When was the last time you made a joke? Would it be funny in other languages? What makes sense of humour specific to a culture? So many questions. Let's figure it out.

The Age of Humans

Episode 2: Sense of Humour

1.用户  yònghù n .user
2. 颠球  diān qiú  v. to juggle a soccer ball 
3.明星 míngxīng n .star, celebrity 
4.直播 zhíbō  v  .to make a live broadcast 
5.宝贝 bǎobèi n . baby 
6.逗  dòu v. to amuse, to tease
7.宣传 xuānchuán 
8.手笔 shǒubǐ
9. 推广 tuīguǎng  v . to popularize ,to promote 
10.注册 zhùcè v. to register
11.召开  zhào kāi v .to hold (a meeting), to convene
12.合作  hézuò  v. to cooperate ,to work together
13. 伙伴 huǒbàn n .partner
14.总裁  zǒngcái  n. president(of a company)
15.实现 shíxiàn v .to realize ,to acheve 
16.覆盖 fùgài v. to cover 
17.移动 yídòng  v . to move; mobile 
18.通信 tōng xìn n./v. communication ; to communicate 
19.应用 yìngyong n./v. application; to apply 
20.企业 qǐyè n enterprise,company 
21.称霸 chēngbà v.  to dominate,to maintain 
22.背景 bèijǐng n ,backgroud 
23.高级 gāojí  adj.senjor,high-ranking 
24.副  fù adj.deputy,vice
25.开发 kāifa v,to develop,to exploit 
26.中心 zhōngxīn n .center
27.相关 xiāngguān v.to correlate,to be relevant 
28.业务 yèwù  n. professional work,business
29.现实 xiànshí n. reality 
30.个人 gèrén n.individual 
31.以及   yǐjí conj,and also ,as well 
32.程度  chéngdù n. degree,level 
33.发达  fādá  adj.developed,advanced
34.创新 chuàngxīn v. to create sth.new. to innovate 
35.领导 lǐngdǎo n. leader 
36.地位 dìwèi n. position,status
37.经营 jīngyíng v. to manage,to run 
38.销售 xiāoshòu  v. to sell .to market 
39.针对 zhēnduì v .to be targeted at 
40.当地dāngdì n. local, in the locality 
41.代言 dàiyán  v. to speak on behalf of, to star in a commercial 
42.华裔 huáyì n. foreign citizen of Chinese origin 
43.移民 yímín n . immigrant 
      


hsk2

hsk 5 

Are you trying to speak too fast in English?

So you want to sound more like a native English speaker. That means you have to speak fast English, right?

Noooo waaaay :)

There is a danger with speaking fast - you might lose clarity of what you are saying ..

You may think you’ll impress people with how quickly the words come out of your mouth, but what they really want is to understand you.

When you speak too quickly, you might start mumbling, dropping important sounds, or rushing through your vowels. 

Is this the kind of impression you'd like to create? What if people that are listening to you have a challenge with listening, what will this mean? ..

Listen to the recording and to some suggestions I have for you + listen to my speed too and reflect on my example when communicating in English daily 

Making it a permanent habit will make all the difference.

I hope it helps and chooe&book some of my limited slots to train with me now.





The Habits of Highly Effective English Communicators

Are you trying to speak too fast in English?

Textile waste is an urgent global problem, with only 12% recycled worldwide, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a fashion sustainability nonprofit.

Nowhere is the problem greater than in China, the world's largest textile producer and consumer, where more than 26 million tons of clothes are thrown away each year, according to government statistics. Most of it ends up in landfills.

The country's clothing industry is dominated by "fast fashion" — cheap clothes made from unrecyclable synthetics. And Chinese e-commerce brands Shein and Temu make the country one of the world's largest producers of cheap fashion, selling in more than 150 countries.

Currently, only about 20% of China's textiles are recycled, according to the Chinese government. And many Chinese consumers are unwilling to buy used items anyway.

Still, among younger Chinese, there is a growing awareness of sustainability and some "remade" clothing businesses have emerged.

