The Key to Remembering NEW Words and Idioms is to Make as many Associations in your mind as you can. This way, you will never forget what you learnt. 

Tell me in the Comments Section if there are any stories you'd like to share.

All Things English

Vocabulary Acquisition - Sharing Stories

JAKE: Where should we take a vacation this year? Let’s 
decide soon.
MELISSA: Well, I’d like to go somewhere warm. How about
the beach? Or we could rent a cabin on the lake.
JAKE: You want to go to the beach, again? I want to ski 
this winter. How about a compromise? What about 
traveling to the Alps in Europe next April? We can 
find a ski resort on a lake.
MELISSA: Oh, we’ve never been to Europe before! But I don’t 
know if it will be sunny and warm then. I need to 
do some research first. That will help me make up
my mind.



LANGUAGE NOTES
• Decide is a useful verb to express choice. The idiom “to make up my mind” also 
means “to decide”: “There are so many choices in this menu. It’s going to take awhile 
to make up my mind/decide.” You can finish this sentence with either the idiom or the 
verb “decide.”
• How about This phrase presents an alternative. This phrase can be followed by a 
subject plus a conjugated verb or by a noun: How about we go swimming? / How about 
a movie tonight?
• Many verbs express opinions: to think / to believe / to suppose / to assume, etc. They 
are not all synonymous. For example, “to suppose” and “to assume” express that the 
speaker has a preconceived idea: He came back late from work, so I assumed that traffic 
was bad. /I suppose that may not have been the case, and that he might just have had a 
lot of work.

English Conversation practice (30-day challenge)

Day 27: Giving your opinion

Simon Fowler: So what do you think you will have to eat?

Eduardo Gonzales: I know you said the barbecue is good and it does look fantastic, but I see they also have curry here.

Simon Fowler: Yes, they do. It’s really good. You see there are 12 different kinds. The one at the bottom is very mild and as they go up, they get more and more spicy. The one at the top - well, phew! It’s really tasty, but a little too hot for me. There’s a lot of garlic in it, so if you choose that, you need to be brave. And you may not be popular on the plane home tomorrow (laughs).

Eduardo Gonzales: (Laughs) I do like a strong curry though. What I do is I order a dish of yogurt to go with it. It’s nice and thick and cool so if I feel it’s too spicy, I can eat some or add it to my curry to cool it down.

Simon Fowler: That’s a really good idea. I might try that in future.

Eduardo Gonzales: I also like the sound of the cheeseburger, but at the same time, I could have a good cheeseburger in a lot of places.

Simon Fowler: Oh, it’s really special here though. They bake the burgers for a little which makes them taste really good, and then they fry them quickly in olive oil. There are a lot of restaurants where they just put it in the microwave and it tastes terrible.

Eduardo Gonzales: The only thing I used a microwave for is heating up my coffee when I have left it too long. I don’t think you should ever use one for food.

Simon Fowler: Well, here comes the waitress, so it’s decision time.

English Conversation/Dialogue

Eating Out

En este episodio, exploramos los saludos más comunes en Colombia 🇨🇴, desde los formales hasta los más cálidos y amigables. Descubre el significado de expresiones como "¿Cómo estás?", "¿Quihubo?", y "¿Cómo amaneció?" 🤗. También hablamos sobre el poder del lenguaje corporal en los saludos: un apretón de manos firme 🤝, un abrazo cálido 🤗 o un beso en la mejilla 💋, dependiendo del contexto y la relación. ¡Además, conoce los diminutivos cariñosos como "mi amor" ❤️ y "parce" 🤝, que reflejan la calidez y cercanía de la cultura colombiana!

¡No te lo puedes perder! 🎧🌟

SlangSpot Latino

¡Hola, Parce! Descubre los Saludos Colombianos

你好！你现在听到的是一位中文老师的日记（ri4ji4, diary），你可以在这里听到在新鲜(xin1xian1, fresh)真实(zhen1shi2, real)的中国生活。我是Amber，很高兴你能听到我的中文播客(podcast)。
9月8日 天气晴 星期四

