Let's explore the world of phrasal verbs and idioms by backing them up with an in depth explanation + examples in order for you to sound more like a native speaker and stop you from second-guessing. 

Smart Cookie English

Здравствуйте. Это восьмой эпизод подкаста «Глубинный народ», взгляд на культуру России из провинции.

На прошлой неделе я одновременно читал такие разные книги: «Перестройка и новое мышление» М. С. Горбачёва и «Котлован» А. П. Платонова.

Президент Советского Союза в частности писал:

«Нельзя не сказать ещё об одной стороне дела, которую на Западе часто игнорируют или замалчивают, но без которой нас, советских людей, просто не понять: помимо производственных и социальных достижений, была новая жизнь, был энтузиазм строителей нового мира, было воодушевление новым и необычным...»

Родился Горбачёв в тот же год, когда Платонов написал «Котлован». Вот характерная цитата из этой книги:

«... в жизни не было надежды; общая всемирная невзрачность, а также людская
некультурная унылость озадачивали Сафронова и расшатывали в нём идеологическую установку.
Он даже начинал сомневаться в счастье будущего, которое представлял в виде синего лета,
освещённого неподвижным солнцем, — слишком смутно и тщетно было днём и ночью вокруг.»

Каков контраст! Впрочем это азбучная истина: кто как живёт, тот так и воспринимает жизнь.

Позвольте ещё одну цитату из Платонова:

«Ты же видишь, что я урод империализма, а коммунизм — это детское дело.»

Глубинный народ

Заметка на полях двух книг

🔗大相撲おおずもう　御嶽海みたけうみが大関おおぜきになることが決きまる https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10013450151000/k10013450151000.html 🔗Mitakeumi was promoted to Ozeki “Maishin’s Sumo-do” sumo wrestling https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1877/

いっしょにNHK News Web Easyを読もう📢Reading News Articles

Mitakeumi was promoted to Ozeki “Maishin’s Sumo-do” sumo wrestling

Adventure seeker 🌏 | Explored 20+ countries | Passionate about different cultures | Wanderlust at heart | #TravelBug #GlobeTrotter #CulturalExplorer

1) #usa - United States yoo·nai·tuhd stayts -美国
2) #thailand tai·land -泰国
3)#cambodia kam·bow·dee·uh -柬埔寨
 4) #vietnam vee·uht·naam -越南
5) #laos lows -老挝
6) #indonesia in·duh·nee·zhuh  -印度尼西亚
7) #singapore sing·uh·por -新加坡
 8) #malaysia muh·lay·zhuh  -马来西亚
9) #germany jur·muh·nee -德国
10) #poland pow·luhnd -波兰
11) #czechia -  Czech Republic chek ruh·puh·bluhk -捷克共和国
12) #croatia krow·ay·shuh -克罗地亚
13) #bulgaria buhl·geh·ree·uh -保加利亚
14) #romania row·may·nee·uh -罗马尼亚
15)UK- United Kingdom  yoo·nai·tuhd king·dm -英国
16) #scotland skaat·luhnd -苏格兰
17) #ireland ai·ur·luhnd -爱尔兰
 18) #italy i·tuh·lee -意大利
19) #vatican City va·tuh·kuhn si·tee -梵蒂冈城
20) #albania al·bay·nee·uh --阿尔巴尼亚
21) North Macedonia north ma·suh·dow·nee·uh -北马其顿
22) #spain spayn -西班牙
23) Georgia jor·juh -格鲁吉亚共和国
24) #armenia aar·mee·nee·uh -亚美尼亚
25) UAE - United Arab Emirates yoo·nai·tuhd eh·ruhb eh·mr·uhts -阿拉伯联合酋长国
26) #taiwan tai·waan-台湾
 27) South Korea sowth kr·ee·uh -韩国
28) #nepal nuh·paal -尼泊尔
 29) #india in·dee·uh -印度

Digital Nomad 101

All The Countries I've visted in English+ Chinese in Description

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 el día de hoy te daré 5 tips que te ayudaran un montón para empezar o continuar tu camino en el este hermoso aprendizaje de tu español 

Only Spanish 

¡5 tips para aprender español!

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）

Speaker: Princess Elizabeth was born in London in 1926. She grew up in London with her younger sister and they were educated at home. She was not expected to become queen when she was born, but in 1936, her uncle King Edward VIII gave up the throne and her father became King George the Sixth. As she had no brothers, Elizabeth would become the next ruler.

Speaker: In 1947, she got engaged to her third cousin, Philip Mountbatten. In 1952, while she was visiting Kenya, the death of King George was announced, and Elizabeth returned immediately to England. She was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the second of June, 1953. For the first time ever, the ceremony was shown on TV and watched by millions of people around the world.

Speaker: Elizabeth’s role as queen was mostly ceremonial: she opened Parliament, met government ministers and signed new laws. However, she was not allowed to express her own political opinions. She also represented Great Britain abroad, visiting countries in the Commonwealth and other nations around the world. The Queen was always instantly recognizable in her classic outfit of matching dress, coat, hat and handbag.

Speaker: Elizabeth loved dogs - corgis were her favorite breed. She also bred and raced horses. Every year at Christmas, the Queen spoke to the nation on TV. In 1992, she described a particularly difficult year, as several of her children’s marriages broke up and a fire destroyed part of her home in Windsor Castle.

Speaker: Elizabeth celebrated many anniversaries and became the longest serving king or queen in British history. Some people felt that a royal family was too expensive for the country, so after 2012, she reduced spending and received less money from the government. Many people continued to find the royal family interesting, as shown by the popularity of TV shows about the Queen and her family, such as The Crown.

Speaker: Philip died in 2021 and the Queen died a year later. Her son became King Charles the Third...

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

IELTS Preparation. Band 8-9 Answers. Part 1 - Spending time alone.

Q. Do you spend a lot of time by yourself?
Q. What do you usually do when you are alone?
Q. Has what you do when you are by yourself changed a lot since your childhood?
Q. Do you think it is important to have time for yourself?

Please time your answers. How long did it take you to answer these questions individually? How do you feel about your current results? What would you like to work on?