Dreams I've had about animals

Vocabulary:
to pick up: to go to someone's home to get something or someone, to give them a ride
to get a hold of: to reach or contact someone by phone or text
antique: old and valuable
mewling: meowing
to foster: to take care of an animal temporarily
socialize: to help an animal get used to humans
waving: to move from side to side
otherworldliness: mystical, from another world
cactus: a spiny plant that grows in the desert
structure: something built by people
shallow: not deep
to go missing: disappear

Spelling of some of the animals mentioned: eel, otter, chameleon, toucan

Learn English with Stories

Animal Dreams

En este episodio te ayudo a decidir qué examen es mejor para ti y en qué momento es mejor hacer el SIELE o el DELE. ¿Cuál tiene más prestigio? ¿Cómo se hacen en papel o con el ordenador? Estas y otras preguntas tienen respuesta en este episodio. 

DELE exam (B2-C1)

DELE o SIELE ¿Cuál es el mejor para mí?

cónɡ qián yǒu yí wèi ɡuó wánɡ，tā yǎnɡ le xǔ duō dà xiànɡ。
从前有一位国王，他养了许多大象。
yǒu yì tiān，tā zuò zài dà xiànɡ shēn shànɡ yóu wán，
有一天，他坐在大象身上游玩，
kàn jiàn jǐ ɡè mánɡ rén zài lù biān xiū xi，
看见几个盲人在路边休息，
biàn xiǎnɡ rànɡ tā men lái rèn shi yí xià dà xiànɡ de yànɡ zi。
便想让他们来认识一下大象的样子。
yú shì，mánɡ rén men lái dào dà xiànɡ miàn qián，kāi shǐ mō xiànɡ。
于是，盲人们来到大象面前，开始摸象。
dì yī ɡè mánɡ rén mō dào le dà xiànɡ de bí zi，tā shuō：
第一个盲人摸到了大象的鼻子，他说：
“yuán lái dà xiànɡ shì yì tiáo yuán yuán de、cū cū de、chánɡ chánɡ de ɡuǎn zi。”
“原来大象是一条圆圆的、粗粗的、长长的管子。”
dì èr ɡè mánɡ rén mō dào le dà xiànɡ de ěr duǒ，tā shuō： 
第二个盲人摸到了大象的耳朵，他说：
“dà xiànɡ shì yì bǎ dà shàn zi，shān qǐ fēnɡ lái kě liánɡ kuài ne!”
“大象是一把大扇子，搧起风来可凉快呢！”
dì sān ɡè mánɡ rén mō dào le dà xiànɡ de shēn tǐ，tā shuō：
第三个盲人摸到了大象的身体，他说：
“dà xiànɡ shì yì dǔ yòu ɡāo yòu dà de qiánɡ。”
“大象是一堵又高又大的墙。”
dì sì ɡè mánɡ rén mō dào le dà xiànɡ de tuǐ，tā shuō：
第四个盲人摸到了大象的腿，他说：
“dà xiànɡ shì yì ɡēn yòu cū yòu yuán de dà zhù zi。”  
“大象是一根又粗又圆的大柱子。”
dì wǔ ɡè mánɡ rén mō dào le dà xiànɡ de wěi bā，tā shuō：
第五个盲人摸到了大象的尾巴，他说：
“dà xiànɡ zhǐ shì yì tiáo zhǎnɡ zhǎnɡ de shénɡ zi。” 
“大象只是一条长长的绳子。”
wǔ ɡè mánɡ rén dōu jué de zhǐ yǒu zì jǐ cái shì duì de，
五个盲人都觉得只有自己才是对的，
shuí yě bù rànɡ shuí
谁也不让谁。
ɡuó wánɡ tīnɡ le，hā hā xiào le qǐ lái。
国王听了，哈哈笑了起来。
yīn wéi tā men dōu zhǐ mō dào le dà xiànɡ de yí bù fēn，
因为他们都只摸到了大象的一部分，
bìnɡ méi yǒu mō dào dà xiànɡ de quán bù！
并没有摸到大象的全部！

CHINESE STORY中文故事

盲人摸象

在高速行驶的火车上，有一位老人不小心把刚买的新鞋从窗口掉下去一只，周围的人都觉得很可惜。没想到老人把另一只鞋也从窗口扔了出去。他的行为让周围的人感到很吃惊。

这时候，老人笑着解释说：“剩下的那只鞋无论多么好，多么贵，多么适合我穿，可对我来说已经没有一点儿用处了。我把它扔了出去，就有人可能捡到一双鞋子，说不定他还可以穿呢?

这些词语您明白吗？

高速行驶gāosù xíngshǐ  high speed driving
周围 zhōu wéi  around
可惜 kě xi  unfortunately; It's a pity...; It's too bad...
行为 xíng wéi  behavior
吃惊 chī jīng be amazed
解释 jiě shì  explain
无论 wú lùn  whether
捡   jiǎn    pick up
说不定 shuō bu dìng   maybe,perhaps 


On the high-speed train, an old man accidentally dropped one of his newly bought shoes from the window, which made everyone around feel very sorry. 
Unexpectedly, the old man threw another shoe out of the window. His behavior surprised the people around him. 
At this time, the old man explained with a smile, "the remaining shoe, no matter how good, how expensive, and how suitable for me, is of no use to me. If I throw it out, someone may pick up a pair of shoes, maybe he can still wear it!"

