A podcast to chat about Colombian culture and give an academic space to everyday Spanish.

Un podcast para charlar de la cultura colombiana y darle un espacio académico a la español cotidiano.

Español para conversar

Let's Learn 5 Verbs a Day! 
Not more, not less. 

Give	给	        gěi
Give up	放弃	fàngqì
Glide	滑翔	huáxiáng
Glow	发光	fāguāng
Go	        去	        qù


5 Verbs a Day. 每天学习五个动词。

C(34) Vocabulary Set: Give Give up Glide Glow Go

我们来看看道德经的第二章。

天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已；皆知善之为善，斯不善矣。有无相生，难易相成，长短相形，高下相盈，音声相和，前后相随。是以圣人处无为之事，行不言之教。万物作，焉而弗辞，生而弗有，为而弗恃，功成而弗居。夫唯弗居，是以不去。

根据老子的思想，万物都是相对的。比如美和丑，善和恶，长和短，有和无。他们互相对立，也互相依赖。If the beauty is everywhere, no one will see it as beautiful anymore. So we shouldn’t push too hard on the things we cannot control. For example, if all the girls do the plastic surgery to become a standard beauty, there would be no one considered beautiful, because everyone is the same. Diversity is beautiful. 所以，老子说，我们要随万物生长而不去限制和控制，这样的无为，也就是不去做一些事，符合道。放下了强烈的我执，有时候选择不去做一些事，比去做还要困难。但是很多情况下，无为，不去做，才是智慧。 

感谢收听，下次见~

Wisdom From the Past 古典智慧拾贝

古典智慧拾贝之道德经第二章 Tao Te Ching Chapter Two 

Let's go for a walk in Saint-Petersburg. I'll tell you about my favorite places and places you should visit if you're there for the first time. 

If you've been there before, you can remember your time in Peter and leave your comment what's your favorite place there. 

All episode is in Russian. Good for B1-B2 level

Russian Fluency

Walking in Saint-Petersburg

Globish, anyone? In this episode, we'll talk about how to communicate effectively in an international business setting. Since most people in an international business environment speak English as a second language, that will be our focus. I'll share tips for native English speakers and English Language Learners, including where to focus your English language-learning efforts, so you're ready to excel in an international business setting. 

To succeed in an international business environment, I suggest going back to the basics. Tune in to find out how you can go back to the basics. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode originally published March 18, 2022

Original theme music by Lucas Knutter 

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/international-business/

Join the Express to Impress community on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/express-to-impress/.

Please take a minute to rate and review the podcast.

To access my 5-Step Job Interview Preparation Checklist at express-to-impress.com.

Materials cited:

How to speak up when you don't understand something, which can be found at https://www.express-to-impress.com/asking-for-clarification/

Globish.com for 1500 vocabulary words with definitions

Rachel's English 100 Most Common Words in American English 
Youglish for pronunciation, which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1kBRXkQ6cI&list=PLrqHrGoMJdTR76CbHRqi7uLbpEtTUU7eR

Business English Pod for business vocabulary, which can be found at https://www.businessenglishpod.com/

Anki language app for help memorizing new vocabulary, which can be found at https://www.ankiapp.com/

perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple.html for grammar practice

Express to Impress

Less is More: Tips for Effective International Business Communication

最近日本は暖かくなって春だな～って感じる日が多くて、桜も咲いてきたよ！みんなが住んでいるところはどうかな？そういえば、桜がどのくらい咲いているかは特別な数え方をするの知ってる？桜が咲き始めたころは「開花宣言」っていうよ。

It's getting warmer and warmer in Japan these days, and the cherry blossoms are blooming! How about where you live? Oh, by the way, did you know that there is a special way to count how much cherry blossoms are in bloom? When the cherry blossoms begin to bloom, it is called "Kaika sengen" (declaration of blooming)

今年、2022年は3月17日に福岡で「開花宣言」があって一番早かったよ。そして、その次に3月20日に東京で「開花宣言」があったんだよね。北海道は4月20日ごろに咲く予定らしいよ。毎年「さくら開花予想」っていう地図があるからググって見てみてね。

This year, 2022, Fukuoka was the first to declare the blooming of cherry blossoms on March 17. The next earliest was Tokyo, which declared the blooming of cherry blossoms on March 20. Hokkaido is scheduled to bloom around April 20. There is a map called "cherry blossom forecast" every year, so please Google it and check it out.

