This is a reimagining of The Ugly Duckling by the great Danish author H.C. Andersen, set in a Norwegian context.

Everything Zenified 

The Ugly Kitten

In this episode of Merhaba Türkçe!, we're diving into the casual side of Turkish—perfect for texting your friends! Whether you're just saying hi, checking in, or making plans, these informal phrases will help you sound natural and friendly.

Merhaba Türkçe 

mika's whisper talk

Vol.3   ”あいまい” な日本語？ /  Ambiguous Japanese?

Using Spoken Discourse Markers for IELTS Speaking

Discourse markers, such as "well," "so," "you know," and "I mean," are common in everyday speech. These words and phrases help guide conversations, signal a change in thought, or give the speaker time to think. For IELTS Speaking, using discourse markers effectively can enhance your fluency and coherence, making your responses more natural and organized.

Here are some key ways to use spoken discourse markers during the IELTS Speaking exam:

Starting Your Response: Using markers like "well" or "actually" can give you a moment to collect your thoughts before answering a question. For example, if asked about your favorite hobby, you could begin with, "Well, I really enjoy painting because it's relaxing."

Organizing Ideas: Words such as "firstly," "secondly," and "finally" can help structure your response when explaining something in detail. This makes it easier for the examiner to follow your ideas.

Clarifying and Rephrasing: Discourse markers like "I mean" or "in other words" are useful for clarifying points or rephrasing if you feel your initial response wasn’t clear enough. For instance, "In other words, I think traveling teaches us valuable life skills."

Filling Pauses: Using phrases like "you know" or "let me think" can fill pauses naturally, preventing awkward silences during your speaking test.

However, it's essential not to overuse discourse markers, as it can make your speech sound unnatural. Practice using them in moderation to sound fluent and confident in your responses.

IELTS Speaking Practice

IELTS Speaking - using discourse markers

私(わたし)がスタバで泣(な)いた理由(りゆう)
The reason why I cried at the Starbucks.
내가 스타벅스에서 운 이유.

NANAのにほんごpodcast 

【Japanese Podcast#25】私(わたし)がスタバで泣(な)いた理由(りゆう)｜The reason why I cried at the Starbucks.

𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒏 ? 𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒏é𝒆 ? (𝒂 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 )𝒖𝒏 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓 ? 𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏é𝒆 ? (𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚)  
𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔𝒆 ? 😴𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆🙄

𝑰 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 . 🤔

𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒛𝒛 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕✒️

𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝑼𝑵 !🙏💓

𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗔𝗜𝗦 ? 😉

☝️𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐧 / 𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧é𝐞 / 𝐮𝐧 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫 / 𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧é𝐞 ? 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 ?🤔

Esta es la segunda parte del episodio 47 que puedes escuchar aquí. En él comento las expresiones con dar que no pude comentar en el primero. Las expresiones con dar me parecen muy curiosas, y como la mayoría de las expresiones, necesitamos conocerlas, porque la traducción palabra por palabra, como en la mayoría de las veces con las expresiones, no funciona.

Espero que disfrutes este episodio, y cuando lo hayas escuchado dime si conoces otras expresiones que usan el verbo dar, porque, aunque he hablado de muchas, hay muchas más.
¡No te olvides de seguirme en Instagram (te lo dejo un poco más abajo) y decirme que piensas del episodio!


Blanca to go 

49 – Expresiones que usan el verbo dar II

In this episode I talk about my recent experience with a hard drive failure. 
I talk a little about making back ups of data and what I learned from this painful experience.