VOA慢速英语 2007 1203b

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. This week on our program, we talk about learning¹ English. 

(SOUND)         

VOICE ONE:

We are listening to a class of English language learners. For this exercise they have to repeat a series of words beginning with the letter T. Some laugh as they struggle with the words. They are trying to say "The tip of the tongue to the teeth."

TEACHER AND STUDENTS: "The tip of the tongue to the teeth. The tip of the tongue to the teeth."
TEACHER: "OK."
STUDENTS: "The tip of the tongue to the teeth."
TEACHER: "Uh-huh, it's also a bit of a tongue twister."

VOICE TWO:

The teacher, David Bennett, speaks slowly and clearly. He has a doctorate² in chemistry. He retired³ from teaching⁴ science at a private boys school in Washington, D.C. Now he teaches this English class two times each week at a church in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.

Not all of the exercises are tongue twisters -- a mouthful like "she sells seashells by the seashore."

DAVID BENNETT: "Wake."
STUDENTS: "Wake. Wake."

Here, David Bennett leads the class in pronouncing words that begin with W. 

DAVID BENNETT: "So I can wake in the morning, or I wake up. Wake. Wall."
STUDENTS: "Wall."
DAVID BENNETT: "Wall, yes. What’s the next one?"
STUDENTS: "Walk."
DAVID BENNETT: "Walk, yes walk."
ONE STUDENT: "Walk."
DAVID BENNETT:  "Walk.  There’s no L sound in it at all. It’s just walk. OK."
ONE STUDENT: "Warm."
ALL: " Warm"
DAVID BENNETT: "The room’s warm. Warm. Warm. A duck has feet that are, that have, a web. Or a spider makes a web."

VOICE ONE:

In class on this autumn day are seven women from six countries: Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, France, Japan and Slovakia. Some are in the United States because of their husband's work. Others are here to work in child care as au pairs.

The women have already studied beginning English. They are taking the class because they want to learn more American English. They want to be able to understand common expressions like "beating around the bush." That means to avoid answering a question or saying something directly.

David Bennett points out that another expression -- "beating the drum" -- has two meanings. It could simply mean playing the musical instrument, a drum. Or it could mean leading a campaign, like beating the drum for political change. 

VOICE TWO:

Learning a language can be a chance to learn about a culture as well. Recently the students read a story from the Internet about the history of the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

Pencils and pens flew over copies of the story as the students marked words they did not understand, so they could ask the meaning.

As each student read a part of the story to the class, the teacher would repeat any word they did not say correctly. Then the speaker would repeat the word after him.

VOICE ONE:

The teacher also asked the women about festivals or holidays in their own countries. A young au pair from Bolivia talked about a fish festival at Lake Titicaca. As she talked her words started to come with greater ease⁵.

Another woman described a grape festival in Slovakia. Others talked about wine and film festivals. Their teacher listened carefully and repeated words that were hard for them to say.

VOICE TWO:

Yet even words that might be easy to say can still lead to misunderstandings, at least in spoken English. David Bennett talks about the word "week." Spelled W-E-E-K it means a period of time. There are seven days in a week. But "weak," spelled W-E-A-K, has a very different meaning. It means the opposite of strong.

VOICE ONE:

The students in the class practice what they learn among themselves. The program centers not just on writing, but also speaking and understanding English.

There are different ways to teach a language. These days, English teachers are taught that the best method is the communicative approach. The goal is for students to be able to communicate in their new language. This means teaching the language used in real-life situations -- like getting a job or completing medical forms or speaking to a child's teacher.

 
Dominican immigrant⁶ Elena Clarisa Sepulveda was on a wait list for more than one year for ESL classes
(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Language schools can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. But some programs, like the one in Bethesda, cost only the price of the workbooks. Many religious groups organize classes like this. Classes are also offered through public schools and community colleges.

English lessons are in strong demand in the United States, and people may have to wait for an opening.

VOICE ONE:

English learners and teachers can find many free resources on the Internet, including at sites like manythings.org and eslcafe.org. Two other resources that might also be of interest to teachers are TESOL and TESL-L.

TESL-L is an international discussion⁷ list for teachers of English as a second or foreign language. They represent all levels of experience and training. There is no cost to subscribe⁸ to this independent online list. The easiest way to find it is to do an Internet search for T-E-S-L-dash-L.

