节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-03-14
难易度:High
关键字:enroll, over (one's) head, summon, flake


























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This article is Difficulties in German.
And it's by Jo Wuertz, who's talking about her own experiences learning German
in Germany.
She enrolled in four classes, but they went over her head.
She did not understand what was being taught in class because it was all in
German.
So she went to a professor and asked if she could have a form saying that she at
least went to the class.
And we're going to see what the rest of the story has to tell us and the rest of
her experience learning German in Germany.
(Music).
Difficulties in German.
I was too afraid to be in his office and revealed how little I could really
understand.
I was sure I was the only one in the class at such a low level.
So I flaked and skipped the meeting.
Years have passed, but I still remember how it felt to struggle so hard at
learning another language.
I think my failures that semester taught me just as much as my successes.
(Music).
Learning another language can be a struggle.
And we can learn a lot from our failures and successes when we try something
new.
Now earlier in the reading, we were talking about Jo went to see her history
professor to ask for a form.
And she didn't actually go to the meeting.
She says: I was too afraid to be in his office and revealed how little I could
really understand.
Uh, Gabe, have you ever been in a situation where you were too afraid to go to
meet someone because you didn't think they would understand?
Oh, man, good question.
I didn't think someone would understand me so I did not go and approach the
person.
Actually, that happens... not often, but it didn't just happen once.
I am more afraid of certain people than I am of others, so it's hard to approach
them.
Maybe I fear that they will see something about me that I don't want them to
know.
Maybe I fear what their response will be.
For some reason or another, I am afraid to approach that certain person.
Um, it's not good to have that attitude.
I think we should kind of be able to have the courage and summon the courage we
need to talk to the people that we need to talk to.
But I did see a word in this sentence.
It is: reveal.
Joe says: I was too afraid to be in his office and reveal how little I could
really understand.
So these things kind of reveal something about you.
Nathanael, how might you use that word "reveal"?
Well, yes. "Reveal" is showing something new, revealing maybe your inside
thoughts.
When you're speaking in a group, you might reveal your deepest thoughts to let
them get to know you.
Or maybe that's just what you're supposed to do in this group.
Yeah. I'd agree some things that you do or say could reveal something about your
character.
Whether you intend to or not, it's revealing something about you.
Well, Carolyn, how do we continue?
Well, she was afraid to reveal something for sure.
She says: I was sure I was the only one in the class at such a low level.
So she was afraid that if she went with all of the other foreign students, she
would be the one at the lowest level in her language ability.
That could be very intimidating, very scary.
And so she didn't want to go.
So what did she do, Nathanael?
Well, the next sentence tells us what she did.
"So I flaked and skipped the meeting." OK.
She did two things here: she flaked and skipped the meeting.
And "flaked" is an interesting and funny word.
You don't always hear it so often, but it's a good one to know.
"Flake" is a... also a Word Bank word we want to talk about today.
To flake or to flake out, what does that mean, Gabe?
All right.
Well, I think of something you originally intended to do, but just like a
snowflake as it drifts through the wind, it's kind of wishy-washy.
It goes from one place to another.
And she did not do what she originally wanted to do.
Usually you use this when you talk about maybe not being in the mood to do
something at the last minute or you're scared about something like Jo was.
How would you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, I invited someone to go with me to sing some songs at KTV, but they flaked
at the last minutes.
And I ended up going by myself.
That's not very fun to do.
So try not to flake out on people.
Let them know ahead of time if you can't go with them.
I agree completely.
And I know that feeling.
You plan on meeting up with somebody, and they flake.
I try not to be a flakey person.
Well, Nathanael, how does the lesson continue?
Well, it looks like she talks about the future in the next sentence. She says:
Years have passed, but I still remember how it felt to struggle so hard at
learning another language.
So she looks back to these memories and remembers that it really was difficult
to learn German.
That's right. And she also continues:
I think my failures that semester taught me just as much as my successes.
So it seems like she's learned a lot of good lessons after going through this
very difficult experience.
Have you learned lessons like this, Gabe?
Well, yeah. I would agree with her.
Of course, you want to learn from your successes.
You want to be able to say, "I did everything great. I didn't make any
mistakes." And you can learn from that.
But I agree that you can probably learn more through your failures because then
you're really conscious about what you need to improve upon.
So you can learn through your failures as well.
Nathanael, what do you think about this?
Well, I think that when you do something incorrectly or in the wrong way, you
usually end up with an interesting or memorable story.
And so it gives you something to remember not to do that thing again.
So it's true, you can learn from your mistakes.
And Jo certainly did give us an interest story.
And now it's time to go to the Information Cloud, watch a review skit, and then
go see Michelle.
Hi, friends.
Since our lesson today is about someone who had difficulty learning German, I
think it's a good idea to talk about how we can improve our English.
Well, three words, everybody.
Practice, practice, practice.
We all know the saying "Practice makes perfect," so that's what we should do.
I agree.
And we should practice every day by reading, writing and speaking English as
much as possible.
Steve, which is better, studying English once a week for two hours straight or
reading something in English 15 minutes a day?
Well, I would say the latter.
And friends, you don't have to read an English textbook.
You can read an English newspaper or a book or magazine about something you're
interested in.
If you enjoy bicycling, pick up an English magazine about cycling.
In your reading, you'll likely come across words that you don't understand.
Look them up.
But don't just memorize the words, use them.
Try putting them in phrases when you speak with others or when you write
something.
Of course, you need to choose the right materials in your studies.
I might be partial, but I think one of the best magazines that can help you
improve your English is Studio Classroom.
That's right.
Study with the best.
(Chinese).
(German).
What's wrong?
Studying in German is harder than I thought.
But you minored in German.
Yes. And I like German, but I'm not particularly good at learning it.
Then why did you come to Germany to study?
I resigned myself to communicate in broken German.
Then this must be the hardest semester of your life.
Yes. It feels like I'm starting from scratch.
So what are you taking?
Uh, literature, grammar, reading and writing, and history.
(German). History!
That's a difficult one.
Yes. The professors speaks so fast.
Everything flies right over my head.
Then you need to take notes and record the lectures.
I've tried. But nothing helps.
I have no idea what the classes are about.
So what will you do?
Well, I summoned my courage and asked the professor for a form.
So you can get credit for the class?
Yes. He told all the foreign students to meet in his office.
So when do you meet with him?
We meet right now.
But I'm not going.
What? You're skipping the meeting?
Yes. I'm going to flake.
I don't want others to know how little I understand.
I'm such a failure.
Well, perhaps one day these struggles will teach you just as much as your
success.
Do you really think so?
Uh... nein.
(Music).
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's get back to our teachers.
Well, the past two days we've been learning about Jo and her difficulties in
German, learning the German language.
But there are also difficulties we face when learning English.
Nathanael, can you think of some of the difficulties you might face if you learn
English?
I think one of the strangest things about English is its spelling.
Sometimes it just does not seem very consistent, and you just have to memorize
some of the differences in spelling in English.
That's right.
There are words that are spelled very differently from the way they sound, or
words that sound the same but have different spellings.
Gabe, can you think of other difficulties in learning English?
Well, yeah.
Some of the rules in grammar, they're rules, and so you think that they should
be the same or consistent all the time.
But some words or sentence structures can break those rules.
English is not an easy language to learn.
That's right.
And many languages have very unique things, and it makes each of them a little
difficult when you try to learn them.
Well, we hope that you'll continue learning English here with us at Studio
Classroom.
See you.