节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-04-24
难易度:Medium
关键字:garment, hopeful, mentor, globe, flea market
Hello, everyone.
My name is Gabe.
My name is Carolyn.
And welcome to Studio Classroom.
Today we are continuing our lesson on Wenlan Chia, a very successful fashion
designer from Taipei.
We learned a little about her background yesterday, so let's learn about what
she's doing now.
A great idea.
Open up your magazine to the second day of our PROFILE article and let's begin.
(Music).
Wenlan Chia.
Chia is inspired by everyday things like art, food, books, music and travel.
When in New York, she visits flea markets to get ideas for her designs for her
garments.
She's known for her playful knitted items and old-fashioned jewelry.
Now Chia is returning to her roots in Taipei.
She's had years of experience in the fashion world.
She wants to share her knowledge with hopeful designers at Shih Chien University
now.
She teaches a class on global fashion design at the school.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
Wenlan sounds like a really wonderful woman who cares about the fashion
designers of the future and wants to share her knowledge with others.
And this is a very unique quality to find in someone that is involved in an
artistic field.
Usually they want to protect the secrets of their success.
But before we talk about that, let's look at the first sentence of our lesson
today.
Yes. Here we learn that Wenlan is inspired by everyday things.
If you are "inspired by something," that means that there is something that
gives you energy or ideas to create or work on something.
For example, the painter was inspired by the beautiful sunset and based many of
his paintings on that scene.
So the sunset gave him the idea, or inspiration, that he needed to create many
beautiful works of art.
Instead of using the phrase "inspired by," you could also say that "something
inspires" or "is inspiring."
For example, watching the sunrise from the top of the mountain was very
inspiring.
Or to use an example from one of our lessons earlier this month, "Eagles inspire
wonder in all who see them."
So what sorts of things inspire you?
Are you inspired by anything?
What do you like to create when you feel inspired?
Perhaps you will feel inspired while we go to the Information Cloud to look at a
word with Steve and Ken.
They want to tell us about the word "everyday," or is it "every day"?
If you've been listening to Studio Classroom for a while, you should know by now
that "every day" should be written as two words.
I get up every day at seven o'clock.
"Every day" in that sentence should be two words.
Very basic, right?
But some of the more observant among you are probably wondering why does
"everyday" appear as one word in today's lesson?
Good catch.
Did Studio Classroom finally make a mistake after all these years?
Well, let's take a closer look at the sentence.
Chia is inspired by everyday things like art, food, books, music and travel.
Notice the part of speech that "everyday" is in the sentence.
It's an adjective.
That's right.
We can put "everyday" together as one word only when we use it as an adjective,
meaning "common" or "ordinary."
And what does an adjective do?
It modifies a noun.
So, only use the word "everyday" when you want to describe something.
For example, "everyday clothes" are clothes that you normally wear.
"Everyday people" are ordinary people.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, when you're speaking, "everyday" and "every day" sound pretty similar, but
it's good to know the difference when you are reading and writing English.
You are right.
Now continuing to learn about Wenlan's inspiration.
She gets some of the ideas for her garments by visiting flea markets.
You can see a lot of very interesting items at flea markets.
You sure can.
People sell everything from clothes to costumes to handbags to jewelry to
joys... I mean, toys, to foods, to books (and of course, joys as well), and
pictures.
You know, if it exists, you can probably find it at the flea market.
Which means that they are a great place to go if you are looking for some unique
ideas to inspire your designs.
And that's exactly what Wenlan does since she is inspired by everyday objects.
And she is known for a few distinct styles.
So let's look at the phrase: to be known for something.
If you are "known for something," that means you have a reputation for something
or that something is common knowledge about you.
Are you known for anything?
Maybe you are known for your cheerful attitude and always having a smile on your
face.
You might be known for being a good cook or a great baker.
Or maybe you're known for knowing a lot about a certain subject.
You could be known for your great English writing skills or your knowledge about
different animals.
Ah yes. Well, there are many things that you can be known for.
So what kind of reputation do you have?
Are you known for being loud? Quiet?
Try talking about that in English.
Well, Wenlan is known for certain styles, one of which is her playful knitted
clothing.
But what does it mean if "clothing is playful," Carolyn?
Does that mean that you can play a little game with it?
Uh, not quite.
If you describe something as playful, that means that it is "lively and fun."
It's not supposed to have a defined purpose.
You're just supposed to enjoy it.
So if clothing is playful, it looks fun.
And many times we use the word "playful" to describe something that you play
with or something that likes to play.
Like a kitten, kittens and puppies are very playful.
But we wouldn't describe a game as being playful.
Games that you play are "fun" or "fun-filled."
Right.
Well, Wenlan's clothing is very playful, so it just looks like fun to wear.
And if we look at the next paragraph, we learn that she is returning to her
roots.
Usually we use this word to describe the bottom of a plant that goes into the
ground.
But what does it mean here?
Well, if you talk about a person's roots, then you are referring to the place
that they are from or a place that they have a deep connection with due to their
family history.
For example, you could say that his family has deep Irish roots.
That means that they are very connected to their Irish culture and heritage.
You could also say that a person's roots go back a long way.
That means that either that person or their family have lived in a place for a
long time.
For example, her Californian roots go back five generations.
So five generations of her family have lived in California.
Now we usually don't talk about someone's roots unless they have moved away.
So in Wenlan's case, she went to America for many years, but now she is
returning to her roots.
Yesterday we learned that she is a Taipei native.
So if she returns to her roots, that means that she is returning to Taipei.
And that's very exciting.
It's always nice to go back to your roots.
And not only is she going back to her roots in Taipei, but she is also sharing
the knowledge she has acquired in the fashion industry and sharing it with
university students.
You're right.
She is even teaching a class on global fashion design at Shih Chien University.
It's really wonderful that she is sharing her knowledge.
And we should look at that phrase: to share one's knowledge.
Well, that means that you take the things that you have learned and teach
someone else about it.
So even if you are not a professional teacher, anytime you share your knowledge
about something, you are becoming a teacher.
That's great.
It's wonderful to be able to share knowledge with other people.
You can share knowledge about important things like news, science, culture or
language.
But you can also share knowledge about things that are just plain fun,
like how to beat a difficult level on Angry Birds or Candy Crush.
That is still something that you know how to do that other people might not
know.
Right. Well, we have a lot more to learn right after this.