In today's daily challenge the topic I'll ask you about is friends.

In one minute I will ask you 7 or 8 questions to inspire your thoughts and to have you go through your daily portion of spoken English :)

Enjoy it and see you tomorrow!

One minute speaking challenge - Challenge yourself to speak English daily!

One Minute English Challenge - Friends!

Building a strong professional network is no longer optional. It's a powerful tool that can open doors to new opportunities, provide valuable insights, and accelerate your career growth. But simply collecting business cards isn't enough. Here are the top 10 best practices for effective professional networking:

1.Develop a compelling elevator pitch (highlight your value).
2.Actively listen and engage in conversations (build genuine connections).
3.Attend industry events and online communities (expand your network).
4.Leverage your network for informational interviews (explore career paths).
5.Provide value to your network (support, referrals, introductions).
6.Follow up with new connections (solidify relationships).
7.Maintain a strong online presence (professional profile and social media activity).
8.Nurture existing relationships (stay in touch and offer support).
9.Be strategic with your networking efforts (focus on relevant connections).
10.Uphold professional etiquette (be respectful, reliable, trustworthy).

The Global Professional Podcast

Top 10 Best Practices of Professional Networking 

En unos días es Navidad de nuevo y he pensado que es un buen momento para compartir contigo algunas expresiones españolas con temática navideña. Aunque la mayoría de expresiones que voy a compartir hoy las usamos durante todo el año creo que las tenemos especialmente en cuenta en esta época.

Como siempre, espero que disfrutes el episodio. Después de escucharlo no te olvides de dejar una valoración ni de pasarte por mi Instagram para decirme que te ha parecido y si conocías estas expresiones españolas. Además, me encantaría saber si en tu país tenéis alguna expresión típica de estas fechas.



Blanca to go 

119 – Expresiones navideñas 

I’ll introduce Japanese culture in easy Japanese.
Today’s Theme is “お盆（ぼん）《Bon festival》”.
This episode is JLPT-N3 level.

I created a quiz on this episode.
After listening, please take the quiz!

Please use this audio for listening and shadowing practices.

☆Words☆
お盆（ぼん）：Bon festival
Obon is one of the Buddhist events. In Buddhism, it is believed that the spirits of family ancestors come back to this world during the Obon period between July and August, and a series of events take place to commemorate them.
Obon is regarded as one of the most important family occasions of the year in Japan.
Although Obon is not an official holiday, many offices are temporarily closed for business during this period. 

盆踊（ぼんおど）り：Bon Festival dance
Bon Odori is a traditional Japanese dance that is generally performed at events or festivals during Obon holidays.
Participants wear yukata, a casual traditional Kimono-style garment, and dance to traditional music while circling around a stage to honor the spirits of ancestors.

移動（いどう）する：move

仏教（ぶっきょう）：Buddhism

先祖（せんぞ）：ancestor

もてなす：treat / welcome

仏壇（ぶつだん）：Buddhist altar

迎（むか）え火（び）：welcoming fire
“迎え火” is a sacred fire that is often burned on August 13th in front of each household to guide the spirits of their ancestors back home.

提灯（ちょうちん）：chochin lantern

送（おく）り火（び）：seeing off fire
"送り火"is lit on the last day of Obon, which is generally August 16th to send the ancestors back to their world.

五山送り火（ござんのおくりび）：
The Send-off Bonfires of Five Mountains (Gozan no Okuribi) refers to the annual bonfires lit at various 5 locations including Nyoigatake (Mt. Nyoi known as Mt. Daimonji) on August 16 in Kyoto City.

阿波踊（あわおど）り：
“阿波踊り” is the largest and the most famous bon festival dance in Japan, attracting more than 1 million visitors from August 12 to 15 every year. 

☆Script for this episode
The scripts (URL) are listed in the overview section of the channel.

☆Quiz for this episode


Simple Japanese Listening with Meg（めぐ）Smile

#43 Japanese culture / お盆《Bon festival》 // N3 Level /Japanese listening

        大家好啊，我是丹霞。您现在收听的是中文台词频道，今天的台词出自电影《后来的我们》。如果你在大城市上大学，毕业了以后，你会离开那儿吗？我们来听听电影中林见清是怎么说的：

        “毕了业，谁愿意离开北京？每次路过天安门的时候我就在想，所有最好最神奇的事情都会在这里发生。
        我明白北京不是我的家，我宁可拥抱现实中的无家可归，也不想放弃搏一把的机会。都说这儿的生活艰难，但我不怕，至少我在北京混过。
       北京的一天真的很短，短到还没有开始就结束了，所以每天早上一睁眼，我就觉得我离梦想又进了一步。”
——林见清  电影《后来的我们》/<Us and Them>

毕业bìyè  graduate; graduation
神奇shénqí magical, amazing
宁可……也不……nìng kě……yě bù…… would rather... than...
拥抱yǒng bào  to embrace
无家可归wú jiā kě guī homeless
搏一把bó yī bǎ  fight, bet
艰难jiān nán difficult; hard
至少zhì shǎo  at least
睁眼zhēng yǎn open one 's eyes
离lí  part from; be away from
进步jìnbù improve ; step forward


Chinese Lines 中文台词

06. 毕了业，谁愿意离开北京？Who would want to leave Beijing after graduation? Hang in there! --《后来的我们Us and Them》

This is the first episode for exploring English through the rich, lively, fiery, and beautiful world of JRR Tolkien's the Hobbit. The best way to ignite your desire to learn more and more words, expressions - the pieces of the English language that you can start to put together in your own fantastic way!

The World of Storytelling

The Hobbit and Swimming into English!

Stop doing this if you want to communicate in English fluently.

In this podcast you'll learn what stopps you from being yourself and how to deal with is.

Here are some tags for this podcast: education system, programming, comfort zone, self-sabotage, freedom of expressions, should/shouldn't do's, anxiety, job promotion, salary raise, kids education, mentorship, coaching, consulting.

Let me know how helpful it was.

I am here to assist you to my best ability!!!

