Hi everyone! It's December! It's Christmas! So, in this episode obviously I talk about Christmas in Japan. Some of you may have heard about how Japanese people celebrate it, like what we eat. I explain how a typical Japanese would do on 24th and 25th of this month.

たつきのにほんご

日本のクリスマス (Beginner)

xiǎo māo lā chē
小猫拉车
——àn gàng岸冈
xiǎo māo lā chē
小猫拉车，
lǎo shǔ bú zuò
老鼠不坐。
huáng shǔ láng lā chē
黄鼠狼拉车， 
xiǎo jī bú zuò
小鸡不坐. 
huī láng lā chē
灰狼拉车， 
shān yáng bú zuò
山羊不坐。 
lǎo hǔ lā chē
老虎拉车， 
shéi yě bú zuò
谁也不坐.

你知道这是为什么吗？

Little Voices , Big Worlds |小雅听诗

3小猫拉车xiǎo māo lā chē

Z wird in den meisten Ländern anders ausgesprochen. Im Deutschen muss man das Z wie „ts“ aussprechen. Ausnahmen sind Wörter, die eingedeutscht wurden. Also, Wörter, die aus einem anderen Land stammen. 

Viel Spaß beim Hören, Erkennen und Mitmachen:

Zum zwölften Mal zog Zita ihren zerrissenen Mantel zurecht. Zögerlich spazierte sie zum Zaun, wo Ziegen zwischen Zweigen nach Futter suchten. „Zeit zu handeln!“, murmelte sie, als sie einen zerbrochenen Zaunpfahl entdeckte. Schnell griff sie nach einer Zange und zog Nägel aus der Tasche.

Zwischenzeitlich näherte sich ein großer Zugvogel und setzte sich auf den Zaun. Zita lächelte, während sie den Zaun flickte. Plötzlich hörte sie ein leises Zirpen – ein kleiner Zaunkönig zitterte auf einem Zweig.

„Was für ein zauberhafter Moment!“, dachte Zita zufrieden, als sie den Zaun fertig reparierte und zurück in ihr kleines Zuhause ging.

Aussprachehilfe 

das deutsche Z

En este episodio vas a escuchar la historia "El gato Goyo". El objetivo es practicar la pronunciación de las letras G y J (a veces son confusas) y tu comprensión auditiva. 

In this episode you are going to listen to "El gato Goyo" story to practice the letters G and J (sometimes are confusing) and your listening comprehension. 


Español con Patty Basic Level A2

Lecturitas: Letra G y J| Spanish Phonetics with Mexican accent

People move for many reasons: study, work, money...  What factors will you consider when choosing a new home?  In this podcast, Karen and Baiwei chatted about their experiences of relocating homes.

Chillchat (Learn Chinese and Chill)

你搬过几次家？How many times have you moved?

New words 
1. 劳动节  Láodòng Jié  p.n. May Day
2. 号  hào  n. used after numerals to indicate date of month in spoken Chinese
3. 今年  jīnnián  n. this year
4. 复活节  Fùhuó Jié  p.n. Easter
5. 父亲节  Fùqīn Jié  p.n. Father's Day
6. 母亲节  Mǔqīn Jié  p.n. Mother's Day
7. 星期几  xīngqī jǐ  certain day of the week
8. 星期天  Xīngqītiān  p.n. Sunday
9. 圣诞节  Shèngdàn Jié  p.n. Christmas Day
10. 星期二  Xīngqī'èr  p.n. Tuesday

中文每日一练

每日听汉语

Viktor: Morning!
Sam: Hi, how are you?
Viktor: Great, thanks. Hey, did you set up the camera trap yesterday?
Sam: Yes, I did! Mom helped me put it up on the wall above the back door and we pointed it down and towards the grassy bit of garden. Did you?
Viktor: Totally. But something went wrong after I tied it to a tree in the park. Look, I’ve got some amazing video here. Let me forward it a bit … there – look.
Sam: Oh yeah, what is it? Can you zoom in? It’s very small.
Viktor: Can you see it now?
Sam: Ah, it’s a fox. I love the way it’s moving – like something between walking and running. What’s it got in its mouth?
Viktor: I think it’s a rabbit. The fox must be coming back from hunting.
Sam: That’s amazing. Anyway, what went wrong?
Viktor: Watch...
Sam: Woah! Did the camera just fall out of the tree?
Viktor: Yes! It was a windy night, wasn’t it? I must have tied it too loosely.
Sam: Ha-ha, well, you got some great stuff before the camera fell. It didn’t get damaged, did it?
Viktor: No, it didn’t. It’s okay. Did you get anything?
Sam: Yes, actually. We watched it over breakfast. I don’t have it here – I’ll send it to you later, but there were at least a couple of animals in the garden.
Viktor: What did you see?
Sam: Some kind of … well, I think it was a mouse, but it was quite big. My sister thinks it was a rat. Mum didn’t look too happy about that! She told me to get rid of it – whatever it was!
Viktor: Aw, rats are okay. It probably just lives in the garden – and they have to live somewhere.
Sam: I agree – as long as it stays outside and doesn’t come in the house.
Viktor: Anything else?
Sam: Oh, yes – I’m really thrilled about this one – we’re absolutely sure that we saw a hedgehog walking across from the neighbor’s garden to our back fence and then under it to the park behind.
Viktor: Oh, I love hedgehogs!
Sam: Yes, me, too!

English Conversation/Dialogue

Animal Watching 

《入乡随俗》
    来中国半年多了，我已经渐渐地习惯了这里的生活。
    刚来中国的时候，最不习惯的就是早上八点钟上课。因为我是个夜猫子，喜欢晚睡晚起，所以经常迟到。你进教室的时候，别人正上着课呢，大家都看着你，真不好意思。为了不迟到，我买了一个闹钟，每天早上一到七点钟，它就大叫：”懒虫，该起床了！懒虫，该起床了！“虽然不好听，我还不能不感谢它。因为有了它，我现在已经很少迟到了。
    我还有以减不习惯的事，就是打招呼。有些中国人和我见面不是问好，而是问一些奇怪的问题。下面就算今天早上我和邻居的对话：
    ”早！“
    ”早上好！“
    ”吃了吗？“
    ”吃了。”
    “去上课呀？”
    ”是。“
    ”外面正下着雨呢，带伞了吗？“
    ”谢谢，我带着呢。“
    这要是在半年以前，有人这样跟我打招呼，我肯定生气了。可是，现在我却觉得挺亲切的，因为我知道，他们跟熟人才这么打招呼。要是你不想回答他们的问题，问好就可以了。
    中国有一个成语叫”入乡随俗“，意思是：到了一个新的地方，就要适应那里的风俗习惯。

Yasmine's Chinese Reading - elementary

入乡随俗 When in Rome, do as the Romans do

In this episode, my story of how I learnt to speak English from zero and my current challenge to learn Spanish in Costa Rica is shared. I also answer questions from students as following. 
1. did you learn English just for yourself or for my future career?
2. You have moved to other country just to learn Spanish now but how did that happen? Do you have strong passion for it and do you have plans to use Spanish for future? 

The answers to those are covered. So please enjoy ;)