Today I have gathered numerous conversation starters surrounding the topic "family", which can help you chat it up with any native or ESL person you meet. :)

Baffling Lingo

Conversation Starters #1

Alam n’yo ba na paa ang panlasa ng mga paru-paro?

Learn Tagalog with Teacher Regina

Paa ng Paru-paro

Part two of Thumbelina by Author Hans Christian Andersen.
Complete the short quiz afterwards to check your understanding.


Teacher Michelle's Learn English with Story

Thumbelina Part 2 – LEARN ENGLISH WITH STORY (with quiz)

In this episode, I talk about interviewing in a second language. Speaking in a second language is tough; interviewing is tough. Doing both of them at the same time? Well, it can feel like walking into the lion’s den. It’s not for the faint of heart. And yet, there are a lot of brave souls out there who are willing to do what it takes to land a job in their second language.

You will hear a story about when I interviewed in Spanish, which is my second language, and get my top five tips for how you can succeed in an interview in your second language. Then you'll learn the definitions for the English idioms and phrases I used in the episode. 

Originally published on April 10, 2020
Transcript available at https://www.express-to-impress.com/ep2-interview-in-english/.
Infographics from podcast episodes available at https://www.pinterest.com/ExpresstoImpress/.

Express to Impress

5 Tips for Interviewing In English

Welcome back to another episode of Streetwise English. I'm your host, Carl. I'm an italki American English tutor. Today I want to talk about technical aids for learning languages. And specifically, I want to talk about headphones. So one of the most important things for improving your fluency in any foreign language is to listen to content in that target language.
So for me, I'm currently studying Spanish and trying to maintain my Chinese, so I don't forget it. So what I like to do every day is listen to podcasts. Now you can listen while you're doing other activities like washing your clothes or washing the dishes or exercising at the gym. You can listen to podcasts while you're on the treadmill. 

But the problem is headphones can smash your ears and make your ears uncomfortable. So what I like to do is use bone conduction headphones or earphones. It's a type of headphone that doesn't actually cover your ear canal. It goes in front of your ear and kind of sits on your face. Um, kind of behind your sideburns if you're a man, right in front of your ear and the sound transmits a vibration that goes into your skull and into your ear and your brain can hear the sound just from the vibrations going through your bones. And so they are called bone conduction headphones. I swear by them. And I use them every day. I have a pair which is charged with a USB C port.

So there are many different kinds of options on the market, but I like the ones that use a USB C port to charge them because I don't have to worry about losing the appropriate proprietary charging cord. Instead, I can just use any USB C charging cord to power up the headphones. 

So another advantage of using bone conduction headphones is that while you're wearing them, you can hear sounds outside of the content that you're listening to.
So for example, say, I'm running, I'm jogging and listening to my podcast which is in Chinese while I'm jogging. ( Text limit )




