节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-09-12
难易度:Low
关键字:journey, associate, historically, profession, gypsy, fortune telling
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Thanks for joining us today.
This month's PEOPLE GROUPS feature highlights an ethnic group that few people
truly understand, the Roma people.
Now you might know them by their more common name - gypsies.
One reason for the misunderstandings and the mystery surrounding the Roma is
they never really had a written history.
Fortunately, there is mention of them in various historical, government and
religious records that help us piece together a Roma history.
So why don't we open our Studio Classroom magazines now to page 28 and learn
about this proud people group, the Roma.
The Roman People.
Few truly understand the culture of this proud people group.
Centuries ago, a group of people left India.
No one really knows why.
Over time, they journeyed west to Europe where most have lived ever since.
These people called themselves the Roma.
But Europeans, thinking they came from Egypt, called them "gypsies." Many people
think of gypsies as wandering groups of people.
They are associated with colorful clothing, fortune telling and music.
But this is not the real picture of Roma culture.
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are talking about a people group.
Now this is a special people group from Europe, and maybe one that you don't
know much about but I personally find very interesting.
And hopefully, friends, you will find them interesting too at the end of this
article.
But for now, few truly understand the culture of this proud people group.
And of course, we are talking about the Roma people.
Now you might think they are from Rome.
Do not think that.
They are not Italian.
They're a special people group; and you're going to learn a lot about them.
OK. Now they are a very proud people group.
And if you are proud, that means you are happy with who you are.
That's right.
They're proud of their heritage.
They like being a part of their people group, and they're not ashamed of where
they come from.
All right.
Speaking of where they came from, Kaylah, let's take a look at their history.
Centuries ago, a group of people left from India.
OK. So we said they're not from Italy but they are from India.
But this was centuries ago.
Now one century equals 100 years.
So this is hundreds of years ago, a group of people left India and they started
traveling.
OK. And no one knows why they started traveling.
Over time, they journeyed west to Europe where most have lived ever since.
So no one really knows why they left India in the very beginning.
But we do know that they've journeyed.
Now to "journey" means to travel somewhere.
So they have traveled from India all the way to west Europe, where they have
been living ever since.
Yeah. OK, so.
Yeah, like you said, they traveled there, they all moved together.
And they've been there ever since.
That phrase "ever since" means from a certain time forward.
OK. So we know that they left India.
We're not really sure why.
But they did travel going west and settled in Eastern Europe.
So they did travel west.
And we consider Europe usually to be far west; so it was a long journey.
OK. Now Kaylah, you used the word "travel" a lot here.
And we see here that they "journeyed" west.
Well, those words mean the same thing.
If you journey somewhere, then you go and travel.
That's right.
Well, these people called themselves the Roma.
All right. So we're talking about the Roma people.
They traveled out of India into... west into Europe, and they've been there ever
since.
And the phrase "ever since" means from a certain time forward.
Now they call themselves the Roma people.
But Europeans, thinking they came from Egypt, called them "gypsy." So the
Europeans were not exactly sure where they came from,
but by looking at them, thought they look Egyptian, so they made up this word.
So how does "gypsy" come from Egyptian?
Well, they have the same sound in the middle of the word.
So "Egyptian" and "gypsy" have the same sound.
Now if you say the word "gypsy" nowadays, that means a group of people who
travel a lot usually in Europe.
OK. So there are... we...
Probably you would know the Roma people more by this European name of "gypsy"
than you would by that what they call themselves.
And now they do live all over the world in different places, but they still
mainly live in the Eastern European area.
OK. So the real name is the Roma people, but many people think of them as
gypsies.
And they think of these people as wandering groups.
That's right.
That's "wandering." We learned that word recently.
"Wandering" means to walk around without any real direction.
So they're going around.
Now we call them a wandering group of people because they don't always settle
down.
They move a lot.
They are very nomadic.
They move around a lot.
We recently talked about a people group in the desert that did the same thing.
That's right.
Now gypsies are a little bit different, though.
They are associated with very colorful clothing and fortune telling and music.
OK. So they're associated with.
To be "associated" means you are connected to or you relate to that thing.
So they are connected to colorful clothing and fortune telling.
All right.
Now "fortune telling" means that someone tries to tell someone else's future.
So they do fortune telling, but they also play incredible music.
They love to dance.
And they're fun to watch.
But this is not the real picture of Roma culture.
OK. This is just what people think of when they hear about "gypsies." So
friends,
let's learn about the real picture of Roma culture after we visit Grammar on the
Go, and then go to the Chat Room.
Hello, friends.
Greetings from Eastern Europe.
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
Our article today is on the Roma culture.
And here's our Grammar Tip sentence.
But this is not the real picture of Roma culture.
Friends, our focus is on the word "picture" today.
Normally, a picture is what we get with a camera, like to take a picture, or
what we do with a pen or pencil, like to draw a picture.
But in today's sentence, "picture" has a different meaning.
Here it means "what something is really like." In other words,
the writer is saying that even though many think of gypsies as people who dance
in colorful clothes and do fortune telling,
this is not what the Roma culture is really like.
We often use "picture" like this when we are in less than informal situations.
For example, Ralph had the impression that Italian food was just spaghetti and
pizzas.
But then he went to Italy and learned that he was wrong. So we can say:
Ralph went to Italy and learned he had the wrong picture of Italian food.
Or people think that being in show business is very glamorous, but there is a
lot of hard work that they don't see.
So we can say:
Many people think that show business is very glamorous, but that is not the real
picture.
If you turn to today's Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine,
you'll find more example sentences there.
That's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
Hey, Bryan.
Hi, Ken.
Hey, is this the CD you borrowed from Terry the other day?
Well, yes, it is the same album.
But since I liked it, I bought my own copy.
Oh. I guess you liked it then.
Yes, I did.
The band had a really nice sound, and the songs were very well-written.
I'm glad I had a chance to listen to the CD before buying it, though.
It gave me a good picture of what to expect.
It gave you a picture?
But I thought a picture was something you saw, not something you heard.
That's true, Ken.
But we also use the word "picture" to talk about an idea of something.
For example, if I give someone a tour of the library, I could say I'm giving
them a picture of what resources we have here.
Oh. Is that similar to when someone says they get the picture?
Kind of.
"To get the picture" means to understand something, especially when it's not
clearly stated.
If I invite a friend to a party and he starts explaining all the things he has
to do that day, I could say:
I get the picture. You won't be able to make it to the party.
OK. I get it.
What about "the big picture"?
What does that mean?
The big picture is the overall view of a situation when you put everything into
perspective.
So if someone's worrying about something that isn't a big problem, I could tell
them to look at the big picture and see that it's not that important?
Yes. It sounds like you get the picture.
I think I do.
You've given me a better picture of how to use these idioms.
I hope you enjoy the CD, Bryan.
Thanks, Ken.
I'm sure I will.