A Stone’s Throw is a weekly podcast designed to enrich your language expression and get you closer to using idioms and phrasal verbs naturally.

A Stone's Throw Podcast

Philosophical Friday is a weekly podcast in straightforward, easy to understand language designed to inspire, using wisdom from throughout the ages that spans the world.

Philosophical Friday

Здравствуйте! Это мой подкаст «По-русски легко!». Сегодня я хочу поделиться с вами фразами для выражения благодарности. 
Самое популярное слово – СПАСИБО.
Мы говорим: СПАСИБО - merci 
БОЛЬШОЕ СПАСИБО — merci beaucoup 
СПАСИБО ЗА ВСЁ - merci pour tout 
СПАСИБО, ЧТО ПОМОГЛИ МНЕ - Merci de m'avoir aidé
СПАСИБО ЗА ПОДАРОК - Merci pour votre cadeau  
СПАСИБО, ЧТО ПРИШЛИ - Merci d'être venu 
 «СПАСИБО» - это два слова в одном. СПАСИ – императив глагола спасать - sauver (fr.) и БО – первые буквы русского слова Бог - Dieu (fr.). 
Слово «СПАСИБО» появилось в 16 веке. Чтобы поблагодарить человека христиане желали ему спасения для вечной жизни — «спаси Боже», «спаси тебя Боже» (Que Dieu vous sauve!).  Потом эта фраза стала короче. Люди говорили «спасибог». После революции большевики убрали букву «г». И так появилось слово «СПАСИБО».
Раньше слово «СПАСИБО» не было популярным. До 20 века люди обычно говорили «БЛАГОДАРЮ». Это значит «Я ДАРЮ ТЕБЕ БЛАГО». То есть человек даёт что-то хорошее тому, кто ему помогает. 
Сегодня мы часто выражаем благодарность словом «спасибо», а «благодарю» мы говорим редко.
Я ХОТЕЛ БЫ ПОБЛАГОДАРИТЬ ВАС ЗА ВАШУ ПОМОЩЬ - J'aimerais vous remercier pour votre aide
Я БЛАГОДАРЮ ВАС ОТ ВСЕГО СЕРДЦА - Je vous remercie de tout coeur
Спасибо вам от всего сердца за то, что слушаете мой подкаст!  До скорой встречи!

По-русски легко!

Спасибо - фразы и выражения по-русски

Read the beautiful Chinese essay with me.  

听优美短文，提升中文阅读和写作

Shirley's Classroom 

Video related to the audio here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6H_nX7g1TI&t=57s

French Conjugation For All

Offrir

There are many types of dairy alternatives on the market today, often made from things like nuts and soybeans.

But have you heard they're now making butter from air?

A US startup called Savor is working on a range of dairy alternatives made using something that exists all around us: carbon.

Fats are made from chains of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Savor's process involves taking carbon — from, say, carbon dioxide — and adding heat and hydrogen to create chains that are combined with oxygen from air.

This results in fat molecules, like the ones found in dairy and other animal products.

Now, regular butter is about 80% fat — the rest is mostly water. So to make butter from its synthetic fat, Savor just adds water, as well as an emulsifier that keeps the liquids from separating, and rosemary oil for flavor and beta carotene for color.

What does it taste like?

"I couldn't believe I wasn't eating real butter," Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wrote in a blog post earlier this year. Gates is one of Savor's investors.

He wrote that "it tastes really good — like the real thing, because chemically it is."

Savor has already run informal taste tests with small groups of people, and is working to get regulatory approval for its product in the US.

But why butter?

A 2021 study estimated that food production makes up about 35% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions — and Savor estimates that about 7% of greenhouse gas emissions are just from producing fat.

But Savor's process, Gates wrote, doesn't release any greenhouse gases. He added that it uses no farmland and "less than a thousandth of the water that traditional agriculture does."

Savor is focusing on butter to start with partly because its high price point makes it easier to compete on cost. But the startup later hopes to develop other products like milk, ice cream, cheese — even meat.





Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

US Startup Makes Butter from Carbon Dioxide

This episode explains the meaning of the proverb "Imitation is the Sincerest form of Flattery" with an example.

American English Proverbs

8 - Imitation is the Sincerest form of Flattery

I this episode we cover the right pronunciation of French numbers from 0 to 100, I recommend repeating the list once everyday for 2 weeks to memorise them well. 

En français courant

All you need to know ( FRENCH NUMBERS from 0 to 100 ) 

5 Useful Phrases for the IELTS Speaking Test

Taking the IELTS Speaking test is not difficult and in fact, you can even get a band score of 8 to 9…if you know what you are doing.

The IELTS Speaking test lasts for about 11-14 minutes. It is designed to assess your pronunciation, fluency, grammar, and vocabulary. It is divided into three parts.

When taking the IELTS Speaking test, you have to keep in mind that using effective phrases will help you get a high band score. Vocabulary and grammar are two of the criteria in this part of the IELTS test.


Here are some ideas to help you succeed at it and to impress the examiner!

1. Opening Statements
How you open your statements is your first opportunity to impress the examiner. 

Examples:

Today, I’d like to share with you about…
In this talk, I’m going to tell you how…

2. Closing statements
The manner in which you end your statements plays a vital role in the IELTS speaking test too.

Examples:

In conclusion…
To sum up…
To summarize

3. Beginning the Main Body of Your Speech 
Once you are asked a question or given a topic to talk about, be creative and use phrases and expressions that the examiner will find appealing. 

Examples:

 First and foremost….
And why do I find it so appealing? It is, after all….
To begin with… 

4. Building on Your Idea
When you have started talking about your topic, you would want to include some background information and some explanations and examples to help develop your topic. 

Examples:

Another reason why I like…
One of the main advantages…
One of the consequences…

5. Expressing Your Opinions
You should change your words while presenting your viewpoint on a subject, just as you should when adding personal experiences, rather than repeating the phrase ‘I think’.

Examples:

In my opinion…
I firmly believe that…
From my point of view…

These ideas will help you to succeed and more will be covered in our 1to1 private classes together.

Schedule it now and to your success!
 

IELTS-SPEAKING 8-9 BAND IS POSSIBLE. DAILY SPEAKING PRACTICE PART 1,2 & 3. Listen daily.

5 Useful Phrases for the IELTS Speaking Test Succeed At Your IELTS Test Now!

This episode introduces three idioms that use the word hook. 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.