Enjoy this soothing and calming reading piece while paying attention to word stress, intonation, sentence stress and individual sounds. These are all skills needed to improve your band score in the speaking test. Feel free to engage by letting me know if you picked up on any mistakes in these four key areas. Enjoy! :)

Tackling the IELTS Giant

Cambridge IELTS reading piece

In this episode, I talk about my favourite season and why I like it!

English With Janet

My Favourite Season

If you're using the word "with" after "contact" then you're probably making a really common mistake! Today we're talking about how to fix this problem, and also a phrasal verb and an idiom that you can use as an alternative. I hope you find this useful!

DAILY Business English VOCABULARY builder

I hope you're not trying to contact with anyone!

Buy Me a "coffee"☕️: https://ko-fi.com/cestinasdavidem

Hudba: Jingle Punks Good Starts CC

Čeština s Davidem

Vtipy 01

Vous connaissez peut-être BlablaCar, le service de covoiturage où on partage le trajet avec d'autres personnes. Maintenant il y a Blabla caisse. Qu'est-ce que c'est? C'est une caisse de supermarché où les clients peuvent prendre leur temps et discuter avec la caissière. C'est tout le contraire des caisses rapides où on scanne nous-mêmes nos achats. Le temps qu'il fait, votre nouvelle recette, des nouvelles de vos enfants, des blagues, vous pouvez discuter de tout avec la caissière comme si vous étiez au marché et discutiez avec votre marchand préféré. Ça rend le supermarché plus humain, n'est-ce pas? 

En français avec Victoria

Blabla caisse

I explain in the episode the meaning of the very casual expression "un huevo". Listen to the podcast to find out what native speakers say when they use it. 

De todo un poco

Un huevo 🥚🍳/ One egg??? 🤔

Here are five simple expressions to say "no" in Chinese with simple examples:
1. 不 (bù) - This is a simple and common way to say "no" in Chinese. It can be used in a variety of contexts and is a general negative word.
Example:
A: 你喜欢苹果吗？ (nǐ xǐ huān píng guǒ ma?) (Do you like apples?)
B: 不 (bù) (No)
I normally don’t answer people with just a simple 不 to say no, because it sounds rude. But if you are in a fight with someone, I guess it is a good language tool.
2. 不要 (bù yào) - This phrase means "don't want" or "don't." It can be used to say "no" in a more polite or indirect way.
Example:
A: 吃蛋糕吗？ (chī dàn gāo ma?) (Do you want to eatcake?)
B: 不要，谢谢。 (bù yào, xiè xiè) (No, thank you.)
3. 不行 (bù xíng) - This phrase means "can't" or "not allowed." It can be used to say "no" in a more formal or assertive way.
Example:
A: 你能给我五块钱吗？ (nǐ néng gěi wǒ wǔ kuài qián ma?) (Can you give me five dollars?)
B: 不行，我没有五块钱。 (bù xíng, wǒ méi yǒu wǔ kuài qián) (No, I don't have five dollars.)
5. 不可以 (bù kě yǐ) - This phrase means "cannot" or "not allowed." "不可以" (bù kě yǐ) is often used to indicate that something is not allowed or not permitted. 
Example:
A: 妈妈，我能去朋友家玩吗？ (mā ma, wǒ néng qù péng you jiā wán ma?) (Mom, can I go to my friend's house to play?)
B: 不可以，你还没有完成你的作业。 (bù kě yǐ, nǐ hái méi yǒu wán chéng nǐ de zuò yè) (No, you have not finished your homework yet.)

Five Ways to Say XXX in Chinese

5 ways to say "no" in Chinese

[ — Audio description, listen and read along for greater understanding. — ]

Ana: Oi, Camila! Tudo bem?
Camila: Oi, Ana! Tudo e você?
Ana: Tudo bem! Quais são os seus planos para o final de semana?
Camila: Ainda não sei... Talvez eu vá ao parque no sábado. E você?
Ana: Eu vou ao cinema com a minha irmã.
Camila: Que legal! Qual filme vocês vão assistir?
Ana: Acho que vamos ver uma comédia. Eu adoro filmes engraçados!
Camila: Eu também! Qual cinema vocês vão?
Ana: No shopping perto da minha casa. Você quer ir com a gente?
Camila: Ah, eu adoraria! Que horas?
Ana: A sessão começa às sete da noite.
Camila: Perfeito! Então nos encontramos no shopping.
Ana: Combinado! Até lá!

PORTUREAD - Listen to small texts and conversations samples in portuguese!

Ana e Camila falam sobre cinema — SMALL TALK A2-B2 LEVEL

みんなげんき？ このエピソードでは、スウェーデンの森について話すから、ちゃんと聞きなさいぃぃぃ。 おれはねぇ、2020年の11月に、横浜からスウェーデンに引っ越してきたんだけど、やっぱりスウェーデンに来て１番びっくりしたことのひとつは、「どこまでいっても森しかない」ってことかなぁ。 まぁ、他のエピソードでも話した通り、てっぺいは都会よりは田舎の方が好きだし、森もリラックスできるからだいすきなんだけど、あまりにも森しか無さすぎて、さすがにびっくりしてます。 今住んでる場所はスウェーデン北部の小さな田舎町だからもちろんのだけど、ストックホルムでも少し車で離れただけでもう森しかないのよ！ ちょっとてっぺいはねぇ、スウェーデンに来る前に想像してたよりあまりにも森しかないから今でも少しびっくりしてます。 おっけー、じゃぁ今回も聞いてくれてありがとう！ てっぺいのレッスンにも是非是非遊びに来てくださーい;) じゃあまた次のエピソードで！ バイバイ！