In questo primo episodio racconto la mia esperienza da quando ho cominciato a imparare l'italiano. 

Vivendo tra due lingue

Benvenuta la lingua italiana

Text1
学生: 您好！请问，地铁站在哪儿？
xuésheng: nín hǎo！qǐng wèn, dì tiě zhàn zài nǎr ？
Student: Hello! Excuse me, where is the Metro station?

路人: 一直走，第一个十字路口往左拐。
lùrén: yīzhí zǒu,dìyī ge shí zì lùkǒu wǎng zuǒ guǎi.
Passerby: Go straight, and then turn left at the first crossing.

学生: 是银行前边的路口吗？
xuésheng: shì yínháng qiánbian de lùkǒu ma ？
Student:  Is the crossing in front of the bank?

路人: 对！
lùrén: duì !
Passerby: Yes！

学生: 好的，谢谢！
xuésheng:  hǎode，xièxie ！
Student: Ok, thank you！

New words：
走 zǒu：walk
一直 yī zhí：straight
第一 dì yī：first（第dì+num：auxiliary word for ordinal numbers）
十字路口 shí zì lù kǒu：crossing
往 wǎng：towards（～+directions）
左 zuǒ：left
前边 qián bian：ahead/in front
拐 guǎi：turn
地铁站 dì tiě zhàn：railway station；metro station；subway station
银行 yín háng：bank

Text2
学生: 您好！请问，附近 有 洗手间吗？
xuésheng: nín hǎo！qǐng wèn，fùjìn yǒu xǐ shǒu jiān ma ？
Student: Hello! May I ask, is there a restroom nearby?

路人: 有的！
lùrén: yǒu de！
Passerby: Yes！

学生: 怎么走？
xuésheng: zěnme zǒu ？
Student: How can I get there?

路人: 往前走500米，然后往右拐，洗手间在公共汽车站旁边。
lùrén: wǎng qián zǒu 500 mǐ, ránhòu wǎng yòu guǎi, xǐshǒujiān zài gōnggòngqìchē zhàn pángbiān.
Passerby: Walk 500 meters forward, then turn right. The restroom is next to the bus stop.

学生: 知道了，谢谢！
xuésheng: zhīdào le, xièxie！
Student: Got it, thank you!

New words:
怎么 zěn me： how；how could
知道 zhī dào：know
附近 fù jìn：nearby；close to
前 qián：front
右 yòu：right
旁边 páng biān：beside；next to
米 mǐ：metre（Length unit，num+～）
洗手间 xǐ shǒu jiān：restroom；bathroom；toilet
公共汽车站 gōng gòng qì chē zhàn：bus station；bus stop; motor park

Welcome to visit China ”欢迎来中国!“

L8 问路[wèn lù]～Asking the way

El uso o tratamiento del “usted” como una de las primeras formas de contacto cultural y que es la forma en que nos podemos dirigir a una persona desconocida, ya sea para pedir información sobre una dirección, solicitar algún servicio o para presentarnos a una persona que queremos conocer. 

Hablando Español

DEL USTED

In this story, an elephant named Eleven does whatever it takes to maintain peace, even using violence. This is Part 4 of 5. 

As Eleven watched the thieves creep forward, he considered what course of action to take. He could tell the monkeys about the thieves, possibly causing a physical fight to break out. Or he could stop the thieves himself, either scaring them off with his roar or his powerful tusks. Either way, conflict was unavoidable. 

Peace was Eleven’s his highest value. If anything attempted to disrupt it, he made sure to remove it from his life. He saw himself as a protector of peace. It never occurred to him that he might have been actually afraid of healthy conflict.
 
So, believing there to be no ethical dilemma, Eleven decided to conceal the thieves’ robbery. This way the thieves would get what they want, the monkeys would only realize after the fact, and, most importantly, Eleven could get back to his relaxing day in the sun.  

Eleven positioned himself in such a way as to block any view of the robbery. The fox and wild chicken snatched the bananas and made their way for the bushes. However, at that exact moment, one of the monkeys, having climbed up a tree and swung itself into the river, was flying through the air and saw the robbery. 

Splashing into the river, the monkey screamed and shrieked, trying its best to alert the others. But they were too busy slapping each other to notice anything.
 
In an instant, without giving the moment proper reflection, only thinking about his own interests and his self-appointed duty, Eleven forcefully swung his trunk and whacked the shrieking monkey, who flew with great speed into the dense forest and out of sight. 

Being a Cloud

Eleven the Elephant

In this episode, (B2-C2), we unpack the hidden dangers of perfectionism in language learning. While striving for accuracy can be helpful, an obsession with getting everything "just right" often leads to anxiety, procrastination, and slow progress. I explore how perfectionist habits can hold learners back from real-world communication and offer practical strategies to embrace mistakes, take risks, and grow with confidence. Tune in to learn why letting go of perfection is key to truly mastering a new language!

UK TALKS WITH LIZ

EPISODE 10: THE TRAP OF PERFECTIONISM

We've all heard about the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace--improved creativity, innovation, productivity, and employee satisfaction. 
Yet, we don't hear a lot about all of the problems that can arise in culturally diverse workplaces. 

"The Culture Map" by Erin Meyer is a roadmap to understanding the differences in how we work and navigating those differences successfully. That way, we can experience the benefits of cultural diversity in the workplace.

In this episode, we'll explore the US Business Culture. If you work with Americans, this is your chance to learn how to build trust effectively, disagree, persuade, communicate, lead, and more!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode originally published July 16, 2021

Original theme music by Lucas Knutter 

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/the-culture-map/

Join the Express to Impress community on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/express-to-impress/.

See infographics for this episode on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/ExpresstoImpress/_created/.

Learn more about Erin Meyer's work at https://erinmeyer.com/

Schedule a free consultation or book a mock interview with me.

Express to Impress

8 Takeaways About US Business Culture: Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map

En este podcast hablo acerca de las características del desierto donde se encuentra el Parque Nacional Joshua Tree y la experiencia con mi familia en este lugar. Tiempos verbales: presente, Pasado: pretèrito indefinido, imperfecto y perfecto. 

Viviendo entre dos lenguas 

Etapa 7 Viaje Costa Oeste de los Estados Unidos, Parque Nacional Joshua Tree

In this Chillchat episode, Karen and 柏威chatted about some words you can used to compliment others, outside and inside. The words mentioned in this podcast are just some examples of how you can compliment others in Chinese. 


Chillchat (Learn Chinese and Chill)

怎么用中文夸别人 How to compliment others in Chinese

British writer Bill Bryson once wrote that "London is a city of endless possibility" — and perhaps, endless traffic?

The UK capital is the most congested city in Europe, according to transport analytics company Inrix.

The company looked at data from different cities around the world, and found that drivers in London spent an average of 101 hours sitting in traffic in 2024. That's up from 99 hours in 2023, and 97 hours in 2022.

According to Inrix, these delays cost the city more than $4.8 billion a year — or about $1,200 for each of London's 4 million drivers.

Inrix says London's bad traffic congestion is caused by the "concentration of population, employment and economic activity."

But although it's Europe's most congested city for the fourth year in a row, London has improved in the global rankings. It was third in the world in 2023, but is now in fifth place globally. It is still, however, the only European city in the top five.

Istanbul has jumped to first place, up from sixth, with drivers in the Turkish city spending an average of 105 hours in traffic per year.

New York and Chicago are next on the list, followed by Mexico City in fourth place.

Inrix also calculated each city's "downtown speed" — that is, the speed at which a driver can expect to travel 1.6 kilometers in the center of the city during morning rush hour.

For each of the top five cities, the downtown speed was under 25 kilometers an hour.