Are the only ones who love St Valentine's Day the companies that profit from it? It appears that the way to a person's heart is through the online sales.

Broken heart image by freepik https://www.freepik.com/free-ai-image/broken-heart-studio_94937080.htm

The Social Evolutionary

Happy Singles' Day???

The interrogative particle “呢” is used after a noun or pronoun, forming a question about the situation mentioned previously. 
The commonly used sentence pattern is “A……, B呢？” 
For example：
wǒ shì dà wèi ， nǐ ne ？ 
我 是  大 卫  ， 你 呢 ？ 
nǐ shì xué shenɡ ， tā ne ？ 
你 是  学  生    ， 她 呢 ？ 
dà wèi shì měi ɡuó rén ， tā mā mɑ ne ？ 
大 卫  是  美  国  人  ， 他 妈 妈 呢 ？ 

JOJO CHINESE

呢ne？

June and Yuli have a talk about Chinese Blind Date, this episode is part 4: Can we trust what the matchmaker says, you will learn how to say 【objective,tend to】 ect. (This is casual talk so there're some repetition and unnecessary words, which is also very natural authentic dialogue.)
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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.
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June：还有就是一般相亲的时候我们是有通过中间人去介绍，可能这个人是你的亲戚，对吧？也可能是你父母的朋友，中国叫做媒婆或者媒人嘛。你觉得媒人说的话都是真的吗，或者是你觉得百分之多少是可以相信的？
Yuli：因为我就经历过那一个相亲的对象，那个是我小叔他的朋友的儿子，所以他们说的还算挺客观的吧。就是介绍了一下他的学历、他的工作、他的年龄，还有家里的情况，就是这些。还是蛮客观的，就没有太夸大的成分。网上有一些段子（看到）都会说，如果说这个人很老实，可能是一般，潜台词就是可能也不帅。
June：我觉得很多人会谎报，有的是会谎报身高，有的是会谎报年龄。
Yuli：年龄也会谎报吗？是报大还是报小？
June：对，看情况。这边也有报大，也有报小。相亲可能女方她的年龄，在二十七八岁，基本上如果相成功了就会想要结婚了，对吧。所以她会倾向于找一个比较成熟稳重，那如果像你刚刚说的有的人可能大学在读的时候就去相亲了，但是那个时候才20岁左右吧，20到22岁。那女生可能会觉得偏小，然后有的人就会谎报说，噢这个男生已经25岁了。所以就是因为你报太小的话，可能他就一开始就不想见面，就不给机会了，对不对？那谎报年龄也有报偏小一点的，但可能就是大家都是觉得，因为在中国好像大部分的时候是30岁好像是一个界限，特别是对女生而言。所以有的人会觉得，差一两岁，差不多可能如果31， 32，有的可能会报30岁这样子。就是（先）觉得要有一个见面的机会。
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中间人	/	zhōng jiān rén	/	middleman
媒婆	/	méi pó	/	matchmaker
客观	/	kè guān	/	objective
夸大	/	kuā dà	/	exaggerated
段子	/	duàn zi	/	joke
老实	/	lǎo shí	/	honest,decent
潜台词	/	qián tái cí	/	subtext
谎报	/	huǎng bào	/	lie about sth.
倾向	/	qīng xiàng	/	tend to
成熟稳重	/	chéng shú wěn zhòng	/	mature and steady
偏小	/	piān xiǎo	/	on the small side
界限	/	jiè xiàn	/	dividing line

Yuli's Chinese Channel

Two Chinese girls talking about "Can we trust what the matchmaker says? 媒人说的话可信吗？"（Intermediate level）

   МОЛОДАЯ СЕМЬЯ
   Это   Виктор   и   Лена.   Они   муж   и   жена.   Они   ещё   очень   молодые.  Виктор  и  Лена  студенты.  Они  учатся  в  Петербургском  университете.
   Виктор  и  Лена  очень  любят  друг  друга.  Они  живут  вместе  2 года. Они познакомились, когда отдыхали на Чёрном море.
   Лена москвичка. Но сейчас она, конечно, живёт в Петербурге, потому что здесь живёт её муж.
   Недавно Лена была в Москве. Там она видела папу, маму, брата, подругу.  Родители  спросили,  как  живут  Лена  и  её  муж.  Лена  сказала, что они живут хорошо, что у них всё нормально.
   Сейчас  Лена  не  учится,  потому  что  она  ждёт  ребёнка.  Лена  хочет девочку, а её муж — мальчика. Виктор и Лена — хорошая семья.

Вопросы:
1) Где учатся Виктор и Лена?
2) Сколько времени Виктор и Лена живут вместе?
3) Когда они познакомились?
4) Где Лена жила раньше?
5) Где она живёт сейчас?
6) Где Лена была недавно?
7) Кого Лена видела в Москве?
8) Почему Лена сейчас не учится?

Источник текста и заданий: "Первые шаги. Ч1" Беликова Л.Г., Шутова Т.А., Ерофеева И.Н.
Источник логотипа: <a href="https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/podcast" title="podcast icons">Podcast icons created by Flat-icons-com - Flaticon</a>

Russian podcast with Ana A1-A2. Русский подкаст с Анной A1-A2

А1. Часть 1. Молодая семья

In this episode, I am talking about the German car brand Volkswagen. This episode is perfect for beginners who just embarked on their German language journey. This podcast series will help you to get used to the German language and is suitable for A1-B1 level. Make sure that you also check out my future episodes. 

For all Episodes please check out my YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/@learngermanwithfalk

Learngermanwithfalk

Slow German Podcast for Beginners / Episode 67 Volkswagen (A1-B1)

Ascolta i dialoghi: il primo riguarda una chiamata formale, mentre la seconda una chiamata informale.

Italiano Chiaro

Al telefono

Using Spoken Discourse Markers for IELTS Speaking

Discourse markers, such as "well," "so," "you know," and "I mean," are common in everyday speech. These words and phrases help guide conversations, signal a change in thought, or give the speaker time to think. For IELTS Speaking, using discourse markers effectively can enhance your fluency and coherence, making your responses more natural and organized.

Here are some key ways to use spoken discourse markers during the IELTS Speaking exam:

Starting Your Response: Using markers like "well" or "actually" can give you a moment to collect your thoughts before answering a question. For example, if asked about your favorite hobby, you could begin with, "Well, I really enjoy painting because it's relaxing."

Organizing Ideas: Words such as "firstly," "secondly," and "finally" can help structure your response when explaining something in detail. This makes it easier for the examiner to follow your ideas.

Clarifying and Rephrasing: Discourse markers like "I mean" or "in other words" are useful for clarifying points or rephrasing if you feel your initial response wasn’t clear enough. For instance, "In other words, I think traveling teaches us valuable life skills."

Filling Pauses: Using phrases like "you know" or "let me think" can fill pauses naturally, preventing awkward silences during your speaking test.

However, it's essential not to overuse discourse markers, as it can make your speech sound unnatural. Practice using them in moderation to sound fluent and confident in your responses.

IELTS Speaking Practice

IELTS Speaking - using discourse markers

El mindfulness es la focalización de la atención en el momento presente, es un método para conseguir la atención plena, centrándonos en lo que está sucediendo “aquí y ahora”, aceptándolo sin más, sin intentar cambiar, ni juzgar nada. Su significado es plena consciencia.

De todo un poco

Temporada 1 Episodio 3 Mindfulness

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10g60_mfuilokwzNMeTEk8HLYDXeXXwfz/view?usp=drivesdk