Do you ever struggle to say “no” without feeling awkward or guilty? In Korean culture, how we refuse something can say a lot about our character and emotional intelligence. 
In this episode of our Korean Podcast, we explore 쿠션어﻿ — “cushion words” that soften your tone and make refusals sound caring instead of cold.

Learn how to politely turn down invitations, decline favors, or express limitations while maintaining harmony and respect. We’ll go through real-life examples such as refusing a wedding invitation or declining work requests, and we’ll unpack why adding warmth can preserve relationships — and your peace of mind.

If you’ve ever said “I’ll think about it” just to avoid sounding rude, this episode will help you find the right words. Improve your Korean communication skills, emotional fluency, and confidence in social situations.

The Jung Studio

Korean Podcast | How Koreans Say “No” (Without Sounding Rude)

Each week I read an interesting news article from the BBC. Listen along to the words and pronunciation and I will also share with you the link to the story so that you can read along as well. This week's news article can be found here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63096760

The Breaking News Podcast

COP27: Activists 'baffled' that Coca-Cola will be sponsor

Recommended to listen repeatedly until you understand.
 Key words and Commonly used phrases, Please read after me.
 You can record the phrases you read and send it here, I'll correct the pronunciation for you. Follow me ,you will learn more Chinese.

 key words:
钱、读书、分钟、工作、买东西、怎么、家、飞机、米饭、高兴、看见、商店、做饭、老师、漂亮
（ money/read book/minute/work/buy something/how to/home/airplane/rice/happy/see/shop/cook/teacher/pretty)

Common phrases:
什么时候、你是谁、写汉字、桌子上、开车、几分钟、没有水、买水果、听不见、喝茶、有点儿、不下雨、没有人、我能去
（when/who are you/write Chinese characters/on table/drive a car/a few minutes/no water/buying fruit/can't hear/have a cup of tea/a little/doesn't rain/nobody/I can go）

Merry's voice (HSK一）

HSK一， Commonly used phrases 8 , Please read after me, Pay attention to pronunciation (^+^)

Prepositions in English can be hard! In today's episode, I break down the different ways we use "for" and "to" to give meaning to sentences. For example, in the sentence, "I am giving this gift to you for your friend!", do you know why I use both "for" and "to"? This is one of many examples I give to you in this episode! You only need 7 minutes to improve your English with today's episode! 

👉 Book class with me! https://italki.com/teacher/8476284 
👉 My students receive bonus podcast content! 
👉If you don't see an opening on my calendar that is ok for you, send me a message!

Stairway to English: Short easy to understand episodes to improve your English grammar and fluency

"I am giving this gift to you for your friend!" Understand the differences between the prepositions "for" and "to"

If you’ve listened to my previous podcasts, you’ll know that want to score a band score 7 in your IELTS Speaking exam, you have to use some less common idiomatic expressions.

We all know the idiom ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ because this is a common idiom. But what are some less common idioms?

This podcast will give you 3 more idioms for you to learn, which you can use in your IELTS Speaking exam.

Preparing for exams can be a double-edged sword. This is because examiners don’t want you to memorise and repeat your answers from memory. However, using idioms can get you a higher band score. So how do we balance this? Idioms have to be memorised, because they have to be spoken exactly. We cannot change them. For example, you cannot say ‘my parents punched the roof’, you have to say my parents ‘hit the roof.’

Another tip for using idioms is not to put all your eggs in one basket. Make sure you are armed with a variety of different idioms in your memory bank. If you only know one idiom, for example ‘think outside the box’ you have to hope your part 2 speaking exam is a suitable topic for the idiom.

You can, of course, use idioms in parts  1 and 3, but part 2 is the easiest place to slot in a few idioms, because you have 1 minute to prepare.

Don’t forget to book a lesson with me, so you can practise using idioms, and get the band score you are aiming for.


IELTS Speaking Practice

3 more idioms for IELTS

元の記事/ Original Article↓
https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/621534

☆目次
0:00 オープニング
0:58 Introduction
2:49 “メールは何度もやりとりしない”
4:39 ただ早いだけではない
7:16 “超一流の出社時間は早くない”
11:13 仕事のしかた
14:45 “人生を楽しむために仕事をしている”
16:09 仕事が楽しい？

☆語彙
実践(じっせん)する
省(はぶ)く
難易度(なんいど)
取(と)り沙汰(ざた)される
要素(ようそ)

☆引用記事
宮本剛獅. “仕事ができる人ほど｢メール返信が早い｣は本当か”. 東洋経済ONLINE. 2022-10-05. https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/621534

"After 5" by Japanese Teacher

“Is it true that someone who are good at their job quickly reply?”「仕事ができる人ほど｢メール返信が早い｣は本当か」

Todo el mundo sabe que los actores son personas supersticiosas. Una de esas supersticiones es que no les gusta que las personas les desean suerte, entonces…. ¿Qué cosas deseamos a los actores? Les deseamos mucha mierda, y en el episodio de hoy te cuento el origen de esa expresión, a la vez que te comento algunas otras cosas que los actores de teatro no hacen nunca.

Espero que disfrutes el episodio.

Después de escucharlo, no te olvides de dejarle una valoración y de pasarte por mi Instagram para contarme qué piensas de este episodio, ¿conocías estas supersticiones de los artistas? ¿Conoces alguna otra?
