Whether one should learn an American or British accent is a constant debate among English learners. Here's my take on it. To give me suggestions for future podcast episodes follow me on Twitter @tanatswaforever.

Slice of English 

Do I Really Need an Accent Part 2

Do you have problems with prepositions in Spanish? Do you usually confuse "a" with "en"? Or do you add prepositions where you don't need to? Welll, don't worry,. In this episode we will talk about the most common mistakes with prepositions in Spanish so you can identify and work through them. Are you ready?

Your Spanish Journey

Prepositions in Spanish- What are the most common mistakes?

As there are 4 areas: Speaking, Reading, Writing & Listening and I’ll add the 5th one – Thinking in English I’ll be presenting you with some tools daily to enhance each area.

Let’s dive into the third Part for today and it’s on Listening & Comprehension:

Here are the comprehension questions:

Where is Chicago in the United States?

a The west coast
b The Midwest
c The south
d The east coast

What sport do the Chicago Cubs play in Wrigley Field?

a Rugby
b Football
c Soccer
d Baseball


Why was Keith impressed by the Chicago Water Tower?

a It supplies water to the entire population.
b It is one of few landmarks that survived a historical fire.
c It is the tallest building in the city.
d It is the only remaining monument of the World’s Fair.


What event was important for Chicago in 1892?


a The World’s Fair took place here.
b Jackson Park became open to the public.
c The Great Fire destroyed a large part of the town.
d Wrigley Field was constructed.


How did Keith arrive to the rooftop of the Willis Tower?

a He used an indoor elevator.
b He climbed the building’s exterior.
c He walked up the interior stairs.
d He took an outdoor elevator.

See you in the part 4 and it will be on Speaking. 

Check out my posts - you'll find a lot of valuable tools to practice your English every day for free!

The Habits of Highly Effective English Communicators

Daily 2 minute English Listening Practice for today. 

In today's podcast, we will talk about the importance of exercise in the form of walking. Many people lead very busy lives and as a result they neglect what is truly important and that is their health. This podcast aims to help especially busy professionals who is finding it extremely hard to find the time to exercise. 

FLO TALKS 

4000 steps a day

If you see someone sitting alone in a restaurant, you might assume they're waiting for someone, or perhaps they're grabbing a quick lunch on their break.

But more and more people around the world are purposely dining alone.

Japan has a special word for this: ohitorisama, which refers to people confidently doing things alone without worrying about what others think.

A recent survey found that 23% of Japanese people eat out alone, up from 18% in 2018. And in the US, solo dining reservations have risen 29% over the last two years, according to restaurant reservation site OpenTable.

OpenTable CEO Debby Soo thinks remote work is one reason for the increase, with people looking for a break from their home offices.

The increasing popularity in solo dining comes as more people are living alone. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 38% of US adults ages 25 to 54 were living without a partner, up from 29% in 1990. In Japan, single households now make up one-third of the total; that’s expected to increase to 40% by 2040, according to government data.

Growing interest in solo travel — particularly among travelers ages 55 and over — is also leading to more meals alone.

But Soo thinks there could be more to it than that.

"I think there's a broader movement of self-love and self-care and really … enjoying your own company," Soo said.

As a result, many restaurants are redoing their seating, changing their menus and adding other special touches to appeal to solo diners.

But some aren't always happy to seat one diner. A Michelin-starred London restaurant caused a stir last year when it started charging solo diners the same price as two customers. The restaurant, which has 34 seats, offers an eight-course menu costing about $280 per person.

Other restaurants say it's worth seating one person because solo diners will often come back and eat there again.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Party of One: Solo Dining Increasing in Popularity

[Conversation 1]

앤디 : 안녕하세요? 앤디예요. 이름이 뭐예요?
소라 : 소라예요.
앤디 : 소라 씨, 한국 사람이에요?
소라 : 네, 한국 사람이에요.
앤디 : 저는 미국 사람이에요.
소라 : 아, 그래요? 반갑습니다.

[Conversation 1]

Andy : Hello. I am Andy. What is your name?
Sora : I am Sora.
Andy : Sora, are you Korean?
Sora : Yes, I am.
Andy : I am American.
Sora : Oh, really? It is nice to meet you.

[Conversation 2]

앤디 : 소라 씨, 이분이 누구예요?
소라 : 미나 씨예요.
앤디 : 안녕하세요? 미나 씨. 앤디예요.
미나 : 안녕하세요? 앤디 씨.
앤디 : 회사원이에요?
미나 : 아니요, 학생이에요.

[Conversation 2]

Andy : Sora, who is this person?
Sora : This is Mina.
Andy : Hi, Mina. I am Andy.
Mina : Hi, Andy.
Andy : Are you an office worker?
Mina : No, I am a student.

[Grammar]

이다 :  attaches to the end of a noun to make it the predicate of the sentence.
이다 is used to express that the subject and predicate are the same thing.
The corresponding informal forms, 예요/이에요, are the same for both the descriptive 
and interrogative forms, with the interrogative form rising in intonation as it is pronounced:예요?이에요?
이에요/예요

[Vocabulary]

Korean : 한국 사람
American : 미국 사람
office worker : 회사원
student : 학생
name : 이름

Reading Korea.

Self-introduction

Believe it or not, it is essential to know native English accents. If you are a non-native speaker and haven't studied any phonetics course, you will have difficulty understanding or listening to native speakers of English.

Listen to the tips within the episode and check your understanding by taking the quiz.

How to Learn English

Is learning native English accents important?

Did you know an octupus has three hearts?

Did you know?

Octopus heart

We all want our friends and relatives to be happy, but who is responsible for their care?
Today we read a story about a 95 year old woman in the UK.

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h_1HX3Bsi1CMHmMKQoPT0G36CwgMdNBS0uekz6NK7EE/edit?usp=drivesdk


Extract: 
We're going to go through a new story today and it begins with anger as a 95 year old (is)  told to take out her bins. Now, I just want to give you some background to this first of all. So, here in the UK, we have to put our bins on the streets for them to be collected and emptied.
So we have large bins, which are referred to as wheelie bins, And we must put those on the street. Depending on your relationship with your neighbours if you live in an apartment block, someone may do this for you. But the council employees, the people who come to empty the bins, will not come upon your property to collect them. They used to. But they don't any more. Depending on the council and depending on their funding, You may be able to request them to help you if you're old or infirm. As money is tight  these days for everyone, more and more councils are refusing to do this. A council is simply a local area government.
 Now we're going to read through a story here about what's happened to a 95 year old. Now, bearing in mind that here in the UK, we don't generally mix with our neighbours unless we know them very well or are related to them.
As I’ve often told you, we view  the Government almost like a mother or father, we expect them to do the things, which perhaps in your country is done by a community.



