节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-06-19
难易度:High
关键字:rags-to-riches, tedious, grip, make a splash, genre, catchy
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule today to study with us.
My name is Steve.
The focus of our CULTURE lesson this month is the Korean pop culture wave known
as Hallyu.
A few years ago when the Korean culture wave was just getting started, critics
believed it was just a fad.
And they predicted it wouldn't last very long.
Well, how wrong they were!
This year Korean pop culture exports are expected to top $4 billion in revenue.
And the wave just keeps getting bigger.
Well, let's get into the lesson on page 37 and read about Hallyu Korean pop
culture making waves in Asia.
(Music).
Hallyu.
Korean soaps often feature rags-to-riches stories.
Sometimes the main characters display unhappiness with their work.
Many leave their tedious jobs to pursue love, fame or career success.
But Korean soaps can fall into nearly any genre, from romantic comedy to
historical drama.
K-pop.
Korean pop music, or "K-pop," is topping music charts everywhere.
Fans love the catchy tunes and sincere words, the attractive idols and the
gripping music videos.
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And we're back in our CULTURE article talking about Hallyu, a very famous type
of entertainment.
That's right.
This Korean form of entertainment was covered a lot yesterday.
We saw why it's so popular, and we left off looking at a sonata.
That's right. Now a very famous sonata was called Winter Sonata.
Now that was a soap opera that was aired from Korea became very popular right
away.
Now we learned that Korean soap operas feature different kinds of storylines,
love triangles... and next we see it's a rags-to-riches type story.
Right. A lot of Korean dramas feature this type of story, "rags-to-riches." And
that means that someone who is poor becomes rich.
That's why you see the words - rags to rich.
That's right.
But it even means more than that.
It means poor, rich... poor to rich, but it also means very unpopular, not
important, very small to being very important, very wanted and very needed.
So it can mean both money and social status.
Yeah, either... either way, if say you're unsuccessful becoming successful.
That's very popular in Korean dramas.
Sometimes the main characters display unhappiness with their work, which we can
all understand.
That's right. Sometimes there are times that we just don't enjoy our jobs.
And apparently, this type of story is very popular in Korean dramas.
And that's probably because we can understand it; we connect to the characters.
Now many of them leave their tedious jobs to pursue love, fame or career
success.
All right. Now most of us would want to leave a tedious job.
That's because something that is "tedious" is very boring.
That's right. It usually means long and boring.
So tedious; they leave their tedious, boring job to go pursue love, or fame, or
something they just really want to do.
Now this sounds like fun to me.
I would probably run out of money, but it would be nice to be able to go pursue
love or fame.
But Korean soaps can fall into nearly any genre, from romantic comedy to
historical dramas.
OK. A "genre" is a category of film or music or books.
So it's a drama, that's a genre.
It can also be mystery, thriller, anything like that.
Yeah. We see they can be romantic comedies, or even historical.
So you can learn from them as well.
That's right. So there are many different things you can watch and enjoy, but
also learn from these Korean dramas.
All right. What's next?
Well, we've talked about the dramas.
We know they export a lot of those.
Next we're talking about K-pop.
Now that stands for Korean pop music, we shortened it to K-pop.
It's a topping music... it's really topping music charts everywhere in the
world.
That's right.
This phrase, topping the music charts, that means that it is on the top of the
charts.
And the music charts are referring to the songs that are the most popular.
So the music at the top is the most popular everywhere.
That's right.
Now fans love the catchy tunes and sincere words.
And they are indeed catchy tunes.
I know I listen to some K-pop, and it gets stuck in your head, and you just want
to dance around your house.
It's very fun even if you don't understand the Korean words.
Yeah. That's what "catchy" means.
That means it's very pleasing, and that song gets stuck in your head, easy to
remember.
That's right. And they're fun.
"Catchy" usually means it's fun, it's exciting.
It's not boring or... there are some beautiful melodies in some of the slower
songs.
But they're all very... they're all very fun to listen to.
They are. And sometimes they're fun to sing.
You saw me yesterday singing "Sorry, sorry..." It gets stuck in your head.
It does get stuck in your head.
Now they also enjoy sincere words.
That means they're very true and honest words, usually about love.
That's right.
Now also they have very attractive idols.
That means they're beautiful people that are singing these songs.
And they have gripping music videos.
Now "gripping" means it has all of your attention.
You're completely drawn into them.
And they are, because most Korean... most K-pop movies tell an entire story
based around the song.
Yeah. They're very exciting to watch.
Their songs are fun to listen to; they're very catchy.
And that's why they are so popular.
That's right. We're going to talk more about K-pop.
But first, we need to visit the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan. Any good articles in the newspaper today?
Well, actually I'm not reading the news today.
I'm looking at the best-seller list.
Oh. So who are this week's best sellers?
Actually, a bestseller is not a person.
It's a book that's selling very well.
Oh, a bestseller is a book.
So the adjective form would be bestselling?
Yep, you got it.
So what are the highest books this week?
Ken, we wouldn't use "highest." We would use "top" as in: What is at the top of
the list this week?
OK. So what is the top book this week?
The top book this week is Run Through the Jungle by Steve Brown; and good use of
"top" as an adjective.
Thanks, I should have known.
Say, "top" can't be used as a verb, can it?
It can.
Why don't we have Studio Classroom Editor-in-Chief Doris explain this one for
us.
OK.
When we talk about lists and charts, we can use "top" as a verb.
For example, if a song sells more copies than any other song for a particular
week, we can say it tops the chart for that week.
Ah, that makes sense because I have heard radio DJs talk about chart-toppers
before.
Sure. Chart-toppers are songs that have been number one on the charts at some
point.
How often do you listen to the radio, Ken?
I listen to the radio on my way to the library every day.
Neat! Well, I didn't realize that.
You must be familiar with Top 40 Radio.
Uh, not really.
But that refers to the 40 most popular songs, right?
You got it.
In the past, most popular radio stations were top 40 radio stations.
But now radio stations tend to specialize in different styles of music.
That's good to know.
The most popular songs aren't necessarily the best.
Well said, Ken.