I went on a trip to Idaho and visited an interactive aquarium.

Animals mentioned: stingrays, parakeets, doctor fish, sea stars (starfish)

Learn English with Stories

My Visit to an Aquarium

Let's learn some useful phrases and talk about how to say sorry! - https://www.ted.com/talks/ted_ed_the_best_way_to_apologize_according_to_science

1. truly awful
2. make amends
3. taking / accepting responsibility for your actions
4. BE part of what makes SOMETHING + NOUN/ADJ. 
5. One of the most critical parts of … / aspects of …

TED phrases with Michael

01 The best way to apologise

Giant Dreams Midget Abilities by David Sedaris read by Teacher Alyse
Read and follow along. Send me a message for your free digital copy of this story. 

"WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING YOUR GUITAR, MAKE BELIEVE YOU'RE PLAYING AN ACTUAL WOMAN," MISTER MANCINI TOLD ME. "GRAB HER BY THE NECK AND MAKE HER HOLLER."

My father loves jazz and has an extensive collection of records and reel-to-reel tapes he used to enjoy after returning home from work. He might have entered the house in a foul mood, but once he had his Dexter Gordon and a vodka martini, the stress melted away and everything was "Beautiful, baby, just beautiful." The instant the needle hit that record, he'd loosen his tie and become something other than the conservative engineer with a pocketful of IBM pencils embossed with the command think.

"Man, oh man, will you get a load of the chops on this guy? I saw him once at the Blue Note, and I mean to tell you that he blew me right out of my chair! A talent like that comes along only once in a lifetime. The guy was an absolute comet, and there I was in the front row. Can you imagine that?"

"Gee," I'd say. "I bet that was really interesting."

Empathy was the wrong tack, as it seemed only to irritate him.

"You don't know the half of it," my father would say. " 'Really interesting' my butt. You haven't got a clue. You could have taken a hatchet and cut the man's lips right off his face, chopped them off at the quick, and he still would have played better than anyone else out there. That's how good he was."

Because it was the music we'd grown up with, I liked to think that my sisters and I had a genuine appreciation for jazz. We preferred it over the music our friends were listening to, yet nothing we did or said could convince him of our devotion. Aside from replaying the tune on your own instrument, how could you prove you were really listening? It was as if he expected us to change color at the end of each selection.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk and other stories from David Sedaris ( Adult 18+) 

Giant Dreams Midget Abilities

In this episode, Karen and 柏威 discussed some common mistakes with using 去 and 在.

Chillchat (Learn Chinese and Chill)

Grammar - How to use 去(qù) and 在(zài)

