在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语--卢旺达的英语学习者成为了麻省理工学院教授

时间:2021-12-02 01:39:30

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

Rwanda's English Learner Becoming MIT Professor

Purdue University chemistry professor Jianguo Mei is from China. He has been teaching students in the United States for over 10 years.

Mei knows it is important to communicate effectively with his students in English. Sometimes he has trouble today.

That, he said, is one reason why his old student Aristide Gumyusenge will be an excellent professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT.

Gumyusenge, who grew up in Rwanda, will start his career at MIT in January. He is only 30 years old.

Gumyusenge is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering. He recently finished advanced research at Stanford University in California.

If Gumyusenge does a good job over the first five years, he will have a chance to be a permanent professor at MIT.

In an interview with VOA, Gumyusenge said he is looking forward to opening the Organic Materials for Smart Electronics1 lab at MIT. He is currently2 looking at students for his research team.

Growing up in Rwanda, Gumyusenge understood the importance of education. His father was a teacher, after all, but he never thought about teaching.

"Even after high school, I still thought I was going to medical school," Gumyusenge told VOA.

He arrived in the U.S. in the autumn of 2011 after receiving a scholarship to Wofford College in South Carolina. He was part of the Rwanda Presidential Scholars Program.

Gumyusenge said it was not until he started his advanced degree work at Purdue University in Indiana that he thought about a career as a university professor.

He is planning to continue the work he did at Purdue and Stanford on engineering electronic devices. He said some of the things people see in movies set in the future, where people are wearing "smart suits and smart devices," are getting close to becoming real.

He gave an example of a contact lens that can measure the amount of sugar in the body.

"We're trying to make electronics that can be more compatible3 with the body, both mechanically and chemically."

Gumyusenge is working to create materials that can move electricity in the same way that metals in computers chips do now. He said the next thing is for engineers and chemists to work together so they can make products that work better with the body.

But research is only part of his job. He needs to work with students, and that is where Mei said Gumyusenge is strongest.

"Aristide's training in English probably helps him," Mei said, adding: "he handles the language much better than I do."

Mei pointed4 out that Gumyusenge had to work as a teaching assistant during his time at Purdue, both giving lessons and helping5 students in the laboratory. It can cause a lot of worry for teachers who do not speak English well.

"Undergrad students demand much more, actually, than grad students," Mei said, noting that his own difficulty with English is not as much of an issue in his work with Ph.D. students.

Gumyusenge speaks English very well. How did he learn?

Growing up in Rwanda, after his country's civil war ended, one of his favorite things to do was to listen to English-language broadcasts on the family's radio.

Whenever he had the chance, he listened to the VOA Learning English programming. Gumyusenge said he arrived in the United States as a teenager able to speak well and understand American English accents thanks to the programs.

He said the slower speed of the Learning English broadcasts helped him learn quickly compared to news and music programs in English.

"The actual learning program, the speed was adjusted so that people like myself can pick it up. You don't get that once you hit the ground here [in the U.S.]. Really thankful for the program and I really appreciate all the work that you all are doing."

In Rwanda, he was able to learn to read English, but it was hard to find people who could speak without an accent. The announcers for English-language programming in Rwanda had an accent. So, VOA, he said, helped him learn American accents.

Speaking English, he said, "can help you get a job." In addition, Gumyusenge said, a lot of science videos are in English, so students can learn quite a bit on their own by following them.

At Wofford, he found a way to talk with American students. One topic he learned so he could have a conversation? The Star Wars movies.

He understood it would be important for him to learn how to speak confidently with Americans. At first, he just listened and tried to speak the same way as his schoolmates.

"I guess I was lucky because I got here when I was 18 to 19. So, I still had some flexibility6, I guess, in the brain, to allow myself to learn."

While Gumyusenge does not have a strong accent now, "you should have met me in 2011," he said.

What does he say to international students at American universities today? Do not hold on too tightly7 to your old life at home. Experience life in America while you have the chance.

"I know people who get here and change nothing about their daily routine," he said. "They live as if they're still living in Kigali or Lagos."

He continued:

"Be open. Allow for people to approach you. Don't close doors too early. America is such a diverse place, you're going to meet people from different backgrounds. And you never know who's going to have an impact on you."

Words in This Story

scholarship – n. an amount of money that is given by a school, an organization, etc., to a student to help pay for the student's education

contact lens – n. a thin piece of round plastic that is worn on the eye to improve vision

compatible – adj. able to exist together without trouble or conflict : going together well

adjust – v. to change (something) in a minor8 way so that it works better

accent – n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region or country

global – adj. involving the entire world

flexibility – n. capable of being changed

approach – v. to move or become near or nearer to something or someone

diverse – adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 electronics 5q0xB     
n.电子器件,电子学,电子技术
参考例句:
  • About 45000 people worked in electronics in Scotland.苏格兰约有4.5万人在电子行业工作。
  • He wants to brush up his knowledge of electronics.他想温习他的电子学知识。
2 currently SvMzI2     
adv.通常地,普遍地,当前
参考例句:
  • Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
  • Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。
3 compatible YXSyb     
adj.兼容的;能和睦相处的,合得来的
参考例句:
  • You should choose a roommate more compatible to your tastes.你应该挑个和你意气更相投的人同住一室。
  • Health and hard work are compatible.健康与努力工作是一致的。
4 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
5 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
6 flexibility vjPxb     
n.柔韧性,弹性,(光的)折射性,灵活性
参考例句:
  • Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
  • The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。
7 tightly ZgbzD7     
adv.紧紧地,坚固地,牢固地
参考例句:
  • My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时,孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
  • The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起,我们几乎喘不过气来。
8 minor e7fzR     
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
参考例句:
  • The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
  • I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。