really are. Speech-to-text applications or many AI programs allow you SEE the words you SAY. That is so helpful.

It also gives you a way to practice WITHOUT getting feedback - which has some real benefits. 
Listen to hear more! 

Hear and There

6. But what if we don't like to write? 

In this episode you will listen to a story that I heard when I was a child

Spanish with Jas

EP 4. A HORROR STORY

CHISTES MEXICANOS

DOS CHISTES MEXICANOS.

propina.

Host: Welcome back to the podcast everyone. I’m joined today by Naseem, an IT consultant from 
Delhi and Deepa, an HR consultant from Bangore. Today we’ll be discussing the increase in the number of people moonlighting and what the future holds for companies and workers. So, Deepa, I’ll ask you first: What has created this problem?

Deepa: Well, as with many places around the world, during the pandemic, there was a big increase in the number of people working from home and also economic instability. So, at the same time, we had more people working without any supervision and people were more worried about being able to make a living. So, the increase in online moonlighting was a consequence of that situation really.

Naseem: That’s certainly what happened to me. At the time, you read about all of these companies that were *laying off * their staff and there wasn’t much you could do about it if it happened to you. So suddenly working for just one company seemed like a bad idea. I have a family to feed: three boys and a girl. I felt a lot of insecurity and was terrified of losing money, or maybe even worse, my house. So, I took two jobs.

Host: What effect did that have on you and your family?

Naseem: It gave us some comfort, financially, as I started making more money than I had before the pandemic. But I was also working very long hours each day. I saw the children every day of course, but I couldn’t spend any real time with them as I had to work from almost as soon as I got up, until late in the evening. My wife was working as well, so it was quite hard to manage everything. When the crisis was averted, we had gotten used to having the extra money, so although I cut back on my hours in both jobs, I still continued to work at both.

Host: Do you see anything wrong with doing what you are doing?

Naseem: Not at all. I’m a professional and I work hard at both jobs. My main job is in IT as you mentioned, but my second is in design. 




English Conversation/Dialogue

MOONLIGHTING 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQuGcptCadgGJt_VfX4DUct5pUV3XIeQ/view?usp=drivesdk