The second installment of this new Roald Dahl short story. Will has recently died and left a very interesting letter for his widow, Mary. Find out more by listening. This story is for Upper-intermediate to Advanced learners. 

Stories to Stimulate!

Will and Mary Part 2

3000 Most Common Words

This is a clean and tidy office. A photo is displayed on the wall. It shows the Memory Stationery staff standing proud in front of a new warehouse. Everyone’s face is full of optimism.  But today the company atmosphere is tense. A4, the CEO of the company, is at his desk and on the phone; he is facing out the window at the sky. His facial expression is timid.

“I hear you, Mr. Scissors,” says A4. “But it’s impossible. I can’t take our prices down that low. You’re asking me to sacrifice our entire profit margin.”

A4 sits in silence as he listens to the response. A bead of sweat runs down the CEO’s face. The voice on the other end is frightening him.

“Sir, last month I discounted our products to the bottom line… Yes, but, please, sir, I’m just an
honest wholesaler. I promise I’m not trying to take advantage of you… Other retailers are happy to pay market rate—”

A4 suddenly pulls the phone away from his ear. The voice is furious and aggressive. It is blasting out the tiny speaker. When the harsh noise calms down, A4 puts the phone back to his ear.

“No, please, don’t cut me. Please, sir. You’re right, okay? You’re right. That was rude of me, I’m
sorry… I know. I’m a scrap. You’re right. I’m no better than a tissue. You’re right…”

A4 changes his tone. He isn’t pleading anymore. He sounds like he has given up.

“Mr. Scissors. I’ll look at our margins and call you back. There might be some way we can go down lower…”

A4 hangs up the phone. He leans back in his chair. His eyes are glazed over. He is deep in
contemplation. He imagines the brutal scenario of Mr. Scissors cutting him into a thousand pieces.

Throughout this entire time, A4 has been recording the conversation onto his paper body. This is his natural ability. A4’s unmistakable memory is the reason why he is the CEO.

A4 picks up the phone and dials a number. Life returns to his eyes.

“Backpack, get everyone together in the meeting room. I have an announcement.”

Being a Cloud

A4 the Piece of Paper 

Послушайте песню Михаила Боярского "Сяду в скорый поезд", после чего послушайте подкаст, в котором я, Юлия, в коллаборации с Лео (https://www.italki.com/ru/teacher/1018354 ) спорим о судьбе героя песни "Сяду в скорый поезд". 

Russian Language: a Real Breakthrough

В1-В2. Дискуссия о судьбе героя из песни "Сяду в скорый поезд".

Hi! I am Sylvia, your native mandarin teacher from China~
I would like to share you an excellent and funny Chinese animaition today! You could find out the Chinese culture and Chinese daily life in this animation.
while you are listening the introduction of this show, I will share you some useful words in Mandarin!
Hope you could learn with fun!!!

Please check today's vocabularies:
tuī jiàn
推 荐 recommend; recommendation
nǐ tuī jiàn chī shén me ？
你 推 荐 吃 什 么 ？ What do you recommend to eat？

dònɡ huà
动 画 animation; cartoon
wǒ xǐ huɑn zhè ɡe dònɡ huà 。
我 喜 欢 这 个 动 画 。 I like this animation.

lèi xínɡ
类 型 type
nǐ xǐ huɑn shén me lèi xínɡ de dònɡ huà ？
你 喜 欢 什 么 类 型 的 动 画 ？ What type of animation do you like?

xǐ jù
喜 剧 comedy
zhè ɡe xǐ jù hěn yǒu qù ！
这 个 喜 剧 很 有 趣 ！ This comedy is funny!

rì chánɡ
日 常 daily
wǒ de rì chánɡ shēnɡ huó hěn jiǎn dān 。
我 的 日 常 生 活 很 简 单 。 My daily life is simple.

Hope you enjoy today's show. If you like it, please subscribe and let's learn more Mandarin with fun!
Welcome to contact me to start your jouney of learning!~
Skype: ❀ Teacher Sylvia❀


Sylva Mandarin

Learn some words with Chinese animation

¡Piyali ihuan mah cualli xihualacan! ¡Xitlahto motechpa! 
Hello and welcome to our first podcast in Nahuatl. Today's topic is a basic presentation in Nahuatl. Enjoy!

Audio Transcription:
¡Piali! Nehuatl notoca Metl, nichanti Coyohuacan, ahmo nitequiti, nimomachtia ica nahuatlahtolli Iztapalapa, nicpia caxtolli xihuitl, ninemi ihuan nochancayo, onitlacat Iztacalco ipan in meztli abril. Nicempaqui in nimitzixmati. 

Text translation:
Hello! My name is Maguey, I live in Coyohuacan, I don't work, I study Nahuatl in Iztapalapa, I am 15 years old, I live with my family, I was born in Iztacalco in April. Nice to meet you!

Traducción del texto:
¡Hola! Me llamo Maguey, vivo en Coyohuacan, no trabajo, estudio en náhuatl en Iztapalapa, tengo 15 años, vivo con mi familia, nací en Iztacalco en el mes de abril. ¡Gusto de conocerte!

Nahuatl with Ixchel

Podcast #1: Introduce yourself in Nahuatl!

1 where is the situated Lahore?
2 what is important in Pakistan?
3 what kinds of places see in Lahore?

اردو پنجابی بول چال

Lahore

A bluefin tuna was sold for 36.04 million yen -- around $273,000 -- at the first auction of the year at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market.

The price of the 212-kilogram fish was more than double that of the most expensive fish at last year's New Year's auction: a 211-kilogram fish that sold for 16.88 million yen -- at that time worth $145,000.

Both fish were caught off the coast of the town of Oma in Aomori prefecture.

This year's auction began at 5:10 a.m. on January 5, and around 230 tuna were sold in just 15 minutes.

Seafood wholesaler Yamayuki bought this year's most expensive fish for the sushi restaurant Ginza Onodera. The tuna was served to the restaurant's customers later that same day.

This is the third year in a row that Yamayuki has bought the most expensive tuna. However, prices had fallen in recent years as the restaurant industry suffered during the coronavirus pandemic.

Yamayuki's president Yukitaka Yamaguchi told The Yomiuri Shimbun that the increased price this year "is good news that symbolizes the gradual recovery from the pandemic."

This year's top price was the sixth highest since records began being kept in 1999.

The highest price recorded was at the New Year's auction in 2019 -- just after Tokyo's fish market moved from Tsukiji to Toyosu. At that auction, a 278-kilogram fish was sold for 333.6 million yen -- at that time $3 million -- to Kiyomura Corp., whose owner, Kiyoshi Kimura, runs the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain.