There are many things we can do to make a house into a home, such as decorating and redesigning. Why do people enjoy doing this?

IN this episode, Nick helps you with ideas for this question, which could come up in Speaking Part 3 or Writing Part 2 of the IELTS test. 

IELTS with Nick - World Knowledge 

What are some of the pleasures involved in making a home for ourselves?

In 1950s America, smoking was cool, with movie stars like James Dean and Marlene Dietrich making it look stylish. Cigarette companies even claimed smoking was good for you, with one famous advertisement claiming, "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette."

But things started to change in 1951, when a British scientist found a link between smoking and lung cancer.

Today, things look very different, and smoking in the US is at its lowest level in 80 years.

In the 1950s, nearly half of US adults smoked. Now, according to a poll from Gallup, only 11% of American adults say they've smoked in the past week — half the number from 10 years ago.

One reason is that more people now see smoking as bad for you, with 79% of Americans agreeing that cigarettes are very harmful.

Another major reason is that fewer young adults are smoking.

Young adults used to smoke the most out of any age group, but now they're the least likely to smoke. In the early 2000s, 35% of US adults under 30 smoked, but today, it's just 6%. Instead, it's the older generation that are the biggest smokers these days, with 18% of adults aged 50 to 64 saying they smoke.

Although smoking may be declining, vaping is becoming more popular.

Vaping, or using e-cigarettes, is less common than smoking, with just 7% of adults saying they vape. But vaping is more popular with young adults, and nearly 1 in 5 of American adults under 30 vape.

And if they keep vaping into middle age — and if young people today start vaping as they grow up — vaping might soon become more common than smoking.

Health experts say even though vaping is less harmful than smoking, it's best to avoid both.

English Conversation/Dialogue

US Smoking Hits 80-Year Low

En este episodio les cuento una situación muy fea que viví en carne propia mientras iba a buscar a mi hija al jardín de infantes. Todavía me acuerdo y me da escalofríos...

Argentina en carne propia

El viejo con el carrito de bebé

Reviewing Japanese Grammar via Genki1

Let's Review Lesson 2, Genki 1

안녕하세요. Hello~
한국어 듣기 수업 시작해요. Let's start with the Korean listening class.
선생님 읽어요.  I read it.
잘 들으세요. Please listen well.

I posted the sentences on my blog. 
https://blog.naver.com/laramcraft/222913641940
https://youtu.be/QjDC7QGJ_Ow

The basics are important.
It is also good to check the basics of 한글 Hangeul before this listening class.
1-1. Korean alphabet - Vowels 모음 - What is Hangeul?
https://youtu.be/0YzhJ9p2lcs
2-1. Korean alphabet - Consonants 자음 -what are the consonants 자음?
https://youtu.be/lckgvQ_vreA
3-1. Korean alphabet - Final Consonants 받침 - What are the final consonants 받침?
https://youtu.be/sLlFmG30fNI

This is a class to listen to Korean conversational sentences.
In this voice recording for listening, 
After reading many sentences in Korean conversations sentences, 
Check out how much you understand the sentences with a voice recording. 
Never look at the sentences when listening to the voice recording. 
And Listen to the sentence repeatedly until you hear it completely. 

You are listening to the Sejong Korean conversation. (세종학당)
There are four books in total. (Korean conversation, 1, 2, 3, 4.)
It consists of 1st and 2nd courses for beginners and 1st and 2nd courses for intermediate.
Each course is conducted in 14 units. (2 grammar - for each unit.) 
This listening class you are taking is Korean Conversation 2. (Beginner 2)
Please listen carefully.

Korean Listening Class 한국어 문장 듣기 - Korean teacher, Grace

Korean Conversation 2 - Lesson 11.​  Part 1 -지 말다,  Part 2 -아야 되다/-어야 되다/-여야 되다  (Beginner 2)

IELTS speaking fears

What are they? Here are some students' comments over the internet:

"Honestly my greatest fear in IELTS is the speaking section. I’ve taken the exam 6 times already since 2014 without hitting my target score of 7. My speaking score is consistently 6.5 throughout the exams. My nervousness really gets overwhelming with my failure. Just a mere mention of IELTS makes me cringe. I feel so hurt and phobic of the exam."

Imagine this, right?

As I said in the podcast, hard skills (preparing for the questions) aren't the only thing students need to prepare for.

Mental training, calming down, breathing exercises, and learning to cool down are some techniques you can take to elevate your score.

If it sounds new and you simply haven't heard of it, use it, and it will be a HUGE assistance for your WHOLE life.

Dive into my harmonising meditation I did earlier to learn to relax more.

Be well and let me know how I can help you.

IELTS-SPEAKING 8-9 BAND IS POSSIBLE. DAILY SPEAKING PRACTICE PART 1,2 & 3. Listen daily.

IELTS Speaking fears

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wej7SznWrtfXxteVIsHWxJWuWJJF-NRq/view?usp=drivesdk

Teacher Joseph's Podcast

Speaking Better (with transcript)

Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iy12UtOlCHEeNtC_Wpxl__wuyVtxLEFA/view?usp=drivesdk

Supermarket Delivery (with transcript for study)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MqrRmMkN9DbdwSNBSvu4beCnv_eMXfeq/view?usp=drivesdk