In this episode of Streetwise English Podcast, I talk using the How long have you been....sentence pattern. My teacher profile: https://italki.com/teacher/1947582 Thanks for listening!

Streetwise English

SWE 100 How long have you been studying English?

滥竽充数 làn yú chōng shù：sham/an ancient Chinese reed instrument like a pipe/pass off/number 
to pass oneself off as one of the players in an ensemble.the saying means to be there just to make up the number.
吹：chuī，to blow/play  
竽：an ancient wind instrument
待遇： dài yù  treatment,pay,salary
独奏 dú zòu：solo

乐读中文 (Lè Dú Zhōngwén) - "Joyful Chinese Stories"

滥竽充数[làn yú chōng shù]

What do you think is the most expensive place in the world to live? New York? London? Maybe Tokyo?

While Japan has long had a reputation as an expensive place to live, its cities have been getting cheaper in recent years — with some big changes coming just in the last 12 months.

American consulting company Mercer recently released its 2024 Cost of Living City Ranking, which compares the costs of over 200 items in 226 cities around the world. The results are based on a March 2024 survey, and include things like housing and transportation, as well as food, clothing and entertainment.

All five of the world's most expensive cities are unchanged from last year, with Hong Kong and Singapore again in first and second place. These two Asian cities are followed by three Swiss cities: Zurich, Geneva and Basel.

Bern, another Swiss city, has risen from seventh to sixth place, while New York City has fallen one place to seventh.

However, Tokyo has dropped 30 places to 49th — putting it right after San Juan in Puerto Rico. And Osaka has dropped 53 places to 146th — just ahead of Wuhan in China.

However, the biggest drop since last year was for Lagos in Nigeria, which fell 178 places to 225th. And the least expensive city is now Abuja, Nigeria's capital, at 226th.

Mercer wrote that many big drops were caused by changes in exchange rates. Japan's yen dropped to a 34-year low against the US dollar in March — and hit a 38-year low in early July.

The ranking was also affected by inflation — especially in housing prices — as well as increasing political uncertainty around the world.

Mercer says it's important for companies to look at its cost of living ranking when thinking about sending staff to live abroad.




Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Japan Tumbles on Expensive Cities Ranking

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