Two people discuss the languages they speak or want to learn.

Beginner 

What languages do you speak?

白雪公主的母亲很早就去世了，父亲给她找了个新母亲。……
Bái xuě gōngzhǔ de mǔqīn hěnzǎo jiù qùshì le, fùqīn gěi tā zhǎo le gè xīn mǔqīn。……
Snow Whit princess's mother died long ago. Her father find a stepmother for her. …

正文：

很久很久以前，有一个小公主。
Hěnjiǔ hěnjiǔ yǐqián, yǒu yī gè xiǎo gōngzhǔ。
Once upon a time, there was a young princess.

她的名字叫白雪公主。
Tā de míngzì jiào báixuě gōngzhǔ。
Her name was Snow White

她的皮肤很白，头发很黑。
Tā de pífū hěn bái, tóufa hěn hēi。
She had very white skin and very black hair.

白雪公主的母亲很早就去世了。
Báixuě gōngzhǔ de mǔqīn hěn zǎo jiù qùshì le。
Snow White's mother died long ago.

她和父亲住在一起。
Tā hé fùqīn zhù zài yīqǐ。
She lived alone with her father.

他们过得很开心。
Tāmen guò de hěn kāixīn。
They were very happy together.

有一天，国王恋爱了。
Yǒu yī tiān, guówáng liàn'ài le。
Then, one day the king fell in love. 

很快，就有了新王后。
Hěn kuài, jiù yǒu le xīn wánghòu。
Soon the kingdom had a new queen.

白雪公主也有了新母亲。
BáIxuě gōngzhǔ yě yǒu le xīn mǔqīn。
And Snow White had a new mother.

Listening & Speaking (Mandarin)

白雪公主和七个小矮人（新王后-1）snow white and the seven dwarfs

Xin chào các bạn. Tôi tên là Thanh. Tôi là sinh viên. Năm nay tôi 19 tuổi. Tôi là người Mỹ gốc Việt. Tôi sang Mỹ năm tôi 7 tuổi. Bây giờ tôi đang học tiếng Việt ở Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh.

Vietnameseonlineclass.com

Reading Vietnamese | Giới thiệu | Introduction

ギフト

私（わたし）にとって５月（ごがつ）前半（ぜんはん）は悩（なや）む時期（じき）だ。なぜなら５月11日（じゅういちにち）は母（はは）の誕生日（たんじょうび）、そして５月の第2（だいに）日曜日（にちようび）は母の日（ひ）があるからだ。

毎年（まいとし）どんなことをしたら、母が喜（よろこ）ぶか考（かんが）える。実家（じっか）を出（で）てからは、母に会（あ）いに実家（じっか）に帰（かえ）って旅行（りょこう）に連（つ）れていって、美味（おい）しい食事（しょくじ）を共（とも）に楽（たの）しんだが、今年（ことし）は少（すこ）し忙（いそが）しく実家に帰れそうもないので、ギフトを贈（おく）ることにした。誕生日ギフトはコーヒー豆（まめ）と水出（みずだ）しコーヒーポット、母の日ギフトとしてカーネーションを選（えら）んだ。

今年贈るカーネーションは「プラムタルト」という品種（ひんしゅ）だ。花（はな）の中心（ちゅうしん）が濃（こ）いピンクで、白（しろ）い縁（ふち）取（ど）りが特徴（とくちょう）の華（はな）やかな品種で、花が好（す）きな母も喜ぶと思（おも）う。贈り物（もの）で日頃（ひごろ）の感謝（かんしゃ）の気持（きも）ちが伝（つた）われば嬉（うれ）しいと思う反面（はんめん）、ギフト選びは難（むずか）しい。母の場合（ばあい）は趣味（しゅみ）や好物（こうぶつ）が分（わ）かってるから選びやすいが、父（ちち）の日はさらに悩みそうだ。

皆（みな）さんは毎年どんな風（ふう）に感謝を伝えてるのだろう。

izm's room

ギフト

Do you find it difficult to manage your time? What about other people you know? Do you think this is an effect of the modern world or something else? Today Nick discusses some ideas around this to help you with IELTS speaking Part 3 and Writing Part 2.

IELTS with Nick - World Knowledge 

Why do some people struggle to manage their time effectively?

Escucha estas frases con el verbo estar. 

¿Comprendes el vocabulario sobre estados y localización?

A1.1. Español básico para principantes. 

Clase 6. Frases con el verbo estar 2.

If you see someone sitting alone in a restaurant, you might assume they're waiting for someone, or perhaps they're grabbing a quick lunch on their break.

But more and more people around the world are purposely dining alone.

Japan has a special word for this: ohitorisama, which refers to people confidently doing things alone without worrying about what others think.

A recent survey found that 23% of Japanese people eat out alone, up from 18% in 2018. And in the US, solo dining reservations have risen 29% over the last two years, according to restaurant reservation site OpenTable.

OpenTable CEO Debby Soo thinks remote work is one reason for the increase, with people looking for a break from their home offices.

The increasing popularity in solo dining comes as more people are living alone. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 38% of US adults ages 25 to 54 were living without a partner, up from 29% in 1990. In Japan, single households now make up one-third of the total; that’s expected to increase to 40% by 2040, according to government data.

Growing interest in solo travel — particularly among travelers ages 55 and over — is also leading to more meals alone.

But Soo thinks there could be more to it than that.

"I think there's a broader movement of self-love and self-care and really … enjoying your own company," Soo said.

As a result, many restaurants are redoing their seating, changing their menus and adding other special touches to appeal to solo diners.

But some aren't always happy to seat one diner. A Michelin-starred London restaurant caused a stir last year when it started charging solo diners the same price as two customers. The restaurant, which has 34 seats, offers an eight-course menu costing about $280 per person.

Other restaurants say it's worth seating one person because solo diners will often come back and eat there again.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Party of One: Solo Dining Increasing in Popularity

A：きょう、12時からバイトでしょう？もう3分前だよ。
B：あ！【　わすれた ・　わすれていた　　　　】。



・わすれた
瞬間動詞（しゅんかんどうし）momentray verb 

”わすれた”は何かの記憶（きおく）をなくしたアクションのことです。
The English translation for "わすれた" in the context of a momentary action of losing memory or forgetting something is:
"I forgot." or "I have forgotten."


・わすれていた
”わすれていた”はわすれていた期間（きかん）があったという意味で、今は分かっているという意味です。
The English translation for "忘れていた" in the context of having a period of forgetting something in the past but now understanding or remembering it is:
"I had forgotten." or "I had forgotten about it."



わすれた。　　【今も分からない状況（じょうきょう）】
わすれていた。【今分かっている状況（じょうきょう）】








例）
A：”やさしい”の漢字をわすれた！教えて！
B：”優”だよ。
A：ああ、そうだったそうだった。わすれていたよ。
