I made a story for Japanese language learners in Japan and abroad.

JLPT/N2 story

1. Cows are sacred - Cows are protected by their own set of rules in the Constitution, making killing a cow a crime. Even on crowded city streets, cows have the liberty to roam where they please without fear of being harassed by humans.

2. India has over 300,000 mosques and over 2 million Hindu temples - About 15% of India’s population is Muslim. The mosques across the country range from small village buildings to immense famous ones, like the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad or the Jama Masjid in New Delhi. 
The same can be said about India’s Hindu temples, which surpass two million to serve the 79.8% of India’s Hindu population. Just the holy city of Varanasi has over 23,000 temples. It is safe to say India is the land of temples!

3. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world - With documents dating back as early as 5,500 BCE, Hinduism is considered the oldest religion in the world. There is not a known founder of Hinduism, and no one cares to know who started Hinduism since Hinduism is a way of life. Currently, Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, serving more than 1 billion people. 

4. India has 22 recognized languages - The numerous languages spoken across India include Santali, Kashmiri, Bengali, Tamil, and Urdu. However, the official languages are English and Hindi.
India also has the world’s second-largest population of English speakers (first is the United States), since most Indians speak their own regional language as well as English for easier communication.
Sanskrit is considered the oldest language in the world, the “mother of all languages.” Every Hindu book is written in Sanskrit

5. India has the highest population of vegetarians - “Indian food” has become one of the most widespread cuisines in the world. It’s estimated that between 15% and 30% of India’s population follow a strict vegetarian diet, while many others will only consume fish and no land animals.

Learn Fluent English with Professor Ashish

5 Fun and Interesting Facts About India That Might Surprise You

In this practice episode, you’ll train the main vowel sounds represented by the letter I in British English. Through guided repetition, minimal pairs, and sentence-level contrasts, you’ll learn to hear and produce the difference between tense and relaxed vowels — including sounds like /iː/, /ɪ/, /ə/, /ɜː/, /aɪ/, and /ɪə/. This session focuses on clarity, accuracy, and avoiding common pronunciation mistakes that can lead to confusion or awkward misunderstandings. Ideal for learners who want to sharpen their British pronunciation through focused, practical training.

Transcript:

/iː/ — machine, police, magazine, sardine, routine, vaccine, marine

/ɪ/ — sit, bit, give, live, village, image, engine

/ə/ — possible, family, pencil, medicine, original

/ɜː/ — bird, first, girl, shirt, third, skirt, dirty, birthday, thirteen, confirm

/aɪ/ — time, fine, like, nine, side, bite, mine, pipe, drive

/ɪə/ — ear, hear, pier, tier, weird, fierce, bier, experience, idea, theatre

Minimal pairs:

ship /ʃɪp/ — sheep /ʃiːp/

bit /bɪt/ — beat /biːt/

live /lɪv/ — leave /liːv/

fill /fɪl/ — feel /fiːl/

slip /slɪp/ — sleep /sliːp/

bin /bɪn/ — bean /biːn/

sin /sɪn/ — seen /siːn/

rid /rɪd/ — read /riːd/

lick /lɪk/ — leak /liːk/

tin /tɪn/ — teen /tiːn/

Mix up:

machine — sit — possible — bird — time — ear police — bit — family — first — fine — pier marine — give — pencil — shirt — like — weird routine — live — medicine — dirty — nine — fierce vaccine — village — original — thirteen — side — experience

Sentences:

“I live here.” “I leave here.”

“Did you fill it?” “Did you feel it?”

“He bit the rope.” “He beat the rope.”

“I didn’t slip.” “I didn’t sleep.”

“Can I have that seat?” “Can I have that sit?”

“He gave me a leak.” “He gave me a lick.”

“She threw a pitch.” “She threw a peach.”

“It was very cheap.” “It was very chip.”

British Pronunciation Tips 

British Vowel Sound Masterclass: Lesson 11: The letter i: One Letter, Five Sounds - Practice 

数字对你来说有什么特殊意义吗？

3 mins

2022年2月22日

Naturalmente no nos percatamos de las costumbres que tiene el pais donde crecemos, lo gracioso comienza cuando viajamos a otros países y ellos no tinen las mismas costumbres.
déjame contarte en este podcast que me sucedió.

Cuentos breves de motivación.

Costumbres de mi pais que son extrañas en otros lugares a la hora de comer.

Lingua Juice Podcast

Fake News

В этом подкасте я рассказываю о том, что люди в России делают на Пасху.

Привет, это Наташа!

Эпизод 30. Пасха в России.

En este audio os hablo del problema que tenemos en casa cuando se trata de ordenar las habitaciones o los juguetes que sacamos mientras jugamos. En ella podéis ver también oraciones temporales de subjuntivo y expresiones con el verbo estar, muy útiles, que explico al final del episodio.

Reyes from Spain

Cuando vengan mis hijos se van a enterar

Acompáñanos a Camille y a mí en esta plática sobre una obra literaria icónica de Francia.
Si te late aprender francés, contacta a Camille:
https://www.italki.com/teacher/4396946