孩子上学去了，我终于又有时间来更新(geng1xin1, update)我的播客。继续说说我的生活。
昨天我去学游泳了。这已经是我第三次学游泳。记得(ji4de2, remember)第一次是还在大学的时候，但我实在太怕水了，考试没有通过(tong1guo4, pass)，实际上是因为我也没有学会。第二次，是我的男朋友教我，他是游泳队的，比较专业(zhuan1ye4, professional)，但是我学了两次，眼睛又发炎（fa1yan2, inflame）了，不得已（bu4de2yi3, have no alternative but to），又没学成。这次呢，是我从小到大的好朋友教我，因为她的游泳卡10月就要过期(guo4qi1,expire)了，可是，她还有80次没有用。她希望我帮他用用她的卡，不然，剩太多次，可真的浪费(lang4fei4, waste)了，为了感谢我帮她用卡，她就教我游泳。这么好的事，简直就是为我量身定做（liang2shen1ding4zuo4, tailor-made）的，省了游泳票的钱，还省了教练(jiao4lian4, coach)的钱。真是天时地利人和(tian1shi2di4li4ren2he2)，再不学真的说不过去(shuo1bu2guo4qu4,can’t be explained away)。
因为有之前的基础（ji1chu4, learn before）昨天的学习效果(xiao4guo3, effect)很不错。从最开始下水，觉得胸闷(xiong1men4, chest distress)，到最后，已经可以顺利(shun4li4, successfully)的漂(piao1, float)起来了，可是，心理(xin1li3, mental)上的障碍(zhang4ai4, obstacle)还是很大，我不敢(gan3, dare to)放手，手还是得靠(kao4, get near to)着泳池(yong3chi2, swimming pool)的边，才能有安全感(an1quan2gan3,sense of security)。虽然好友给我做了很多心理建设(jian4she4, build)，可是还是迈(mai4, stride)不过去。不过我觉得，我的闺蜜(gui1mi4,close female friend)真是一名好教练，她把水描述(miao2shu4, discribe)成了一个人，这是我之前教我游泳的老师或者男朋友从来没有做过的事，让我相信水，水就会给我力量（li4liang4,power），她让我去感受水的力量。她说：“要想学好游泳，首先你要相信水，把自己交给水，然后再相信自己，水里有力量，你自己身上也有力量，与生俱来（yu3sheng1ju4lai2, innate），你要去感受这些力量，去互动(hu4dong4, interact)，最后你会知道这是非常神奇(shen2qi2, magical)的”。真的，她把一个体育(ti3yu4,sports)课活生生(huo2sheng1sheng, real)上成了哲学(zhe2xue2,philosophy)课，太高大上（gao1shang4da4, high-end,elegant and classy, abbr. for 高端大气上档次）了！在欢乐的笑声和水池里的“汩汩”声中，我的游泳课顺利的结束了，非常期待（qi1dai4, look forward to）下一次。
中国有句话，“事不过三”，也就是说，事情一般都不能、不会或者不应该超过（chao1guo4,exceed）3次。这已经是我的第三次学游泳了，事不过三，这一次我一定得把它学会了！
对了，有一个问题留给你！刚才我说了一句，天时地利人和，你听到了吗？如果没有听到，再去听听。实在不行，请看我的文字稿。所以呢，我的问题是：你知道什么是“天时地利人和”吗？

中文小天地 Little Chinese world

学游泳

可是他又提了一些问题：
Nevertheless, he still had some more questions.
你怎么能占有星星呢？
How is it possible for one to own the stars?
“那么你说星星是谁的呀？”实业家不高兴地顶了小王子一句。
"To whom do they belong?" the businessman retorted, peevishly.
我不知道，不属于任何人。
I don't know. To nobody.
那么，它们就是我的，因为是我第一个想到了这件事情的。
Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it.
这就行了吗？
Is that all that is necessary?
那当然。如果你发现了一颗没有主人的钻石，那么这颗钻石就是属于你的。
Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours.
当你发现一个岛是没有主的，那么这个岛就是你的。

When you discover an island that belongs to nobody, it is yours.
当你首先想出了一个办法，你就去领一个专利证，这个办法就是属于你的。
When you get an idea before any one else, you take out a patent on it: it is yours.
既然在我之前不曾有任何人想到要占有这些星星，那我就占有这些星星。
So with me:I own the stars, because nobody else before me ever thought of owning them."
“这倒也是。可是你用它们来干什么？”小王子说。
"Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them?"
我经营管理这些星星。
"I administer them," replied the businessman.
我一遍又一遍地计算它们的数目。这是一件困难的事。
I count them and recount them. It is diffcult.
但我是一个严肃认真的人！
But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of consequence.

小王子-The Little Prince-Read in Chinese

小王子第31章：获取专利证

得过且过[dé guò qiě guò]：get/pass by/for the moment/pass by. 
五台山 wǔ tái shān：Mount Wutai in China
寒号鸟 hán háo niǎo：A kind of bird
浑身 hún shēn：all over;from head to foot
羽毛 yǔ máo：plume;feather
得意地 dé yì de ：proudly
凤凰 fèng huáng：a Chinese phoenix
不如 bù rú：not as good as
搭窝 dā wō：build a nest
脱落 tuō luò：drop;fall off;come off;shed
无可奈何 wú kě nài hé：helpless; against one's will
哀号 āi háo：cry piteously; wail
This idiom means to get on in a haphazard way with no clear plan and if it can pass then pass it.
eg：如果我们不努力工作，得过且过，总有一天会后悔的。
       rúguǒ wǒmen bù nǔlì gōngzuò,dé guò qiě guò,zǒngyǒu yī tiān huì hòuhuǐ de.

乐读中文 (Lè Dú Zhōngwén) - "Joyful Chinese Stories"

得过且过[dé guò qiě guò]

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

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