节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-03-23
难易度:Medium
关键字:pregnant, inspire, think long and hard, affection, enrich
OK. I hope you had a great break.
You know, Aaron and Jean Heidel, they recently wrote a book describing their
adoption experiences.
Studio Classroom was able to catch up with Aaron and discuss some of the
challenges and rewards of adopting four children.
We'll pick up our interview with Aaron now on line 5.
(Music).
Adopting Children.
We adopted Ellie because it can be lonely being an only child, and we wanted a
big family.
We thought long and hard about adopting a third child.
Eventually we decided we would like a son, so we applied to two orphanages.
We got Danny when he was five months old, and nine months later, we got Andrew.
How long did it take to adjust to being a family?
At first you feel like a 24-hour babysitter.
But within a few days some strong feelings of affection and love begin to
develop.
Having the other kids be part of adopting their siblings enriches the whole
process.
Adoption is a wonderful thing, and I'm very excited to be talking about it.
It is something I really believe in.
I think adoption is wonderful.
So I'm excited to be talking to Aaron and his wife Jean about their adoption
process for their four children.
Yes. Now we saw after one year, they finally got their first adopted child,
Hannah.
And so now they've got one child, and we're going to see how the other three
showed up.
Now they decided to adopt Ellie because it can be very lonely being an only
child, and they wanted a big family.
So they had Hannah, but they didn't want her to just grow up as an only child.
They wanted her to have brothers and sisters, so they adopted Ellie.
Yeah, and it can be lonely if you are alone.
And so the word "lonely" means you feel sad because you are alone.
And so they wanted to have at least two kids.
That's right.
But they also said they want a big family.
Now Ryan, do you think two kids count as a big family?
Not really. Most of the time people think that just having two kids is a
normal-sized family.
But they here said they wanted a big family.
That's right.
Now he said, "We thought long and hard about adopting a third child." Now that's
very important.
Before you take on another child, you need to think long and hard about it.
Yes, exactly, especially when you're talking about adoption.
Now when you're thinking "long and hard" about something, it means you are
trying to solve a problem or trying to understand a situation better.
So here they want a big family, and they wanted to spend a lot of time thinking
about adopting even more children.
Now it's important whenever we make big life decisions to think long and hard,
to think about the process, try to solve the problem.
But don't make the decision in one day.
We see the word "long" in there.
That means you take time for some... to think about it.
For example, you need to think long and hard about what you would like to study
at school.
You should think long and hard about who you are going to marry.
Exactly. So they could have just written here, "We were thinking of getting a
third child." But when they write,
"We thought long and hard..." it means they really spent a lot of time thinking
carefully about it.
Well, "eventually we decided we should... we should have a son." So they decided
they would like a son.
OK. So they got the two girls, now they wanted to get a boy after thinking long
and hard.
So they applied to two different orphanages.
Now an orphanage is a place where children live if they do not have a family.
So when you are going to adopt, you apply.
That means you tell the orphanage, "I would like to adopt one of the children
here." And you go through all that paperwork and the process.
And that's how you get a kid.
Exactly. So then they got Danny, and he was five months old.
He was just a little baby.
And nine months later, they got Andrew as well.
So they came from two different orphanages because they did apply to two
different ones.
So they got one boy from each orphanage, which is fun because just like Hannah
and Ellie needed each other to grow up as girls,
now the two boys have each other as well.
Exactly. Now all four kids have each other.
So this is great, they now have a big family.
Well, looking at Studio Classroom's next question, we asked: How long did it
take to adjust to being a family?
This is a very good question.
I know... I know Studio Classroom asked it, but it is a wonderful question to
ask.
When you adopt a child, when you bring them into your family, you are taking
them in not as someone who is from the outside, but you're bringing them to be a
part.
So how do you adjust to adding another person to your family?
That's a huge question.
It's a great question.
And Aaron starts off by saying: At first you feel like a 24-hour babysitter.
Now a babysitter is someone who watches someone else's kids.
And if you're doing something 24 hours, Kaylah, what does that mean?
That means you're doing it all the time because a day is 24 hours long.
That means they felt like they were just taking care of someone else's child all
the time because it's a new child in their family.
But soon, they said within a few days, some strong feelings of affection and
love begin to develop.
Yes. And "affection" refers to liking someone very much.
You could also use the word "affection" to describe love, but it usually is a
very strong like.
That's right. So these love and affectionate feelings begin to grow.
So just within a few days, you go from feeling like you have some stranger's
child to this is my own child.
Now having the other kids be a part of the adoption of their siblings really
enriches the whole process as well.
Right. So having those kids be there, that really enriches it.
And the word "enrich" means to improve the quality of something by adding
something to it; in this case, adding those kids.
That's right.
As you enjoy bringing in more children into your family, let the other kids be a
part of it as well.
It makes it more special.
This is a fun topic to be talking about.
But let's jump on over to the Chat Room and see what's going on.
Hey, Bryan.
Hi, Ken. What's up?
You know, I just saw the strangest ad on the bulletin board.
Oh, really? What does it say?
There's this ad asking for a baby sister.
Why would anyone want to hire someone to be their baby sister.
Uh, Ken, that ad is actually asking for a babysitter.
Babysitter?
You know, that's what's written on the ad, but I thought it was a mistake.
No, Ken. Babysitter and baby sister are very different.
Why don't we go to Doris and see if she can explain the difference for us.
OK.
Your baby sister is your younger sister.
She is related to you.
A babysitter, on the other hand, is someone who looks after a child when the
child's parents are out.
In America, many high school students babysit for their neighbors to earn some
money on the side.
Oh. So a babysitter's job is to babysit.
That's right. Babysit is the verb.
Hey, Bryan.
Doris mentioned high school students working as babysitters.
What about someone who works full-time to take care of a child?
What do we call such a person?
You can use the term "nanny." Traditional nannies were like servants that lived
in their master's large households.
What about modern nannies?
Well, modern nannies may live in or out of the house, depending on the
circumstance.
And a babysitter never lives with the people she babysits for?
No, she doesn't.
A babysitter most likely lives near the family and only works for several hours
at a time.
Got it.
You know, I'm going to put up an ad for a babysitter too.
My wife and I could use a night off.
That's a good idea, Ken.
I say go for it.
OK.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And I guess that's all the time we have for today.
Goodbye and take care.
OK. So far we've been hearing about the adoption process from the parent's point
of view,
but we haven't heard anything from the adopted child's perspective.
So if you were adopted and you've got an opinion to share, we'd love to hear it.
Log on to Studio Classroom's English Corner and tell us about maybe some of the
challenges you've faced or some of the benefits you've received as an adopted
child.
OK, we'll pick up our interview with Aaron Heidel, the father of four adopted
children tomorrow.
Until then, have a great day.