T-E-S-O-L is TESOL, short for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. About fourteen thousand members belong to this organization. TESOL is also connected with other education groups throughout the world. For more information, the Web site is tesol.org.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Kelly Lopez is an American citizen who was born in Honduras. Spanish was her first language. Her advice for English learners is to think in English instead of just translating. She also suggests trying to find people who were born in the United States and practice with them.

VOICE ONE:

Maria Neves of Recife, Brazil, was in the United States several years ago to attend a dance program in New York. She keeps English fresh in her mind by writing letters to American friends. She also suggests that language learners record their voice, then listen and try to correct mistakes. And, she says, "Never miss an American movie."

Reading English subtitles⁹ or closed captioning¹⁰ can also be helpful when watching DVDs or television shows.

Movies, TV shows and songs have helped millions of people learn languages. But there are other useful resources that adult learners might not think of -- like children's books and comic books.

VOICE TWO:      

Adults can do a good job of learning languages, but children are just naturally better while their brains are still forming. Nine-year-old Ukyeon Kim from South Korea is a good example. He attends the fourth grade at a public school in Fairfax County¹¹, Virginia.

The family has decided¹² to return to South Korea. But people who know Ukyeon say he learned¹³ English very fast. He thinks his mother had something to do with that. She read books to him in English before the family came to the United States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

SooJee Han is in the United States through a cooperative¹⁴ program at the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars¹⁶. She is from Seoul where she studied international relations at the Graduate School of International Studies.

She learned to read and write English in school in South Korea. But mostly she learned the grammar and structure of the language. More recently, she discovered Special English programs, like this one. She says they have helped her improve her English skills.

(SOUND)

SOOJEE HAN: "A good thing is, several years ago, I was lucky to find VOA English on the Internet. And I was so glad they have Special English. The broadcasters read news with slow speech so I can follow their accurate¹⁷ pronunciations."

VOICE TWO:

SooJee Han likes to download MP3 files from voaspecialenglish.com and listen to them on her iPod while walking or riding the train. In fact, she even asked for, and received, an internship¹⁵ in the Special English office.

Special English does not teach English the way a foreign language program would. But many people find it highly¹⁸ useful as a way to improve their American English.

Transcripts¹⁹ of programs -- including this one -- can be downloaded along with MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. And there are links to other resources for people who want to learn the world's most widely taught foreign language.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver²⁰. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Shirley Griffith. Listen again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

 

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

5 ease   

n. 安乐,安逸,悠闲; v. 使...安乐,使...安心,减轻,放松

参考例句：

• His mind was at ease and he felt confident in the future. 他心情舒畅,对前途很有信心。
• You should ease up on the child and stop scolding her. 你应该对那个孩子宽松些,不要再骂她了。

6 immigrant   

adj.(从国外)移来的，移民的；n.移民，侨民

参考例句：

• Life in the USA was very hard for almost every new immigrant.美国的生活几乎对每一个新移民都很艰难。
• I'd like to obtain some information about applying for an immigrant visa.我想取一些申请移民签证的资料。

7 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

8 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

9 subtitles   

n.说明字幕，印在外国影片上的对白翻译字幕，译文对白字幕；小标题，副标题( subtitle的名词复数 )；（电影的）字幕

参考例句：

• subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing 为耳聋和听力不佳者打出的字幕
• a Polish film with English subtitles 附有英语字幕的波兰影片

10 captioning   

v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的现在分词 )

参考例句：

11 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

14 cooperative   

adj.有合作意向的，合作的；n.合作社（企业）等

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• We decided to set up a cooperative.我们决定开办一家合作社。

15 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

16 seminars   

n.研讨班( seminar的名词复数 )；研讨小组；研讨会；培训会

参考例句：

• Teaching is by lectures and seminars. 教学形式为讲座和研讨课。
• They are planning a series of workshops and business seminars. 他们正在筹划一系列研习班和商务研讨会。 来自辞典例句

17 accurate   

adj.正确无误的；准确的，精确的

参考例句：

• He has made an accurate measurement of my garden.他准确地丈量了我的花园。
• He is always accurate in what he says and does.他说的和做的总是正确无误。

18 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

19 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

20 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。