Discover the captivating contrasts between British and American English in our podcast. Dive into the nuances of vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural influences that make these dialects unique. Join us on a journey of linguistic exploration, uncovering the differences that connect our two nations through words.

English Learner's Boost

The differences between British and American English

今天我们要聊一个特别有趣的中国节气——立春！
你知道吗？在中国，春天不是从日历开始的，而是从“立春”开始的！立春通常在2月3日到5日之间，是二十四节气里的第一个。
古人怎么庆祝立春呢？他们会穿上漂亮衣服，走上街头，大声喊：“春来了！春来了！”，这叫“报春”。 还有人们抬着一只用泥做的“春牛”游行。游行后，用小棍子把春牛打碎，再把泥土带回家——这叫“打春牛”。他们相信，这样做，今年庄稼就会长得特别好！
立春还有一个超好吃的习俗，叫“咬春”！人们会吃春饼或春卷。把萝卜、豆芽、韭菜、生菜……还有肉丝，统统包进薄薄的饼里，卷起来，咬一大口——又香又脆！好像真的把春天吃进肚子里啦！
立春不仅是春天的开端，更是一个寄托着希望和美好愿望的节气。别忘了在立春这天，和家人一起吃春饼，为新的一年讨个好彩头！
Today, we’re talking about a super fun Chinese solar term—Lichun, or “Start of Spring”!
Did you know? In China, spring doesn’t begin on the calendar—it begins with Lichun!
It usually falls between February 3rd and 5th, and it’s the very first of China’s 24 solar terms.
So how did ancient people celebrate Lichun?
They’d dress in their finest clothes, head out into the streets, and shout joyfully:
“Spring is here! Spring is here!”
This was called “Baochun”—“Announcing Spring”!
They also held parades with a clay ox called the “Spring Ox.” After the parade, people would gently hit the ox with sticks until it broke apart. Then they’d take the clay home with them—a ritual known as “Beating the Spring Ox.”
They believed this would bring a bountiful harvest that year!
And here’s the tastiest part: Lichun comes with a delicious custom called “Biting Spring”!
People eat spring pancakes or spring rolls. They wrap thin pancakes around fresh ingredients like radish, bean sprouts, leeks, lettuce… and even shredded meat, roll them up, and take a big crunchy bite—so fragrant and crisp!
It really feels like you’re eating spring itself!
Lichun isn’t just the start of a new season—it’s a time full of hope, renewal, and good wishes for the year ahead.
So don’t forget: on Lichun, gather your family, share some spring pancakes, and welcome the new year with a lucky bite of spring!

天灵灵地灵灵来了Abracadabra’s coming 

立春 Lichun / “Start of Spring”

I was sick so I took the opportunity to focus on casual vocabulary we use in English when we're not feeling well.

It's a shorter episode because it was only me, but in describing my illness, I focus on more vocabulary than usual:

under the weather
come down with (something)
a bug going around
burning the candle at both ends
be out of sorts
blow your nose
be stuffed up
run a fever
pull through
be on the mend

Brentoni's English Podcast

020 - Sick and Tired

大器物派小用场，表示使用不当。比喻才能很高的人屈就于低职位，不能充分发挥其才智。亦指人事安排不恰当而屈才。材，也作“才”。

成语故事 Idiom story

大材小用

LECTURA COMPRENSIVA.


ESTE CUENTO NOS HABLA DE UNA ESTUDIANTE QUE SE LLAMA VICTORIA.


Antes de comenzar la lectura.

1. ¿Que tan bueno eras en la escuela?

2. ¿Cual era tu materia favorita?

Presta atención a la lectura de tu profesor.


Victoria al escribir los números en su libreta lo
pasa muy bien.

Para hacer el uno pinta una rayita de arriba
abajo en el papel y le pone después una teja.
Para hacer el dos dibuja con cuidado el cuello
de un cisne.

Para dibujar el tres pone dos montañas de pie y
sigue con sus dibujos, para hacer un cuatro primero
una cruz y después le baja un palito como una vela.


Sigue con el cinco y el seis. ¡Qué fácil es! El
seis es un círculo que no puede cerrar. Y así poquito
a poco hasta el nueve que lo pinta despacito primero
un círculo y después le añade con cuidado una cola
de gato.

Victoria ya sabe escribir todos los números.

Spanish Reading Comprehesion

The student Victoria

こんばんは、Atsushiです。 今日は6月28日。天気は雨、気温は18℃。 昨日とはうってかわって、はだざむいです。 みなさんの住んでいるところはどうですか？ 今日はコーヒーについて、簡単にお話をします。 コーヒーの生産地について話します。 コーヒーは、世界の60ヵ国以上で栽培されています。 1番たくさん作っている国はどこか知っていますか？ 1位はブラジルです。世界の30%近くの生産量を占めています。 世界を分けると、大きく3つの地域で作られています。 1つ目、ラテンアメリカ 2つ目、アフリカ 3つ目、アジア この3つです。 ラテンアメリカ この地域のコーヒーは、明るい印象のコーヒーが多いです。さっぱりした酸味と軽めのコクが特徴です。 生産国は、ブラジルやグアテマラ、コロンビアなどがあります。 アフリカ この地域のコーヒーは、個性豊かなコーヒーが多いです。 フルーティな香り、柑橘系の酸味、ほどよいコクが特徴です。 生産国は、エチオピアやケニア、タンザニアなどがあります。 アジア この地域のコーヒーは、落ち着いたコーヒーが多いです。ハーブのような香りがあり、酸味はほとんどなく、力強いコクが特徴的です。 生産国は、インドネシアやパプアニューギニア、東ティモールなどがあります。 少しイメージがわきましたか？ それぞれの地域での違いがありますが、国によっても違いがあります。 いろんな国のコーヒーを飲んでみて、気に入ったコーヒーを見つけると、コーヒーがより好きになりますよ！ ということで、今日も最後まで聞いていただき、ありがとうございます！ではまた！

Atsushi のJapanese podcast (travel/news /文法・漢字・語彙/Osaka/Hokkaido/🇹🇷🇬🇪🇦🇲🇪🇸🇵🇹)

⑧コーヒーについて

Welcome back to another episode of Streetwise English. I'm your host, Carl. I'm an italki American English tutor. Today I want to talk about technical aids for learning languages. And specifically, I want to talk about headphones. So one of the most important things for improving your fluency in any foreign language is to listen to content in that target language.
So for me, I'm currently studying Spanish and trying to maintain my Chinese, so I don't forget it. So what I like to do every day is listen to podcasts. Now you can listen while you're doing other activities like washing your clothes or washing the dishes or exercising at the gym. You can listen to podcasts while you're on the treadmill. 

But the problem is headphones can smash your ears and make your ears uncomfortable. So what I like to do is use bone conduction headphones or earphones. It's a type of headphone that doesn't actually cover your ear canal. It goes in front of your ear and kind of sits on your face. Um, kind of behind your sideburns if you're a man, right in front of your ear and the sound transmits a vibration that goes into your skull and into your ear and your brain can hear the sound just from the vibrations going through your bones. And so they are called bone conduction headphones. I swear by them. And I use them every day. I have a pair which is charged with a USB C port.

So there are many different kinds of options on the market, but I like the ones that use a USB C port to charge them because I don't have to worry about losing the appropriate proprietary charging cord. Instead, I can just use any USB C charging cord to power up the headphones. 

So another advantage of using bone conduction headphones is that while you're wearing them, you can hear sounds outside of the content that you're listening to.
So for example, say, I'm running, I'm jogging and listening to my podcast which is in Chinese while I'm jogging. ( Text limit )


