Listen to me reading a news article about the Country & Western superstar's charity that has helped thousands of underprivileged children across the world.

Listen to English with Pip

News article: Dolly Parton reading scheme helps children in care

Listening for beginners

الأسرة - 1 - The family


Я думаю, что время проходит очень быстро. 
Раньше я никогда не думала об этом. 
Я всегда жду, когда наступит суббота. В субботу у меня меньше работы и в этот день я могу больше гулять, смотреть фильмы и вязать. Я бы хотела чтобы суббота, длилась 48 часов, так я бы больше отдыхала, но к сожалению это невозможно. Я бы хотела иметь такой пульт, с помощью которого я бы смогла замедлить время. Есть такой американский фильм, который называется "Клик:С пультом по жизни." С помощью этого пульта главный персонаж фильма Майкл может контролировать моменты в своей жизни. Например, если жена жалуется на что-то, он может ускорить этот момент, чтобы её не слушать. Хотя, потом Майкл начинает быстро стареть. Я точно не помню, что с ним случилось, но потом он сильно постарел и уже не смог перемотать свою жизнь назад, когда он был молодым. Его дети тоже выросли и стали большими и его жена развелась с ним и вышла замуж за другого. Конечно, я бы не хотела, чтобы со мной случилось что-то похожее. Наверное, лучше мыслить по-другому. Я сама себе часто говорю, что не нужно ждать субботы, чтобы насладиться днём. Что каждый день нужно радоваться чему-то. Например, даже утреннее кофе может поднять настроение. Нужно находить счастливые моменты в жизни каждый день. 


 Russian stories with Elena Русские истории с Еленой

С пультом по жизни. 

American interviewers want to hear precise, simple, and clear answers. They don’t want to hear rambling or layered communication. Australians, Canadians, and Germans appreciate this communication style too.

On the other hand, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese interviewers are more likely to appreciate sophisticated, nuanced, and layered communication styles. 

In this episode, we dive into communication styles by nationality, and you’ll learn how to prepare for an interview with a hiring manager who expects concise answers.

If you’re accustomed to talking at length and rambling, modifying your communication style will take some effort. But, it’s possible if you follow the seven tips outlined in the episode. 

In this episode, you’ll also hear an example of a concise answer to the interview question, what would you do if you knew your boss was wrong about something? 

Episode originally published on December 24, 2020

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/interview-questions/

Theme music by Lucas Knutter. 

Infographics on Pinterest. 

Express to Impress

How to Answer Interview Questions Without Rambling

For the second year in a row, Taylor Swift has been named Spotify's most-played artist.

The streaming service has released its annual overview of individual listening trends as well as trends from around the world — called Spotify Wrapped.

Users can now see their top artists, songs, genres, albums and podcasts, as well as uncover which artists had the biggest year on the platform.

Swift was 2024's most-streamed artist globally, ranking in more than 26.6 billion streams. She was followed by The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish.

Swift also earned the title of most-streamed album in 2024, with The Tortured Poets Department, while Sabrina Carpenter had the most-streamed song both in the US and globally this year, with her summer hit "Espresso." It was streamed more than 1.6 billion times.

For users who want to look back at their listening habits over the year, there were some new features to explore on Spotify Wrapped.

These include a new data story called "Your Music Evolution," which shows three distinct musical phases for each user, and a personalized playlist based on them.

People like to share their Spotify Wrapped data on social media, although this year some complained that the roundup was missing certain features they'd previously enjoyed.

Streaming now accounts for most of the money generated by the music industry — 84% in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, and 67.3% around the world, according to a 2024 report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which tracks global sales.

Spotify is the largest platform of all with a reported 626 million users and 246 million subscribers.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Spotify Users Look Back on Year of Listening Habits

In the first Just Chatting podcast, we discuss the heatwave and coping with the summer heat.

How do you cope with working during a heatwave?
What do you do to stay cool during the summer?

Just Chatting

Just Chatting Episode 1 | Heatwaves

Jag är på resande fot i Sydney och pratar om att vara trött, att inte ha energi om att inte gilla storstäder och jag kommer också in på existentiella tankar och funderingar. 

Tankar på svenska

Tankar på svenska : existentiell energilöshet

二胎 The Second Child（Advanced level）
In this episode we will talk about 【The Second Child】, you will learn how to say 【National policy，population aging，The only-child】 ect.
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It is recommended that you study in the following ways:
1st time: listen without looking at the text.
2nd time: look at the text and write down the new words, later look up the dictionary. 
3rd time: listen again without looking at the text.
4th time: repeat after it without looking at the text.
大家好，我是Yuli。欢迎收听我的播客。
今天想和大家聊一聊【二胎】的话题。
这个话题应该是中国独有的一个话题。为了解决人口问题和发展问题，1982年计划生育被定为中国的基本国策。随着中国社会的迅速发展，这个政策也带来了人口老龄化问题。这些年，中国的生育政策不断在调整、完善。
2013年，启动实施一方是独生子女的夫妇可生育两个孩子的政策。
2015年，全面实施一对夫妇可生育两个孩子的政策。
2021年，实施一对夫妻可以生育三个子女的政策。
在二胎政策开放后，并不是所有的父母都选择再生一个孩子。这背后有很多原因，比如经济因素，在大城市养一个孩子的成本太高了。而且如果夫妻双方都去上班，谁来帮忙带小孩也是个问题。家里的老人不一定能帮忙，请保姆的话又不放心。第一个孩子好不容易长大了，很多职场女性也不愿意再生二胎牺牲自己的职业发展。选择生二胎的夫妻，也有他们的考虑。
1.因为我两个孩子都是女儿，她们的这个成长之路是比较不孤单的。成长的过程中，两个人都会互相地去学习。
2.应该是幸福大于心酸，我觉得的话就是每一个孩子他都是一个独立人格嘛，只要按照他的特性来发展（就好了）。
3.独生子女更容易被这种爷爷奶奶加上外公外婆再加父母亲6个大人宠一个，其实有时候小孩子会比较骄纵。可是如果多个的话这种就比较分散一点，一些事情可以彼此去讨论，他们自己可以讨论，就形成一个小的同侪关系。我觉得这样是比较好的。
你会选择生二胎吗？留言告诉我吧。我们下期见。
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独有	/	dú yǒu	/	unique,exclusive
国策	/	guó cè	/	National policy
老龄化	/	lǎo líng huà	/	population aging
启动	/	qǐ dòng	/	launch
实施	/	shí shī	/	implement
生育政策	/	shēng yù zhèng cè	/	childbearing policy
独生子女	/	dú shēng zǐ nǚ	/	The only-child
保姆	/	bǎo mǔ	/	nanny
牺牲	/	xī shēng	/	sacrifice
独立人格	/	dú lì rén gé	/	Independent personality
宠	/	chǒng	/	spoil
骄纵	/	jiāo zòng	/	spoiled
同侪	/	tóng chái	/	peer

Yuli's Chinese Channel

二胎 The Second Child（Advanced level）

Ever wondered if adverbs of frequency hold the secret to mastering language like a word-wizard? Well, hang onto your linguistic hats because Smith, our adventurous linguist, is about to take us on a roller-coaster ride through this grammar maze! From the rock-solid "always" to the mysterious "never," he's got them all covered. Picture these adverbs doing a dance routine before main verbs, or sneakily peeking after auxiliary verbs in questions, and even chilling after the verb "to be" - it's like a grammar party! And when it comes to the present simple tense, they're the cool cats effortlessly denoting routine actions. So, put on your linguistic shades and get ready to disco with Smith, because decoding adverbs of frequency just got a whole lot more fun! 🎉📚