Easy audio! ~ 簡単なオーディオ! いいリスニング練習!

Jerry Smith

One Minute English listening practice! リスニング練習!

Pokemon GO not welcome at 

Peace Memorial

Click for the webpage with audio!

Use - 2 meanings, 2 pronunciations - 使う and 用途

USE can be a verb or a noun and the pronunciation is slightly different.  Look at these examples: 

The word 'USE' can be a verb (使う) ~ "May I use your telephone? I have to call my Mom." The verb form has a Z (zee) sound at the end. YOUZ 

The word 'USE' can also be a noun (用途) ~ "Studying English is a great use of your time." The noun form has an S (ess) sound at the end. YOUS

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News conversation topics with AUDIO (リスニング練習) Syrian refugees

Canadians prepare to welcome 

thousands of Syrian refugees

1. Read the story and study the new words ~ 英文を読んで新しい単語を学習します
2. Listen to the story audio once or twice while reading the notes ~ 英文を見ながらオーディオを2,3回聞きます
3. Listen to the story audio again a few more times without the notes, just focusing on listening ~ 英文は見ないで聞くことに集中し、オーディオを2,3回繰り返し聞きます

Click for PDFs

Click for audio MP3

Use - 2 meanings, 2 pronunciations - 使う and 用途

USE can be a verb or a noun and the pronunciation is slightly different.  Look at these examples:

The word 'USE' can be a verb (使う) ~ "May I use your telephone? I have to call my Mom." The verb form has a Z (zee) sound at the end. YOUZ


The word 'USE' can also be a noun (用途) ~ "Studying English is a great use of your time." The noun form has an S (ess) sound at the end. YOUS

Listen to the English audio below:

"Our natural sleep cycle" 上級-リスニング Challenge yourself!!! (上級)

TED talk with downloadable worksheet from Lingua House 

Download and look at the worksheet then watch the video and 

answer the questions to check your understanding.

Click button to download worksheet

View the video on TED Talks by clicking here:

View the video from YouTube in your blog:

Download the transcript here:

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"Humble rice cooker tries to conquer the world" - Listening practice 上級

Listening practice

- Listen to the audio and fill in the blanks.

Ever hear of Tatung? The Taiwanese company used to ____ steel but in 1960 started selling rice cookers that to this day accounts for 95% of all rice cooker sales on the _____.

     And now it wants to _____ the rest of the world.

     What's so special about a rice cooker? This one is _________. It also steams dumplings and simmers stews, making it a must-have ______ in a land where many women continue working after marriage. And where steamed, meat-filled buns are a _______.

     The rice cooker has a ____ double-layer construction that cooks indirectly. Indirect heating is said to ______ nutritional value; it also helps to prevent overcooking.

     An outer pot holds and boils water, which heats food in an inner pot. When the water in the first chamber ________, the device shuts itself off, keeping the ingredients in the second chamber at a warm 70 C. According to a Tatung representative, the cooker steams rice more evenly than other cookers.

     Tatung's electric cooker is especially good for reheating steamed dumplings and similar dishes because it tends to preserve the original flavor and texture, which are often lost when reheated in a microwave or ______ oven.

     Tatung introduced the cooker more than half a century ago because it wanted to ____ more steel.

     Tatung had a technical ______ with Toshiba back then and got its inspiration for the rice cooker's design from its Japanese partner.

     The _____ best-selling rice cooker at a mass-retailer in Taipei is a 4-liter Tatung that sells for around 2,330 New Taiwan dollars (about US$78). It is _______ in green, pink or other colors.

     According to the store manager, the shop sells around 100 of these ______ per month. Newlyweds are big fans. It is also a _________ among students and business people heading abroad.

_______________________________________________

*Find the answers on the original blog post from 12/09/2015

*Was this listening practice helpful? Fun? Share it with your friends who learn English too!

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上級-TED Talks - Secrets of success (Advanced English listening)

Richard St. John: Secrets of success

Download worksheet with vocabulary
and listening practice activity

Warm Up

Who do you think is successful? Why are they successful? What does success mean to you?

Understand and practice listening

1. Read the transcript, understand the meaning of the talk and learn any new vocabulary. Match the bold words with their meaning in the chart below the text. You can look up the meaning of any other new words here: Weblio
2. Watch the video and listen to Richard St. John’s talk about the 8 keys to success. Try to listen without the text, only focusing on listening.
3. For extra listening practice try the ‘Fill In the Blanks’ exercise at the bottom of this PDF.

