In this episode, we’re diving into the fascinating symbolism of the Snake in the 蛇年! What does the Snake represent in Chinese culture? Is it considered lucky or unlucky? Join me as we explore the mystery and meaning behind “蛇”. Plus, you’ll learn some useful Chinese vocabulary along the way：

灵性 (líng xìng)
中文解释：指聪慧、敏锐、具有超凡的直觉和理解力，也可指神秘的精神力量或感知能力。
英文解释：Refers to intelligence, sensitivity, and extraordinary intuition and comprehension; it can also denote a mystical spiritual power or perception.

寓意 (yù yì)
中文解释：指某种事物所包含的象征性意义或深层含义。
英文解释：Refers to the symbolic meaning or deeper significance contained within something.

Learn Chinese and Have Fun!

中国的蛇年：What Does the "Snake" Mean?

みなさんこんにちは！けいすけの日本語ポッドキャストへようこそ！
このポッドキャストは、日本語の勉強をしているみんなのリスニングのために作っています。

今回は、インプットの大切さについてお話しします。

けいすけの日本語ポッドキャスト

EP.11 まだ話さないで！まずはインプット！ | Don’t Speak Yet! Input First

《匆匆》

作者: 朱自清

　
　　燕子去了，有再来的时候；杨柳枯了，有再青的时候；桃花谢了，有再开的时候。但是，聪明的，你告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？——是有人偷了他们罢：那是谁？又藏在何处呢？是他们自己逃走了罢：现在又到了哪里呢？
　　我不知道他们给了我多少日子；但我的手确乎是渐渐空虚了。在默默里算着，八千多日子已经从我手中溜去；像针尖上一滴水滴在大海里，我的日子滴在时间的流里，没有声音，也没有影子。我不禁头涔涔而泪潸潸了。
　　去的尽管去了，来的尽管来着；去来的中间，又怎样地匆匆呢？早上我起来的时候，小屋里射进两三方斜斜的太阳。太阳他有脚啊，轻轻悄悄地挪移了；我也茫茫然跟着旋转。于是——洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。我觉察他去的匆匆了，伸出手遮挽时，他又从遮挽着的手边过去，天黑时，我躺在床上，他便伶伶俐俐地从我身上跨过，从我脚边飞去了。等我睁开眼和太阳再见，这算又溜走了一日。我掩着面叹息。但是新来的日子的影儿又开始在叹息里闪过了。
　　在逃去如飞的日子里，在千门万户的世界里的我能做些什么呢？只有徘徊罢了，只有匆匆罢了；在八千多日的匆匆里，除徘徊外，又剩些什么呢？过去的日子如轻烟，被微风吹散了，如薄雾，被初阳蒸融了；我留着些什么痕迹呢？我何曾留着像游丝样的痕迹呢？我赤裸裸来到这世界，转眼间也将赤裸裸的回去罢？但不能平的，为什么偏要白白走这一遭啊？
　　你聪明的，告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？
　
　　1922年3月28日

Yasmine's Chinese Reading - advanced

《匆匆》 ——朱自清

Part 6 - Two people discuss their daily routines.

Beginner 

What is a typical day for you?

In this episode, I reflect on Episode 1 of Season 1 of the anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, titled "Cruelty."
The tragedy that struck Tanjiro, the bond with his sister Nezuko, and the sudden appearance of Giyu — it was filled with powerful, emotional moments where feelings clashed.
How did you feel in that moment when your heart wavered?
Let’s take a moment to savor the lingering echoes of this powerful story together.
Original story by Koyoharu Gotouge, directed by Haruo Sotozaki, animation by ufotable.
The first season of the TV anime aired in 2019, with a total of 26 episodes.


YOIN Anime Reflections – Easy Japanese Podcast

Demon Slayer S1E1 for beginners

Hi, guys!

Today we are gonna have a short lesson about crimes!

We are going to study new words and grammar. And as homework you will have some exercises.
Let’s go.

Crime is a very interesting topic, and a bad guy who takes your money or kills someone we can call a criminal, a felon or a culprit. This guy usually commits a crime.

Okay, so a criminal, a felon or a culprit commits a crime.

What other crimes should we know?

Bribery. Bribery is a crime when one person gives money to get an illegal service. For example, a person gives a doctor 1000$ to make fake papers. When you make fake papers, we call it forgery. 

Okay, bribery, to give a bribe.

Next word is blackmail. If he wanted to give a bribe, but his doctor refused, he can blackmail him. It means that he writes: “If you don’t do what I want, I will ruin your life”. He threatens this person.

Blackmail, to blackmail, blackmailer.


If this person doesn’t listen to this guy, he starts stalking him. He becomes a stalker. He follows him every minute. He wants to get what he’s asking for.

Finally the police arrest him. He is a criminal and he’s behind bars. 

People start talking about him:

“-It is said that he is a criminal
-yes, he is said to be a blackmailer and stalker. He also gave a bribe!”

If you look at these sentences you can see a very good grammar structure.

Let's take a closer look.

For example, we say  “She is a teacher.” We can also say “it is said that she is a teacher” or “sh is said to be a teacher” 

It is said she is beautiful
She is said to be beautiful.


Practise these sentences at home and ask me for correct answers in messages.

He is smart. 
He is a felon. He gives a bribe.
She is a stalker. She stalks him every day.
Criminals commit crimes. 
Bob is a felon. He blackmails people.
Susue is a criminal. She blackmails people and gives bribes.

