We all have our dark hours when learning a language becomes frustrating and no longer seems appealing. To keep you motivated and to support you during those hours, I started recording episodes with successful learners - my subscribers and students from all over the world! 

This is the second episode of the Lingua Motivator thread of the Russian Bridge Podcast and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Meet Marcel, a journalist and writer from the UK!

RUSSIAN BRIDGE PODCAST

Lingua Motivator. Марсель (B1-B2)

Learn new words for health and illness with this episode!

Bulgarian Today

Болна съм!

New words
 
1. 葡萄  pútáo  n.  grape
2. 鸡蛋  jīdàn  n.  (chicken) egg
3. 牛奶  niúnǎi  n.  milk
4. 鱼  yú  n.  fish
5. 公斤  gōngjīn  m.  kilogram
6. 巧克力  qiǎokèlì  n.  chocolate
7. 面包  miànbāo  n.  bread
8. 香蕉  xiāngjiāo  n.  banana
9. 怎么  zěnme  pron. (inquiring about nature, condition, etc.) how
10. 卖  mài  v.  to sell
11. 奶酪  nǎilào  n.  cheese


中文每日一练

每日听汉语

In this story, a grape named Sweety supports his grapevine as they face an attack from children. This is Part 4 of 5. 

The farmhouse was home to a small family who owned and operated the winery. Their three children, two twin girls and a boy, loved playing hide and seek in the maze-like structure of the grapevines. 

The eldest sister was chasing her brother, who was the youngest of the three, through the alleyways of the vineyard. In order to keep their balance as they sped around the corners, they would grab hold of a grapevine and swing themselves around, almost launching themselves like a slingshot. They laughed with carefree delight, enjoying the acrobatics of their game. Little did they know just how traumatizing this was for the inhabitants of the vines. 

Sweety held on with every bit of strength he had. His vine was shaking tremendously as the children swung themselves around. Fear gripped every grape on that vine. They all remembered the horrific moments of their brothers and sisters falling to their deaths. 

Sweety thought that this shaking was more than anything a storm could do. Maybe it would even be enough to tear down the entire vine. Being a natural-born leader and the spiritual guardian of his vine, Sweety knew he had to do something. 

“Hey!” screamed Sweety. “Stop your foolish game! Can’t you see you’re killing us! Play somewhere else and leave our homeland alone!” 

The eldest sister hesitated for a moment. She swore she heard something, like a faint voice, but she quickly disregarded it and continued playing. Sweety’s voice was tiny, almost inaudible. The sound of a stick breaking was far louder than his attempt at communicating with the humans. 

Round and round the kids went. They chased each other, grabbing the weak grapevines and spinning. With each spin, a few grapes fell to their death. All around, Sweety saw innocent grapes suffering their lowest honor. 


Being a Cloud

Sweety the Grape

忘年会　1年間の苦労を忘れるためにする宴会のこと
私にとっての忘年会は、周りの人や無事に過ごせた1年への感謝の会です。
おいしい料理やおいしいお酒をたくさん食べます。
今年は3回忘年会をしました。一つは　第九を歌う会の忘年会、もう一つは中学時代の友だちとした忘年会、そして　３つめは　いつものメンバーとする忘年会。これは私の家でします。
会社員だったころの忘年会は、会社の人や取引先の人としていました。これは、1年間お世話になりました。仕事、大変でしたね。お疲れ様でした。来年もよろしくお願いしますという感じの忘年会でした。
今年はもう一つ、ちょっと違う「ぼうねんかい」がありました。それは、忘れる忘年会ではなく、望む「望年会（ぼうねんかい）」でした。来年はどんな年にしたいかという望みを話す会でした。その願いが叶ったとして話をする面白い会でした。

