Harriet Rich moved to Valladolid, Mexico from the US, when she retired, about 15 years ago. I stayed at the Airbnb she has there, in 2023. It feels like a blessing to say we’ve been friends ever since. 

These days, we’re playing around with podcasting. Here we are, talking about writing and publishing and more!

Hear and There

10. An interview with Harriet Rich, a self-published fiction writer 

摆烂 (bǎi làn) literally means “to let things rot” or “to give up.” It’s a slang term used to describe a passive attitude when someone gives up trying to fix a difficult situation and just lets it go.

Learn Chinese with Hot Topics

摆烂 (bǎi làn)

In questo episodio, parliamo di 5 fatti su Matera

Facts about Italy in slow italian

Facts about Italy in slow italian - #3 Matera

建议同学们先听，如果有听不懂的地方再看文本。

       爱情有三种，第一种是为爱而爱。大部分跟男孩有关。男孩年龄大了，该结婚了。于是别人介绍一个，了解一下对方的条件，觉得还行，于是开始培养对对方的感情。首先不断地告诉自己，对方人不错，过了这村就没有这店，要珍惜；有时犹豫了，总会有人提醒他，你要求是不是太高了，你年纪大了，让他觉得不对女孩好不应该，于是加倍对女孩好。
　　这种爱的表现形式就是对对方很好，总之，一切以得到对方的爱为目的。
　　第二种爱就是被爱而爱，大部分是女孩。女孩大了，周围的朋友们都嫁人了，自己却还是一个人，挺孤独的，家人着急，别人议论，自己也觉得有压力，这时有男孩来向她表示点什么了，想想也还不错，既然找不到自己爱的人，就去找一个爱自己的人吧，于是就同意交往了，发现对方真的对自己不错，那就结婚吧。
　　结婚后，这两种爱情的问题出现了。男孩的目的达到了，还这样累干什么呢？女孩便感受不到男孩对她的爱，于是她爱的基础也没有了。矛盾产生了，女的抱怨男孩不像婚前那样爱自己了，男孩觉得女孩不懂事，都结婚了，还爱不爱的。于是开始吵，双方都觉得婚姻没意思。
　　好在还有第三种爱。前两种爱是先确定关系而后爱，这一种是先爱再确定关系。这种爱就是因爱而爱。两个人只是因为爱对方而爱，他们爱的是对方这个人，没有其他什么。他们不会因为只有一碗饭吃而觉得倒霉，而会因为分吃一碗饭而觉得幸福。这种爱情，在都市里渐渐变成一个童话，如果你有幸遇到，请好好儿珍惜。


Merry's voice (HSK六）

HSK 六 《你的爱情是第几种？》

En el episodio de hoy hablo de la disneyficación de las ciudades, un fenómeno creado por el turismo de masas. No había escuchado nunca este termino pero me ha parecido un concepto interesante que quería compartir con vosotros.

Espero que disfrutes el episodio y te haga pensar. Ya sabes que te espero en Instagram para qué me cuentes qué piensas del tema.

Si te gustan los episodios del podcast no te olvides de dejar una pequeña valoración para ayudarme a llegar a más personas. Te lo agradeceré un montón.

Artículos donde leí la información:
-el economista: https://www.eleconomista.es/construccion-inmobiliario/noticias/8167233/02/17/Disneyficacion-o-por-que-el-turismo-esta-convirtiendo-nuestras-ciudades-en-parques-tematicos.html 
-retina: https://retinatendencias.com/opinion/la-disneyficacion-de-las-ciudades-centros-historicos-como-parques-de-atracciones-para-turistas/ 


Blanca to go 

124- La disneyficación de las ciudades.

Listen to the first part of the story of Hansel and Gretel read aloud in Dutch.

Sprookjes in het Nederlands voorgelezen

Hans en Grietje deel 1 (Hansel and Gretel part 1)

This short episode is for students who have at least an A2 level and it talks about some habits young Italians have, such as the famous "aperitivo". 
Find out more and enjoy it!


Languages With Melody

Le abitudini dei giovani italiani

Try these tips during awkward silences or when you don't know what else to talk about.

1.   Don't reject your own ideas thinking that they are not worth sharing. When you filter most of your stories and experiences you have fewer topics to talk about. 
 
2.   Don't list your points, instead elaborate on each point using examples or personal experiences. This also gives the opportunity to the listener to add to the topic or share their own experiences making it a two-way conversation.
 
3.   Speak at the right pace. If you speak too fast, you end the conversation very quickly. It’s usually because the listener doesn’t understand you and therefore can’t keep the conversation going.  
 
4.   Learn to ask smart questions to keep the conversation going. Ask open-ended questions such as, “what do you think about …?” with follow-up questions “why do you think …?”. This helps you build up on the information that you received.
 
5.   Practise thinking critically so you always have something to say. When you practice critical thinking and ask yourself counter-questions, you are able to spontaneously think of ideas and form arguments using your background knowledge. You can easily connect the dots and be eloquent while talking to people.
 
6.   Learn a few speech frameworks such as Past - Present - Future, Problem – Solution - Benefit, or other storytelling formats such as ‘the mountain’. When you have a structure, you don’t lose your chain of thoughts and you don’t run into dead ends. Your listeners are also able to understand you better and remember what you said.
 
7.   If you are using a second language to communicate such as English, then simplify your complex thoughts in your native language first and then translate them to English. Lots of times when translation is tough, we give up and change the topic. But this practice helps you make the translation process easy. 
 
If you want to learn more, please book a session with me. 


Sensei Ann

Tips for not running out of things to say

In this American English language podcast, I talk about travelling tips. I talk about the importance of having a fanny pack to keep your important items safe. 
My italki teacher profile https://italki.com/teacher/1947582 
Thanks for listening! 
Visit my website for more of my full-length podcasts . www.streetwisenglish.com