Small talk - love it or hate it, you cannot avoid it!

Share you experience with making small talk - are you good at it?

British English with Maria

Making small talk

Comentario sobre la segunda parte de la nueva adaptación cinematográfica de la novela de Alejandro Dumas.

El kinetoscopio

Episodio 8: Los tres mosqueteros - Parte II: Milady

Te cuento sobre mi experiencia en el complejo olímpico de Atenas. Parece que correr en falda larga no es una buena idea. 

La magia de la vida

Episodio 21: Mi caída en el estadio olímpico de Atenas

Hay frases cargadas de significado, aquí te explico un poco una de ellas. Por supuesto, desde mi perspectiva.

Episodio 14: Las dos caras de la moneda

This episode is part two of the episode Introducing the Shadowing Technique for English Learning. In this episode, you will learn new English phrases and idioms. Increasing your English vocabulary for everyday conversations in your personal life and work will allow you to really speak the English language and connect with native speakers. 



You'll learn seven definitions for the English phrases and idioms I used in the last episode. You'll also get some homework at the end so you can continue to improve your English communication skills. If you’re an English learner and currently work or want to work with native English speakers from the U.S., you won't want to miss it!

Episode originally published on September 18, 2020.
Transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/brain-fried-english-phrases/. 

Express to Impress

Brain Fried and Other English Phrases

Lucas goes to school every day of the week. He has many subjects to go to each school day: English, art, science, mathematics, gym, and history. His mother packs a big backpack full of books and lunch for Lucas.

His first class is English, and he likes that teacher very much. His English teacher says that he is a good pupil, which Lucas knows means that she thinks he is a good student.

His next class is art. He draws on paper with crayons and pencils and sometimes uses a ruler. Lucas likes art. It is his favorite class.

His third class is science. This class is very hard for Lucas to figure out, but he gets to work with his classmates a lot, which he likes to do. His friend, Kyle, works with Lucas in science class, and they have fun.

Then Lucas gets his break for lunch. He sits with Kyle while he eats. The principal, or the headmaster as some call him, likes to walk around and talk to students during lunch to check that they are all behaving.

The next class is mathematics, which most of the students just call math. Kyle has trouble getting a good grade in mathematics, but the teacher is very nice and helpful.

His fourth class is gym. It is just exercising.

History is his last class of the day. Lucas has a hard time staying awake. Many lessons are boring, and he is very tired after doing gym.

Which classes were your favorite? :)

Let's continue with reading & comprehension tomorrow.

The Habits of Highly Effective English Communicators

Daily reading & comprehension. At school

I’ll introduce Japanese culture in easy Japanese.
Today’s Theme is “七五三の歴史《The history of Shichi-go-san》”.
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☆
七五三（しちごさん）：Shichi-go-san is an annual Japanese festival to celebrate the growth of children. It takes place on or around November 15. The festival is for boys aged three and five, and girls aged three and seven. That’s why it is called shichi-go-san (seven-five-three).
お祝（いわ）い：celebration
成長（せいちょう）：growth
中旬（ちゅうじゅん）：middle of a month
江戸時代（えどじだい）：Edo period (1603-1868 CE)
剃（そ）る：shave
袴（はかま）：man's formal divided skirt
帯（おび）：belt (e.g. of a kimono)
千歳飴（ちとせあめ）：longevity candy, long red-and-white stick candy
On shichi-go-san, children eat long red-and-white stick candy, called chitose ame. Chitose means “one thousand years.” It symbolizes health and longevity.

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

☆Quiz for this episode
https://www.italki.com/quiz/set/8878?utm_source=copylink_share&utm_medium=share_content&utm_campaign=share_quiz

Simple Japanese Listening with Meg（めぐ）Smile

#39 Japanese culture / 七五三の歴史《The history of Shichi-go-san》 // N3 Level /Japanese listening

In this episode we are going to learn a Real Chinese Conversation【Take-away lunch】. 
------------------------------------------------
Step 1: Listen and catch the words you know already, have a guess about the content.
Step 2: Check the script to learn one by one. 
Step 3: Listen and repeat after it.
Step 4: Practice until you can perform the dialogue. 
------------------------------------------------
店员(diànyuán, clerk)：欢迎光临，这是我们的菜单，看下想吃点什么？
huān yíng guāng lín ， zhè shì wǒ men de cài dān ， kàn xià xiǎng chī diǎn shén me ？
Welcome, this is our menu, what would you like to eat?
顾客(gùkè, customer): 有推荐的吗？
yǒu tuī jiàn de ma ？
Any recommendations?
店员：喜欢吃猪肉、鸡肉还是牛肉？
xǐ huan chī zhū ròu 、 jī ròu hái shì niú ròu ？
Do you like pork, chicken or beef?
顾客：猪肉吧。
zhū ròu ba 。
Pork please.
店员：叉烧饭是我们的招牌菜，要不要试试？
chā shāo fàn shì wǒ men de zhāo pai cài ， yào bu yào shì shì ？
Rice with char siu is our signature dish, would you like to try it?
顾客：看起来不错，那就一份叉烧饭吧。
kàn qǐ lái bú cuò ， nà jiù yí fèn chā shāo fàn ba 。
It looks good, I will take rice with char siu.
店员：单点二十块钱，加五块钱有一杯饮料。
dān diǎn èr shí kuài qián ， jiā wǔ kuài qián yǒu yì bēi yǐn liào 。
A single order costs 20 yuan, and you can get a drink by adding 5 yuan.
顾客：有什么饮料？
yǒu shén me yǐn liào ？
What drinks are available?
店员：柠檬茶和奶茶。
níng méng chá hé nǎi chá 。
Lemon tea and milk tea.
顾客：柠檬茶吧。
níng méng chá bā 。
Lemon tea please.
店员：打包还是这里吃？
dǎ bāo hái shì zhè lǐ chī ？
Do you want to take away or eat here?
顾客：打包。
dǎ bāo 。
Take away.
店员：打包费一块钱。一共二十六块。
dǎ bāo fèi yī kuài qián 。 yí gòng èr shí liù kuài 。
The take away fee is 1 yuan. A total of 26 yuan.
顾客：付了。
fù le 。
(scaned and)Paid.
店员：请在那边取餐。
qǐng zài nà biān qǔ cān 。
Please pick up the food over there.
顾客：谢谢。
xiè xie 。
Thank you.