Today we're talking about the idiom "bells and whistles", we'll also hear the phrase, "nice-to-have". I hope you find today's vocabulary useful!

DAILY Business English VOCABULARY builder

I don't really need these bells and whistles! 

☄️ Boost Your Language Skills with 5 Verbs a Day. 每天学习五个动词 ☄️

Episode 44 is here to help you add versatility and precision to your conversations! Whether you're introducing yourself, investigating a topic, or inviting someone to an event, these verbs will expand your ability to express ideas with confidence.

🔹 Introduce – 介绍 (Jièshào) 🤝
🔹 Invent – 发明 (Fāmíng) 💡
🔹 Invest – 投资 (Tóuzī) 💰
🔹 Investigate – 调查 (Diàochá) 🕵️‍♂️
🔹 Invite – 邀请 (Yāoqǐng) 🎉

For more practice, check out:
📘 C(44) Vocabulary Flash Cards: Visualize and Memorize – Quick visual reminders to help these verbs stick!
🎯 C(44) Verbs Quiz: Test Your Knowledge – Challenge yourself to see how well you’ve mastered today’s verbs!




5 Verbs a Day. 每天学习五个动词。

C(44) Verbs Set : Introduce Invent Invest Investigate Invite

I’ll introduce Japanese culture in easy Japanese.
Today’s Theme is “七五三の歴史《The history of Shichi-go-san》”.
This episode is JLPT-N3 level.

I created a quiz on this episode.
After listening, please take the quiz!

Please use this audio for listening and shadowing practices.

☆Words☆
七五三（しちごさん）：Shichi-go-san is an annual Japanese festival to celebrate the growth of children. It takes place on or around November 15. The festival is for boys aged three and five, and girls aged three and seven. That’s why it is called shichi-go-san (seven-five-three).
お祝（いわ）い：celebration
成長（せいちょう）：growth
中旬（ちゅうじゅん）：middle of a month
江戸時代（えどじだい）：Edo period (1603-1868 CE)
剃（そ）る：shave
袴（はかま）：man's formal divided skirt
帯（おび）：belt (e.g. of a kimono)
千歳飴（ちとせあめ）：longevity candy, long red-and-white stick candy
On shichi-go-san, children eat long red-and-white stick candy, called chitose ame. Chitose means “one thousand years.” It symbolizes health and longevity.

☆Script for this episode
The scripts (URL) are listed in the overview section of the channel.

☆Quiz for this episode
https://www.italki.com/quiz/set/8878?utm_source=copylink_share&utm_medium=share_content&utm_campaign=share_quiz

Simple Japanese Listening with Meg（めぐ）Smile

#39 Japanese culture / 七五三の歴史《The history of Shichi-go-san》 // N3 Level /Japanese listening

In this episode, I introduce myself in N4～N3 difficulty Japanese. For those who have finished Genki 2 textbook, it will be a good listening practice. If you want a more challenging podcast, you'll get one next week!

たつきのにほんご

Introduction (Intermediate level)

In Episode 39, we bring you versatile verbs that cover everything from holding hands to honoring values. Perfect for real-life conversations, these verbs add richness to your daily interactions!

🔹 Hold (hands) – 握住 (Wò zhù) ✋
🔹 Hold (object) – 拿住 (Ná zhù) 📦
🔹 Hold (passport, views) – 持有 (Chí yǒu) 📄
🔹 Honour – 尊重 (Zūnzhòng) 🌟
🔹 Hop – 单脚跳 (Dān jiǎo tiào) 🐇

For more practice, hop on to our resources:
📘 C(39) Vocabulary Flash Cards: Visualize and Memorize – Quick, visual reminders to help these verbs stick!
🎯 C(39) Verbs Quiz: Test Your Knowledge – See how well you’ve mastered today’s verbs and put them into action!

👉 Listen to Episode 39 now, and let’s level up your language toolkit together!

C(39) Verbs Set: Hold (hands) Hold (object) Hold (passport, views) Honour Hop

Learn Three Sentences a Day：Day19
S55—S57

Master Mandarin Daily : Learn Three Sentences a Day!

Learn Three Sentences a Day：Day19

История, про то, как меняется наш вкус в зависимости от обстоятельств. 

Russfriend  (all about russia) 

Вкусная рыба 

Los nachos son un snack popular alrededor del mundo, por lo que no es novedad que restaurantes, cafeterías y hasta las dulcerías de cines y centros de espectáculos los incluyan dentro de su carta.

Esta popularidad ha dado origen a diversas versiones de la receta, las cuales agregan condimentos u otros ingredientes dependiendo de la región en donde se preparen, además de que muchas eliminan el picante. Sin embargo, la constante siguen siendo el queso y la tortilla frita en trozos, también conocidos como totopos.

Una de las recetas más famosas de los nachos es la versión clásica estadounidense, la cual consta de totopos y queso tipo americano derretido; así como la versión del estado de Texas que agrega su tradicional chilli con carne.

Esta fama ha favorecido la creencia de que se trata de un platillo estadounidense, aunque su principal ingrediente: la tortilla y el chile, son dos alimentos distintivos de la comida mexicana.

Pese a la popularidad fomentada por la cocina Tex-Mex, los nachos son un platillo de mexicano, el cual fue creado por Ignacio Anaya un cocinero de Coahuila, quien creó el plato en 1943 en la ciudad de Piedras Negras.

Según la tradición oral de dicha ciudad, el platillo fue producto del ingenio de Nacho -sobrenombre utilizado comúnmente para a quienes se llaman Ignacio- quien trabajaba en un restaurante local y lo creó como forma de salir de un apuro.

El establecimiento, que normalmente atendía al público local, recibió la visita de un grupo de mujeres esposas de soldados estadounidenses que residían en la base aérea de Fort Duncan, quienes solicitaron algo para comer como aperitivo.

Esta petición puso en apuros al restaurante, pues en ese momento contaban con pocos insumos en la cocina. Fue entonces que Nacho decidió tomar unos totopos de maíz, mezclarlos con queso y jalapeños en rodajas, para luego meterlos al horno.

Spanish México

LA HISTORIA DE "LOS NACHOS".

The Nordic countries of Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are regularly top scorers in world happiness rankings. These countries have placed in the top 10 of the World Happiness Report (WHR) every year since 2013 — so what's their secret?

These five countries score well in all six of the things considered in the WHR: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.

But the WHR has noted that there might be another thing these countries have more of than others — trust.

Trust is very important, says WHR editor John F. Helliwell, a former professor at the University of British Columbia. And he developed a study to test how community trust is linked to better well-being.

In Helliwell's study, he looked at how likely people thought it would be for a lost wallet to be returned to them, and he compared this to their life satisfaction score from zero to 10.

He found that those who expected their wallet to be returned had a higher life satisfaction score.

"We find people are much, much happier if they feel they're in an environment where people are going to watch their back," Helliwell told Euro News.

In a 2023 experiment by Reader's Digest, wallets were actually left for people to find in cities around the world. And where was a lost wallet most likely to be returned? In Helsinki, the capital of Finland.

The WHR has noted that a high level of trust may be among the things that explain Nordic happiness.

However, as Forbes has suggested, it may not be so much about big-smile "happiness" as quieter "contentment."

Rather than always trying for something better, people in Scandinavian countries are more often content with what they have. As a result, few of them will say they are unhappy — which helps these countries do well in world happiness rankings.