Enjoy the twentieth first episode of Culture To Grow, which allows you to travel the world from the comfort of your home, your car, or if you are still half asleep in your bed.

In this episode, we will be wishing my sister a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and also learn about  the wonderful ways birthdays are celebrated in different corners of the world. You will also learn about two unique traditions that my family does for each person's birthday.

Some of my guests who will be sharing their own unique cultures with all of you are  from Somalia, China, Vietnam, Sudan, and Japan. 

Somalia - [00:01:38]
China -  [00:02:25]
Vietnam - [00:03:04]
Sudan - [00:03:47]
Japan - [00:04:47]

Culture To Grow

Episode 21: Birthday Culture Around the World Part 2

Live, raw, and uncut footage of English learners. Can you spot the mistakes?

AngliaEnglish

Doing things we love

Между человеком и его домашним питомцем есть особая связь. Как иначе объяснить то, что владельцы четвероногих друзей чувствуют себя менее одинокими, легче справляются со стрессом и реже болеют? Так или иначе влияние тех, кого мы приручили, ощутимое — как на психическое, так и на физическое здоровье. 
Одно только поглаживание питомца снижает уровень гормона стресса — кортизола и, наоборот, повышает уровень окситоцина. Учёные установили, что одинокие люди, которые содержат дома собаку, меньше подвержены депрессии. А у детей, вопреки мифам, контакт с животным может снизить вероятность развития астмы или аллергии.
Пет-терапия с собаками, кошками, лошадьми, пернатыми и даже рептилиями положительно действует на людей с аутизмом, неврозами, зависимостями, депрессиями, посттравматическим стрессовым расстройством и даже шизофренией. Животные помогают стабилизировать эмоции: контакт с ними способен расслабить и успокоить, развить доверие к окружающим, улучшить навыки общения и саморегуляции.
Завести домашнее животное — смелый шаг, и не каждый к нему готов: из-за ненормированного рабочего графика, маленького размера жилой площади, бюджета или аллергии у родственников. Если вы уже завели четвероногого друга, то оставлять его на улице из-за возникающих проблем точно не стоит. 
Если к животным тянет, но на большую ответственность вы пока не готовы, общаться с ними можно и вне дома. Например, в приютах и с помощью сервисов выгула и передержки. Это поможет не только вам, но и животным: общение для них тоже важно. Например, щенкам социализация позволяет избежать агрессии в дальнейшей жизни. 
А есть ли у Вас домашние животные и как Вы относитесь к ним? 

(B1-C2) Podcasts - Daily Life (by M.Kuznetsova) 

Podcast 1 (B2-C1) Почему общение с животными пойдёт Вам на пользу? 

"Behind the Lessons: Get to Know Your Child's ESL Teacher" is a personal podcast designed for prospective and current parents of my ESL students. Through candid storytelling, I offer a glimpse into my educational background, share my experiences learning foreign languages, and reflect on my journey as an ESL teacher. By getting to know me better, parents can gain insights into my teaching style, values, and commitment to their child's language development. Join me on this journey as we build connections and foster trust, empowering parents to choose me as their child's ESL teacher with confidence.

Behind the Lessons: Get to Know Your Child's ESL Teacher

Introduction

Ever heard “she ate” or “he’s on thin ice” and had NO idea what just happened? This episode reveals the real figurative English that natives use every day. Mastering phrasal verbs and you’ll finally stop feeling lost in conversations.

Real English Skills

If English is Your Second Language, You Need Phrasal Verbs

Go and book a lesson with me to build up your vocabulary and learn phrasal verbs in such an efficient way that you wouldn't ever forget them ever! 

All About English and How You Learn It!

The Best Way to Learn Phrasal Verbs

Parrots are known for being able to copy some of the sounds that people make — they might squawk "hello" or "how are you?" if they get used to hearing words and phrases like these. They might even say some rude things!

Some birds are also able to learn the names for objects — and identify them.

And a 5-year-old parrot in the US has been recognized by Guinness World Records after correctly identifying 12 objects in three minutes.

That record-breaking bird is an African gray parrot named Apollo, who lives in Florida. He can identify things like books, bugs and socks.

He's become popular on TikTok, where he has about 3 million followers. He also has around 1.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel called "Apollo and Frens."

And a TikTok video of Apollo asking questions from 2023 has been watched 66 million times.

Apollo actually broke the record in 2023 but he's among the stars in the Guinness World Records book that was released in September.

The parrot is owned by a couple named Dalton and Victoria Mason. They're content creators and they've been working hard to train the bird.

The owners say they teach Apollo as if he were a child of preschool age.

"We teach him as much as we can," the couple told Guinness, adding that they focus on things that Apollo wants to focus on.

Researchers have found that some African gray parrots are able to do better at some cognitive tasks than 5-year-old children.

And Apollo's owners plan to keep teaching the bird to see how much he can learn and how many more records he can break.




Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Record-Breaking Parrot Can Identify and Name Objects

В этом подкасте я рассказываю о празднике, который празднуется в России первого мая.

Привет, это Наташа!

Эпизод 32. Первое мая.

op universities in California like Stanford and the University of Southern California will no longer be able to favor the relatives of alumni and school donors during the application process.

That's after state governor Gavin Newsom signed a law banning all private nonprofit colleges from giving preference to so-called "legacy" applicants and those with links to donors.

Newsom said the law already applied to public universities in the state. The law will now apply to all universities from September 2025.

The governor said: "In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work. The California Dream shouldn't be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we're opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly."

California is the second US state to ban both public and private universities from favoring legacy applicants. Maryland was the first, earlier this year, although the state's top school — Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore — had already ended the practice independently.

Virginia, Illinois and Colorado have banned public universities from giving preferential treatment to those with links to former students or donors.

Admissions to US universities are very competitive. And legacy admissions policies give an advantage to applicants whose — often wealthy, often white — family members previously attended the university, or who have donated money to the school.

A 2022 study looked at one unnamed US university and found that, over a 16-year period, 34% of legacy applicants were accepted — compared to just 14% of non-legacy applicants.

A group representing private colleges in California said it was "uncomfortable" with the state getting involved in the universities' admissions processes, but said the institutions would follow the new law.

