it's all Greek to me!

Safe Travels 

Another current part 2 topic with example answer.
As I commute into the city for work every day, I always do my best to avoid the rush hour traffic, which is not always easy. I usually get up at 6 am and catch the bus at 6.30 to beat the heavy traffic, and go for a relaxing coffee before starting work. 

 However, about 2 weeks ago, I slept in on a monday morning and didn’t wake up until 8am,missing the early bus, and not catching the next one until 8.30, which i knew would mean being late for work due to the traffic.

Normally the bus ride into the city centre takes about 45 minutes, but because of taking the bus during the peak rush hour it now took almost 2 hours. The traffic was unbelievable, and cars were bumper to bumper, moving at a snail’s pace, for the entire journey.

What made it even worse was that the bus was full, and passengers were packed like sardines , which also meant I had to stand for the full journey. To try and pass the time, I just read the  news using my mobile phone, as well as messaging my boss to let him know I would be late for work due to the heavy traffic.

I’m not the  most patient person and being stuck in a traffic jam like this is something I really hate, and always something I try to avoid. I also take pride in always being on time for work, and felt absolutely terrible  to be over an hour late on this day. I now set 2 alarms every night to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. 

IELTS 85 Speaking

Describe a traffic jam you were stuck in - IELTS speaking part 2

Have you ever been heartbroken because of a breakup?

3 mins

失恋

wánɡ yánɡ bǔ láo 
亡羊补牢
cónɡ qián yǒu ɡè rén yǎnɡ le jǐ zhǐ yánɡ。 
从前有个人养了几只羊。
yì tiān zǎo shànɡ，tā qù fànɡ yánɡ，
一天早上，他去放羊，
fā xiàn yánɡ shǎo le yì zhī。
发现羊少了一只。
yuán lái yánɡ juàn pò le ɡè kū lónɡ， 
原来羊圈破了个窟窿，
yè li lánɡ cónɡ kū lónɡ zuān jìn qù， 
夜里狼从窟窿钻进去，
bǎ yánɡ diāo zǒu le。 
把羊叼走了。
lín jū quàn tā shuō: 
邻居劝他说:
“ɡǎn jǐn bǎ yánɡ juàn xiū yì xiū， 
“赶紧把羊圈修一修，
dǔ shànɡ nà ɡe kū lónɡ bɑ!” 
堵上那个窟窿吧!”
tā shuō:“yánɡ yǐ jīnɡ diū le， 
他说:“羊已经丢了，
hái xiū yánɡ juàn ɡàn shén me?” 
还修羊圈干什么?”
dì èr tiān zǎo shànɡ，tā qù fànɡ yánɡ， 
第二天早上，他去放羊，
fā xiàn yánɡ yòu shǎo le yì zhī。 
发现羊又少了一只。
yuán lái lánɡ yòu cónɡ kū lónɡ zuān jìn qù， 
原来狼又从窟窿钻进去，
bǎ yánɡ diāo zǒu le。 
把羊叼走了。
tā hěn hòu huǐ méi yǒu tīnɡ lín jū de quàn ɡào，
他很后悔没有听邻居的劝告，
xīn xiǎnɡ，xiàn zài xiū hái bù wǎn。
心想，现在修还不晚。
tā ɡǎn jǐn dǔ shànɡ nà ɡe kū lónɡ，
他赶紧堵上那个窟窿，
bǎ yánɡ juàn xiū dé jiē jiē shí shí de。
把羊圈修得结结实实的。
cónɡ cǐ，tā de yánɡ zài yě méi diū ɡuò。
从此，他的羊再也没丢过。

CHINESE STORY中文故事

亡羊补牢


1 مَـن أنتَ؟ - أنا محمد؛ مَـن أنتِ؟ - أنا خديجة؛ مَـن هـو؟ - هـو أحمد؛ مـن هـي؟ - هـي مريم؛ مـن هـذا؟ - هـذا شريف؛ من هـذه؟ - هـذه هـدى

2 أنا طالب؛ أنا طالبة؛ أنتَ مُدرّس؛ أنتِ مُدرّسة؛ هـو طبيب؛ هـي طبيبة؛ أنا مصري؛ أنا مصرية؛ أنتَ تركي؛ أنتِ تركية؛ هـو سوري؛ هـي سورية

3 مِـن أينَ انتَ؟ - أنا مِـن باكستان؛ مِـن أين أنتِ؟ - أنا من تركيا؛ من أين هـو؟ - هـو من مصر؛ من أين هـي؟ - هـي من سوريا

