Help and advice for your IELTS speaking exam.

IELTS Speaking Practice

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Listening Skills

Vocabulary to help you improve your business English listening and speaking skills.

Business English

For intermediate to advanced speakers of English.

Teacher Superstar

The character "鼻" is a compound ideogram consisting of the radical "自" (self) on top and "畀-bì" (to give) at the bottom. It resembles the shape of a nose.

it is consisting of the radical "自" (self) on top and "畀-bì" (to give) at the bottom. It resembles the shape of a nose.

Meaning (字义)
The character "鼻" primarily means "nose." It can also relate to smelling and breathing.

Usage (用法)
"鼻" is commonly used in words and phrases related to the nose and its functions. 

Example Words (例词)

1.鼻子 (bí zi) - nose
他的鼻子很大。 (Tā de bí zi hěn dà.)
His nose is very big.

2.鼻涕 (bí tì) - nasal mucus
孩子流了鼻涕。 (Háizi liú le bí tì.)
The child has a runny nose.

3.鼻孔 (bí kǒng) - nostril
我的鼻孔痒痒的。 (Wǒ de bí kǒng yǎng yǎng de.)
My nostrils are itchy.

Example Sentences (例句)

1.他用鼻子闻花香。 (Tā yòng bí zi wén huā xiāng.)
He smells the flowers with his nose.

2.她的鼻子很好看。 (Tā de bí zi hěn hǎo kàn.) 
Her nose is very pretty.

3.不要用手指挖鼻孔。 (Bù yào yòng shǒuzhǐ wā bí kǒng.)
Don't pick your nose with your fingers.

Idiom (四字成语)
成语: 鼻青脸肿 (bí qīng liǎn zhǒng)

Meaning (意义)
"鼻青脸肿" literally means "nose bruised and face swollen." It describes someone who has been beaten up, with a bruised nose and swollen face.

Example Sentence (例句)
他刚打完了一架，鼻青脸肿。 (Tā gāng dǎ wán le yí jià , bí qīng liǎn zhǒng.)
He came back from a fight, looking bruised and swollen.


Summary
The character "鼻" is related to the nose and its functions. Its usage is common in everyday language. The idiom "鼻青脸肿" describes someone who looks bruised and swollen, often after a fight or accident.

每日一字

설악산에 다녀왔어요.

나는 지난 주말에 친구들과 함께 설악산에 다녀왔다. 설악산은 한국에서 아주 유명한 산 중 하나이다. 우리는 아침 일찍 출발해서 설악산 국립공원에 도착했다.

처음에는 날씨가 조금 흐렸지만, 공기가 상쾌하고 기분이 좋았다. 우리는 천천히 산을 오르기 시작했다. 산길에는 아름다운 나무와 맑은 계곡이 있었다. 나는 그 풍경이 정말 아름답다고 생각했다.

산을 오르면서 우리는 여러 곳을 구경했다. 먼저 신흥사라는 절을 방문했다. 절은 조용하고 고요해서 마음이 편안해졌다. 절 근처에는 큰 부처님 동상이 있었다. 우리는 그 앞에서 사진을 찍었다.

그 후, 우리는 권금성으로 가는 케이블카를 탔다. 케이블카를 타고 올라가니 멋진 경치가 보였다. 높은 곳에서 아래를 내려다보니 산과 바다가 함께 보여서 정말 아름다웠다. 나는 친구들과 함께 감탄하며 사진을 많이 찍었다.

점심으로 우리는 산에서 유명한 감자전과 막국수를 먹었다. 감자전은 바삭하고 맛있었고, 막국수는 시원하고 맛있었다. 음식을 먹으면서 친구들과 이야기하며 즐거운 시간을 보냈다.

식사 후, 우리는 비룡폭포를 보러 갔다. 폭포는 물이 시원하게 떨어지고 있었고, 소리가 우렁찼다. 나는 폭포 앞에서 손을 씻었는데 물이 아주 차가웠다. 친구들과 함께 폭포 앞에서 사진을 찍고 잠시 쉬었다.

하산할 때는 다리가 조금 아팠지만, 마음은 행복했다. 설악산의 자연은 너무 아름다웠고, 좋은 추억을 많이 만들었다. 다음에 기회가 되면 단풍이 아름다운 가을에 다시 오고 싶다.

이 여행은 정말 즐거운 경험이었다. 😊

한국의 문화

설악산에 다녀왔어요.

