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The Conversation

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Engine English

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Explore France with Anthony

Marie-Antoinette - ENGLISH

Part 1 of 5. 

Inside a dusty workroom, an old craftsman held up a chess piece to the window. He rotated it in the sunlight and inspected its every detail. 

“Perfection,” said the craftsman. 

He added it to the set he had been building. Sixteen grey pieces sat on his worktable, all handmade and almost ready for sale. 

The craftsman felt very satisfied with his designs. He was ready for the final stage of the process. He picked up one of the pawn pieces and said, “What about you, my little friend? What colour would you like to be?” 

He reached for his paint brush, dunked it into glass of water and then into a container of paint. The grey pawn received a heavy coating of shiny white paint.

Fast-forward several years into the future. After repeated use and abuse, that little pawn’s proud white colour had faded. Areas of his original grey were visible. Because of this, whenever players assembled their chess set, they left this little grey-white pawn to the side. 

“Uhm, is that yours or mine?” said the white player. 

“It doesn’t matter. Put it back in the box and choose from the others,” said the black player. 

This little plastic pawn’s name was Gary. 


Being a Cloud

Gary the Chess Piece

3minutes listening practice 3分钟听力练习

CHAO's HSK Listening Capsule（Advanced）|A Daily Dose to Sharpen Your Ears|CHAO的HSK听力胶囊（高级）

CHAO‘s HSK Listening Capsule（Advanced）HSK5-5 发现生活中的小快乐Discovering small joys in life

老字号是指历史悠久，拥有世代传承的产品、技艺或服务，具有鲜明的中华民族传统文化背景和深厚的文化底蕴，取得社会广泛认同，形成良好信誉的品牌。不少产品更由于不断沿革和推广，成为了区域性的亮丽名片。
Lǎozìhào shì zhǐ lìshǐ yōujiǔ, yōngyǒu shìdài chuǎnchéng de chánpǐn、jìyì huò fúwù, jùyǒu xiānmíng de zhōng huá mínsú chuángtǒng wénhuà bèijǐng he shēnhòu de wénhuà dǐyùn, qǔde shèhuì guǎngfàn rèntóng, xíngchéng liánghǎo xìnyù de pǐnpái。Bù shǎo chǎnpǐn gèng yóuyū bùduàn yángé hé tuīguǎng, chéngwéi le qūyù xìng de liànglì míngpiàn.
Time-honored brand refers to a brand with a long history, products, skills or services inherited from generation to generation, distinct traditional Chinese cultural background and profound cultural heritage, widely recognized by the society, and a good reputation. Many products due to continuos evolution and promotion, become a regionl bright name card well known by home and abroad. 

据了解，新中国成立初期约有老字号1万多家，分布在餐饮、零售、食品、酿造、医药、居民服务等众多行业，在满足消费需求、丰富人民生活、倡导诚信经营、延伸服务内涵、传承和展现民族文化等方面发挥了重要作用，在全国人民、海外华人和国际友人当中具有深远影响。
It is reported that in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were about 10,000 time-honored brands, which were distributed in catering, retail, food, brewing, medicine, resident services and many other industries. They played an important role in meeting consumer demand, enriching people's lives, advocating honest management, extending the connotation of service, and inheriting and displaying national culture.  It has far-reaching influence among the Chinese people, overseas Chinese and international friends. 

如：北京 全聚德烤鸭    Quanjude Roast Duck Beijing;       
        四川火锅   hot pot Sichuan; 
        杭州丝绸   Silk product Hangzhou; 
        广州早茶    Dimsum Guangzhou;
       上海老凤祥珠宝   Lao Feng xiang shanghai; 
       贵州茅台酒   Maotai Guizhou;
       云南滇红红茶   Black tea from Yunnan; 
       传统中医学    Traditional Chinese Medical Treatment




Maple's fun Chinese  (Mandarin)

老字号  Lǎozìhào Time-honored brand      HSK 5-6

Baffling Lingo

Curie

EP 19_How Old Are You__ in Chinese_ Asking for Age_Years Old #Day 19 What's Your Age 

Who says Chinese is hard？ 谁说中文很难

挨拶（あいさつ）
英語: "greeting"
スペイン語: "saludo"
ドイツ語: "Begrüßung"
タイ語: "การทักทาย"

質問（しつもん）
英語: "question"
スペイン語: "pregunta"
ドイツ語: "Frage"
タイ語: "คำถาม"

誘（さそ）う
英語: "to invite"
スペイン語: "invitar"
ドイツ語: "einladen"
タイ語: "ชวน/เชิญ"

みなさんの国（くに）でどんなあいさつをしますか？
日本で「ひさしぶり！げんきだった？」や「おお！」「やっほー！」などと言ったりします。
私はタイ語を勉強しています。タイ人はよく「もうごはん食べた？」とききます。日本人がその質問（しつもん）をされたら、「いっしょにごはんをたべませんか？」とさそわれているとおもいます。あいさつのちがいはおもしろいですね。


Jurisensei1217forbeginners

あいさつ

In this episode of Streetwise English Podcast, I talk about using the advantages of travelling by bus vs plane. Book an English conversation class with me . My teacher profile: https://italki.com/teacher/1947582 Thanks for listening!