【英语趣味课堂】她主持的方式-The Way She host

Todd: Now you were saying you worked in radio at a young age but then you went back to it much later in life. Can you talk about that?

Shifani: I did. When I was twenty one years old I got headhunted to do a show. This show was basically a freelance show that had to be done in three different languages at the same time so the range of audience was quite broad. The show was basically anything I wanted, anything I wanted to talk about. So quite often I talked about music, current events, anything political, anything non political, anything that came to my mind I would talk about.

 

Todd: So what were the three languages of the show?

 

Shifani: Hindi, Punjabi and obviously English.

 

Todd: OK and what was the city, where was this at?

 

Shifani: This was in Auckland.

 

Todd: OK. So this was one of these blended radio shows where you slip from one language to another?

 

Shifani: It was. The show was catering¹ for everybody basically so the criteria² was speak in a way that makes people understand even if they don't speak the language. So the trick was to say one third in English, the rest in Hindi and Punjabi where I could and somehow it just made sense.

 

Todd: How did you go about doing that? Did you plan it or does it just kind of roll off your tongue?

 

Shifani: For me I think it's quite natural because my parents speak in Hindi and Punjabi and so for me English is quite natural and so are the other two languages, blending them together was never a problem.

 

Todd: Now when you hear languages being switched back and forth³ like that, are you conscious of it or sometimes you are not even conscious that you're speaking one language or the other?

 

Shifani: I don't think I'm conscious of it at all. It just happens, it's a slip of tongue. All three languages I'm quite fluent in so for me to switch from one to the other is just a natural course of a day.

 

Todd: So since you have experience in the music industry, what do you think makes a good DJ?

 

Shifani: A good DJ is one that's neutral when they need to be and one who can switch sides very quickly and make things controversial from being neutral. What I mean by that is if you have an interesting topic and a caller calls you up and is very positive about it, a good DJ would be able to flip⁴ it over very quickly and say something that would make it controversial.

 

Todd: Now do you think there's a certain balance, like how much you should talk and how much music should be played?

 

Shifani: There is absolutely a balance. Quite often people listen to radio for music so you need to make sure that your music ratio is more than how much you talk but the amount you talk has to be interesting but quite limited.

 

Todd: All right, thanks a lot.

 

Shifani: You're welcome.

 

重点词汇：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

criteria

 

The criteria was spoken in a way that makes people understand even if they don't speak the language.

 

Criteria is what we use to form an opinion or make a decision about something. Notice the following:

 

The criteria was based on gossip.

By what criteria did you make that decision?

roll off the tongue

 

Does it just kind of roll off your tongue?

 

When something rolls off our tongue, that means we say it without much thought or effort. Notice the following:

 

The words just rolled off his tongue.

After two years in the UK, the English just rolled off her tongue.

switched back and forth

 

You hear languages being switched back and forth.

 

To switch back and forth means to quickly and repeatedly change from one thing to another. Notice the following:

 

They switched back and forth from French to English.

The lead switched back and forth several times during the match.

a slip of tongue

 

It just happens, it's a slip of tongue.

 

When we say something we should not have, it's called a slip of the tongue. Notice the following:

 

A slip of the tongue almost cost him his job.

Sorry, it was a slip of the tongue.

flip over

 

A good DJ would be able to flip it over very quickly and make it controversial.

 

When we flip something over, that means we change the meaning. Notice the following:

 

The lawyer flipped⁵ over everything I said.

He could quickly flip anything over.

1 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

5 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。