The English Effect is a conversational podcast for B1–Proficient learners, with opinion-led discussions on diverse topics to help you sound natural and confident in English.

The English Effect

Un viaje por millones de años en pocas líneas. A través de un texto de Eduardo Galeano, trabajamos el español desde el tiempo verbal, el ritmo y el léxico cotidiano para comprender cómo el lenguaje también cuenta la historia humana.

Un mar de palabras, el español a través de los textos de Eduardo Galeano

Episodio 3: Mapa del tiempo

Hello everyone! 👋

Today we start our journey in Italian with the first episode of the podcast "Italpop for travelers" 🎧

A perfect episode for those who start from scratch: you will learn the basic phrases for travelling, saying hello, ordering a coffee ☕️ and asking for information, all in a natural and nice way!

👉 Listen to the episode and at the end, write in the comments:

What is the first Italian word you would use as soon as you arrive in Italy?

#Italian #travelitalian #italianlanguage #italianculture #learnitalian #italpop

ITALPOP

Your first travel in Italy | How to figure it out? Absolute beginner

In this episode we will talk about 【leftover women and men】, you will learn how to say 【charm,single,come across】 ect. The material helps you get used to different voice and accent. 
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It is recommended that you study in the following ways:
Step 1: Gist listening. Listen to get the main idea. (more times if necessary)
Step 2: Read the text to find out words you didn't get, then look up the dictionary. 
Step 3: Listen and imitate as much as you can without looking at the text.
Step 4: Write down what you hear if you want to practise writing.
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大家好，我是Yuli。欢迎收听我的播客。
今天想和大家聊一聊【剩女剩男】的话题。
在中国，到了一定年龄还是单身，没有结婚的女人和男人被叫做剩女和剩男。这是一个不太友好的称呼。李银河老师是中国著名的社会学家，我们来听听她对这个话题有什么看法。
30岁好像是一个心理上的一个坎，女孩好像一过了三十岁就要被叫做“剩女”了，是吧？然后男孩也是，好一点儿吧，可能没准35岁，然后就算“剩男”了是吧。其实我是很反对这个“剩男剩女”这种说法，因为他这样说的时候，他有一个前提，就是人人都必须结婚。如果你要（是）不结婚，你就说剩下来的。说得更难听，你是被挑剩下来的。这个就是说你没有魅力啊，你失败啊，你不成功啊什么的，你不漂亮啊什么。种种的这个评价，所以我觉得不好。这个叫“剩女剩男”都不好。
人不一定非得结婚。我从80年代的时候，我看过一个国家统计局的数字，就是我们中国全人口里终身没有结过婚的占3.8%。大家就是至少觉得多了一个选项，就是我可以结婚我也可以不结婚了。就是过去这个选项是没有的，过去在中国如果你要是不结婚的话，你成为一个可怜的对象，觉得你的人生整个就是一个失败。你完全是个loser（失败者）。但是现在可不是了。现在独身可以作为一种，另一个选择了。那些（选择）独身生活方式的都是因为他们已经都安排好自己的养老，自己有能力养老，然后就可以做这种选择了。
就是说一桩爱情啊，有两个最重要的因素。一个是爱的能力，另外一个是运气，就是说你能碰上你爱的人。这两个因素缺一不可。我觉得其实爱情和婚姻跟年龄的关系并不太大。
你对这个话题有什么看法？留言告诉我吧。我们下期见。
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一定	/	yí dìng	/certain
称呼	/	chēng hū	/appellation
社会学家	/	shè huì xué jiā	/Sociologist
坎	/	kǎn	/hurdle
没准	/	méi zhǔn	/probably
前提	/	qián tí	/premise
难听	/	nán tīng	/unpleasant to hear
被挑剩	/	bèi tiāo shèng	/be （picked） left
魅力	/	mèi lì	/charm
评价	/	píng jià	/comment，evaluation
非得	/	fēi dé	/must be
统计局	/	tǒng jì jú	/statistics
终身	/	zhōng shēn	/lifetime
选项	/	xuǎn xiàng	/option
对象	/	duì xiàng	/object
独身	/	dú shēn	/single
养老	/	yǎng lǎo	/live out one's life in retirement
一桩（爱情）	/	yī zhuāng （ ài qíng ）/a（love relationship）
因素	/	yīn sù	/factor
碰上	/	pèng shàng	/come across
缺一不可	/	quē yī bù kě	/None is dispensable

Yuli's Chinese Channel

剩女剩男 Leftover women and men （Intermediate level）

Extort	勒索	lèsuǒ
Facilitate	使容易	shǐ róng yì
Fade	褪色	tuìshǎi
Faint	头晕	tóuyūn de
Fall	        落下	luòxià


5 Verbs a Day. 每天学习五个动词。

C(27) Vocabulary Set: Extort Facilitate Fade Faint Fall

In this first episode, I'll talk about Crete in general and go trough general information about the island.

Noémie voyage en Europe

Bienvenue en Crète ! 

JOYCE: Should we take a taxi or a bus to the mall?
BILL: Let’s take a bus. It’s impossible to get a taxi during 
rush hour.
JOYCE: Isn’t that a bus stop over there?
BILL: Yes ... Oh! There’s a bus now. We’ll have to run to 
catch it.
JOYCE: Oh, no! We just missed it.
BILL: No problem. There’ll be another one in 10 minutes.


LANGUAGE NOTES
• Should we … or …? Is a way of asking “Which is better?” “Should” is used to ask 
for an opinion. Note that we do not say “Will” here.
• Take a taxi or a bus? The word “or” signals a choice here. Notice the rising 
intonation on taxi (the first choice) and falling intonation on bus (the second choice).
• Let’s (Let us) means “I think we should do this.”
• Rush hour is the time of day when most people are going to or from work. In most 
American cities, rush hour is from about 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. and from about 4:30 to 
6:30 p.m. Notice that “rush hour” is a compound noun, with the main stress on the 
first word.
• Isn’t that This is a negative question. The speaker expects an affirmative answer. It 
is used to check information.
• Bus stop is a compound noun, with the main stress on the first word.
• Oh! is an exclamation used to express alarm or surprise.
• Oh, no! is an expression used to express disappointment.
• We just missed it here means “We arrived a moment too late to get the bus.” 
Notice the emphasis on “just” to show the very recent past.
• No problem here means “It doesn’t matter.

English Conversation practice (30-day challenge)

Day 19: Transportation 

Ya desde lejos Albacete, viniendo desde Alcalá de Júcar por la CM-332 (también hay autovía pero es menos interesante), se presiente como un lugar dónde van a ocurrir cosas. Sí. 
Hemos disfrutado de la provincia siguiendo un anillo que nos ha llevado por ella, a conocer pequeñas poblaciones pero que son una gran muestra de la España auténtica y yo creo firmemente que es porque los españoles que viven en esta zona son muy auténticos, en el sentido de poco influenciados por modas y tradiciones internacionales.

VIAJAR POR ESPAÑA  "AUDIOS"

Mi España - La Ciudad de Albacete

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."
