节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-06-29
难易度:Low
关键字:fluent, remain, career, strive, nominate
(Music).
Hi, friends.
Thanks for joining us here at Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Our PROFILE spotlight this month is on the talented singer, dancer and actor
Vanness Wu.
Wu was born and raised in California.
And it was there that he dreamed of becoming a famous performer.
Now often the period before an entertainer makes it big is pretty lean.
And this certainly was Vanness Wu's experience.
He sacrificed a lot pursuing his dream.
It all paid off, though, when Wu's dream became a reality.
Please join us now as we begin reading about Vanness Wu's big break on page 51.
Vanness Wu.
Wu was also participating in beauty contests, looking for any opportunity to
perform.
Through one of these contests, he received a role in the TV drama Meteor Garden.
Filming the show was a challenge since Wu was not yet fluent in Mandarin.
But it was his first step toward success.
Wu's next step was forming the band F4 with other Meteor Garden actors.
They enjoyed instant success.
But for Wu, the challenge of proving his talent as an individually remained.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us right here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Ryan.
And we are now back in day two of our PROFILE article talking all about Vanness
Wu.
That's right.
Now we learned yesterday that Vanness was born in the United States,
and spent his elementary school years traveling between Taiwan and Los Angeles
visiting his parents who had divorced.
He decided to live in Los Angeles where he was introduced and exposed to show
business.
That's right, by his sister.
But then he decided after getting some experience with a band, and he was in the
music video, he decided to move to Taiwan.
And he started giving out his one and only copy of his demo tape to record
companies.
That's right.
Wu was also participating in beauty contests, looking for any opportunity to
perform.
OK. Now a beauty contest is a competition where people are trying to decide who
is the most beautiful or who is the best-looking.
That's right.
Usually in English, we don't refer to men as being beautiful.
So we would say they are handsome or good-looking.
So maybe he was... it was still called a beauty competition or a beauty contest,
but it would be for men.
OK. He went here looking for an opportunity to perform at these beauty contests.
So I'm not sure if he was trying to compete, trying to be the most beautiful,
but we do know he was trying to perform.
Now Ryan, we do know that in beauty contest, often there's a section that is a
talent section where you sing,
or you dance, or you do magic, or tell jokes, or something to show that you are
a talented person.
So he would use this as an opportunity to perform so people could see him in
action doing real performance, not just a demo.
Yeah. So they can actually watch him and find out what his talents are.
So through one of these beauty contests, he received a role in the TV drama
Meteor Garden.
That's right.
So we know TV dramas are series where we follow a set amount of characters
through their life and through their different experiences.
They're very popular, and actually very popular that even right now they're at a
really peak time.
That's right, yeah.
And this is one thing that we know him from - is from this show.
And so now he finally got his chance.
He's able to perform on TV.
Now filming the show was a challenge since Wu was not yet fluent in Mandarin.
We saw he had visited Taiwan, had grown up flying between the two countries,
but growing up in the United States would mean he spoke English most of the
time.
Yeah. Now even if his parents spoke Mandarin, or spoke Chinese, he might have
learned some.
But he still could not have been fluent.
That's right.
Now to be "fluent" in a language means you speak it smoothly, correctly and
without any pauses.
So you can be very, very good at another language.
Maybe an English speaker would study Spanish and be very good at it, but still
have awkward pauses or still miss certain sections.
That means they are not fluent.
Yeah. That means they're not able to necessarily speak it easily and very
quickly like a native language speaker.
That's right.
Speed is definitely an important part of being fluent.
That's right.
So he wasn't fluent in Mandarin, but it was his first step toward success being
on this TV show.
I can imagine it would be a great challenge having to memorize lines in a
language you're not quite fluent in.
So he did know some Mandarin, but he was still learning.
And so it would be difficult not just doing lines,
but learning stage directions, working with the crew and the director and the
cast would all be very difficult.
Yeah, even if you are a good actor, it could still be difficult trying to act in
a language that you're not quite completely fluent in.
But it was his first step toward success.
Right. Now we're talking about his first step.
That means this was the first thing he needed to do in order to become
successful.
And already, that seems like a pretty big step.
Indeed, it was.
Well, Wu's next step was forming the band F4 with other Meteor Garden actors.
So he met and made friends on set and decided that they should have a band.
OK. So now we know he worked with a band called L.A. Boyz back when he lived in
California.
And now he actually wants to form a band with these other actors that he's
probably became friends with.
That's right.
And Ryan, if you think about it, if you work with the people that you know from
a show, you already know how to work with them.
So that would help it be a lot easier to get along as well as all of them would
already be known people.
They would all have some sort of status in culture because they're known from a
show.
So... and this worked to their advantage, and they enjoyed instant success.
That's right. That makes sense.
They're already well-known, so they had instant success.
That means it happened right away.
That's right.
But for Wu, the challenge of proving his talent as an individual remained.
So even though he had performed on a TV show, had started a successful band, he
still wanted to prove himself.
He wanted people to recognize him as an individual talent.
OK. First, I want to talk about the word "prove." If you prove something,
that means you give evidence or a reason to believe that it is true.
And as an individual, that means him on his own, not with a band or cast.
And this was still a remaining challenge.
Right. And if something that "remains," that means it continues to exist, so.
He still had that challenge.
He still needed to prove that he had that talent as an individual.
We will see if he finds that success when we come back.
But first, let's see today's skit.
Vanness, it's been a long time and you're still sleeping on my sofa.
I know.
I'm still looking for opportunities to perform.
Have you found any success?
Yes. I've been participating in beauty contests.
Beauty contest?
You're not that beautiful.
Very funny.
Well, through one of the contests, I got a role in a TV drama Meteor Garden.
Oh. But you're not fluent in Mandarin.
I know. It was a big challenge.
But it was my first step toward success.
And a step toward getting off my sofa.
Exactly. And that's not all.
I started a band F4 with some other actors.
And...?
The band was an instant success.
Great! You did it.
You're a performer.
But it's not enough.
I want to prove my talent as an individual.
So you want to make your own album?
Yes! I want to be a singer and an actor and a dancer.
That's a big challenge.
You'll have to push yourself.
And pleasehurry...