节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-05-25
难易度:Medium
关键字:keen, establish, intentionally, anxious


























00:00
















00:00





















OK. I hope you had a great break.
Now as a reminder, the British describe taking time off of work for fun as a
holiday.
Americans, however, reserve the word "holiday" to mean a special day like
Christmas or Easter.
But for our purposes today, holiday and vacation are the same thing.
OK. Let's ask Claire where she went on her working holiday and why on line 16.
(Music).
Taking a Working Holiday.
I was interested in a lot of different cities, so I made travel a priority on my
working holiday.
I intentionally spent time in lots of different Australian cities.
I spent time in Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin and Perth, for example.
What were you most worried about before you left?
I was, and still am, a bit worried about finding a job when I return home to
Taipei.
I was most anxious that my English wouldn't be good enough to communicate.
All right.
So Studio Classroom is now asking the question: Where did you go and why?
And we've already seen the answer from Claire.
And next we're going to see the answer from Vincent.
Vincent says: I was interested in a lot of different cities, so I made... a
travel priority on his working holiday.
So he decided that he, unlike Claire, Claire wanted to stay in one place, he
decided he wanted to travel a lot.
It was a priority for him.
Right. So this is very different from Claire's answer.
Claire just said she wanted to stay in one place for convenience.
But here, Vincent really wants to travel, see the different cities on his
working holiday, so.
He said: I intentionally spent time in lots of different Australian cities.
That's right.
He said it is a priority, which meant it was important, something he wanted to
do, so he intentionally did that.
That's right, yeah. He did that on purpose.
If you do something "intentionally," that means that you plan to do it or you
intend to do something.
That's right.
Because it was a priority, he made it an important part of his trip.
Yeah. And so he really wanted to travel.
It was really important to him that he sees all these different cities in
Australia.
And it's a great opportunity, or a great chance, for him to see all of these
different places.
Well, let's see where he visited.
He said: I spent time in Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin and Perth, for example.
So those are just a couple examples of where he was, where he spent time on this
vacation, his working holiday.
So he definitely got out and experienced a lot of Australia.
Yeah. And Kaylah, those cities they're... they're not terribly close together.
They're pretty big cities; and you know, it takes us some time to travel to all
those cities.
So he was able to do what he intended to do.
He was able to go travel to all these different cities.
That's right.
So we have another question.
Our next question from Studio Classroom is:
What were you most worried about before you left?
Ooh. Now this is a good question.
I know some of you might be thinking: Well, maybe I'll go on a working holiday;
it sounds like fun.
But there are some things that maybe you could be worried about.
So let's see what Claire had to say.
Well, Claire says: I was, and still am, a bit worried about finding a job when I
return home to Taipei.
Now this is a very good point.
She is still on her holiday, so that is why she says I was, and still am, a
little bit worried.
Yeah. Now this is something that many people do worry about, actually.
As long as I am working here in Taiwan, I still sometimes wonder what will I do
when, or if, I go back to the United States.
That's right.
When you leave your home country to work in another place, it is a little bit
scary to think about returning to your home country.
Will you be able to find a job?
Did you give up a good job before you left?
Probably in Claire's case, she did have a job, decided to do her time abroad in
another country.
But she is not guaranteed to get that job back.
Right. So her life could look very different when she decides to return home.
So that could be something that she might worry about.
Now let's take a look at what Vincent says.
He says that, well, I was a little anxious that my English wouldn't be good
enough to communicate with people.
Ah. Ryan, this... this makes a lot of sense.
If you're going to live and work in another country, you'd better be able to
speak their language.
Because if you're not working for maybe like Studio Classroom, a language
company, it might be difficult to communicate in any environment.
So he said he was anxious about his English.
Yes. I can understand this worry too.
I've even said before I sometimes worry about my Chinese.
But Canada, and in Australia, those are both places where people speak English.
So here Vincent, he wants to make sure his English is good enough.
And we... when you are "anxious," you're very worried and nervous, and can make
you uncomfortable.
You're not... you don't feel ready.
Now Ryan, is there any experiences other than language that you could give us an
example of being anxious?
Sure. Usually people are anxious when they're thinking about something that
might happen usually soon in the future.
So Kaylah, you might have experience in this.
I know anytime I have to perform, or act, in front of people, I might start to
feel very anxious.
That's right.
You feel nervous, maybe a little bit scared.
Now you can feel anxious in all kinds of situations.
But when you're trying to communicate - and communication is important - being
anxious is definitely understandable.
It is. And especially it might help you to continue to try to improve something,
to try to fix something.
That's right. And I think that's definitely what Vincent did.
He decided to go to Australia, didn't let his anxiety, his fear stop him from
actually experiencing Australia, took on his working holiday.
And I hope all of our friends would do the same with their English as well.
Well, we're going to talk more with Claire and Vincent tomorrow.
But before we go, let's watch this skit.
Hey, long time no see.
Where have you been?
Oh, well, I just got back from a working holiday in Australia.
I was on a working holiday too.
What made you decide to travel?
Well, I've been keen on traveling since I was a teenager.
When I heard about working holidays, I knew it would be the beginning of a
journey.
Well, I wanted to experience a different culture, and a working holiday seemed
like the best way to do that.
Well, where did you go?
I went to Canada.
I had connections in Vancouver.
So I stayed there for the sake of convenience.
Oh, that's nice.
I was interested in a lot of different cities.
I made travel a priority.
I spent time in Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Perth and other places too.
Wow! You really did have a journey.
Yes. It was great.
So tell me, did you have any worries before you left?
Worries? Well, yes.
I was anxious about my English.
I was afraid it wouldn't be good enough to communicate.
But I spoke English every day, and it improved a lot.
Practice makes perfect.
What?
Yeah, practice makes perfect.
You know... you practice and then you get better.
Practice...
I'll remember that.
You can do it.
It's always good.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And that concludes our Language Tips today.
I'll see you around.
Bye-bye.
Well, who doesn't love going on vacation?
It's a great time to relax, experience something new and meet new people.
One of the pros of a working vacation is that it creates lifelong memories you
could just never, ever get traveling with a tour group.
Now friends, if you are serious about improving your English, take a moment and
go through the Talk About It questions at the bottom of page 47.
Asking and answering questions out loud will be beneficial.
I promise you.
OK, four more questions for our working vacationers tomorrow.
Until then, have a great day.