That’s it guys. If yo9u liked this podcast, and this lesson you can book a trial lesson with me!


Excellent at English with Kate K

CRIMES!

大家好，您正在收听中文播客《丹霞说》，我是丹霞。

01 白雪放假啦！Báixuě fàng jià la! Baixue is on holiday!

今天，白雪告诉我，下个星期她有七天的假期，这是她的年假。她跟我分享了她的计划。

放假的时候，她一点儿也不想待在家里。因为她非常喜欢运动，所以她打算下个星期每天都去锻炼锻炼。她觉得工作日的时候，每天待在办公室八九个小时，需要坐在电脑前面很长时间。如果不运动，身体会慢慢变得不健康。

星期一早上她打算去公园跑步；
星期二她可能去游泳；
星期三她和朋友们去打篮球；
星期四她想去小河边骑自行车；
星期五她会去爬山。
星期六她不出门儿，她得打扫一下儿她的家，然后喝喝咖啡看看书，好好儿休息一下儿。

她问我星期天有没有空，她想和我一起去买衣服，吃饭和看电影。我高兴地答应了！真希望星期天快点儿来呀！

这些词语你知道吗？

年假 nián jià  n. annual leave, annual holiday
分享 fēn xiǎng v. to share
骑自行车 qí zì xíng chē v.o. to ride bike
答应 dā yìng  v. to say yes, to promise
希望 xī wàng  v. to hope


Today, Bai Xue told me that she has seven days' holiday next week, which is her annual leave. She shared her plan with me.

She doesn't want to stay at home at all during the holiday. Because she likes sports very much, she plans to exercise every day next week. She felt that she needed to sit in front of the computer for a long time when she stayed in the office for 8 or 9 hours every day on weekdays. If don't exercise, body will slowly become unhealthy.

She is going to run in the park on Monday morning;

She may go swimming on Tuesday;

On Wednesday, she went to play basketball with her friends;

On Thursday, she wants to go cycling by the river;

She will go climbing on Friday.

She doesn't go out on Saturday. She has to clean her house, drink coffee, read books and have a good rest.


She asked me if I was free on Sunday. She wanted to go shopping, dinning out and watching movies with me. I said yes happily! I really hope this Sunday come soon!

 HSK3 Vocab Based - Short Story Podcast

01 白雪放假啦！Báixuě fàng jià la! Baixue is on holiday!

July 20th,2023-End of the rainy season has been declared.
It's hot.  The hot summer has begun!
The weather forecast keeps telling us to be careful of heatstroke.

２０２３年７月２０日　本日　私が住んでいる地域では　梅雨明けが宣言されました！　　
梅雨入りしてもほとんど雨が降らない年もありますが、今年は日本全国ほんとうによく雨が降りました。　生活に影響が出るくらいたくさん雨が降ったところも　多かったと思います。
そして、雨が止んだ空には大きな入道雲が出ています。ここ数日は、日本各地で３５℃を超える猛暑！
　天気予報では、
「熱中症に気を付けてください」
「熱中症対策をしっかりしてください」
「不要不急の外出はしないでください」
「室内にいても熱中症にかかります」
「冷房を適切に使用してください」
「こまめに水分補給をしてください」と　
毎日　注意喚起のメッセージが　繰り返されています。
私が住んでいるところは最高気温が３４℃まであがりました。三重県では３９℃まで上がったと言っていました。
私は暑いのが苦手なので、この数日はできるだけ外に出ないようにしていました。　電気代が気になりますが、冷房と扇風機をほとんど１日中つけて過ごしています。　
また、家の中にばかりいると、運動不足になります。朝早く起きて、まだ少し涼しいうちに、近くの神社まで散歩に行きます。６時前だというのに、結構　ウオーキングをしている人がいます。
まだまだ　これからが　夏本番。暑さは続きます。　運動不足と熱中症に気を付けて、今年の夏を乗り切りたいですね。

やさしい日本語（にほんご）

梅雨明け宣言（つゆあけせんげん）Declaration of end of the rainy season

Use these tips to improve your IELTS speaking band score.

When we are preparing for our IELTS speaking part 2, we must make sure that we use connectors.

But what are connectors?

Connectors, also known as linking words or discourse markers, are words and phrases we use to connect our sentences.

For example, let’s imagine we’ve been given the subject of speaking about a member of our family that we get on well with.

It’s a good idea to introduce your speaking with a phrase like “Let’s begin” or “let’s make a start.” These are both connectors.

Secondly, use a variety of adverbs: actually, surprisingly, similarly, really, very, extremely, rarely, sometimes, never, always etc.

Thirdly, if you can, use an idiom. In the following example I used an idiom at the end. See if you can spot it.

Here is an example of the speaking part 2 exercise.

Let’s make a start.

Surprisingly, I get on really well with my sister. In fact, my sister is a really inspiring person. Actually, she’s younger than me. 

I find her inspiring because she’s a champion swimmer. I would never race her. She’s so fast. To be honest, she trains really hard, especially when she has to finish her homework and then go to the swimming pool as well.

Unfortunately, I don’t get to hang out with her very much, because she’s always busy. But when we do meet up, we always have fun. Usually we go shopping. Sometimes we play video games. 

My sister is extremely funny. She has a great sense of humour. We always have a laugh when we spend time together. We rarely argue. Mostly, we get on like a house on fire.

Please do the exercises and find the missing words.