Designer Zhang Na's fashion label, Reclothing Bank, sells clothes, bags and other accessories made from materials such as plastic bottles, fishing nets and flour sacks.

The items' labels have QR codes that show their composition, how they were made and the source of the materials.

Reclothing Bank began in 2010 to give "new life to old things," Zhang said of her store in Shanghai. A large used clothes deposit box sits outside the entrance.

Zhang said she has seen sustainability consciousness grow since she opened her store, with core customers in their 20s and 30s.

But recycled garments sold at stores like Reclothing Bank cost much more than fast-fashion brands due to their production methods.

And that's the real problem, said Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware.

"Studies repeatedly show consumers are not willing to pay higher for clothing made from recycled materials" he said.




Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

26 Million Tons of Clothes Discarded in China Each Year

诗意中国

第二部分：
于是你听到了风的歌声慢慢暖了
于是你看到了地的画布渐渐绿了
于是柳丝在舞、燕子在飞
于是桃花红了、杏花白了、油菜花黄了
于是姹紫嫣红、流光溢彩
中国在写着一首关于春天的诗了


听优美短文，提升中文阅读和写作

诗意中国

One of Coca-Cola's many taglines was: "You can't beat the real thing." The company was trying to say that even though there were a lot of similar drinks, none of them was as good as the "real" Coke.

You might not agree. But when it comes to art, researchers in the Netherlands think it's true — you can't beat the real thing.

A small study has found that real artworks stimulate the brain much more than posters or prints of the same work.

The Mauritshuis ("MAO-rits-haus") Museum in The Hague commissioned the study. The museum's best-known artwork is Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer.

Researchers showed this artwork and four others to 20 people. While they were looking at the paintings, their brain activity was measured using a brain scanner.

The participants were also asked to look at posters of those same five artworks. The researchers compared their brain activity when looking at the real artworks and when looking at the posters.

They found that when looking at the real artworks, participants had an emotional response that was 10 times stronger compared to when they were looking at the posters.

Martine Gosselink from the museum said this was an "enormous difference." She said they had thought that looking at the real thing might give people a richer experience, but now "we can really say that it is true."

The researchers said the real art caused a strong emotional response in a part of the brain called the precuneus. This part of the brain is involved with self-reflection and personal memories.

Some have said that this research demonstrates the importance of museums and galleries for people of all ages.

Study: Real Art Stimulates Brain More than Posters

Recientemente una seguidora de uno de mis canales de YouTube para aprender español, 5 minutos de español, me pidió que hiciera un vídeo sobre frases para decir a su hijo de 2 años en español. La tarea, en principio, no se presentó fácil, no usamos un vocabulario muy interesante con niños pequeños, su vocabulario es realmente limitado, probablemente peor que el vuestro como estudiantes de español como lengua extranjera. Sea como fuere, me esforcé para hacer un vídeo (audio en Italki) para cumplir los deseos de esta seguidora del canal.
Espero que las frases sean de vuestro agrado. Ah, por cierto, perdonadme por el resfriado porque mi voz suena realmente rara, al menos para mí, que sé como suele sonar habitualmente.

#SpanishLeague #Spanish #Knowmyteacher

Reyes from Spain

Frases que usamos en español para hablar con niños pequeños

El verbo dar aparece en muchas expresiones, probablemente más de las que piensas. Y la verdad que la mayoría de ellas me parecen curiosas, divertidas o interesantes. Por eso, para comentar todas las expresiones que quería he tenido que grabar dos episodios, aquí tienes el primero de ellos.
Las expresiones que comento me parecen divertidas, curiosas o interesantes, y como en la mayoría de las veces con las expresiones, la traducción palabra por palabra no funciona, necesitamos conocer la expresión en su conjunto.
Espero que disfrutes el episodio. Y después de escucharlo me encantaría escuchar tus propios ejemplos. Elige una de las expresiones y crea tu propia frase.


Blanca to go 

47 – Expresiones que usan el verbo dar I 

In this episode, we explore the subtle but important difference between the Italian verbs "parlare" and "dire". While both verbs can be translated as "to speak" or "to say", they have distinct meanings and usage.