前回のエピソードで「休み」の重要な使い方を説明するのを忘れていました。前回のエピソードをまだ聞いていない人は後で聞いてみてください。

「今日私は休みです。」皆さんはこの文の意味がわかりますか？これは「今日私は仕事がありません。」という意味です。
アルバイトをしている人は「バイトがない」「シフトがない」という意味です。
何かの理由があって仕事に行かなかった場合には「今日学校を休んでいます」「昨日仕事を休みました」と言います。
仕事の予定がなかった場合は「今日は休みです」「昨日は休みでした」と言います。
また連休という言葉を聞いたことがありますか？連休とは連続した休みのことです。例えば、土日がいつも休みの人の場合、月曜日が祝日で休みの時は土曜日と日曜日と月曜日が休みなので三連休になります。

みなさんは次の連休に何をしますか？
よかったら私のレッスンに来て教えてください。

重要な：じゅうような　important
予定：よてい　plan
連続した：れんぞくした　consecutive
祝日：しゅくじつ　national holiday

Nihongo Short Story by Noriko

休みと連休-Today’s Word

In this Podcast I am reading the introduction and one page of my book Pensieri Felici. One of my four books that I published on 2021.
In this book you can listen Italian, gain vocabulary, pronunciation and who knows maybe you even get inspired by this book.

I podcast secondo San Luca

I podcast secondo San Luca - Lettura del libro Pensieri Felici di Luca Facchini - Luca Facchini

Lingua Juice Podcast

Fake News

Today's topic is, how to be more confident when speaking in meetings.

Some of you might know this already but my full time job is working with non native English speakers, one to one, on video calls to improve their confidence and ability when using English at work. And the number one thing that people tell me they need to improve is their confidence in meetings! How can I become more confident in meetings, how can I express my ideas better, how can I make my meetings easier. This is what we’re going to discuss today. 

For non-native English speakers, speaking in meetings can be a challenging and daunting task. Whether you’re presenting in front of a large group or just participating in a small discussion, it can be difficult to feel confident in your ability to express yourself. However, with a few simple tips, you can start speaking more confidently in meetings sooner rather than later.

At the same time, we’re going to look at some useful vocabulary and sentence structures that we can use to do this. So if you want to grab a pen to take some notes, feel free, and let’s get started.

Oh, and right at the end we’ll review a couple of the more interesting pieces of vocabulary I’ve included in today’s podcast.

Breakout Business English

Speaking in meetings. How to become more confident!

5 Tips to Improve Your Confidence Speaking Business English.

1. Display some interest

You want to show that you are engaged while listening to others. Ask questions that will get others to talk. Show interest in the topic. It'll not be long so if the topic isn't interesting - it will not be long AANNDD... you can learn something new, look for that!

2. Use positive language.

Use positive words and phrases that will stir the conversation to a positive end. 

3. Use gestures to show understanding

Be a little bit like people from Italy - communicate with your body, let other people know that you are into what they are describing, try not to be dull and passive, right? :)

You can immediately apply the tips tomorrow and let me know how you'll liked them!

If you need assistance to become fear-less when communicating to colelagues, in meetings, during zooms calls or talking to clients - let me know what your challenges are.

I hold different meetings for different clients - read some of my class types. I'm sure you'll like some of it.

See you tomorrow.

Job Interview Preparation | Build Strong Communication Under Pressure

5 Tips to Improve Your Confidence Speaking Business English.

For the second year in a row, Taylor Swift has been named Spotify's most-played artist.

The streaming service has released its annual overview of individual listening trends as well as trends from around the world — called Spotify Wrapped.

Users can now see their top artists, songs, genres, albums and podcasts, as well as uncover which artists had the biggest year on the platform.

Swift was 2024's most-streamed artist globally, ranking in more than 26.6 billion streams. She was followed by The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish.

Swift also earned the title of most-streamed album in 2024, with The Tortured Poets Department, while Sabrina Carpenter had the most-streamed song both in the US and globally this year, with her summer hit "Espresso." It was streamed more than 1.6 billion times.

For users who want to look back at their listening habits over the year, there were some new features to explore on Spotify Wrapped.

These include a new data story called "Your Music Evolution," which shows three distinct musical phases for each user, and a personalized playlist based on them.

People like to share their Spotify Wrapped data on social media, although this year some complained that the roundup was missing certain features they'd previously enjoyed.

Streaming now accounts for most of the money generated by the music industry — 84% in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, and 67.3% around the world, according to a 2024 report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which tracks global sales.

Spotify is the largest platform of all with a reported 626 million users and 246 million subscribers.