One of Saki's best-known short stories, written in 1911; set in an upper-class home in the English countryside. For anyone interested in classic literature and English pronunciation. The text of this wonderful short story can be found among the collection of stories, 'Beasts and Super-Beasts', free here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/269/269-h/269-h.htm 
Apologies about my cat in the background :)


Editor Anna's Classic Literature Series

'The Open Window' by H.H. Munro (Saki)

For those who are learning Spanish, the pronunciation of some letters is difficult, such as the letter "r".
In Spanish, the letter "R" has two sounds, one soft and one hard.
The pronunciation of the letter "R" is difficult for English speakers, because you have to vibrate your tongue above the palate.


Podcast Learn Spanish

Pronunciation of letter “R” in Spanish

กล้วย
[glûuay]
มะละกอ
[má-lá-gor]
องุ่น
[à-ngùn]
แตงโมเหลือง
[dtaeng moh lĕuuang ]
แตงโม
[dtaeng moh]
ส้ม
[sôm]
อะโวคาโด้
[à woh kaa dôh]
สับปะรด
[sàp-bpà-rót]
แคนตาลูป
[kaen dtaa lôop]

Thai Vocabulary for beginner

ผลไม้ไทย [pŏn-lá-mái tai] Thai fruit

Lily´s Chinese 中文世界

20240105浅聊姓名

Hi everyone! 

I will be posting about life, English and fun relatable thoughts daily.
Hope you all have a lovely today!

Up Your ALI

Spreading the love and advice!

東京に行ってて忙しかったから、久しぶりのアップです。当然お題は「東京」。首都東京がこんなに早く出てくるとは、私も予想外です。そして、まさかChatGPTにマウント取られるとは、思いませんでした！どうせ、私は田舎者（いなかもの）ですよ！だから今回は、ハルカちゃんと、ちょっとけんかしてます。でも田舎者だからこそわかる「東京、こわい」は、あってもいいんじゃないかな。「上の方」に住んでる方々のご意見を、ぜひ、うかがいたいものです。浅草と東京タワーについては、少し話してますが、観光情報をご希望の方にはお役に立てないなあ。ごめんなさいね。
スクリプトは⁠こちら⁠を見てください。
https://chivalrous-wallaby-f5c.notion.site/919ce4667ea849b28c60939b3a59e297?pvs=4
楽しみ方は⁠こちら⁠を見てください。
https://chivalrous-wallaby-f5c.notion.site/S2-1114d60c575442768615bc975767fd41?pvs=4
ホント最近忙しくて、文法と表現のデーターベースに手がつけられません。
どうかみなさま、広い心で気長にお待ちくださいませ。
じゃあ、またね！



すずまりの日本語「きき耳ずきん」S2

第5話　東京がこわい

JAKE: Where should we take a vacation this year? Let’s 
decide soon.
MELISSA: Well, I’d like to go somewhere warm. How about
the beach? Or we could rent a cabin on the lake.
JAKE: You want to go to the beach, again? I want to ski 
this winter. How about a compromise? What about 
traveling to the Alps in Europe next April? We can 
find a ski resort on a lake.
MELISSA: Oh, we’ve never been to Europe before! But I don’t 
know if it will be sunny and warm then. I need to 
do some research first. That will help me make up
my mind.



LANGUAGE NOTES
• Decide is a useful verb to express choice. The idiom “to make up my mind” also 
means “to decide”: “There are so many choices in this menu. It’s going to take awhile 
to make up my mind/decide.” You can finish this sentence with either the idiom or the 
verb “decide.”
• How about This phrase presents an alternative. This phrase can be followed by a 
subject plus a conjugated verb or by a noun: How about we go swimming? / How about 
a movie tonight?
• Many verbs express opinions: to think / to believe / to suppose / to assume, etc. They 
are not all synonymous. For example, “to suppose” and “to assume” express that the 
speaker has a preconceived idea: He came back late from work, so I assumed that traffic 
was bad. /I suppose that may not have been the case, and that he might just have had a 
lot of work.

English Conversation practice (30-day challenge)

Day 27: Giving your opinion

Some people love to brag. They might brag about where they live, the money they make or how great they are at sports.

In fact, some people even brag about how busy or stressed they are.

And it's becoming quite common.

It's called "busy bragging" or "stress bragging" — and people find it just as annoying as any other bragging.

You may have heard it at your workplace, when people tell everyone about how much work they have to do, or say things like: "You have no idea of the stress I'm under."

They might be doing this to show others that they're important or working hard.

However, a study from the US found that the colleagues of stress braggers find those people less likable and less competent because of their bragging.

And colleagues were found to be less likely to help stress braggers.

The study also found that colleagues may even begin to feel stress themselves because of the effect of people stress bragging.

Study author Jessica Rodell said: "People are harming themselves by doing this thing they think is going to make them look better to their colleagues."

However, Rodell said sharing workplace stress with others is not a bad thing to do: it's only when people brag about their stress that it causes negative feelings.

"It's not the being stressed part that's a problem," she said. In fact, the study found that if your colleagues think you're stressed, they do think you're more competent.

You just can't brag about it.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

'Busy Bragging': The Workplace Habit That Annoys Everyone

A story in our media about older people and loneliness in the UK.

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pnBi3dFkGDQWEj_A0Av_sFINfI-rBKLMEU_t2q4l3Rs/edit?usp=drive_link
