Please check the Quiz Set I have just posted on italki and see how many T-F-NG you get right.

IELTS Insights📚📝

IELTS Reading Practice (T-F-NG)

Reducing the time we spend on our smartphones outside of work could help improve satisfaction and motivation in the workplace, according to a new study.

Spending less time on our phones doing non-work tasks like scrolling social media or watching videos could also have an impact on our mental health, researchers said.

A research team from Germany wanted to find out about easy ways companies could improve the motivation and well-being of their employees.

Almost 280 volunteers were put into four groups.

For one week, people in the first group reduced their daily smartphone use by one hour.

People in the second group didn't change their smartphone use, but did 30 minutes more exercise per day.

Participants in the third group did both of these things. And the fourth group didn't make any changes at all.

The volunteers took surveys about their work satisfaction, motivation and mental health before starting the experiment. They took the surveys again after the experiment ended, and then again two weeks later.

The researchers found that participants in both of the groups that reduced their smartphone use saw significant improvements in their mental health and workplace satisfaction. People in these groups also felt that their work-life balance was better.

And those in the first three groups — including the exercise-only group — all said they felt a greater sense of control over their lives.

The researchers said companies could think about encouraging employees to make small changes like these to their daily lives. When employees are happier at work, they're likely to be more productive, they added.

And the good thing for companies is that there's no cost to encouraging changes like these!

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Cutting Phone Use May Improve Motivation at Work

Welcome to another episode on Engine English today we will be looking at idioms. Idioms are one of the hardest parts of learning a language. For those of you who don’t know, an idiom is a phrase that has a meaning, but the meaning is not clear from the words themselves. If you translate an idiom word for word, it sometimes makes no sense at all. They are like puzzles and even native speakers can get confused when someone uses a phrase that they’ve never heard of.

If you have any questions or ideas for my next episode please feel free to drop me a message in the comments section.

Engine English

5 Essential English Idioms

In this episode, Karen & 柏威chatted about some short but useful sentences you can use in practical scenarios, such as “how was it,” “did you have a good time,” “i’m sorry for your loss...”

Let’s get studyin’!

Chillchat (Learn Chinese and Chill)

Take your Chinese small talk to the next level

ADEL ALBANNA: A PROFISSIONAL ARABIC TEACHER

今回のテーマは「日本のお正月（New Year）」です。
みなさんの国では、New Yearにパーティーをしますか？実は、日本人はあまりパーティーをしません。とても静かです。では、何をしますか？
このエピソードで、日本人の本当のお正月を紹介します！
【このエピソードで話すこと】
日本人はパーティーをしない？
12月31日と1月1日に食べるもの（そば・おせち）
300万人が行く「初詣（Hatsumode）」とは？
子供が大好きなお金「お年玉（Otoshidama）」
「あけましておめでとう」はいつ言う？（挨拶のルール）

Today's theme is "Japanese New Year" (Oshogatsu).
Do you party on New Year's Eve?Actually, Japanese people don't really party. It's very quiet.So, what do we do?
In this episode, I will introduce the REAL Japanese New Year culture!
【Topics】
Why Japanese don't party on NYE.
Special foods for Dec 31st and Jan 1st (Soba & Osechi).
What is "Hatsumode"? (Visiting shrines).
"Otoshidama": Free money for kids!
Important: When to say "Akemashite Omedetou"? (Greeting rules).

今天的主題是「日本的新年（お正月）」。
大家跨年時會開派對（Party）嗎？其實，日本人不太開派對，日本的新年非常安靜。那麼，日本人都在做什麼呢？
這集節目將為大家介紹真實的日本新年文化！
【本集重點】
日本人跨年不開趴？
12月31日與1月1日必吃的食物（蕎麥麵・御節料理）
300萬人擠爆神社？關於「初詣」文化
小孩最愛的紅包「御年玉（Otoshidama）」
「あけましておめでとう」什麼時候說才對？（問候語的規則）



にほんごタイム🇯🇵Learn Japanese with Sayuri!

静かでユニークな日本のお正月文化｜The Quiet & Unique "Japanese New Year Culture"｜安靜又獨特的「日本新年文化」

"I’m better than I used to be. Better than I was yesterday. But hopefully not as good as I’ll be tomorrow."

A 30-day positive affirmation journey with Rose

Day 13

New words 
 
1. 吧 ba part. used at the end of a sentence to indicate consultation, suggestion, request or command, etc.
2. 好 hǎo adj. OK, all right
3. 啊 a int. used at the end of a sentence as a sign of confirmation
4. 点 diǎn m. o'clock
5. 出发 chūfā v. to set out, to leave
6. 早上 zǎoshang n. morning
7. 半 bàn num. half
8. 下午 xiàwǔ n. afternoon
9. 没问题 méi wèntí no problem
10. 事儿 shìr n. business, affair
11. 晚上 wǎnshang n. evening, night
12. 分 fēn m. minute
13. 见 jiàn v. to meet, to see

中文每日一练

每日听汉语

Algunos idiomas como el ESPAÑOL tienen varios acentos dependiendo el país y/o la región donde se hablan. Super interesante saber más de esto, y aprender a entender al menos 2 o 3 de ellos. Te amplio la info en el audio, vamos!