This podcast will help you sound better and more confident in American English, understand native speakers better, and most importantly, help others understand you more clearly.

Accent Free

在中国，为了表示对长辈的尊重，是不可以直呼其名的，有时候连同音字都要避免使用。阿九的儿媳是个非常聪明且孝顺的人，为了表示对阿九的尊重，她从来不说“九”，甚至连“jiu”的同音字也不说。这一天，来了两位老人，他们要考验阿九的儿媳是否真的可以不说“jiu”这个音……

Learning Chinese culture with Miss Zhang

汉字小故事-同音词-《阿九的故事》

From cheap student dinners to quick lunches and easy camping meals, people around the world love instant noodles.

According to the World Instant Noodle Association, the world ate more than 118 billion servings of instant noodles in 2021.

While they are easy to make, instant noodles can sometimes be a bit boring — but they don't have to be! So if you'd like your instant noodles to be a little tastier, here are some easy changes you can make:

Add flavor
Fresh ginger, green onions and garlic are found in many Asian dishes, and adding them to your instant noodles is an easy way to improve the taste.

Then, try adding extra sauces, like soy sauce, chili paste, oyster sauce, sesame oil or gochujang paste, among others. You could also try mixing a few of them together.

Add vegetables and eggs
Adding vegetables and eggs to your noodles will not only make them taste better — they'll also increase the nutrients in the dish.

Put an egg into the boiling water that your noodles are cooking in for an easy poached egg. You can also throw in some vegetables — like mushrooms, carrots or spinach — or cook them on their own and add them to your noodles afterward.

Add coconut milk
Add coconut milk to the noodle water to make a sweeter, creamier soup. You could then add some vegetables, meat or fish, and some lime and you'll end up with a dish that's similar to a Malaysian laksa — and just as tasty!

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Cooking Skills: How to Make Instant Noodles Tastier

"If you are speaking to everyone, you are speaking to no one."
Business is my favorite topic these days. I feel like as a newcomer in the business scene, I learned a lot of things based on personal experience and based on the experience of others. In this podcast, I would like to share some reasons on why having a niche target market is a practical choice for your business.

FLO TALKS 

Business talk: What is the importance of having a target market?

Te contare que la motivación es super importante para aprender un idioma y para todo en la vida. Enfocarte en lo que quieres te mantendrá motivado y con mucha disciplina lo lograrás.
cierra tus ojos y escucha; close your eyes and listen...

close your eyes and listen/ cierra tus ojos y escucha

La motivación

皆さんの国では、季節の移り変わりがはっきり感じられますか？
冬が終わるのはいつでしょうか。
今回は、フミが春を感じるときについて話します。

Can you feel the change of seasons clearly in your country?
When do you feel the end of winter?
This time, Fumi talks about when he feels spring.

♤ キーワード
・節分（せつぶん：the last day of winter）
・就活（しゅうかつ：job hunting）
・三寒四温（さんかんしおん：the cycle of 3 cold days and 4 warm days repeats at the end of the winter）
・春夏秋冬（しゅんかしゅうとう：four seasons）
・折にふれて（おりにふれて：occasionally）
 
♧ 理解度チェッククイズ 
1. フミが春を感じるのはいつ？ 
2. 日本の気候について、二人が子どものときと比べて変わったことは？

♢ 前回のクイズの答え
1. アヤはアンジェラ・アキの『サクラ色』という曲をどうやって知った？ 
→ 朝の情報番組のオープニングテーマで使われていた
2. アヤはその曲を聞くと、何を思い出す？
→ 大学に入って一人暮らしを始めたときのわくわくした気持ち

BGM special thanks：MusMus

アヤさんとフミさんの日本語雑談（Aya and Fumi’s Japanese Chit-Chat）

Episode 24：春の訪れ

IELTS Preparation. Band 8-9 Answers. Part 3 - Photography Q1-Q.3.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking photographs?
2. How has modern technology changed the way we take photographs?
3. How has sharing photographs changed since your grandparents’ time?

What was difficult to understand when you listened?

IELTS-SPEAKING 8-9 BAND IS POSSIBLE. DAILY SPEAKING PRACTICE PART 1,2 & 3. Listen daily.

IELTS Preparation. Band 8-9 Answers. Part 3 - Photography Q1-Q.3.

Teacher Melody reads Aesop's Fables. 
The moral of this story is: 
Do not attempt the impossible.