Video Transcript

This is really a two-hour presentation I give to high school students, cut down to three minutes. And it all started one day on a plane, on my way to TED, seven years ago. And in the seat next to me was a high school student, a teenager, and she came from a really poor family. And she wanted to make something of her life, and she asked me a simple little question. She said, "What leads to success?" And I felt really badly, because I couldn't give her a good answer. So I get off the plane, and I come to TED. And I think, jeez, I'm in the middle of a room of successful people! So why don't I ask them what helped them succeed, and pass it on to kids?

So here we are, seven years, 500 interviews later, and I'm gonna tell you what really leads to success and makes TEDsters tick. And the first thing is passion. Freeman Thomas says, "I'm driven by my passion." TEDsters do it for love; they don't do it for money.

Carol Coletta says, "I would pay someone to do what I do." And the interesting thing is: if you do it for love, the money comes anyway.

Work! Rupert Murdoch said to me, "It's all hard work. Nothing comes easily. But I have a lot of fun." Did he say fun? Rupert? Yes!

TEDsters do have fun working. And they work hard. I figured, they're not workaholics. They're workafrolics.

frolic means a playful behavior or action; fun. A workafrolic is means someone who enjoys working. Workafrolic is not a real word! The speaker used it for his talk because we can easily feel the meaning and it rhymes with (sounds like) workaholic, which is a real word.

Good! Alex Garden says, "To be successful put your nose down in something and get damn good at it." There's no magic; it's practice, practice, practice.

And it's focus. Norman Jewison said to me, "I think it all has to do with focusing yourself on one thing."

And push! David Gallo says, "Push yourself. Physically, mentally, you've gotta push, push, push." You gotta push through shyness and self-doubt.

Goldie Hawn says, "I always had self-doubts. I wasn't good enough; I wasn't smart enough. I didn't think I'd make it."

Now it's not always easy to push yourself, and that's why they invented mothers. (Laughter) Frank Gehry -- Frank Gehry said to me, "My mother pushed me."

Serve! Sherwin Nuland says, "It was a privilege to serve as a doctor."

Now a lot of kids tell me they want to be millionaires. And the first thing I say to them is: "OK, well you can't serve yourself; you gotta serve others something of value. Because that's the way people really get rich."

Ideas! TEDster Bill Gates says, "I had an idea: founding the first micro-computer software company." I'd say it was a pretty good idea. And there's no magic to creativity in coming up with ideas -- it's just doing some very simple things. And I give lots of evidence.

Persist! Joe Kraus says, "Persistence is the number one reason for our success." You gotta persist through failure. You gotta persist through crap! Which of course means "Criticism, Rejection, Assholes and Pressure." (Laughter)

So, the big -- the answer to this question is simple: Pay 4,000 bucks and come to TED. Or failing that, do the eight things -- and trust me, these are the big eight things that lead to success. Thank you TEDsters for all your interviews!

Watch the video below (focus on listening!)

Unhealthy Breakfast - 英語のリスニング練習

Unhealthy Breakfast

New words from the story:

bachelor - a man who has never been married

cholesterol - コレステロール

Jack is a bachelor. He works in
downtown Chicago as a shoe salesman.
Every morning on his way to work, Jack
stops at a donut shop and buys a chocolate
donut and a cup of coffee. Jack likes this
morning routine because it is quick and easy.
He doesn’t have to cook breakfast or wash
the dishes.
Last time Jack went to the doctor for
a check-up his doctor told him that he had
high cholesterol. The doctor told Jack to
stop eating foods that are high in fat.

Donuts are fried in a lot of fat.

Click to download the worksheet!

Story and worksheet from http://www.elcivics.com/esl/lessons.html

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上級 Listening Practice! - Google starts one-dollar charity app

Listening Practice!

Listen to the audio and fill in the missing words:

Google starts one-dollar charity app 

The search engine giant Google has started a new app that lets people give just $1 to different ______. Its 'One Today' app shows users a _____ of charities every day. The home page says: "Open the app, and you're presented with several projects to which you can _____ $1 with one click. It's that simple. And most people can _____ the occasional $1 donation." At the moment, it is only available in the USA to people with Android _____ phones. Google hopes to start providing the service around the world soon. Google spokeswoman Maya Amoils blogged: "We look forward to continuing to _____ the One Today experience and to growing our dynamic community with _______ [non-profit organisations]."

The One Today website ______ that: "Google has a long-standing commitment to supporting non-profits and to _____ good. One Today makes fundraising easy for non-profits; it also makes giving simple and fun for users." Google believes the app will mean people can ____ more about non-profits. It also hopes people will share their favorite projects on ____  _____ sites so that more people donate. It adds: "Do good daily! Engage with hundreds of non-profit projects each year and help contribute to their ______." Ms Amoils wrote: "We're amazed by the great work non-profits do on a daily basis to make the world a better place, and we're ________ to provide a new ________ which helps [them]."

Download the story PDF with

________________________________________________________

 

________________________________________________________