Stories and Questions to help you practice listening and writing skills. 

English Stories & Questions

My story began in London 3 decades ago, but my travels into the teaching world would not take long to begin...

Stories from UK to China

Grammar and English tips for kids, beginners and intermediate students. 

Learn English with William

Here, we learn some basic but super important phrases to help you speak about your Amharic in Amharic! Talk about your journey, the challenges you're facing & the beauty of Amharic! 

Learn Amharic with Nadir

#2 Talk About Amharic

Cet épisode, c'est l'histoire de ma quête, celle d'une descendante de mineurs polonais qui cherche en vain - ou pas ? - les fantômes du passé. 

Douce France

Mes racines polonaises

Today we're talking about a phrase that means that you think work is important and valuable and that it is important to work hard. This is the phrase "work ethic". We can talk about having a good work ethic and also a strong work ethic. I hope you find today's vocabulary useful!

Don't forget that I'm a full time business English coach and tutor right here on iTalki, so if you have a strong work ethic around improving your English then feel free to book some of my time and let's get to work. I look forward to meeting you soon!

DAILY Business English VOCABULARY builder

Do you think work is important?

Velar consonants are sounds you make with the back of your tongue touching the soft palate, also called the velum. It's the fleshy bit at the back of the roof of your mouth, near your uvula (the little dangly thing).

Production:
Raise the back of your tongue up to touch the velum. Airflow is blocked completely for a moment.

Examples in English:
/k/: This is the voiceless velar plosive, the sound at the beginning of "kit" or "cat."
/g/: This is the voiced velar plosive, the sound at the beginning of "game" or the "g" in "going."
/ŋ/: This is the velar nasal, the sound at the end of "sing" or "long." Notice how air can flow out your nose while making this sound.

Other interesting facts:
The sound /k/ is actually one of the most common consonant sound across all human languages! Velar consonants can be influenced by nearby vowels. They might move slightly forward in the mouth (called "fronting") before front vowels like /

i:/ or /ɪ/ or move back (called "retraction") before back vowels like /u/ or /ʊ/.

Some practice tongue twisters:
Kate keeps giving up in the morning
My gran’s going to see the king in the Congo
Can a king conquer a sinking kangaroo
Kick the giggling goblins guarding the gold
Kevin clung to the clinging kangaroo

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Target: British Accent 

Velar Consonants 

Chillchat (Learn Chinese and Chill)

Happy New Year 2022: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

みなさんはもう衣替えをしましたか？最近、寒くなってきたので、そろそろ衣替えをしようかなと考えている人が多いかもしれません。衣替えというのは、今着ている服を季節に合った服に入れ替えることをいいます。つまり、夏服をクローゼットにしまって、冬服を出すことです。
私は１ヶ月ほど前に衣替えをしました。半袖のTシャツやズボン、薄いジャケットをクローゼットにしまいました。そして、厚いジャケットやコート、セーターを出しました。
今年は電気代やガス代が高くなるそうなので、家の中でも暖かい服を着て、なるべくヒーターやストーブを使わずに過ごしたいと思います。
皆さんは、冬を暖かく過ごすために何かしていることはありますか？
よかったら私のレッスンに来て教えてください。


衣替え：ころもがえ　the seasonal changing of clothing
季節：きせつ　season
季節に合った服：the clothes for the season
しまう：put away
厚い：あつい　thick
薄い：うすい thin
半袖：はんそで　half sleeve
長袖：ながそで long sleeve
電気代：でんきだい　electricity bill
ガス代：がすだい　gas bill
工夫する：くふうする 　devise


Nihongo Short Story by Noriko

衣替え（ころもがえ）-Today’s Word

In questa puntata introduttiva esploriamo la cultura dell'aperitivo italiano: la sua storia, i cocktail più famosi e gli stuzzichini tipici. Insieme scopriremo l'atmosfera che si respira in questo momento di condivisione e perché rappresenta un momento unico per noi italiani.


Scopri l'Italia

L'aperitivo italiano

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I4_8d2WSPBeUJu3LMHv7hP49II_2KSk6/view?usp=drivesdk