HSK5 Vocab Based - Short Story Podcast

01. 老人的新鞋 Old man's new shoes

Happy Valentine’s Day！This is Chinese teacher Cara，welcome to my channe，talk to Cara in Chinese.If you like my podcast , subscribe to it! 

John: Linda, 今晚情人节你们打算怎么过？
Linda：我男朋友订了我喜欢的餐厅，你呢？
John:我要为我的女朋友做晚饭，然后一起看电影。
Linda：哇！听起来很浪漫。你准备了什么情人节礼物？
John: 我买了玫瑰花和一条项链。你呢？
Linda：我买了一块男士手表当礼物。
John: 手表是很棒的礼物。情人节快乐！
Linda：谢谢，也祝你们玩得开心！

Valentine’s Day情人节 [qíng rén jiē]
restaurant餐厅 [cān tīng]
make a reservation 预订
For example:我去预订餐厅。I’ll make a reservation at the restaurant.

Boyfriend男朋友 [nán péng yǒu]
Girlfriend 女朋友 [nǚ péng you]
Cook dinner做晚饭 [zuò wǎn fàn]
Watch movie看电影[kàn diàn yǐng]
Rose玫瑰花[méi guī huā]
Necklace 项链[xiàng liàn]
Happy Valentine’s Day！情人节快乐！

Okay , that’s all for today.How are you celebrating Valentine’s Day? What gift do you bought for your lovers? Let me know in the comment. I’ll see you next time.我们下次节目再见。


Talk to Cara in Chinese

14.节日系列：情人节 Valentine's Day

En este podcast encontrarás una forma clara y sencilla para entender el subjuntivo.

Spanishteacherargentinaok

La lógica del subjuntivo

Crowds of people queued up at Australia's Royal Sydney Botanic Garden on January 23, with some people waiting as long as three hours.

And for what?

A very smelly flower.

The titan arum, known as the "corpse flower," is a tall, pointed plant that releases an unpleasant smell when it blooms. The smell has been likened to things like decaying flesh, gym socks or rotting garbage.

The endangered plant is only found in the Sumatran rainforests in Indonesia, where there are thought to be fewer than 300 of them. It only blooms every 7 to 10 years in its natural habitat.

"The fact that they open very rarely, so they flower rarely, is obviously something that puts them at a little bit of a disadvantage in the wild," said Sophie Daniel from the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden. "When they open, they have to hope that another flower is open nearby, because they can't self-pollinate."

The flower at the botanic garden is the first to bloom there in 15 years, and she's been named Putricia — a combination of "putrid" and "Patricia" — by her fans.

Putricia's online fandom grew quickly and globally. A 24/7 live stream established by the botanic garden drew close to a million views in under a week, and people on social media planned to hurry to the garden as the plant opened. In just 24 hours, Putricia's bloom — and her stench — would be gone.

As she opened, the plant heated to 37 degrees Celsius to better spread her scent. In the wild, the smell tricks pollinators into landing on what they think is rotten meat and spreading pollen between flowers.

Up to 20,000 people filed past for a moment in her pungent presence, leaning in for a sniff or taking selfies.

It was difficult to say why the flower attracted such a following — but perhaps the answer lay in the "reverence" viewers felt in the presence of "such an amazing living being," Daniel said.




Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Crowds Gather in Sydney for Smelly Flower

In this episode we are going to learn how to talk about【doing something】. 
--------------------------------------------------
As a beginner, there're some vocabularies that you didn't learn before, and native speaker's speed seems too fast to understand. But don't worry, let's do it step by step. 
1st time: listen and catch the words you know alreay, have a guess about the content.
2nd time: look at the text to check if you guessed it right. 
3rd time: listen one more time, repeat after it.
4th time: practise until you can speak as the normal speed without looking at the text. 
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我现在在朋友的生日派对。
wǒ xiàn zài zài péng yǒu de shēng rì pài duì 。
I'm at a friend's birthday party.
我在吃生日蛋糕呢。
wǒ zài chī shēng rì dàn gāo ne 。
I'm eating birthday cake.
我的朋友在唱歌呢。
wǒ de péng yǒu zài chàng gē ne 。
My friend is singing.
王方在跳舞呢。
wáng fāng zài tiào wǔ ne 。
Wang Fang is dancing.
谢朋在喝啤酒呢。
xiè péng zài hē pí jiǔ ne 。
Xie Peng is drinking beer.
李月在和大卫聊天呢。
lǐ yuè zài hé dà wèi liáo tiān ne 。
Li Yue is talking with David.
大家都很开心。
dà jiā dōu hěn kāi xīn 。
Everyone is happy.

Yuli's Chinese Channel

在生日派对 At a birthday party（for beginner）

This episode is my take on what I think is missing from the education curriculum - the essential skills all students should have in my opinion before they leave school. 
Please let me know in the comments your thoughts!