If you never heard of this festival, let me fill you in today! If you like my podcast , subscribe to it!
01:00 What are the origins of the Chinese New Year? 中国春节的由来
02:49 When is Chinese New Year? 什么时候过春节
03:42 How we Preparing for the New Year?
04:19 What do we do in New Year's Eve? 除夕夜
05:10 the Lantern Festival 元宵节

New Year’s Eve events 除夕夜的习俗
the Spring Festival 春节 [chūn jié]
set off Fireworks 放烟花 fàng yān huā
set off Firecrackers放鞭炮 fàng biān pào
New Year ’ s Eve dinner年夜饭 nián yè fàn
Hang red scrolls 贴春联 tiē chūn lián
Hang the Lantern 挂灯笼 guà dēng lóng
Dumpling 饺子 jiǎo zǐ
a glutinous rice balls 汤圆 tāng yuán
Lantern Festival 元宵节 yuán xiāo jiē
the lion dance 舞狮 wǔ shī（舞is short for跳舞，狮=狮子）
新年快乐 xīn nián kuài lè
恭喜发财 gōng xǐ fā cái

Talk to Cara in Chinese

11.中国节日系列：春节 Chinese New Year

I invite you to tune in to hear the rest of my conversation with Listening Expert Cara Leopold with Leo Listening. This time, we talk about how to get used to different accents and speaking speeds and motivate yourself to learn a language for work or school even if you don't want to. You'll also learn what to do if your language learning has stalled, bad habits language learners pick up when learning a language in a traditional classroom setting, reductions and linking, and how to improve your English skills by joining a movie club. Here are a couple of excerpts from our conversation: "The irony is that it's usually the words that you already know that cause the most problems." "People resent it (the English language), and I understand that because it's imposed on a lot of people, and obviously, we can't expect everyone to be excited about learning it. So I totally understand those feelings, which are valid. I think then, if you can't get excited about English, what can you get excited about? What interests you, in general?" 

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Original theme music by Lucas Knutter. 

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/english-language/. 

Join the Express to Impress community on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/express-to-impress/.

Express to Impress

Listening Expert Shares How to Understand More of the English Language

Get ready for a special treat! In this episode, I talk with Cara Leopold, an English Teacher known as the Listening Expert. We covered a lot of topics, so this will be the first of two episodes with our conversation. The main theme of our conversation was building great listening skills in another language. In this first episode, we talk about the importance of listening when learning another language, including pronunciation, and what to do when you don’t understand your colleagues in meetings.  Here are some gems from this episode:

“People might think, “I spend most of my time speaking.” But listening is actually the skill that dominates. So by that logic, the foundation for also learning future languages should be listening.”

“So what’s really helped me to get fluent in French is observing what people say, understanding them, and then copying them.”

“Notice the expressions that people keep using and then use them. You will sound more authentic because you'll be using what the people around you actually say, as opposed to what you read in a book or what you got out of a list of 100 idioms.”

Tune in to get more valuable insights from Cara, so you’ll understand more of what people say around you! The second part of our conversation will be released in the next episode. 

Read the transcript here: https://www.express-to-impress.com/listening-skills/.

Original theme music by Lucas Knutter 

How to Improve Your Listening Skills With Movies With Cara Leopold

Want to use more common sayings while speaking in English?  Tune into the latest Express to Impress Podcast episode to learn ten common sayings for everyday conversations. 

This episode is a follow-up to the previous episode, Word Choice in Journalism and Business with Steven Youngblood. If you haven’t checked out that episode yet, you won’t want to miss it! 

When you use these common sayings in everyday conversations, you’ll connect better with native English speakers. 

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Read the transcript here: https://www.express-to-impress.com/common-sayings/
Original theme music by Lucas Knutter


10 Common Sayings in American English

How you tell a story matters. The way you talk about why you lost your job can cost you a potential one. The way you explain the reason for layoffs can cause panic among employees and stakeholders. And the way journalists report the news can incite violence. Framing, including word choice, is one of the most important areas peace journalists discuss and develop. To find out what business professionals could learn from peace journalists about storytelling, I invited Steven Youngblood, Director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University, for a conversation on The Express to Impress Podcast. Here are some excerpts from our conversation; “The question should never be, do we withhold the information? The question should be, how do we convey the information?” “If you want to be an informed person in 2022, it is going to take an effort. So the first thing I tell my students is not to depend on social media for their news. This, despite the fact that study data shows that's exactly where they get their news from.” Tune in to get more valuable insights from Steven, so you're well prepared to tell stories about challenging events. 
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Episode originally published May 27, 2022 

Original theme music by Lucas Knutter 

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/word-choice/ 

Join the Express to Impress community on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/express-to-impress/

Word Choice in Journalism and Business With Steven Youngblood

Want to use more natural expressions when you speak English? Tune into the latest Express to Impress Podcast episode to learn English sayings for everyday conversations. Specifically, you’ll learn six idioms, phrases, adjectives, and adverbs. 

This episode is a follow-up to the previous episode, Less is More: Tips for Effective International Business Communication.

When you use these English sayings in everyday conversations, you’ll connect better with native English speakers. 

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Episode originally published April 22, 2022

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/english-sayings/

Join the Express to Impress community on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/express-to-impress/.

Learn how to use the Shadowing Technique at https://www.express-to-impress.com/english-learning/

Original theme music by Lucas Knutter