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Feng Shui

Date: Feb 05 2021

Themes: Featured, Hobbies, How To, Work

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

point

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Do you feel differently based on how you arrange your apartment or house? Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice based on the idea that where you place your furniture can affect your health, income and relationships. Lots of Americans are getting into feng shui and some, like Amanda’s mother, are even making a business out of it.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amanda

Marni

Amanda: My mom just retired, she was an art teacher, and guess what she’s gonna do?

Marni: She’s gonna make art!

Amanda: Close. She’s gonna use those skills, but with her boyfriend, they are gonna start their feng shui landscaping business. Is that not cool?

Marni: It sounds super cool…I have to admit my ignorance, I don’t exactly understand feng shui.

Amanda: It’s alright. Feng shui is the concept of placement and direction so that the chi flows the most freely. So whether it’s furniture in a home or lighting or actually if your house is on a hill. You can use the same for landscaping, where a tree is…

Marni: So are you supposed to arrange things differently according to the direction of your house, if your house faces north…

Amanda: Yes, and if you have bad feng shui it’s supposed to give you bad luck and I kinda believe in that. I kinda do.

Marni: So go back and explain the chi. I have to admit, again…

Amanda: Chi has to be able to freely flow from the front door all the way through your living spaces.

Marni: Okay.

Amanda: Yeah. And one point of feng shui for the office is your back should never face the entrance to your cubicle or office. Ever.

Marni: I thought that was more of a mafia thing, like your back should never face the door because they could come in and shoot you from behind.

Amanda: That’s true, it’s kind of Sopranos meets feng shui. Yeah.

Marni: Alright, interesting.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

When Amanda asks Marni to guess what her mother is going to do now that she retired from being an art teacher, Amanda naturally guesses that she’s going to make art. But it turns out she’s going to start a feng shui landscaping business with her boyfriend.

Marni doesn’t know what feng shui is so Amanda explains that it’s arranging the furniture in your home based on the direction it faces. She says that feng shui can even apply to the trees outside a house, which is what her mother and her boyfriend are going to work with. Amanda says that she believes that bad feng shui brings bad luck.

When explaining feng shui, Amanda used the word “chi.” Marni asks what “chi” means and Amanda skirts the question. She says that chi has to flow from the front door to the rest of the house, but she doesn’t explain what chi is, probably because it’s a pretty hard thing to explain. It basically means “energy” or “life force,” and sometimes it’s spelled “qi.”

Amanda says that according to feng shui, a person’s back shouldn’t face the entrance to an office. Half-joking, Marni says that she thought that rule came from members of the mafia who didn’t want to be shot in the back while sitting at a desk. Amanda agrees and says it’s sort of like a combination of The Sopranos, a television show about the mafia, and feng shui.

Do you put thought into how you arrange your living space or do you just throw everything in there and not worry about it? Do you believe in chi and feng shui or do you think it’s all in people’s imaginations?

Comments

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leain

China

what’s the matter with the comment area, it’s chaos

PravinBambhania

India

People roming any where but end of day … they rember their home, he / she wants to return ..

Home should have more positivity !!!

omar saidi

Tanzania, United Republic Of

Well , usually I arrange properly and put my things in apropriete place. its nit and I feel comfatable of that being in my place.

tamago

Japan

New lesson please

Londonregalia

United States

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litianyu0705

China

Using scented candles is also a great way to improve the health of your family, as well as create a romantic and welcoming atmosphere.

Karo1109

Mexico

I Agree with having all your things organized in your house, because that creates a confortable enviroment, but I do not believe the way your furniture is oriented can bring you good or bad luck…

vicmay_lo-flo@live.com.mx

Mexico

I think it is vital to be ordained.
I think it is good to live in a pleasant environment.
But I also believe that the most important is to be comfortable with what you have.

zarin.setare

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i put my thought into how i arrange my room but i dont believe in feng shui.its akind of superstitious but the way design with it can be cool.a kind of variety.

alahwany

Egypt

I think most of guys who still not married yet don’t have the right of choise where things sit inside home. personally I changed the mode sit in my room like changing the place of my bed,office and closet it wasn’t like that On the other hand i like feng shui idea cause i felt that I can control everything around me even the direction of the place where we ‘re gonna live . I have to admit i will feel worry and fear aswell if i have a place like that. :) I like loving among people near to shopping areas , centers ,... etc

zhulinboy

China

I think if you believe it ,then it exists,otherwise it’s nothing.just go with you soul!

Carlie

China

Actually, I don’t really believe in Feng Shui.But in some important cases, my parents believe in it. And it is very comfusing that somthing you can’t explain with regular thought but it really works with Feng Shui theory. All in all, Feng Shui is very comfusing.

pixipi

Viet Nam

In many Easten countries, the people believe in Feng Shui. I didn’t really believe in it so much. But when I visited Singapore and they explained me about it as how the Singaporean arrange their living space.v…v. I a little believe that Feng Shui is true ^o . In Viet Nam, they also believe in it so I think I may ask a Feng Shui landscape business when I do something important

Leon_id

Russian Federation

I'll just make a guess & say that complying with the rules of Fenh Shui sounds like an amazingly compelling activity. You may get so excited about putting the furniture in the right place & let the CHI flow freely that at eventually, it's gonna turn into a kind of obssession. So, my point is Feng Shui could make sens unless you're prone to exaggerating things.

julywidiawati

Indonesia

Feng shui is becoming trend in interior design nowadays, and sometimes..(as a designer)it can not walk together with interior design skill it self.

But it's a new challenge in "my world"..that makes me gotta know more about feng shui..and it's kind of cool…nice. And there is nothing to loose to learn about it because it makes sense somehow.

julywidiawati

Indonesia

i love the lesson so much..

wintercherry

Ukraine

Oh yeah, I believe in feng shui! You can´t sit with your back to the PC monitor! Otherwise you can´t chat!

el_man19341

Mexico

well i dont really believe in feng shui i think we can do that the things happend if we want to without doing or arranging your house in this way or another just believe in yourself and everything could happend

what do you thing about this?