Stories for both kids and adults.  They are hilarious, funny stories that create good sense of humor once understood completely. Some are fables with characters as animals that speak/ act like humans.

It's Story Time with Teacher Rose Jane

”I like cats.”を日本語で言うと…"I"はわたし？ぼく？おれ？
どんなとき「わたし」を使うかなど、説明しています！

日本語聞いてみよう！

わたし？ぼく？おれ？

After 15 months, three Israeli hostages have left Hamas captivity as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold on the morning of January 19.

Dozens of Palestinian prisoners also walked free from Israeli jail as the skies above Gaza and Israel were silent for the first time in over a year, stirring modest hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war.

The ceasefire deal, with an initial phase lasting six weeks, calls for the entry into Gaza of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily. Over the course of the deal's first stage, 33 Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza will also be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Many Israelis stayed glued to TV screens to glimpse the three hostages — Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher — being released as militants handed them over to the Red Cross on a packed street in Gaza City.

In videos released by the Israeli government, the women were seen weeping and hugging family members. Damari raised a bandaged hand in triumph.

The military said she lost two fingers in the Hamas-led militant attack on October 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of some 250 others.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, crowds flooded the streets around 1 a.m. on January 20 as white buses carrying 90 Palestinian detainees — all women or teens — exited the gates of Ofer prison.

Fireworks erupted, and several men climbed atop one of the buses to raise Hamas flags.

All of those being released had been detained for what Israel called offenses related to its security, from throwing stones and promoting violence on social media to more serious accusations such as attempted murder.

Khalida Jarrar, one of the freed detainees, told The Associated Press: "There's this double feeling we're living in, on the one hand, this feeling of freedom, that we thank everyone for, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs."


Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Gaza Ceasefire Brings Exchange of Prisoners and Hostages

Book my class!  https://teach.italki.com/teacher/1947582
Welcome back to another episode of Streetwise English podcast. My name is Carl. Today I want to talk about breaking the ice. So breaking the ice means meeting someone new that you don't know for the first time. So when you go to a party or you go to a new workplace or a new school, you're always going to have the occasion where you need to meet people for the very first time.


And sometimes this can be awkward and you can feel embarrassed about talking to someone if you don't know them and they don't know you and you're not friends yet. So I just wanted to talk really briefly about some advice that I have for you to meet people for the first time in any environment. And this is especially true if you are not a native speaker of their language.


So the first tip I have is to simply smile. Make your face look friendly and welcoming and give eye contact to the person that you want to talk to. It sounds really simple and obvious, but if you missed this step um, you know, this is a very important step and this is half the battle. So make sure that you look approachable yourself and you smile And you might even make a slight hand gesture, like, uh, a mini wave of some sort.  And the next thing is to simply say hello.


You don't have to come up with any kind of clever saying or pick up line or joke just simply saying hello. And you can see if the other person is interested in having a conversation with you.


And another tip is that you can be observant of what the person looks like or what clothes they're wearing and use that as a clue um, to tell you about who they are. For example, if the person is wearing very nice running shoes you kind of have the idea that this person likes to run or this person may be a runner or if you notice that the person has, um, cauliflower ears, you know, scarred ears from wrestling OK, this guy is probably a fighter. (please subscribe to the Streetwise English Podcast)





Streetwise English

SWE17 How to Break the Ice?

Paola e Giuseppe parlano un po' dei loro interessi e dei loro hobby.

Un viaggio pieno di sorprese! 

Capitolo 7 - Il tempo libero

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Español coloquial

¿Me echas un cable?

오늘의 질문: 한국 가을 하면 떠오르는 대표적인 자연 현상은 무엇일까요?
a) 단풍
b) 황사
c) 벚꽃

한국의 가을은 정말 특별해요. 하늘은 맑고 바람은 시원하게 불어옵니다. 이맘때 자주 쓰는 말 중 하나가 청명하다예요. 청명한 날씨는 하늘이 맑고 깨끗할 때 사용합니다.

가을 날씨는 낮과 밤의 기온 차이가 큰데, 아침이나 저녁에 느끼는 약간 추운 느낌을 쌀쌀하다라고 해요. 이렇게 기온이 변화하는 시기를 환절기라고 부르죠. 환절기에는 감기에 걸리기 쉬우니까 건강을 잘 챙겨야 합니다.

그리고 가을 하면 빼놓을 수 없는 것이 바로 단풍입니다. 나뭇잎이 빨갛고 노랗게 물드는 모습을 보고 많은 사람들이 단풍 구경을 하러 산으로 가죠. 단풍은 한국 가을의 대표적인 자연 현상입니다.

Vocabulary 
청명하다: 하늘이 맑고 깨끗한 상태
쌀쌀하다: 약간 추운 느낌
환절기: 계절이 바뀌면서 기온 차이가 큰 시기
단풍: 가을에 나뭇잎이 색이 변하는 현상
