Hello, I'm looking for someone to practice English with on a regular basis. Minimum level required is B1 or above. We can talk about news, technology, work, travellng, music. If interested, send me a private message. This post is aimed at English learners and not at italki teachers and tutors.

I have a very stressful and demanding job so I am forced to cope with stress. In the past I even had health issues due to stress, but over time I learned how to take the bull by the horns. Simple and apparently obvious pieces of advice can make the difference. First of all, I started to sleep more and better. I listen to relaxing music like blues or Portuguese Fado in order to relax and fall asleep. Secondly, I understood the importance of a healthy diet. Not only did I lose fat, but I also felt more energetic. My next step was giving myself boundaries. Setting a minimum sleeping time, forcing myself to have a ten-minute coffee break, trying to forget about work when at home. After that I started to schedule all the activities, whether they were related to work or not. I know everything is urgent, but it is impossible to do everything right away. Creating a schedule helps defining a pace and making order in our minds and documents, Last but not least, having a distraction, like a hobby or sports. It is incredible how a video game or a book can help in that regard. But the real challenge is being consistent and staying focused, especially when things get hard.

I've always been skeptical about e-book readers, since I thought good old paper was the best way to read, feel the books and avoid eyestrain. But this year I got a Kobo from my father, and soon I changed my mind. Not only can it contain hundreds of books, but it can also connect to Pocket app to read articles and news. In other words, I can browse articles on my smartphone and PC and save them to Pocket to read them later. Then, when I have time I pick up my e-book reader which is synchronised and take my time to read the news. Never did I thought a so simple device could help me change my habits and read more instead of watching silly videos on the internet. In addition to that, apart from the device it is all free! Note I wrote this just as an exercise to practice English writing without using a translator, my advice in sincere and I'm not promoting any product.

Hello, is there anyone who wants to chat? Just to practice English and have a nice conversation (no flirting). Only text messages for now, maybe Skype calls if we get on well :D No teachers, I already have lesson scheduled with tutors/teachers.

Hello, I'm looking for someone to practice English with by text messages, e-mail and Skype calls. I'd like someone with an English level similar to mine, which is B1+. Learning together can be fun and useful at the same time ;)

How can I ask to do something before the scheduled time? For example, imagine you have an appointment at 10 am, and you want to ask to have it at 9 am. Are this sentences correct? - I'd like to bring forward the appointment by one hour - I'd like to bring forward the appointment to one hour - I'd like to bring forward the appointment at 9 am - I'd like to bring forward the appointment to 9 am What's the most natural way to ask that? Are there other forms than "bring forward"? In Italian we use the verb "anticipare", but in English "to anticipate" has a different meaning, it means to predict or to expect. Thanks in advance for your answers. Bye!

Mobile phones changed our daily lives, like telephones, cars, TV, etc. did in the previous centuries. The main advantage brought by mobile phones is connectivity, the power to communicate with everyone we want anywhere, everywhere. Not only can we socialize online, but also ask for help and assistance at any time. Another big advantage is having a telephone, a camera, a GPS, a vocabulary, and many other devices integrated in one small device, always at hand. All these functionalities can be used to learn languages, to get information while travelling, to take pictures, to read e-mails when you're not at the office. Unfortunately, every new technology has its drawbacks. Mobile phones can be addictive, especially while using social media, videogames and watching fun videos. On top of that, they make us accustomed to quick and easy content rather than going deep into information: people read more newspapers, but they only read the headlines. The worst aspect is that mobile phones are devices meant to consume content, whereas PCs are more suitable for creating content: in fact, mobile apps are created with PCs. All these disadvantages mentioned above lead people to use their brain less, and to become just consumers, or worse, the product itself. In my opinion, mobile phones, especially smartphones, are a great milestone in human progress, and everybody is potentially capable of using this new power in a healthy and beneficial way.

Taking advantage of unexpected free time I know many people who are spending this quarantine just watching TV series, sleeping, eating, complaining. Personally I think there's plenty of time to do that, AND time to do something useful as well. For example, finally I had time to finish reading a book I had started months ago and left halfway through, to complete an online course about computer programming, to clean the house (I mean a deep cleaning). Now I'm taking advantage of this spare time having online English classes and conversations, on italki and with teachers from a language school located in my city. I've also learned how to cook feijoada (Brazilian black beans) and had the chance to practice spoken Portuguese talking with friends and relatives. Furthermore, I had time to do exercises at home using gymnastic equipment, and to work remotely at least two days a week. So when I talk to people who spend all their time watching Netflix or sleeping, then complaining they have trouble in finding a good job, I try to motivate them to do something to improve themselves. All in all, personally I won't have a bad memory of this isolation since I had time to improve my skills in both work and non-work fields. The real downsides of this pandemic are the death toll and the economic recession we are going to face. We must be optimistic and do our best to go back to normal life.