英语访谈对话 492 Life in Wales

 　　Todd: So, Steven, where did you go to college?

　　Steve: I went to the University of Wales, um, the College of Cardiff there, so it the United Kingdom, obviously we have England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland and so I spent three years over in Wales.

　　Todd: Wow. Sounds fun. So what's university like in Wales? Is it different than University life in Britain?

　　Steve: Yeah, it is. Um, for example Wales has it's own distinguished¹, distinctive² language and culture as well, so if you go to Wales you'll see street signs written not only in English, but above that you'll have the Welsh language there and Welsh people are very, very proud of their language, and their heritage and there culture and it made it just a slightly different experience from studying over the border in England.

　　Todd: So they speak Welsh? Is that the language?

　　Steve: That's correct. Yeah. Yeah, they do. It's not spoken by everybody in Wales. Since the middle ages, the usage of the language has declined somewhat but there has been a revival³ over the last 30 or 40 years, and now about, maybe about 40% of the Welsh population speak it as either as their first of second language.

　　Todd: Did you learn it while you there?

　　Steve: No, no, I didn't, no. Everybody speaks English there. but there is a lot of good music coming out in Welsh now. There's lots of cultural festivals and when I was at Cardiff, there's lots of pubs where it's Welsh speaking only and it was quite good fun to go in there and try to order a beer and stuff in the Welch language, but that was about as far as I got.

　　Todd: Could you say that there's any, it's a stereo type, that's there's any difference between the Welsh people and the British people?

　　Steve: There is yeah, because they've had a different history and obviously that affects how people have evolved over many centuries. They like different sports for example. They're more into rugby than they are into football. They tend to look slightly different than they do to English people. They tend to have sort of redder hair and darker eyes than English people, but also they're very, very loyal, they're very, very fierce, they're very passionate⁴ people. They're very nice people.

　　Todd: Well, it sounds like a nice place to go. I'd love to go someday.

　　Steve: Yeah it was nice!

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

3 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

4 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。