This episode introduces three idioms that use the word elephant. Listen to the examples to hear how to use them. Please send me a message if you would like a copy of the audio script.

Idiom Corner

Elephant

¿Cuándo usamos llamar, llamarse, poner nombre, apodo, mote, diminutivo, expresiones relacionadas con el nombre en español. ¿Sabes cómo usarlos?

EXPRESIONES en español

Expresión PONER NOMBRE

You're not sure about how to congratulate somebody in English? No worries! In this podcast episode, you'll be hearing a lot of exclamations that you can use right away in your life!

All About English and How You Learn It!

Congratulating Someone in English

Chinese story
《同学的爱》  The Classmates’ love

在重庆市的一家医院里，有一位女孩儿躺在病床上。她叫小菲，今年十七岁。
There was a little girl lying in bed in a hospital in Chongqing City. She was called Xiao-Fei, aged 17.
二零一二年夏天她还可以在外面跟朋友、同学一起玩儿，但是她现在只能躺在床上，因为二零一二年八月，她发现自己生病了，而且是白血病。
She could still play with friends and classmates outside in the summer of 2012. Now she could only lie in bed, as she found herself sick in August, 2012 and was diagnosed with leukemia.

小菲的高中同学都很难过。为了鼓励她，小菲的高中同学也和她一起做出改变，这让她觉得很多人都在支持她。
Xiao-Fei’s high school classmates all grieved for her. To encourage her, her high school friends also made changes with her to make her feel that many were supporting her.

小菲生病以后，每天都必须早睡早起，锻炼身体。小菲的同学也开始每天早睡早起，锻炼身体。他们让小菲知道，他们正在和她做一样的事。小菲只能喝开水，不能再喝可乐了。小菲的同学也和她一样不再喝可乐。
After getting sick, Xiao-Fei needed to go to bed and get up early to exercise. Her classmates also started to go to bed and get up early. They let Xiao-Fei know that they were doing the same thing. Xiao-Fei could only drink water, but not coke anymore, and her classmates followed suit.

小菲的同学对小菲说：“你不放弃，我们也不会放弃！”
“If you don’t give up, we won’t either,” Xiao-Fei’s classmates told her.

同学们知道小菲需要很多钱治疗，所以大家拿着箱子向路人募捐，最后募到了兩万多元。
Her classmates knew that Xiao-Fei needed lots of money for treatment, so all of them carried boxes to raise money from pedestrians. Eventually, they gathered a total of 20,000.

小菲看到大家这么支持她，她说：“大家这么关心我，我一定会更努力让自己好起来。”
Knowing that all of them were supporting her, Xiao-Fei said: “All of you cared about me so much; I will certainly try my best to get well.”

Yasmine's Chinese Reading - intermediate

同学的爱  The Classmates’ love

En este episodio de Español consciente practicamos cómo presentarte en español de forma natural y sin presión.

Aprenderás: a decir tu nombre, a decir de dónde eres, y a decir a qué te dedicas.

Todo con español claro, repeticiones guiadas y un ritmo tranquilo para ganar confianza al hablar.

Español consciente

Cómo presentarte en español de forma sencilla y consciente (A2–B1)

Listen to the text repeatedly, and try to imitate it by introducing yourself

Listening for beginners

acquaintance - التعارف - 8

You just got into bed after a long day, and you're exhausted. You plan to spend a few minutes on your phone — maybe scrolling Instagram or TikTok — and then sleep.

But when you try to sleep, it's not as easy as you thought it would be. You were so tired — what happened?

According to a new study, your phone may be the problem.

The study, done by researchers at New Zealand's University of Otago, involved 85 kids aged 11 to 14. They each spent a week wearing a body camera on their chest starting from three hours before they got into bed.

A second camera was also placed in their bedrooms to monitor their phone use once they were in bed. They also wore a device that tracked their sleep.

The researchers found that 99% of the participants used their phones in the two hours before bed. More than half used their phones while they were in bed, and about a third used their phones after trying to go to sleep.

The results showed that screen time in bed affected participants' sleep — it stopped them from going to sleep for about half an hour, and also reduced the amount of sleep they got.

The impact was larger when participants had a more interactive experience — such as playing a game — or if they used more than one screen. For every additional 10 minutes of this type of screen time, sleep time was reduced by the same amount.

Interestingly, phone use in the two hours before bed had little impact on sleep.

According to lead researcher Bradley Brosnan, the results suggest that, while current guidelines recommend no screen time in the hour or two before bed, keeping phones out of the bedroom might be enough for a better night's sleep.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Keep Screens Out of Bed for Better Sleep

 
はい、こんにちは。洋平先生です。えー、今日はですね、名詞（めいし:noun) のことを話したいんですけど、その名詞なんですけど、な形容詞（なadjective)　に似ている名詞（めいし: noun） をちょっとだけ紹介したいです。で、これもよくあるまちがいですね。
『何々　”の”　何々』と言うべきなのに、『何々　”な”　何々』 と言ってしまう。ボキャブラリーですね、じゃあ、早速（さっそく）いきますね。えー1つ目は、”人気”、これは 　「な形容詞」じゃありません。これを『人気”な”』という人がほんとに多いんですが、『人気”の”』ですよ。例えば、
・人気のミュージシャン
・人気のおハリウッド俳優（はいゆう）
 
 などですよね。はい、ま、これ正直ですねえ、『人気なミュージシャン』と言っても、日本人もよくまちがえるんで、あまり問題はないんですが。あー、テストでは、「人気”な”」と書かないでほしいんですね。はい、オッケーですか。えーじゃ、次 ”一流（いちりゅう）”、うん、”一流”、これもな形容詞じゃありません。
・一流の選手 
・一流の先生
 
”の” ですよ。じゃあ、もう2つ、『ダントツ』
・ダントツの成績（せいせき）
 
ですよ。”な” じゃありません。じゃ、最後に凄腕（すごうで） 
・凄腕の刑事(けいじ）
・凄腕の医者
 
ですよ。うん、これは「凄腕”な”」じゃありません で、えーっとですねまあ、これらは「何々な」、「凄腕な」「ダントツな」と言うと、ちょっと変なんですけど、まあ、それほど問題じゃないんですね。 
 
で、ここでみなさんにもう1つ紹介したい単語がありまして、それが”病気”です で、この病気をまちがって ”な” と言ってしまうと良くないんですね。意味が変わってしまうんです。
え、『病気の人』と『病気な人』、これは意味がちがいます。え、『病気な人』というのはですね。えー、ちょっと、心に問題がある人、これが病院に行く心の病気ではないんですね。 
えー、そうではなくて、例えば
⑴　突然（とつぜん）怒り出す人
⑵　非常にわがままな人
⑶　人の不幸が好きな人
 
ちょっとおかしな人ですよねえ、そういう人をバカにした感じのスラングですね。
うん、ここ10年か、20年ぐらいでできたスラングだと思うんですけども、病気の人はまあカゼとかそういう まあ病気ですよね、本当の。はい、ちょっとこれだけをまちがえてほしくないと思って。えー、な形容詞 に似た名詞（めいし）を紹介させていただきました。じゃあ、みんな日本語の勉強がんばってね、バイバイ👋
