Culture and globalisation often comes up in the IELTS test. Today, Nick gives you some ideas for this question. 

IELTS with Nick - World Knowledge 

Do you think the world is becoming too similar in terms of culture? 

ROMANCES DE RAFAEL DE LEÓN

PENA Y ALEGRÍA DEL AMOR

En este episodio hablaremos sobre los variados climas de Argentina y haremos unas breves recomendaciones de cuándo visitarla.

Argentina en carne propia

Episodio 9: ¿En qué epocas del año conviene visitar Argentina?

¿Sabían que Montevideo es la ciudad, en América Latina, en donde más montan bicicleta las mujeres?

En este nuevo episodio hablaremos sobre la bicicleta, su historia y cómo ha sido un vehículo imprescindible en el proceso de emancipación de la mujer hasta la actualidad. Igualmente escucharemos algunos testimonios sobre la experiencia de montar bici en la ciudad y discutiremos los actuales retos que enfrentan las mujeres ciclistas en las calles. 

Esperamos disfruten esta nueva entrega, así como esperamos sus respuestas a las preguntas hechas al final del episodio. 
Recuerden que en el siguiente enlace, pueden encontrar el documento del audio: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wicgB6tkdOoKhzwWJ40k6LVLUdYcYSdl-7CeEbdhYek/edit#heading=h.oosgst8a0mj4

Voces Difusora

Mujeres y bicicletas: vivencias del vehículo en la ciudad. 

Think you’ve mastered regular verbs? Think again! In this episode of British Pronunciation Tips, we uncover the hidden secret of -ed endings — why words like worked, played, and wanted sound so different.

You’ll learn how the pronunciation of -ed changes depending on the final sound of the verb — becoming /t/, /d/, or /ɪd/ for clarity and ease of speaking. We’ll break down the rules, explore plenty of examples, and test your ear to help you hear (and say) the difference naturally.

By the end, you’ll know exactly when to use each ending — and your past tense verbs will sound smoother, clearer, and more native-like.

British Pronunciation Tips 

Played, Worked, Wanted: Mastering the Secret of -ed Endings

JENNIFER: It’s freezing outside! What happened to the 
weather report? I thought this cold front was 
supposed to pass.
GABRIELA: Yeah, I thought so too. That’s what I read online
this morning.
JENNIFER: I guess the wind chill is really driving down
the temperature.
GABRIELA: Can we go inside? I feel like my toes are starting to 
go numb.




LANGUAGE NOTES
• A “cold front” means a large mass of cold air. It can be plural: There were multiple cold 
fronts this January. 
• Here “supposed to” refers to something that is intended or expected to happen: I 
thought it was supposed to rain today. This phrase can be used for many situations: I 
thought the train was supposed to arrive at 9:00 a.m. sharp.
• Yeah / Yup / Uh huh are informal conversational cues used by native speakers in 
conversation. Each of these responses could be used here for “yes.” Gabriela affirms 
what Jennifer is saying. The most polite way to affirm a response is to say “yes.”
• Listen for the emphasis on “That’s what I read online this morning.” This useful 
phrase can be used with other verbs to convey information: That’s what I heard on the 
radio. / That’s what I saw on TV. / That’s what I read online.
• Chill / freezing / cold: These words describe cold weather. I feel the wind chill. / I feel 
the chill. / I am freezing. / I am cold.
• Wind chill is the effect of the wind making the temperature feel colder on a person’s 
skin. This is an uncountable noun. The temperature is 4 degrees, but with the wind chill 
it feels like -8. These phrases are used in weather reports as well.
• The phrase “driving down” means “forcing to be lower” and can be used in many 
situations. An oversupply of new houses is driving down sales prices in the area.

English Conversation practice (30-day challenge)

Day 9 : Weather

Ｉ had a medical checkup recently. It's once a year but I have 3 difficulties on it.
Today I'm going to talk about my 3 difficulties. Then, please listen to me. Thank you!
*******************************************************************
今年も　4月に、市役所から「特定健診受診券」という紙が送られてきました。　これは、年に1回、健康チェックをしてくださいという　案内です。
いつも　健康診断までに「痩せなくちゃ！」と思うのですが、痩せたためしがありません。
それに今年は2月に手首を骨折してから、運動もあまりしませんでした。コロナで家にいることが増えて太り、骨折後も太り……。　やばいです！
恐ろしくて　最近は体重計に　乗りもしていませんでした。そんなわけで、今年の健診には　３つの難関がありました。
まず一つめは、当日までに　大腸がん検診のために　便を2回取らなくてはいけないことでした。なぜなら、私は便秘をよくするので、いつ便を取れるかわからないからです。でも、今年は意外にすぐ取ることができました。つぎの難関は、当日です。怖いのは　体重計と　お腹の周りの長さ、腹囲を測るときです。できるだけ、そおっと　体重計に乗りましたが、電子体重計は正確に私の体重を計測していました。　しっかり増えていました。腹囲のほうは、お腹をへこませましたが、看護師さんに「楽にしてください」と言われ、緩んだところを測られてしまいました。　かなり大きくなっていました。やっぱりなあ・・・という結果でした。
最後の難関は検査後です。健診後すぐに飲んだ下剤が効いてくるときです。なぜ下剤を飲むかというと、胃がん健診でバリウムを飲んでいるからです。バリウムを体の外に出してしまわなければいけないんです。　下剤が効いてきたのは4時間後ぐらいでした。家でトムクルーズの映画『オブリビオン』を見ている最中でした。ストーリーが盛り上がって　トムクルーズ演じるジャックにピンチが訪れたとき、私にもピンチがやってきました。思わず、「映画、止めといて」と言うと、「これ、テレビやから、止まらないよ」と。ああ、そうでした。　私は大急ぎでトイレに駆け込みました。映画が終るまで3－4回はトイレに走ったと思います。
さて、あとは3週間後に届く検査結果を待つだけです。本当のピンチはそれからかもしれません。


やさしい日本語（にほんご）

年に1回の特定健診(とくていけんしん）　An annual Health Check

How you tell a story matters. The way you talk about why you lost your job can cost you a potential one. The way you explain the reason for layoffs can cause panic among employees and stakeholders. And the way journalists report the news can incite violence. Framing, including word choice, is one of the most important areas peace journalists discuss and develop. To find out what business professionals could learn from peace journalists about storytelling, I invited Steven Youngblood, Director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University, for a conversation on The Express to Impress Podcast. Here are some excerpts from our conversation; “The question should never be, do we withhold the information? The question should be, how do we convey the information?” “If you want to be an informed person in 2022, it is going to take an effort. So the first thing I tell my students is not to depend on social media for their news. This, despite the fact that study data shows that's exactly where they get their news from.” Tune in to get more valuable insights from Steven, so you're well prepared to tell stories about challenging events. 
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Episode originally published May 27, 2022 

Original theme music by Lucas Knutter 

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/word-choice/ 

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

Express to Impress

Word Choice in Journalism and Business With Steven Youngblood

I talk about how I learn foreign languages primarily by listening to podcasts. Crank up your volume, I didn't edit the audio on this episode to save time. Let me know if this is fine raw and uncut. My italki teacher profile: https://italki.com/teacher/1947582 Thanks for listening! Visit my website for more of my full-length podcasts . https://www.streetwisenglish.com