In this episode for intermediate and advanced English learners, I'll tell you about my cats, you'll learn some new vocabulary related to cats, and I'll discuss some idioms that include the word "cats.” (Music by Lesfm from Pixabay)

Conversations With a Friend

Let's Talk About Cats!

Knowing Everything About Chinese Cultrue

5Ask the way in China

Descubre la belleza y diversidad de Punta Gallinas en nuestro próximo podcast. Ubicada en la región de La Guajira, Punta Gallinas es famosa por su faro, las Dunas de Taroa y la cultura del pueblo indígena Wayuu. Únete a nosotros en este viaje y descubre Punta Gallinas como nunca antes




Latido Latino

Punta gallinas 

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

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Transcription
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Lily's Chinese 对话

20240125毛泽东自传

July 20th,2023-End of the rainy season has been declared.
It's hot.  The hot summer has begun!
The weather forecast keeps telling us to be careful of heatstroke.

２０２３年７月２０日　本日　私が住んでいる地域では　梅雨明けが宣言されました！　　
梅雨入りしてもほとんど雨が降らない年もありますが、今年は日本全国ほんとうによく雨が降りました。　生活に影響が出るくらいたくさん雨が降ったところも　多かったと思います。
そして、雨が止んだ空には大きな入道雲が出ています。ここ数日は、日本各地で３５℃を超える猛暑！
　天気予報では、
「熱中症に気を付けてください」
「熱中症対策をしっかりしてください」
「不要不急の外出はしないでください」
「室内にいても熱中症にかかります」
「冷房を適切に使用してください」
「こまめに水分補給をしてください」と　
毎日　注意喚起のメッセージが　繰り返されています。
私が住んでいるところは最高気温が３４℃まであがりました。三重県では３９℃まで上がったと言っていました。
私は暑いのが苦手なので、この数日はできるだけ外に出ないようにしていました。　電気代が気になりますが、冷房と扇風機をほとんど１日中つけて過ごしています。　
また、家の中にばかりいると、運動不足になります。朝早く起きて、まだ少し涼しいうちに、近くの神社まで散歩に行きます。６時前だというのに、結構　ウオーキングをしている人がいます。
まだまだ　これからが　夏本番。暑さは続きます。　運動不足と熱中症に気を付けて、今年の夏を乗り切りたいですね。

やさしい日本語（にほんご）

梅雨明け宣言（つゆあけせんげん）Declaration of end of the rainy season

祖父との思い出

私の母方（ははかた）の祖父は鹿児島（かごしま）に住んでいた。小さいころは毎年夏休みに泊まりに行っていた。
印象的な思い出は庭で天然鰻（てんねん　うなぎ）を捌（さば）いて、七輪（しちりん）で蒲焼き（かばや　き）を作ってくれたことだ。本当にかっこいい姿だった。そんな祖父が今週亡くなり、とても寂しい。祖父との思い出はいつまでも忘れない。

izm's room

祖父との思い出

We live in a world of rules. We see them everywhere when we travel by plane. No liquids! Wait here! Turn off your phones!

But what about those unspoken rules — the ones that aren't written down and no one is exactly sure about.

A travel expert from the US has been explaining her unspoken rules for the airplane journey.

TV host Samantha Brown shared her rules with CNN, including one that makes the middle seat feel a little more comfortable.

According to Brown, if you find yourself in one of the middle seats on a plane, you should get both of the armrests to yourself.

Sitting in the middle isn't always very popular and so Brown says these passengers should get "anything they want."

That means even if the people on the outside begin using those armrests, the person in the middle has the right to "slowly push them off!"

Brown says she likes the aisle seat best because she feels she has more space.

She added that people sitting by the window should have control of the window blind — whether it's up or down. And the others don't have the right to decide!

One thing that can make some passengers angry is people in front putting their seats back.

Brown has a rule for this — if the journey takes less than three hours, she doesn't put her seat back, but she does if it's a longer trip.