节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-06-28
难易度:Low
关键字:elementary school, expose, hopeful, meanwhile, divorce, demo tape
Welcome back, everybody.
Whether you want to be famous or have perfect English, if there's a dream you're
chasing,
you're going to have to make difficult decisions and painful sacrifices to help
make it come true.
Let's get back to our lesson and continue with Vanness Wu's dream of making it
to the top on line 11.
Vanness Wu.
Some of his friends in a band called L.A. Boyz had taught him to dance.
One of them had a cousin with whom Wu performed in a music video.
With these experiences and a hopeful attitude, Wu set off for Taiwan.
But when Wu arrived, he had nothing except his dream.
He slept at friends' houses and ate cheap meals.
Meanwhile, Wu sent his demo tape to many record companies.
But he asked them to return it each time because he had only one copy.
11 years ago, Vanness Wu took a risk in moving to Taiwan from California.
He decided to come to Taiwan in order to seek fame and the show business.
We took a little bit of a look at his history before the break.
We saw how he was moving between California and Taiwan in his early years,
before eventually deciding to stay in California where his sister introduced him
to the show business.
Now some of his friends in a band called L.A. Boyz had taught him how to dance.
Now we see "Boyz" there has a "Z" on the end.
That is... you are correct! It is spelled incorrectly.
You should use an "S." But since this is the name of a band, that is a cool way
of spelling it to make it a little more hip and cool for a band.
Yeah, it's just their band's name.
So they spelled it wrong on purpose. OK.
Now one of these band members had a cousin with whom Wu performed in an... in a
music video.
So he was friends with some of the people in this band.
And they started to teach him how to dance, which we're going to see how that
affects his career throughout all of his growing as a... as an artist.
But we do know dance is a major part of who Vanness Wu is.
And so starting working with this band was a great opportunity.
OK. So he started getting some experience working with this band.
And they taught him how to dance, and he was in that music video with them.
And so now he was finally starting to live his dream.
That's right.
So he was getting trained by a professional band as well as getting to perform
in a music video,
which means he was getting professional experience in the career he wanted.
OK. So he's starting to use these experiences at a very young age.
And then he decided after that to finally moved to Taiwan.
He decided to take that risk and use all of this experience that he gained over
those years to take with him.
That's right.
So with these experiences and a hopeful attitude, Wu set off for Taiwan.
So Ryan, we think about performing with one music video as being very cool and
very exciting.
But when you think about the music in show business industry, one music video is
a very small portion of what... what you really need.
Yeah, it's really not a lot of experience compared to a lot of the other people
that are hoping to be performers.
But he didn't just go to Taiwan with that small experience, he also brought a
hopeful attitude.
That's right.
Now to be "hopeful" means you have hope.
It means you are expecting good things.
You are not... you don't think down.
You are thinking very positive.
You think that things will go the way you want them to go.
So he needed this hopeful attitude because with the little amount of experience
he had, he was hoping to start an entirely new career.
Exactly. So he did need to be very positive because when he arrived, he had
nothing except for his dream of being a performer.
That's right. All he had was his dream.
He didn't have connections.
And we all know that if you want to be in the show business industry,
you usually need to know at least one person in that industry to help you get
started.
Yeah. You know, Kaylah, when I was in college, I was learning how to make film.
And in order to create a student film in college, we had to have many different
connections,
in order to film at certain places and in order to have all of the equipment
that we needed.
And so it's very common in that industry to need to know many different people
in order to be successful.
Ryan, we also see that he had nothing except his dreams, which means he probably
didn't have a lot of money,
which meant he slept at friends' houses and ate very cheap meals - which is easy
to do to eat cheap, meaning inexpensive.
But in Taiwan, you can eat inexpensive food that still tastes delicious.
That's true.
And it doesn't matter how much.
You can even go to 7-Eleven and eat some (Chinese). Hmm, delicious.
So he was eating cheap meals saving money.
"Meanwhile," which means during the same time or happening at the same time
waiting for something that is expected.
Yeah. You're waiting for something happens or doing something at the same time.
Here we're talking about him waiting.
He's waiting until something happened.
While he is waiting, he sent his demo tape to many record companies.
Now a "demo" is an example of a product.
And so his product would be himself.
So he would make a tape, a recording of what he can do, of what he is capable of
doing,
singing or dancing or acting, and send it to different recording companies.
Yeah. It's basically a sample or a piece of his performances to show these
record companies what he is able to do.
Now usually when you send a demo tape to a company, you send it to them and hope
they keep it on file.
Keep it there so they can look at it to review in hopes that you get a job even
later on.
But he was a little different.
Yeah. He didn't necessarily do that.
He gave it to them, but then he asked for them to return it to him each time.
Because he only had one copy, which means he only had one demo tape.
Usually, as an artist, you have hundreds because you want to send them to
companies all over hoping somebody will take you.
Instead, he had to go one at a time,
which means you had to be very patient and continued to be very hopeful that
you'll find something.
Yeah, he really did need to be hopeful about this because if you ask to be given
back a demo tape, maybe it can look a little bad.
That's right.
So we're... we see that he took a major risk moving, major risk even in how he's
pursuing his career.
But since we do know who Vanness Wu is, we know he found some form of success.
That's right.
Well, join us tomorrow as we keep talking about Vanness Wu.
Now let's watch the skit.
Vannes, maybe quitting your job and traveling to Taiwan wasn't a good idea after
all.
I took a risk.
I hope to become a performer.
Do you have enough experience?
Sure.
My sister is a professional musician.
I've been exposed to show business.
But is that enough?
And some of my friends are in a band called L.A. Boyz.
They taught me to dance.
Yes, yes. You're a pretty good dancer.
I know.
And I performed in a music video with my friend's cousin.
Yes. But Vanness, you've been sleeping on my sofa for a very long time.
I know.
And you've been eating cheap food too.
I know.
You have nothing except your dream.
I have experience and a hopeful attitude.
Hopeful attitude... me too.
I'm hopeful that someday you'll get off my sofa.
I will.
Meanwhile, I'll keep sending my demo tape to record companies.
So this is your demo tape?
Yes. Hey, be careful with that.
It's the only one I have.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And I guess we have to say goodbye now.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more Language Tips.
Thank you again, Michelle.
We always appreciate those tips.
Now we've got lots of opportunities for you to improve all four of your English
language skills.
To help with your writing, consider writing a short essay and sending it to us
at letters@StudioClassroom.com.
Check page 9 in your magazine for the three topic choices, and be sure to label
your entry Studio Classroom Editor's Pick.
Who knows?
You might see your essay published in next month's magazine.
Be sure to join us for more about how the super successful Vanness Wu found his
purpose tomorrow.
Until then, have a great day.