Streetwise English

SWE15 Bone conduction headphones for learning languages

今天我读的这篇文章适合中高级水平的中文学习者，如果你对单词或者句子不理解，欢迎在这篇播客的评论区留言。如果需要原文，请在评论区留言或者私信给我。

新冠3年，日本为什么还有超过70%的人没感染？
关于疫情，日本这个国家绝对值得说说。今天，就简单谈谈日本疫情的一个问题：低感染率！
按照通常的想法，日本感染人数应该很高才对。因为，日本有不少不利的因素。新冠病毒在日本发现得很早，在2020年1月中旬，日本就出现确诊病例。上次我们说到，日本人口是“又高又老”，平均预期寿命高达83.7岁，世界上最长寿；人口中位数年龄已经达到48.6岁，年龄结构非常老。更致命的是，日本人口密度非常大。
2020年，日本总人口1.26亿，每平方公里人口高达333人，位居全世界将近250个国家和地区的第24位。这些人口绝大部分集中在三大都市圈（东京都市圈、大阪都市圈、名古屋都市圈）。其中，东京都市圈又几乎占到日本全国总人口的三分之一，达到了28.9%。
而且，日本上班族上下班，超过一半的人主要使用的是地铁、公交等公共交通。
虽然日本各地在过往宣布过“紧急事态”，可是并没有硬封城。一般来说，人们仍可以上班、购物，超市、去便利店，药妆店基本上也不会关门，工厂也不停工。可即便是这样，日本目前披露的感染率数据也是惊人：只有30%左右。
因为新冠病毒的传染性越来越强，还有一些无症状感染人员，加上日本也没有强制“全民核酸”，所以，要掌握真实的感染数据是很难的。前段时间，日本红十字会做了一个研究：对8260名献血者（16～69岁）的抗体进行检测。结果显示：抗体阳性只占到检测人数的26.5%。也就是没被感染的日本人数量占比在70%以上！
当然，不同地区有些不一样，像冲绳县，差不多2个人里就有1人感染过，东京差不多是3个人里有1人感染过。
这是个什么水平呢？
哈佛、耶鲁和斯坦福三所美国高校公共卫生学院的一个研究结果显示：到去年11月，预计94%的美国人至少感染过一次新冠病毒。这两天，我们国家一些地方公布了新冠病毒感染率的数据。四川调查感染率是63.52%，海南预计全省感染率是50%。
其实，哪怕不看数据，大家结合身边的情况也能感觉到：这波疫情来得又快又猛！在不少地方，现在没阳的人，是绝对的少数。不过，即便把日本的数字再放大，哪怕到50%，也是非常低的。要知道，日本疫情现在已经到了第8轮，病毒反复冲击。现在，大家都在关注XBB等变异毒株。
早在2022年10月，在日本东京就发现了XBB。所以，可以说，日本的疫情形势是挺复杂的。可日本的感染率为什么能这么低呢？在我看来，有几个方面很关键。首先，就是日本仍然在进行免费的核酸检测。日本没有全民核酸检测，但是如果民众觉得不适，就可以去领取免费的检测试剂盒或者到街头的核酸检测点进行免费检测。日本在人流量大的街头设置了免费的核酸简易检测点。因为检测量太大，日本一些地方政府就鼓励民营检测机构提供服务，像大阪府政府就向民间核酸检测提供每人6500日元（约340多块人民币）的补助，加上3000日元（将近人民币160块钱）的杂费补助。这样就有利于解决核酸扎堆、排长队的情况。如果核酸是阳性，那么，相关信息就会上报（如果是试剂盒检测，也有专门APP提交结果）。症状轻的人，很多地方的政府会给他们送一个能维持7~10天居家生活的生活礼包，满足基本生活。如果有需要，还可以申请血氧仪。症状明显的人，会被送入政府指定的隔离酒店，由驻店医护人员观察护理。如果是高危人群，就送到医院救治。所以能够早发现，早隔离，分类救治。减少人员流动、聚集。都说日本是“过劳社会”，上班族都很拼。但面对这次疫情，日本政府大力提倡居家办公，除了政府机关，像NTT、SONY、SoftBank等大企业也带头线上办公。
另外，在2021年的一段时间，日本政府要求饮食店“缩短营业时间至晚上8点”，体育馆、游乐场、超过1000平的百货商场等场所，提供酒类的饮食店要缩短至晚上7点。
对饮食店造成的损失，政府也会按照“每店每天6万日元”（约3100多块人民币）的标准进行补偿。所以，日本放开，但没有躺平。
当然，也有很多潜移默化的生活方式和习惯因素。比如，日本很多人家的房子是“一户建”，也就是独门独院，而不是公寓楼。别看日本人多地少，但“一户建”在日本很流行。日本总务省统计局在2018年有个统计数据显示，日本全国的独栋占比81.4%，而集合住宅（比如公寓大楼等）只有17.4%。哪怕是在东京都市圈，独栋住宅比率也高达61.16%。这样，在疫情期间，人们就不需要跟他人共用电梯等公共设施，减少接触机会。

Talk to Cara in Chinese

2.中文阅读系列：日本新冠感染率低

・七夕の行事について紹介
・ひこ星とおり姫について
・二人の物語を標準語と東北弁で紹介
・二つの言語で同じ内容を読んだときの雰囲気の違いは？
・七夕の楽しみ方、紙(短冊)に願い事を書いて笹の葉と一緒に飾る
・まとめ



Nihongo tokidoki Inaka hougen with Megumi Na

今日は七夕 Reading stories about "Tanabata"with standard Japanese and Tohoku dialect

Hi, everyone! I'm a Japanese teacher Misa.
I talk about a variety of topics, from studying Japanese to my life and culture in plain Japanese. If you study Japanese, this is for you!

Plain Japanese Podcast やさしい にほんご ポッドキャスト

予告編 Trailer

*Finally, I am so glad to tell you that you can also listen to the podcast "그거 봤어?(Did you watch it?)" on the YouTube channel now!" 
Besides, you can watch transcripts on this channel!
(+ please subscribe and smash like buttons!😍)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3cz2KgaGS8DEro6KwehiaQ/featured

This is also the FIRST episode about apps used in Korea!😊
If you visit Korea, you should listen to it no matter what!!
“네이버 지도”(Naver Map) & “카카오맵”(Kakao map) are GPS and navigation apps in Korea that provide rich route suggestions depending on your preferred mode of transportation. 
In this episode, we will tell you how different they are from Google maps and why I suggest them.
Also, I am going to give you steps on how to use them from the beginning!
