I break down prejudices about learning any language in the world. After 10 years of experience in teaching I found out what  the crucial problems are in the approach to learning foreign languages.  

STRESS FREE STEPS

Let's learn a new Italian expression: "mettere il bastone fra le ruote".

Do you already know the meaning?
Do you have a similar expression in Italian?Let me know!

3 minutes Italian

Mettere il bastone fra le ruote

Homophones: each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling, for example new and knew.

“You bare your skin when you wear a bikini.”

Bear: 1) To endure or carry on. 2) A large furry animal

“There is someone in the bear cage! I can’t bear to watch!”

Bored: Having a lack of interest.

“I was so bored during that speech. I almost fell asleep.”

Board: 1) A thin flat piece of material. 2) The decision-makers within an organization.

“The board of directors at the Surf Club have decided which surf board we should use.”

Toe: You have five of them on each foot.

“I stubbed my toe today and it’s still throbbing.”

Tow: To pull another vehicle, possibly by a rope or chains.

“After a car accident a tow truck will come and tow your vehicle away.”

Through: Going in on one side and coming out the other.

“The road is blocked and I can’t get through. There might be an accident.”

Threw: To hurl, or to propel with force (the past tense of ‘throw’).

“He threw the ball really fast.”

Meet: To encounter

“I will meet you tomorrow around 3 PM.”

Meat: The flesh of an animal that’s eaten as food.

“What meat would you like for dinner, chicken or beef?”

Break: 1) To interrupt something. 2) To shatter or fracture.

“We should take a break from dancing before we break our backs.”

Brake: A device for stopping a vehicle.

“I need to get my car checked, I think the brakes are going.”

I hope this clears things up a bit for you. Still confused? Ask questions in your next class, we will be happy to help.

Nit-Picky English with Nika 

Common Homophones (words that sound alike)

Here are my tips about how to pronounce Russian sound Ы.

Listen to the audio and repeat the exercises:

1) You go from sound "i" ("и") to the sound "ы". 
Start with pronouncing  "i" ("и") long enough to get used to the position of your tongue and then move the tongue to the middle position in the mouth (move it a bit back from "i" ("и") sound position) and listen to the difference. Repeat the execrise few more times until you get the difference of the sounds. 
2) You go from sound "u" ("у") to the sound "ы". 
Start with pronouncing  "u" ("у") long enough to get used to the position of your tongue and lips. Here you need to change 2 things about your articulation. First, your lips move from round "u" ("у") position to the smiling, spread lips position of "ы" sound. Secondly, you move the tongue to the middle position in the mouth (move it a bit forward from "i" ("и") sound position) and listen to the difference. Repeat the execrise few more times until you get the difference of the sounds. 
Good luck!

Let's study Russian

How to pronounce Russian sound Ы

hello 你好，欢迎你来到有趣的中文，我是薇老师，今天呢，我们将给大家讲一个特别的故事，来一起练习中文听力。
我会在我的播客当中慢速的为你读中文，你可以跟随我的节奏一起来练练习听力。
也可以在播课结束后查看文稿。好了，我们现在开始了。
今天我要讲的故事是我和松鼠的365天。
在开始之前我想问你一个问题。
你以前有帮助过小动物吗？
那么今天我们一起来听这个非常有意思的故事，我和松鼠的365天我们先来一起读这个词，松鼠songshu。
请你跟着我读松鼠songshu。
记住这个词，它就是我们今天故事的主角，开始听故事之前请你。
再回忆一下我们刚才说到的词。松鼠。好的，我们现在开始。
三年前的秋天我在公园里跑步，那是一个，早上我跑着跑着。
发现了一只受伤的小松鼠，他的后腿受了伤，正躲在枫叶的堆里。
红红的枫叶配上小松鼠棕灰色的毛非常的好看，但是他受伤了。
只能慢慢的动在中国松鼠可是有特别意义的，他经常。
象征着储存好运，因为松鼠很喜欢储藏食物，我看到小松鼠太可怜了。
就决定先照顾他。还帮他取了一个名字。叫松子。
下面我来给大家讲一讲照顾松子的经过，刚开始的一周。
我必须和松子建立信任，我给他准备了一个小木箱，当他的家还准备了核桃和清水。
这个时候的松子胆子非常小，白天一直躲在角落里，晚上才偷偷出来吃东西。
看我的时候眼神里都是紧张。
过了两个月，松子的伤好了，变得很活泼，和我有好多好玩的互动。
他特别喜欢搬运坚果，常常把核桃推到书架顶上，还爱爬来爬去，我家的窗帘都被它当成了游乐场。
每次他都找我来要苹果。我会把苹果切成片，喂给他。
他轻轻地碰我的手指。可爱极了。
现在各位，老师想问问大家，在你的国家，你们经常见到的野生动物有哪些？
人们一般是怎么样对待他们的呢？
我知道在英国，人们要是遇到了刺猬，会把刺猬送到安全的地方。
在澳大利亚，人们看到袋鼠会站在远处好好的看他。
大家也会在心里想想自己国家的情况。
时间过得很快，春天到了，松子有了一些变化，他老是望着窗外的树。
吃的也越来越少。
在中国，我们有句老话。
爱鸟不笼中养--就是说你如果真的喜欢小鸟，就不要把它关在笼子里。
对松子也是一样，所以我就带着他回到了相遇的公园，把他放走了。松子站在树枝上停了几秒钟，还回头看了我一眼。
然后一下就跳到树林里不见了。
故事讲完了，我们来复习一下今天学到的内容，今天我们学到了几个很有用的动词。
搬运大家还记得是什么意思吗？我们还学到了一些文化知识，知道对中国人来说，松鼠象征着储存好运，还有我们刚才讲到的中国人的。
俗语爱鸟不笼中养，最后老师想和大家讨论一下，人类应该怎么和野生动物相处呢？
大家可以在心里想一想，其实每一个小动物都有自己的生活，我们喜欢他的话。
有时候保持一点距离。尊重他们。就是对他们最好的爱护了。
今天的播客就快结束了，下期我们会讲一讲更有趣的话题。
你可以继续来回放我的博客，帮你练习听力，如果你喜欢我的播客，也请你来我的课程和我继续讨论有关动物的话题有关中国文化的话题。
我们可以一起学习中文，谢谢你关注我，谢谢你喜欢我和我的播客，我们下次再见！

