节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-07-08
难易度:Medium
关键字:handwriting, recommend, instruct, legible, spell check
Well, we're talking all about handwriting today.
And the question in our title is "Is it necessary or not?" So we're enjoying a
conversation between two friends, Jack and Jim.
And of course Jim recommended a restaurant to Jack.
He wrote it down.
And Jack thought that Jim had nice handwriting.
Jim values handwriting.
But Jack thinks that, well, everyone just uses computers these days, so he
doesn't think handwriting is as valuable.
What do you think?
Well, let's continue enjoying this conversation between these two friends.
Handwriting: Necessary or Not?
Call me old-fashioned, but I still write letters and cards by hand.
Besides, everyone needs to write things by hand sometimes, so it's important to
make sure your writing is legible.
Yeah, but I think most people's writing is legible already.
At least it's good enough for the small amount they have to write.
For anything long, printed papers usually look neater.
Plus, when we type we can use spell check to make sure our spelling and grammar
are correct.
That's exactly why students should write by hand!
How can they learn to spell if the computer always does it for them?
Well, Jim is making some good points.
It is important to know how to spell words.
Now going back to the beginning of this section, Jim has the first line, so I...
I will pick that up, Gabe.
Good.
Call me old-fashioned, but I still write letters and cards by hand.
Wait, wait.
Hold on a second, Carolyn.
I know you would like to continue.
Jim has a very good line here.
He still writes letters and cards by hand.
Let's take a look at a phrase from this sentence.
It has to do with our topic today - handwriting.
So when you write something by hand, that is called handwriting.
However, the opposite, or something else you could do, is typing on a computer.
So the verb is to type something out.
But would you say that you handwrite, Carolyn?
Well, I would say that I write by hand.
So it's a little bit of a different way to express the idea.
You have handwriting, which is writing that you write by hand.
You need to use that phrase, not I handwrite.
That's right.
Handwriting is only a noun here.
So you can type something; that could be a verb.
But you write something by hand.
Now if you have written something, then you can say it is handwritten.
H-A-N-D-W-R-I-T-T-E-N.
It's not typed on a computer.
It's handwritten.
That's right.
So this is a little bit different.
You have handwriting, write by hand, and handwritten.
Well, I will continue on.
Actually, there is a great phrase here that I think Liz would like to tell us
some more about in the Grammar Gym.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
In our VIEWPOINTS article today we see this sentence:
Call me old-fashioned, but I still write letters and cards by hand.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus is at the beginning of the sentence: Call me old-fashioned, but...
Now when we say "call me," we usually mean we're asking someone to pick up a
phone and give us a call.
But in today's sentence, "call me old-fashioned" means you can say I am
old-fashioned.
This phrase, call me + [a description], is usually at the beginning of a
sentence.
It is used in situations where a speaker admits to being a certain way but wants
to explain himself or herself.
For example:
Call me conservative, but I just don't believe in putting my money in such risky
investments.
Or: Call me a coward, but I just don't feel comfortable going bungee jumping.
If you have a copy of this month's magazine with you, please check out today's
Grammar Tip section for more examples.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
OK. Let's continue.
Jim says... well, what does Jim say anyway, Carolyn?
Well, Jim continues:
Besides, everyone needs to write things by hand sometimes, so it's important to
make sure your writing is legible.
Very good.
Let's take a look at that key word there straight from our Word Bank.
It is "legible." If something is legible, that means other people can read it
easily.
It's legible.
Carolyn, you said people can read your handwriting easily.
So you have legible handwriting.
That's right.
My handwriting would be legible for most people.
Now my mom works for a doctor.
And doctors are very well-known in the United States for having handwriting that
is not legible.
That's right.
It's very difficult to read.
That's right.
Doctor's handwriting that... that's not legible.
Well, if something is not legible, you could use this phrase.
You're trying to read it, you say: You know, I can't make this out.
That means I can't understand what's written here.
I can't make this out.
It's not legible.
That's right.
Well, uh, Jim values handwriting that is legible.
He thinks it is very important.
How does Jack respond to this, Gabe?
Yeah, but I think most people's writing is legible already.
OK.
At least it's good enough.
It's good enough for the small amount they have to write.
That's what Jack thinks.
You don't have to write very much.
For anything long, he says, printed papers usually look neater.
Well, that is true.
If you print a document, you type it instead of handwriting it, then it does
look a lot neater.
And it might be more legible than people's handwriting.
That's right.
"Plus," Jack is not finished...
Plus, when we use... or when we type we can use spell check to make sure our
spelling and grammar are correct.
So it's not important, Jack thinks, for your handwriting to be too legible or to
focus too much on handwriting.
We have things like spell check.
Carolyn, what is spell check?
Well, spell check is a computer program that a lot of word processors use, so.
Maybe you use Microsoft Word or another program when you type your documents.
And a lot of them have a function called spell check that helps to make sure
that all of your words are spelled correctly.
It's true.
And I notice that when I'm using my smartphone and using different apps to text
people or to communicate with people, a lot of those have spell check as well.
So it's really easy these days to not even focus on your spelling.
I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
Well, it's time for us to continue now learning something with Steve and Ken in
the Information Cloud.
Hi, friends.
Do you know what a typo is?
A typo is a mistake, most often a misspelling, which occurs when a person using
a typewriter, computer keyboard or smartphone accidentally hits a wrong key.
Typos are definitely things we should avoid.
They're unprofessional.
They have the potential of being costly.
And they can cause great confusion and embarrassment.
Like when a North American newspaper once misspelled its own name on its own
front page.
The Valley News spelled "Newss" with two Ss.
Oops!
Well, thank goodness for spell checkers.
They're a quick and easy way to check for misspelled words.
They are, but don't put all your trust in spell checkers because they can't
detect every error.
Right.
You may type a word correctly, but it may not be a word you intended.
For example, you want to type the word "nuclear," but you mistakenly type
"unclear" instead.
Or you mistakenly type "abroad" instead of "aboard." There's no mistake in the
spelling.
It's just not the word you wanted.
These are examples of atomic typos, which are tiny, undetected one-letter
mistakes that change the meaning of a sentence.
This name, atomic typos, comes from the fact that the typos are extremely hard
to see, like atomic particles.
Which are tiny.
(Chinese).
It's true, we do need to be careful when we're typing documents because
sometimes spell check changes the word to a word we didn't want to use.
And Jim continues about the importance of spelling:
That's exactly why... students should write by hand.
How can they learn to spell if the computer always does it for them?
Hmm, how can they learn to spell?
If a computer always does something for you, maybe you won't learn how to spell.
Well, that raises a question: How important is spelling in today's world?
What do you think, Carolyn?
Well, I know that a lot of people don't really value spelling because it takes a
really long time and a lot of space to type out words when you're texting or
sending a message.
But when I read a book, if there's a word that is spelled wrong, I can get
really confused.
That's right, especially maybe if it's an atomic typo like we learned about in
the Info Cloud.
Well, I think spelling is pretty important as well, but lots of people have
different opinions about this.
Right now it's time for us to learn something new with Michelle in the Language
Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now let's head back to our teachers.
Well, today we've been enjoying a conversation between Jack and Jim on whether
or not handwriting is necessary.
I wonder, do you have to handwrite your assignments in school, or does your
teacher have you type them instead?
Gabe, what do you do more?
Well, I remember in school, especially elementary school, my teachers had us
take notes by hand.
She emphasized handwriting, Carolyn.
Yes. And I had the same experience, but as I got older, typing became more
important.
Well, we have more to learn in this lesson tomorrow here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.