桜が半分くらい咲けば50％咲いているの意味になる「五分（ぶ）ざき」っていうんだよね。だいたい80％咲いたら「満開」って言ってお花見をしたりする人が多くなるよ。なんで80％は「八分ざき」じゃなくて「満開」かっていうと「今、桜は100％咲いています！」っていうともう散り始めるかららしいよ。

If half of the cherry trees are in bloom, it is called "gobu zaki," meaning that 50% of the cherry trees are in bloom. When 80% of the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, it is called "mankai," and many people go cherry blossom viewing. The reason why 80% is called "full bloom" and not "hachibu zaki(80% bloom)" is because "100% of the cherry trees are in full bloom now!" means the cherry blossoms will already begin to fall.

ちなみに「開花宣言」があったらニュースでは「さくらの便りがありました」っていうんだよね。「便り」っていうのは「手紙」って意味だよ。例えば「本日、福岡から桜の便りがありました」みたいな。だいたい「開花宣言」から1週間くらいかけて満開になっていくから、もし日本のニュースを見ることがあれば注意して見てみてね

By the way, when the "blooming of cherry blossoms" is declared, the news says "there is a "tayori" of cherry blossoms". The word "tayori" means "letter".  For example, "Today, we received "tayori" of cherry blossoms from Fukuoka". It usually takes about a week after the "bloom declaration" for the cherry blossoms to be in full bloom, so if you watch the news in Japan, pay attention to it.

ガチ日本語 - Everyday Japanese -

Ep.6 さくら...percentage??

❥ In this podcast, Melo reads from The Aesop for Children found for free online at: https://www.read.gov/aesop/001.html
❥ Listen and learn the moral of each story.
❥ Practice listening and/or reading comprehension by answering the quiz questions.
❥ Today's fable is called “The Plane Tree” and can be found here:
https://www.read.gov/aesop/009.html
❥The moral of today’s fable is: 
“Our best blessings are often the least appreciated.”

❥ 在这个播客中，梅洛朗读了《儿童伊索》，可在网上免费找到：https://www.read.gov/aesop/001.html
❥聆听并学习每个故事的寓意。
❥ 通过回答问答问题练习听力和/或阅读理解。
❥ 今天的寓言叫"The Plane Tree"，可以在这里找到：

❥今天的寓言故事的寓意是： 
"我们最好的礼物往往是最不被欣赏的"。

Life Lessons from Aesop's Fables

Episode 8: The Plane Tree

Диктант сегодня на основе романа Льва Толстого “Война и мир”. 

Буду говорить текст вместе со знаками препинания: точка (.), запятая (,), тире (-), точка с запятой (;), кавычки открываются («), кавычки закрываются (»), вопросительный знак (?), восклицательный знак (!), многоточие (...). Еще в тексте есть сложное слово “артиллерист”. 

Отправьте мне сообщение "третий диктант готов", как только закончите, и я пришлю вам его текст для проверки. 

Пишите грамотно, говорите свободно! Удачного диктанта, друзья!

Writing Russian

Отрывок про небо Аустерлица из романа “Война и мир” (диктант)

Today we're talking about the word "nepotism" and how it can create challenging work environments. I hope you find it useful!

Don't forget that I'm a full time English coach and tutor, right here on iTalki. So if you use English as a second language at work and you'd like to improve your professional communication skills then feel free to book some of my time and let's get to work!