Intresting Chinese有趣的中文

Intresting Chinese有趣的中文01-我和松鼠的365天

过山车（刘育贤）
上天了，入地了，滕云了，驾雾了，过山车，下山了，我变成，流星了。

Read Rhymes With Shirley

过山车

Cam Fairbairn was working in restaurants when he started a side hustle — work he did on top of his regular job — making and selling his own jam.

Making jam was a hobby, but he'd been encouraged by a friend to make it an extra source of income.

However, he soon stopped enjoying it when his hobby became a business. He went back to focusing on his day job.

But not everyone is so lucky. For some, a side hustle is not just a good way to make extra money from something you love — it's a necessity.

Shonnita Leslie had big education debts to pay, so while she was working at a university during the day, her side hustle was delivering food. She needed the extra money to pay off those debts.

And according to new data, Leslie is not alone.

A survey by Bankrate found that more than one third of Americans have a side hustle. Among those aged between 18 and 27, it's 48%.

Of the Americans with a side job, 36% use that extra money to pay for daily necessities like housing and food. And 32% said they think they'll always need a side hustle to make ends meet.

"People are telling us they're side hustling because they have to, not because they want to," Ted Rossman from Bankrate told CNBC.

The survey of more than 2,300 Americans also found that about 28% of people with a side hustle make at least $500 per month from their second job. Around 9% of people said they make more than $2,000.



Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

36% of Americans Need Side Hustles to Pay the Bills

We answered some great questions from our members.

Chillchat (Learn Chinese and Chill)

你问我答 怎么和中国人聊天 Q&A, how do I start a conversation with Chinese people?

In this episode we are going to learn 【Wearing】in Chinese. 
--------------------------------------------------
As a beginner, there're some vocabularies that you didn't learn before, and native speaker's speed seems too fast to understand. But don't worry, let's do it step by step. 
Step 1: listen and catch the words you know already, have a guess about the content.
Step 2: look at the text to check if you guessed it right. 
Step 3: listen one more time, repeat after it.
Step 4: practice until you can speak as the normal speed without looking at the text. 
--------------------------------------------------
他们今天穿得很好看。
tā men jīn tiān chuān de hěn hǎo kàn 。
They are dressed nicely today.
她穿着一条红色的连衣裙和一双黑色的高跟鞋。
tā chuān zhe yì tiáo hóng sè de lián yī qún hé yì shuāng hēi sè de gāo gēn xié 。
She is wearing a red dress and black high heels.
她戴着一个帽子和一条项链。
tā dài zhe yí gè mào zi hé yì tiáo xiàng liàn 。
She is wearing a hat and a necklace.
她手里还拿着一个包。
tā shǒu lǐ hái ná zhe yí gè bāo 。
She also has a bag in her hand.
她的男朋友穿着一件白色的T恤和一条黑色的牛仔裤。
tā de nán péng yǒu chuān zhe yí jiàn bái sè de T xù hé yì tiáo hēi sè de niú zǎi kù 。
Her boyfriend is wearing a white T-shirt and black jeans.
他穿着一双运动鞋。
tā chuān zhe yì shuāng yùn dòng xié 。
He is wearing a pair of sports shoes.
他还戴着一块手表和一个墨镜。
tā hái dài zhe yí kuài shǒu biǎo hé yí gè mò jìng 。
He is also wearing a watch and a pair of sunglasses.