Hi there. Your task today is to find FOUR things here beginning with S! Good luck 😀😀😀

In your experience, which part of the IELTS is the most difficult to score high in? #IELTS

Hi everyone! Today I’d like to share a lovely Chinese idiom with you — 步步生花 (Bù Bù Shēng Huā). Chinese Idiom: 步步生花 (Bù Bù Shēng Huā) Basic Info • Pinyin: bù bù shēng huā • Literal meaning: Flowers bloom with every step • Common translation: Walk gracefully; May every step be blessed with beauty Meaning 1. To describe someone walking elegantly and lightly, like flowers appearing under each step. 2. As a warm blessing: life goes smoothly, future is bright, and every step brings good things. Example Sentences • 她走路姿态优雅，步步生花。 She walks with such grace, as if flowers bloom at every step. • 祝你新的一年步步生花，万事顺意。 May your new year be filled with beauty and success in every step. Simple Explanation for Learners This is a gentle, poetic idiom in Chinese. It is often used to praise elegant manners or give best wishes. It has no negative meaning and is widely used in daily greetings, essays, and friendly messages. Hope you find it useful for your Chinese learning! Feel free to use this warm idiom in your daily conversations. Happy learning!：）

Hi! Can you please help me to make my review sound more natural? Does it meet the requirements of the task? Underestimated art. Do you feel like visiting a museum of history or contemporary art? I’ve always chosen the first option but not this time. The museum I’m going to review is a rare example when the interior is much more sophisticated than the exterior of the building. Nestled in the former building of car dealership, Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm catches you at first sight. It's located in the city centre so it has access to public transport as well as proximity to supermarkets and shopping centres. It’s a daunting task to find a person in Perm unfamiliar with the museum. The building engages you from the very start – a huge statue made of glass that everybody would interpret in one’s own way inside the building. There are thought-provoking exhibitions that suit every taste. I was thoroughly impressed by the musical exhibition where you can make every sound by means of metal panels. By contrast I had mixed feelings about an exhibition called "Ancestral home” as it depicted a railroad on a hillock made of pebbles. Although, I connected it to our region, it will be a tremendous task to fully understand the author‘s message for those who aren’t familiar with the history of our region, nevertheless, art aficionados find this exhibition cutting-edge and reflective. To sum this up, I highly recommend visiting the museum if you want to immerse yourself into mysteries of Ural and get into the true spirit of Permian art.

I found that parents do "silly" things with their children could be the best gift to them. The silly thing I meant is Something that not dangerous, no harm, but adults think boring. For instance, playing in mud. The loving and caring feeling from the quality time is precious, while material gifts can go bad eventually.

Struggling to make conversations in English ? I've been teaching students around the world and all of them have improved their English . Ready to step into your language learning journey? Book with me and I'll see you in class.

Listen to Daniela from Austria reading a story. She does it really beautifully. I have just finished reading a Deon Meyer novel. He is brilliant! Highly recommended. Joining a book club is always a good idea!

"І dоn't wаnt thеm tо dіѕсоvеr mу wеаk Еnglіѕh." Υоu hаvе ѕаіd thіѕ. Nоt оut lоud. Іnѕіdе. Веfоrе thе mееtіng ѕtаrtѕ. Веfоrе уоur bоѕѕ jоіnѕ thе саll. Веfоrе уоu ореn уоur mоuth. Аnd bесаuѕе оf thаt thоught — уоu dоn't. Nоt thе rаіѕе. Nоt thе аrgunеnt уоu hаd rеаdу. Nоt thе ѕоlutіоn nоbоdу еlѕе іn thе rооm соuld ѕее. Υоu kерt іt. Весаuѕе оf а ѕеntеnсе уоu tоld уоurѕеlf аbоut whаt thеу mіght thіnk. Hеrе іѕ whаt nоbоdу tоld уоu. Тhаt ѕеntеnсе hаѕ nоthіng tо dо wіth уоur Еnglіѕh. Іt hаѕ tо dо wіth а futurе уоu іnvеntеd. А ѕсеnе уоu рlау іn уоur hеаd whеrе ѕоmеоnе turnѕ аrоund аnd ѕауѕ: nоt gооd еnоugh. Υоu іmаgіnеd іt. Υоu bеlіеvеd іt. Υоu wеnt ѕіlеnt. Аnd thеn уоu dоwnlоаdеd аnоthеr арр. I've seen twеntу thоuѕаnd реорlе. Ѕеvеntу соuntrіеѕ. Ѕаmе thоught. Ѕаmе ѕіlеnсе. Ѕаmе wrоng ѕоlutіоn. Υоur Еnglіѕh wаѕ nеvеr thе рrоblеm. Whаt аrе уоu асtuаllу аfrаіd thеу wіll dіѕсоvеr?

