Welcome to episode 4 of English on the Road - an English podcast for English learners about geography, nature and travel. In this episode, we talk about the 10 smallest countries in the world. I hope you enjoy listening and good luck studying English. If you want to chat with me about geography, nature, travel, or any other topic, book a lesson with me on italki. 
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English on the Road 

The 10 Smallest Countries in the World 

自分のきもち＋なぁ　（他の人のことは言うことができません）
うれしいなぁ＝ I`m glad. 

・形容詞 adjective＋なぁ
〇（私は）うれしいなぁ
〇（私は）悲（かな）しいなぁ
〇（私は）こわいなぁ

〇（私は）楽しかったなぁ
〇（私は）さびしくなかったなｌ

・辞書形動詞  short form verb　＋　なぁ
〇（私は）はらが立つなぁ
〇（私は）頭にくるなぁ　
✕（私は）腹（はら）がたっているなぁ
✕（私は）頭に来ているなぁ


ようへい先生　N4～N3　レベルの生徒（せいと）へ　(^^♪

気もち　＋　なぁ

In this year, February 3rd was ”Setsubun”, which is the day when winter turns to spring. Japanese people do some events on this day.  I'll  introduce Setsubun today. Thank you!
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今年は2月3日が「節分」でした。「節分」とは季節の変わり目を意味しています。日本のカレンダーには、春が始まる「立春」という日があります。その前の日が「節分」になります。
この日は、「豆まき」をします。　「豆まき」は、鬼を追い出して　福を呼ぶためにします。鬼とは災いや病気などを表しています。　だから、鬼の面をつけた人に向かって「鬼は外～」と言いながら、豆を投げつけます。鬼役の人がいない場合は、玄関や窓から外に向かって豆をまきながら、「鬼は外～」と言います。それから、「福は内～」と言いながら、家の中に豆をまきます。この豆は炒った大豆です。豆をまき終わったら、自分の年の数だけ豆を食べて、今年の無事を祈ります。
「節分」の日には、巻きずしを食べる習慣もあります。その巻きずしを「恵方巻き」と言います。これは、その年の年神さまがいる方向、つまり恵方を向いて食べるので「恵方巻き」と言われています。　この「恵方巻き」は長さが20㎝ぐらいで　太さも5センチくらいありますが、切らないで　かぶりつきます。丸かじりするんですね。そして、黙って　願いごとを思い浮かべながら食べるというルールがあります。もともとは、大阪の商人が商売繁盛を願って始めたそうです。商売繁盛の商売はビジネスのことで、繁盛は大きく盛んになることです。簡単に言うと、「仕事が成功する」ということです。
私が子どものころは、祖母がうちでこの巻きずしを作ってくれていました。大きなのりのシートに　お酢で味付けしたごはんをのせます。それから、かんぴょう、干しシイタケ、卵焼き、キュウリ、焼きアナゴなどを　そのごはんの上にのせて、巻きます。竹でできた巻きすという道具を使って作るのですが、慣れないと上手にできません。私の祖母はとても上手にきれいな巻きずしをいつも作ってくれていました。　残念ながら、今　わたしは自分で作らずに、スーパーでできたものを買って食べています。来年は恵方巻づくりに挑戦してみようかな・・・。そうすれば、福が私のところに来てくれるかもしれませんからね。


やさしい日本語（にほんご）

節分の豆まき（せつぶんのまめまき）Beating the devil by throwing beans！

Intermediate Chinese Listening：年纪  Age

Intermediate Chinese Listening

People who travel a lot will know the feeling — you've just landed in a country on the other side of the world, ready to explore and see the sights, but you're too tired to do anything!

Jet lag is usually linked with travel and changing time zones. But a new study has found that even small changes to our daily schedules can change our sleeping patterns.

And it's not just sleep that gets affected by a disrupted schedule — our bodies work differently when our daily patterns change.

The study, published in iScience, looked at how our bodies respond to a five-hour time change — similar to the kind of jet lag you'd feel after traveling from New York to London, for example.

It looked at people's circadian rhythm — our body's natural clock that controls when we sleep, when different hormones are released, and how our bodies use energy.

During the study, scientists observed 14 people in a lab for eight days.

On the first two days, the participants followed their normal daily schedules. But from the third day, the participants' meals, sleep and light exposure were changed to five hours later than normal.

The researchers tested the participants' blood and checked their digestion, energy use, and levels of melatonin — a hormone that helps control sleep by making you feel tired when it gets dark — to see how their bodies reacted to the time change.

The results showed that the five-hour time change made digestion slower, changed blood sugar levels, and affected how the body used fat. The body also burned less energy from food.

These things started to go back to normal after two or three days as the body adjusted to the new schedule.

One of the study's researchers, Jonathan Johnston, told StudyFinds this shows how sticking to a regular schedule can make a big difference to our health.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

How Jet Lag Affects More than Just Your Sleep

Bu bölümde Yasmin ile çok eğlenceli bir oyun oynadık. Ona bazı kelimeler söyledim ve o bu kelimelerin anlamlarını tahmin etmeye çalıştı. Umarım siz de dinlerken bizim gibi eğlenirsiniz :)

ALL ABOUT TURKıSH

BU KELİMELERİ BİLİYOR MUSUN?

因此，善于用兵打仗的人，不依靠战场厮杀而让敌人的军队降服，不依靠强攻来夺取敌人的城池，能消灭敌国而不必进行旷日持久的征战。他们用“全胜”的策略，既能不使国力、兵力受挫，又能获得全面胜利。这正是以谋略克敌制胜的法则。
 所以，在实际作战中的战术方法是：我方的兵力十倍于敌军时，就实施围歼；我方的兵力五倍于敌军时，便发起猛攻；我方的兵力两倍于敌军时，就要设法将敌军分散，各个击破；敌我双方的兵力相当时，可以与敌军对抗；我方兵力比敌军少时，就要设法摆脱敌军；我方的实力不如敌军时，就要尽量避免与其交战。因为，弱小的一方如果死拼固守，就必然会被实力强大的对方所击败制服。


《孙子兵法》

《孙子兵法》09

Every culture has its own unique tendencies when it comes to pronouncing certain sounds in other languages. For example, where I was born, many people find it tricky to pronounce sounds like 'f' and 'p.' Even simple English words like 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 can feel like torture.

For this episode, I’d like to focus on my Japanese friends. I know there are certain English sounds that can require extra effort to pronounce. My hope is that today’s episode will give you some helpful insights and tips to make those tricky sounds easier to master.

𝟭.	𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 >< 𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗚
🪄 His heart sank when he heard her sing.
🪄 He thanked her for the song she had sung.

𝟮.	𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞 >< 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗞
🪄 Watch out, boy! I think your toy will sink in the water.
🪄 When the ship was sinking, he began thinking, "Is this my last day on earth?"

𝟯.	𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 >< 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗘
🪄 How dare you enter my room when I'm not there!
🪄 It's very dark over there. Do you dare to go there?

𝟰.	𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 >< 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗬
🪄 These blueberries are very sweet.
🪄 Actually, I like all kinds of berries very much.

𝟱.	𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 >< 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧
🪄 When it's right, the light turns green. When it's wrong, the light turns red.
🪄 Do you know what led the light on the right to turn red?

Don’t let tricky sounds stop you—practice makes progress! Book an English class with me and start improving today.✨

Midori no Heya

Tricky Pronunciation for Japanese Speakers of English

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