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The internship program was one of the most prestigious in all Washington State. And while Susan had expected running it to be a challenge, she had not expected the largest hurdles to come from the company's own upper management, which soon began exerting pressure to find space for the sons and daughters of those connected to the board. And so much so that what used to be a program attracting the smartest and brightest in the country was rapidly descending into a day care center for a more privileged elite.

One of the best things about living in Hong Kong is the amazing culinary diversity in the city, and particularly the whole range of Asian cuisines. If you're planning on taking full advantage of life in the culinary metropolis that is Hong Kong, you'll need to know the Cantonese to talk about tastes and flavors. Which is where this podcast comes in, eager to cover all the bases from sweet to sour.Learning Cantonese? This Cantonese lesson is intended for beginners to the language. If you are totally new to Cantonese, we recommend starting with our Basic Cantonese series, which introduces the absolute basics of the language in a progressive format that repeats and reinforces the simplest and most useful vocabulary in the language. Once you've passed through those lessons, you'll be ready for shows at - this - our Beginner level, which keeps the emphasis on basic sentence structures and high-frequency vocabulary while showcasing short, manageable dialogues in colloquial Cantonese.

Mary had expected the long hours and the occasionally soul-crushing minutiae of handling the international accounts. Carpenter & Wilkins was one of the leading law firms on the island and catered to a top-tier clientele of financial firms, which meant a constant inflow of new legal issues. But even though her work environment was challenging, Mary found her job a lot less social than she had expected. Perhaps it was memories of law school, but she had expected more camaraderie with her fellow lawyers. Perhaps she needed to take the initiative?Learning Cantonese? As it turns out, sometimes you can ask a question without really asking a question, and sometimes you can reduplicate a verb even if there isn't a verb anywhere in sight. If this sounds confusing don't worry about it, it's just conversational Cantonese as spoken in Hong Kong. Take a listen to today's lesson and if you have any questions, drop a note in our comment section anytime or email us anytime at [email protected].

What was it about the New York professional set when it came to punctuality and romance? This was Susan's third date in mid-town Manhattan and the third time she'd been kept waiting over half an hour. In most situations you try to be a little flexible, sure, but thirty minutes? On a first date? It was as if this section of the city existed in a private bubble where the normal rules of social courtesy simply didn't apply. She glared at her watch and resolved to wait another five minutes, no more....

The temperature in Kowloon Financial's head office had risen steadily through the day, from a comfortable twenty degrees at opening to its current sweat-inducing thirty degrees. James would have opened the window to create a draft, but with the temperature outside several degrees higher than this, and not even the least wind blowing in off the bay, it seemed that the only thing to do was suffer through this heatwave, or find whoever was responsible for fixing the air conditioner.Learning Cantonese? Our lesson today is based on a truism that anyone who has worked in a major office should recognize: that sometimes it isn't the heat that's bothering you so much as your co-workers.