І dоn't wаnt thеm tо dіѕсоvеr mу wеаk Еnglіѕh. Υоu hаvе ѕаіd thіѕ. Іnѕіdе уоur hеаd, bеfоrе а mееtіng, bеfоrе ореnіng уоur mоuth — mауbе bеfоrе ѕеndіng аn еmаіl. Hеrе іѕ whаt thаt thоught іѕ асtuаllу соѕtіng уоu. Nоt уоur ассеnt. Nоt уоur grаmmаr. Υоur nеxt рrоmоtіоn. Υоur nеxt rаіѕе. Тhе brіllіаnt іdеа nоbоdу hеаrd bесаuѕе уоu nеvеr ѕаіd іt оut lоud. Іn thіѕ еріѕоdе І mаkе оnе роіnt: thе thіng уоu аrе trуіng tо fіx wіth mоrе lеѕѕоnѕ, mоrе аррѕ, mоrе ΥоuТubе — іt hаѕ nоthіng tо dо wіth уоur Еnglіѕh. Іt hаѕ tо dо wіth whаt уоu іmаgіnе оthеr реорlе wіll thіnk. Аnd thаt іmаgіnаtіоn іѕ kееріng уоu ѕіlеnt. Lіѕtеn tо thіѕ оnсе. Тhеn аѕk уоurѕеlf hоnеѕtlу — hаvе уоu bееn dоіng thіѕ vеrу thіng?

# Chinese Lesson 1 Course target: Absolute beginners Language used for explanation: English ## 1. Introduction to Chinese Modern standard Chinese (Mandarin) uses **Chinese characters** for writing and Pinyin for pronunciation. Pinyin is a spelling system based on the Latin alphabet, which helps foreigners learn to read Chinese. Chinese is a **tonal language**. The same syllable with different tones means completely different words. ## 2. Pinyin basic knowledge (Part 1: 4 main tones) Mark rules example: mā má mǎ mà 1st tone (ˉ): flat and steady mā 2nd tone (ˊ): rising upwards má 3rd tone (ˇ): fall then rise mǎ 4th tone (ˋ): short and falling sharply mà Example to understand tones: mā 妈 mother má 麻 hemp mǎ 马 horse mà 骂 scold ## 3. Core simple characters & vocabulary |Chinese|Pinyin|English meaning| | ---- | ---- | ---- | |我|wǒ|I, me| |你|nǐ|you| |他|tā|he| |她|tā|she| |好|hǎo|good, fine| |是|shì|am / is / are| ## 4. Basic sentence patterns Pattern 1: 你好！ nǐ hǎo! Hello / Hi. Usage: Standard greeting for all people. Pattern 2: 我是 + Name. wǒ shì ____. I am ____. Example: 我是杰克。 wǒ shì Jiékè. I am Jack. Pattern 3: 你好吗？ nǐ hǎo ma? How are you? Answer: 我很好。 wǒ hěn hǎo. I am fine. ## 5. Important grammar notes 1. Chinese verbs do NOT change form. No “am / is / are” changes like English. ✅ 我是老师。 你是学生。（“是” stays the same） 2. No plural marks for nouns. 我 = I; 我们 = we 你 = you; 你们 = you (plural) ## 6. Practice exercise Translate into Chinese and write Pinyin: 1. Hello! 2. I am Lisa. 3. How are you?