In this episode, we discuss some idioms for romance and relationships. Pay careful attention to the nuances of my definitions.

Expressions:
Absence makes the heart grow fonder 
Love is blind 
To play hard to get 
Opposites attract 
Lovey-dovey 

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English with Eric

Informal English: Speaking about Romance and Love

Եկե՛ք խոսեն այն մասին, թե արդյոք պատահականությունը տեղ ունի գրականության մեջ ... 

․․․ մասին 

Պատահականությունը գրականության մեջ #19 

Mum: Hi remember me?

Dad: Oh yeah, aren’t you wait, aren’t you the mother of my children?

Mum: Yes, how are you doing? Haven’t seen you in a while! 

Dad: Now I’ve put them to bed, I’m great! 

Mum: Today was exhausting!

Dad: Tell me about it. What time were you up?

Mum: About 4:30. I need that early morning time to get myself together and actually do some work before it all goes to hell.

Dad: Every night, I tell myself I’m going to do that, and every morning when the alarm goes off, I tell myself I need just a few more minutes of sleep.

Mum: You’re a night owl, I’m an early bird, it’s just how we are.

Dad: But I want to be an early bird and watch TV at night instead of doing the work I need to do. By the way, thanks for helping me out today. I owe you. Tomorrow, they’re mine.

Mum: It’s fine. Apart from when Justin dropped his yogurt, I think it went pretty well.

Dad: Oh, I don’t think anyone even noticed the screaming child while I was presenting – and if they did, they probably didn’t want to say anything in case they have their own children screaming on call in the future.

Mum: I don’t think I’m convinced about this hybrid working situation. Don’t get me wrong, I love not having to commute every day. With my job, that’s easily two hours of the day I get back. But organizing myself and kids and work?

Dad: Yeah, it’s a challenge. Some days I feel on top of it all, but there are days when I feel like I’m a terrible employee, a terrible father and a terrible husband.

Mum: (with joking intonation) Oh honey, don’t think like that. Trust me, you’re a terrible husband EVERY day, not just some days.

Dad: Just for that, I’m not going to tell you where Becky hid the chocolate Nutella.

Mum: I’ll just go and buy more.

Dad: or the car keys

Mum: Fine. You’re a wonderful husband on most days.

Dad: I’ll be wonderful tomorrow while you’re in your meeting. What are you doing again?

Mum: I’m just leading the meeting, but the CEO is going to be there. 

English Conversation/Dialogue

Mixing Responsibilities

上期我地分享咗一年前係點搵到工，今期就黎講下作為新進打工仔嘅我地返工有咩感受。

夠鐘煲粥 Congee Time

EP7.慶祝成為社會人一週年（下）

Welcome to another episode of Merhaba Türkçe, where we explore the beauty of the Turkish language through real-life dialogues and cultural insights. Today, we’re diving into some of the most memorable phrases from the first episode of the iconic Turkish series, Çukur.

Merhaba Türkçe 

 Learn Turkish with Çukur : Iconic Phrases and Their Meaning

Oggi vi parlerò di quattro concetti che mi hanno segnata:

➡️ Il non-attaccamento
➡️ Felicità o serenità?
➡️ I nostri pensieri creano la nostra realtà
➡️ La teoria dell’evoluzione influenza i nostri giorni

Li ho estrapolati dal libro “Profondo come il mare, leggero come il cielo”, un libro autobiografico, in cui Gianluca Gotto racconta di un suo momento davvero molto difficile della sua vita e che, grazie ai suoi incontri, alle sue esperienze e agli insegnamenti dei maestri buddhisti, è riuscito a calmare la sua sofferenza e a riprendere in mano la sua vita. 

Vi lascio per iscritto i principali argomenti e citazioni del libro:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rwi--pHpu9V3hxdhmZl-eF7HT9bRLxtvr7Ol9U_Mjwo/edit?usp=sharing 

Buon ascolto e buona lettura! 



Puro Parlare

10. Profondo come il mare, leggero come il cielo.

The Nordic countries of Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are regularly top scorers in world happiness rankings. These countries have placed in the top 10 of the World Happiness Report (WHR) every year since 2013 — so what's their secret?

These five countries score well in all six of the things considered in the WHR: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.

But the WHR has noted that there might be another thing these countries have more of than others — trust.

Trust is very important, says WHR editor John F. Helliwell, a former professor at the University of British Columbia. And he developed a study to test how community trust is linked to better well-being.

In Helliwell's study, he looked at how likely people thought it would be for a lost wallet to be returned to them, and he compared this to their life satisfaction score from zero to 10.

He found that those who expected their wallet to be returned had a higher life satisfaction score.

"We find people are much, much happier if they feel they're in an environment where people are going to watch their back," Helliwell told Euro News.

In a 2023 experiment by Reader's Digest, wallets were actually left for people to find in cities around the world. And where was a lost wallet most likely to be returned? In Helsinki, the capital of Finland.

The WHR has noted that a high level of trust may be among the things that explain Nordic happiness.

However, as Forbes has suggested, it may not be so much about big-smile "happiness" as quieter "contentment."

Rather than always trying for something better, people in Scandinavian countries are more often content with what they have. As a result, few of them will say they are unhappy — which helps these countries do well in world happiness rankings.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

What's the Secret to Nordic Countries' Happiness?

LOUISE: Hey, Julia … Look at those desserts! How about baking 
some cookies today?
JULIA: Hmm … Yeah, that’s a great idea! While we’re here, let’s 
pick up the ingredients.
JULIA: OK, what do we need?
LOUISE: The recipe calls for flour, sugar and butter. Oh, and we 
also need eggs and chocolate chips.
JULIA: Why don’t you get the dairy ingredients? You’ll find those 
in the refrigerated section in the back of the store. I’ll get 
the dry ingredients — they’re in aisle 10.
LOUISE: Great! Let’s meet at the checkout.
JULIA: OK. See you there.



LANGUAGE NOTES
• How about is a casual way to suggest doing an activity. Notice that “how about” is followed 
by an “-ing” verb.
• Hmm … Notice that Julia pauses for a moment. “Hmm” is an expression used to think about 
something first before speaking.
• That’s a great idea! Notice the emphasis on “great.” Julia has thought about it and then 
decided that she really does want to bake cookies.
• The recipe calls for is a way of saying “the recipe says we need.” The phrase “call for” can 
also be used to talk about the weather forecast. (They’re calling for rain.)
• … flour, sugar and butter. Notice that this is a list, so there are short pauses between each 
item. Notice also that each ingredient is stressed because this information is important.
• Why don’t you … This expression is used to ask someone to do something. It can also be 
used to give advice — but in this case two friends are deciding on who does which task.
• Aisle Notice the silent “s” in aisle. An aisle is an orderly lane in a supermarket, with shelved 
products on both sides. Each aisle has a number, so that it is easy to find what you need.