Learn to describe people. We cover basic language and expressions about appearance and personality. Best for beginner students!

Super Basic Spanish

Learn Basic Spanish: Descripciones personales (personal descriptions)

Teacher Stan's musings

Half measures bring miserable results

Learn authentic Chinese from the real situation story.

You can also find the video version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZisAdD-e1CA&list=PLowKwOI6DheoGGevUwNqFDQg2sWxv9WAc&index=1&t=2s

Daily Chinese

E01 堵车【The Traffic Jam】

１２年前の東日本大震災で私が経験したエピソードを話しています。

日本語でおしゃべり　podcast for Japanese learners

＃16 12年前の東日本大震災の話

"소확행" 소소하지만 확실한 행복에 관한 따뜻한 이야기입니다.
한국의 문화와 일상을 배우면서 편안하게 들을 수 있어요.
자기 전에 침대에서 듣는 것을 가장 추천합니다^^

TODAY SHOW! 

Day 03. 작은 행복, 따뜻한 하루의 끝에서

Here is the last page of this chapter. I hope you understood all and that you learned a lot of new words.

Beginner book Dutch A1-A2

Chapter 8 Page 4 - Vondelpark

你们不要忘记，我当时处在远离人烟千里之外的地方。
Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region.
而这个小家伙给我的印象是，他既不像迷了路的样子，也没有半点疲乏、饥渴、惧怕的神情。
And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying uncertainly among the sands, nor to be fainting from fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear.
他丝毫不像是一个迷失在旷无人烟的大沙漠中的孩子。
Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any human habitation.
当我在惊讶之中终于又能说出话来的时候，对他说道：
When at last I was able to speak, I said to him:
唉，你在这儿干什么？
But– what are you doing here?
可是他却不慌不忙地好像有一件重要的事一般，对我重复地说道：
And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence:
请…给我画一只羊
If you please– draw me a sheep.
当一种神秘的东西把你镇住的时候，你是不敢不听从它的支配的，
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.

在这旷无人烟的沙漠上，面临死亡的危险的情况下，尽管这样的举动使我感到十分荒诞，
Absurd as it might seem to me, a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death,


我还是掏出了一张纸和一支钢笔。
I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen.


这时我却又记起，我只学过地理、历史、算术和语法，
But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar,


就有点不大高兴地对小家伙说我不会画画。
and I told the little chap (a little crossly, too) that I did not know how to draw.
他回答我说：“没有关系，给我画一只羊吧！”
He answered me:“That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep.”
因为我从来没有画过羊，
But I had never drawn a sheep.
我就给他重画我所仅仅会画的两副画中的
So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often.

那副闭着肚皮的巨蟒。
It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside.
我听了他的话，简直目瞪口呆。
And I was astounded to hear the little fellow greet it with.

不，不！我不要蟒蛇，它肚子里还有一头象。
No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor.
他接着说：“巨蟒这东西太危险，大象又太占地方。”
A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature, and an elephant is very cumbersome.
我住的地方非常小，我需要一只羊。给我画一只羊吧。
Where I live, everything is very small. What I need is a sheep. Draw me a sheep.
我就给他画了。
So then I made a drawing.

小王子-The Little Prince-Read in Chinese

小王子第四章：画一头羊

Borders between countries sometimes change after wars or international agreements, but part of the border between Italy and Switzerland is changing because of melting glaciers.

Large sections of the border are defined by different parts of the glacier, for example the lines of ridges in the ice.

But climate change has caused glaciers across Europe to melt and this has changed the positions of the glaciers' ridges and the natural boundaries between the countries.

The two countries have been talking about the new borders for a number of months. Switzerland signed the new border agreement at the end of September and it's waiting for Italy to do the same.

Part of the border is close to the popular Swiss ski resort of Zermatt. Some of the slopes will be affected by the border change, although skiers shouldn't need to worry about carrying their passports up the mountain!

In fact, both countries are in the Schengen area, so anyone with a visa to visit one of them will usually be able to visit the other without any problems.

The changes have been made so that it is clear which of the two countries is responsible for maintaining certain areas.

But both countries' economic interests were also considered when the new borders were agreed, Bloomberg said.

According to 2023 data, Switzerland's glaciers lost 4% of their volume in 2023, after losing a record 6% of their volume in 2022.

The region has had less snow and warmer summers in recent years.

Some glaciers have no ice left, and the situation will only get worse if nothing is done about climate change, experts say.

According to a 2023 study, up to half of the world's glaciers could disappear by 2100, even if we make progress with targets limiting climate change.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Italy, Switzerland Change Borders as Glaciers Melt

The articles, "a", "an" and "the" are important to show which object we are talking about.

My podcast episode that explains what they are and how to use them: https://www.italki.com/en/podcast/episode/coh1dyg1vpvszcpnwaecgn