In this episode we will talk about 【Cross legs】, you will learn how to say 【sitting position,collapse on the sofa,numbness in the legs】 ect.
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大家好，我是Yuli。欢迎收听我的播客。
今天想和大家聊一聊【跷二郎腿】的话题。
跷二郎腿，就是坐下来的时候一条腿跷起来放到另外一条腿上面。那么，为什么叫“二郎腿”呢？古代传说里面有一个人物叫做“二郎神”，一些地方的庙里面有二郎神像。二郎神的坐姿就是这样子，所以把这种坐姿叫做“跷二郎腿”。很多人都有跷二郎腿的习惯，这是为什么呢？跷二郎腿好不好呢？我们来听一下吧。
翘二郎腿是很多人都有的习惯。当坐下放松的时候，腿不自觉就翘了起来。这是为什么呢？爱翘二郎腿，不能简单粗暴地用某个科学发现来解释。不过它和身体舒服感、心理状态、习惯等都有一定关系。其实翘二郎腿和葛优瘫一样，是身体本能追求舒服姿势的表现。人是一种喜欢折腾的动物，喜欢不断变换姿势来维持肌肉的张力。翘二郎腿时能放松一条腿的肌肉群，并让腿部和足底肌肉更轻松一点。当人们坐下时，翘二郎腿可以调节中心，感觉做坐起来更稳当。另一方面，跷二郎腿能防女人走光，让男人看上去更有范。夏天穿短裙的女性坐下来后，跷二郎腿的姿势可以有效地防止走光。而颜值高的男性坐下来跷二郎腿，也会显得更有魅力。
但经常跷二郎腿其实会影响到健康，让我们腰酸背痛，并会带来脊柱侧弯的风险。翘二郎腿时，人们难免会将重心偏向一侧，导致盆骨旋转和髋关节紧张。时间一长肌肉力量不平衡，就会带来体态改变等问题。
有谣传说，二郎腿翘多会影响到生殖健康，提早出现退化性关节炎，变成o型腿，导致静脉曲张，高血压。小姐姐在这里郑重地辟谣，这其实并不是翘二郎腿会带来的危害。
那如何翘二郎腿才是正确的，危害小的呢？那就是不要长时间一直翘，翘起来腿麻了都不管不顾，直到天荒地老。腿麻了就换换腿
翘，时间久了就站起来活动活动。毕竟久坐也不利于身体健康。除此之外，只要你自己感受是舒适的，想怎么翘就可以这么翘。
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庙/miào	/temple
坐姿/zuò zī /sitting position
不自觉/	bù zì jué	/unconscious
简单粗暴	/jiǎn dān cū bào/simple and rough
葛优瘫/gě yōu tān/the Ge You slouch（collapse on the sofa）
折腾/zhē téng/toss about, restless
张力/zhāng lì/tension (of the muscle)
稳当/wěn dàng/secure,firm
防走光/fáng zǒu guāng/avoid wardrobe malfunction
有范/yǒu fàn/stylish
腰酸背痛	/yāo suān bèi tòng/have a pain in the back
脊柱侧弯	/jǐ zhù cè wān/scoliosis
难免/nán miǎn/difficult to avoid
盆骨旋转	/pén gǔ xuán zhuǎn/pelvic rotation
髋关节/kuān guān jié/hip joint
体态/tǐ tài/body posture
谣传/yáo chuán/rumour
生殖/shēng zhí/reproduction
退化性关节炎	/tuì huà xìng guān jié yán/Degenerative arthritis
静脉曲张	/jìng mài qū zhāng/Varicose veins
辟谣/pì yáo/Refuting rumours
不管不顾	/bù guǎn bù gù/disregard
天荒地老	/tiān huāng dì lǎo/till the end of time
腿麻/tuǐ má/numbness in the legs

Yuli's Chinese Channel

跷二郎腿 Cross legs （Advanced level）

ラーメン一蘭は知ってる？ でもラーメン二郎もとても人気だよ（^^) 富士山みたいな　でかいラーメン！


Japanese "Taka" it easy

日本で人気の⭐️ラーメン二郎⭐️

Which part are you worried about?

I met a student from China who came to prepare for IELTS speaking, and while reading his goal, I picked certain areas from his answer that he wasn't even aware of. 

This was the goal: (I will hide the name, just to illustrate some of my student's goals), so here were his goals:

"My goal is to break through 5.5 in IELTS speaking. I often don't know what to say when communicating, especially during exams, and the answers are a little incoherent and overly nervous."

These were the issues I identified

a) Not knowing what to say (being stuck).
b) During exam fear (most people have 'exams-fear'.
c) Doubting about the answers (whether its correct).
d) Fear, anxiety when communicating.

What about you, do you have some of these concerns? If you said yes - I know how you feel and that's exactly what I am addressing in all of my IELTS speaking classes because the issues are similar in most cases.

Please listen to the podcast and pick what will resonate with you, and join my 1-on-1 VIP classes for your outrageous success in communication improvement whether for IELTS speaking, job interview preparation or business English.

See you in my classes.

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

Which part are you worried about?

In questo podcast racconto la mia giornata sui colli bolognesi faccendo la vendemmia, parlo di come si fa, con che strumenti e per gli italiani cosa significa farlo. Tempi verbali: passato prossimo, passato remoto e presente. 

Vivendo tra due lingue

L'arte di vendemmiare

Theory and practice are both important. We need knowledge and we also need experience. In this podcast, I will discuss further about this topic by giving some examples as well.