Learning

2026-09-25 Practiced Friday commute English and a bakery joke Commute English I’m driving to the company. 更自然：I’m driving to work. / I’m on my way to work. There’s a little bit of traffic, but I don’t think there’s an accident. There are just a lot of cars on the road. Friday is usually a little busy, but on Saturday and Sunday there’s almost no traffic. My estimated arrival time is 6:39. That’s only a little later than usual. Don’t rush. Take it easy. If public transportation were cheaper and faster, I would consider taking it to work. But right now, I still prefer driving. Useful vocabulary determined — 已經下定決心、唔容易放棄 I’m determined to improve my English. out of service — 暫停服務／唔使用得 passenger — 乘客 frustrating — 令人煩躁、挫敗 Funny story — Day-old bread A guy walks into a bakery and asks: ...

2026-09-23 Practiced customer service and food ordering English Customer service: canceled order and price increase Scenario: an order was placed earlier, then canceled after the price increased by about $400. Useful sentences: “Hi, I placed an order in June, but it was canceled. Now the same item costs $400 more. Is there any way to honor the original price or offer a credit?” “I understand policies can change, but this feels unfair. Is there anything you can do to help me today?” “My order was canceled after the price went up. Can you reinstate my order at the original price?” Key vocabulary: ...

2026-09-19 Indoor bike mat / PLENY folding bike Bike: PLENY 5-in-1 Folding Exercise Bike. For this relatively light folding magnetic exercise bike, a 3 mm high-density mat is generally enough for: floor protection anti-slip sweat protection light vibration reduction If using it on the 2nd floor and worried about vibration/noise downstairs, add rubber anti-vibration pads under the bike feet. This is more effective than relying only on a thicker full-size mat. No strong need to replace a 3 mm mat with a 10 mm mat for normal seated cycling. English practice — Funny story Story summary A woman went outside her apartment/building to pick up a package, but she forgot to bring her key. She got locked outside and had to wait for someone to come back into the building. After about 40 minutes, a neighbor arrived and helped her get back in. She felt embarrassed, so later she gave the neighbor some cookies. They eventually became friends. ...

2026-09-18 — Commute English: driving & vocabulary Morning commute English practice Driving 今日遇到一次差啲追尾嘅情況：前車突然停低，因為車速唔快，所以及時煞停；後車亦及時停低。 Useful corrections: The car in front of me suddenly stopped. Luckily, I wasn’t driving very fast, so I was able to brake in time. The car behind me was going very fast and almost hit the back of my car. If someone is driving aggressively, I’ll just let them pass and move into the slower lane. Vocabulary 矛盾 → contradiction There’s a contradiction: I want to take public transit, but I also want to save time. 公共交通工具 → public transit / public transportation public transit 較簡潔自然。 不幸中之大幸 / 因禍得福 → a blessing in disguise 指一件事起初睇落係壞事，但最後帶來好結果。 Listening practice 聽咗一個短故事：有人落樓拎已送到嘅 package，忘記帶鎖匙，被鎖喺門外約 45 分鐘；鄰居最後幫佢入返去，佢送 cookie 多謝對方，之後兩人成為朋友。 ...

2026-09-15 English practice + CCNA / commute notes CCNA progress: 最大問題係「難開始」同「開始後容易分心」，常見 distraction 包括 YouTube、彈 piano、食嘢。 建議用極細步開始：只做 5 分鐘，開 material、skim 一小段，完成就停，重點係降低開始阻力。 Housing: 想開始了解買屋，即使而家 salary 未必夠高，都可以先研究可行性。 Bus vocabulary: vehicle number = 車輛編號；例如巴士車身上的 6016 多數係 vehicle number，唔一定係 route number。 The bus in front of me. = 我前面嗰架巴士。 I saw a bus with the number 6016. Is that the route number, or just the bus number? Public transit: 想研究由屋企去 Secaucus 公司嘅 bus / train 路線、車費同通勤時間。 FedEx / iPhone return: 如果 Apple 提供 prepaid FedEx label，一般可以放入 FedEx drop box。 但 iPhone 價值較高，較穩陣做法係去 staffed FedEx location，攞 drop-off receipt 作證明。 Natural phrase: drop it off in the FedEx drop box。 Useful English corrections I should be doing more, but I didn't. It's hard for me to start, and it's hard to stay focused. There are so many things that distract me. I'm trying to find a new house. I don't think my salary is high enough right now, but I still want to try. HH-vault 原始筆記（需要 GitHub 存取權限）

English practice — 補假、加班與睡眠 「補假」可按語境講： make-up day：口語、易明，但唔一定係最正式 HR 用語。 day in lieu / comp day：較接近「補假／補休」。 substitute holiday：如果係用另一日代替原本假期。 今日練習句： Yesterday was a make-up day. Most people didn't come into work because they prefer time off to extra pay. Only a few of us showed up. 較自然講「最近成日發惡夢」： I've been having a lot of bad dreams lately. Why do you think I've been having so many bad dreams lately? 睡眠表達可改自然啲： 與其講 I dreaming every time，可講 I've been dreaming a lot lately. 如果想表達惡夢令自己較易醒，可以講：One small benefit is that it's easier for me to wake up after a bad dream. HH-vault 原始筆記（需要 GitHub 存取權限）

2026-08-31 English practice — driving to work Useful sentences This bike actually follows the rules and doesn’t cut the line. follow → third-person singular should be follows. follow the rules = 守交通規則。 cut the line = 插隊；開車情境亦可講 cut in front of someone。 The bridge is closed, so I had to take a different route. route 比 road 更適合表示「路線」。 had to = 因為情況而「要／不得不」改路。 Now I’m back on my regular route. regular route = 平時慣常行嘅路線。 It’s not a big deal. ...

Driving English Practice — Rain & Road Conditions Key vocabulary puddle：水氹；細至一般路面積水都可以用。 deep puddle：較深嘅水氹。 flood / flooding：水浸；當成條路或一大片地方都有積水，比 puddle 嚴重。 splash：濺起水花。 skid：車輛打滑、失去抓地力。 Corrected sentence When there are deep puddles on the road, I slow down because the car might splash or skid. 較自然口語亦可以講： When I see deep puddles on the road, I slow down because the car might skid. Usage notes When there has deep puddle ❌ When there are deep puddles ✅ When there’s a deep puddle ✅（單數） When there are floods everywhere 文法上可以，但日常講路面情況更自然係：There’s flooding everywhere. Spelling skid = S-K-I-D HH-vault 原始筆記（需要 GitHub 存取權限）