忘年会（ぼうねんかい）: Year-end party
宴会（えんかい）: Banquet / Party
苦労（くろう）: Hardship / Struggle / Effort
お世話になる（おせわになる）: Be indebted to / Be helped by / Be taken care of
感謝（かんしゃ）: Gratitude / Appreciation
ワイワイ: Cheerfully / With lively chatter / Excitedly
がやがや: Noisily / Clamorously / With bustling noise
接骨院（せっこついん）: Osteopathic clinic / Bone-setting clinic
居酒屋（いざかや）: Japanese-style pub / Izakaya
持ち寄り（もちより）: Potluck / Bring-your-own (items or food)
出席する（しゅっせきする）: Attend / Be present
取引先（とりひきさき）: Business partner / Client
～という感じで: In the way of ～ / With the feeling of ～ / Something like ～
親しく（したしく）: Closely / Intimately / In a friendly manner
望年会（ぼうねんかい）: "Hopeful year-end party" (A play on 忘年会 to focus on hope for the new year)
望み（のぞみ）: Hope / Wish / Desire
想像する（そうぞうする）: Imagine / Visualize
達成する（たっせいする）: Achieve / Accomplish
叶った（かなった）: Fulfilled / Came true

やさしい日本語（にほんご）

Episode74 忘年会（ぼうねんかい）Year-End-Party2024　　

Make a self-introduction, have a small talk, give a short answer, public speaking is everywhere to see in life.
How do you feel when you hear nervous people presenting?
How to cope with anxiety symptoms?
This episode will offer you a hand.

Build Your English Thinking

20 Tips for Public Speaking Anxiety

Elementary Uzbek

Uzbek alphabet / O'zbek alifbosi

Series: The Woman Behind the Words

Many women speak clearly in their own language —
but the moment English enters the room, something inside tightens.

Thoughts speed up.
The body contracts.
The voice becomes careful instead of alive.

This episode explores why this happens even to brilliant, experienced women —
and why the collapse is not about grammar, ability, or vocabulary.

It’s about the internal script that gets activated under pressure:
the fear of being judged,
the urge to sound “perfect,”
the pressure to perform instead of express.

You’ll hear why the voice loses presence in real moments,
what actually drives this reaction,
and how awareness alone begins to restore stability, clarity, and self-trust.

A gentle reflection inside the episode:

“Where do you abandon yourself the moment pressure rises —
and what would it feel like to stay with yourself instead?”

🌿 Mini-Exercise: “Reuniting the Two Voices”

Duration: 2 minutes — soft, no pressure

1. Close your eyes for one breath.
Notice how your body shifts when you think about speaking English.
Don’t fix. Just observe.

2. Ask yourself quietly:

“Who shows up when I speak English — the one who expresses, or the one who tries to survive?”

Let the answer arrive on its own.
Your nervous system will show you the truth faster than your mind.

3. Place one hand on your chest and whisper:

“Both versions of me are allowed to be here.”

This softens the internal split.

4. Now complete this sentence in your mind:

“When I speak English, the part of me that takes over is the part that wants to…”

(…be perfect, avoid judgment, stay safe, not bother anyone, sound smart — whatever is true for you.)

5. One final breath:
Let your shoulders drop 1%.
That 1% is where your real voice begins to return.

You can also explore this kind of work with me - book a private consultation with me on my profile. Hope to see you in a deep transformation soon!


“The Pro Behind the Words” - You don’t need new words. You need the REAL YOU who speaks them.

Episode 5 — “The Woman Who Stops Herself Mid-Sentence”

Look up

Фразовый глагол "look up" в английском языке означает "искать информацию о чем-то или о ком-то". Например, если вы смотрите в словаре, чтобы найти значение слова, вы "look up" это слово. Это также может быть, когда вы ищете информацию в интернете или в любом другом источнике. 

1.	I need to look up the meaning of this word in the dictionary.
•	Мне нужно найти значение этого слова в словаре.

2.	Can you help me look up the address of the nearest post office?
•	Можешь помочь мне найти адрес ближайшего почтового отделения?

3.	She always looks up recipes online when she wants to cook something new.
•	Она всегда ищет рецепты в интернете, когда хочет приготовить что-то новенькое.