4 هـل أنتَ باكستاني؟ - نعم، أنا باكستاني؛ هـل أنتِ باكستانية؟ - نعم، أنا باكستانية؛ هـل هـو تركي؟ - نعم، هـو تركي؛ هـل هـي تركية؟ - نعم، هـي تركية؛ هـل أنتَ مصري؟ - نعم، أنا مصري؛ هـل أنتِ مصرية؟ - نعم، أنا مصرية؛ هـل هـو سوري؟ - نعم، هـو سوري؛ هـل هـي سورية؟ - نعم، هـي سورية

5 هـذا أخـي؛ هـذه أختـي؛ هـذا صديقـي؛ هـذه صديقـتـي؛ مـا ٱسمُـكَ؟ - إسمـي محمد؛ مـا ٱسمُـكِ؟ - إسمـي خديجة؛ مـا ٱسمـكَ؟ - إسمي أحمد؛ مـا ٱسمـكِ؟ - إسمـي هـدى

Aprende árabe con Radia 

Listening and Reading

We all like to plan ahead and sometimes, especially at work, we have TO WORK TO DEADLINES. 
Deadlines can often seem DAUNTING and stressful, particularly if you have lots of work to complete and the deadline is j JUST AROUND THE CORNER. 
However, not all deadlines are bad! 
At work, deadlines give us a goal to aim for and can push us to achieve far more than we might expect. 
Remember to set yourself daily, weekly and monthly OBJECTIVES to achieve, and perhaps use a smartphone app to track your progress. 
You can then use this information next time you meet with your boss to show how productive you are. You never know, it might also help with a promotion or pay rise! 
While personal plans such as meeting a friend for drinks or playing tennis next weekend involve deadlines, these arrangements are more flexible, so you needn’t be OVERLY worried about the time.  
However, remember that you don’t want to be late for your appointments and keep your friends waiting, so think about what you need to do BEFOREHAND and give yourself enough time to achieve it successfully, with just a little extra time added JUST IN CASE.
Take your next vacation for instance. What do you need to plan? 
Tickets, a hotel reservation, or a taxi to the airport. 
Someone to look after your pets or houseplants while you are away. 
Don’t leave all your planning to THE LAST MINUTE. After all, it’s never too early to plan ahead! 

All Ways Business

Making Plans

Chinese Learning with Lily

我的家人

common key phrases in Farsi for Greetings

hello:     سلام /salaam/

how are you?:  حالتون چطوره؟ /haaletun chetore?/

I'm fine, thank you.:   خوبم مرسی /khubam, merci/

What's your name?:    اسمتون چیه؟ /esmetun chie?/

where are you from?:   اهل کجایی؟  /ahle kojaei?/

Happy to see you:   خوشبختم.  /khoshbakhtam/

bye:   خدافظ  /khodafez/



Farsi (Persian) pods

Greetings in Farsi

Key Phrase of the Day:
您有尝试过哪些解决方法吗？
nín yǒu cháng shì guò něi xiē jiě jué fāng fǎ ma ?
Have you tried any solutions yet? 
 
Script: 
客服: 喂，您好。请问有什么可以帮到您吗？
wèi , nín hǎo . qǐng wèn yǒu shén me kě yǐ bāng dào nín ma ?
1. 摄像头: webcam
顾客: 诶，您好。我的电脑摄像头好像坏了。视频时对方看不到我。
éi , nín hǎo . wǒ de diàn nǎo shè xiàng tóu hǎo xiàng huài le . shì pín shí duì fāng kàn bú dào wǒ .
客服: 女士，请问您贵姓？
nǚ shì , qǐng wèn nín guì xìng ?
顾客: 我姓王。
wǒ xìng wáng .
客服: 您好，王女士。我想问一下，您有没有尝试过哪些解决方法？
nín hǎo , wáng nǚ shì . wǒ xiǎng wèn yī xià , nín yǒu méi yǒu cháng shì guò něi xiē jiě jué fāng fǎ ?
 2. 解决方法: solutions
 顾客: 嗯，我尝试过关机重启，还有更新系统，都没有用。
èn , wǒ cháng shì guò guān jī chóng qǐ, hái yǒu gēng xīn xì tǒng , dōu méi yǒu yòng .
 3. 关机重启: restart a computer 
 4. 更新系统: update a system
客服: 哦，都没用。是这样，王女士。我现在怀疑可能是您的硬件出了问题。我建议您去当地的客服中心，让他们检查一下。
ò , dōu méi yòng . shì zhè yàng , wáng nǚ shì . wǒ xiàn zài huái yí kě néng shì nín de yìng jiàn chū le wèn tí . wǒ jiàn yì nín qù dāng dì de kè fú zhōng xīn , ràng tā men jiǎn chá yī xià .
 5. 怀疑: suspect
 6. 硬件: hardware
 7. 客服中心: service center 
 8. 检查一下: check it out

Source: YMC Learn Chinese on YouTube
