英語口語對話(中高級) lesson 9：Language

Summary: Lisa and Alexander are in the studio and they discuss about Lisa’s three-year-old daughter who speaks four languages. Alexander and Lisa are in a studio discussing world languages.
Listen to their conversation and answer the question that follows about the main idea.
Dialogue:
Alexander: Welcome to The Globe Show. I’m Alexander and we’re here with Lisa Keble talking about how easy it’s for babies to pick up languages. Now get ready for this, Lisa’s daughter, Nefeli, can speak … 4 languages!
Lisa: Yeah, she speaks English, French, Greek and Russian.
Alexander: I know that she’s learning English from you, Greek from your parents and French from her father but Russian? I mean… did you just wake up one day and your daughter started talking to you out of the blue in Russian?
Lisa: Well… not exactly, we were walking down the street when she saw a matrioshka in a store window….
Alexander: A what?
Lisa: A matrioshka! One of those Russian dolls that fit into each other… anyway, as soon as she saw that she started reciting a Russian poem.
Alexander: How on earth would she know a Russian poem?
Lisa: Her babysitter is Russian and she sometimes sings or reads to her in Russian. So, I guess Nefeli’s picking up Russian was inevitable.
Alexander: That’s really amazing!! Doesn’t she get confused? She’s only three!!! Lisa: Well …actually, no!
Now answer the following question… What is so surprising about Lisa’s daughter? She is learning 4 languages.
Now listen again to the dialogue. Afterwards there will be 4 questions on some details...
Alexander: Welcome to The Globe Show. I’m Alexander and we’re here with Lisa Keble talking about how easy it’s for babies to pick up languages. Now get ready for this, Lisa’s daughter, Nefeli, can speak … 4 languages!
Lisa: Yeah, she speaks English, French, Greek, and Russian.
Alexander: I know that she’s learning English from you, Greek from your parents and French from her father but Russian? I mean… did you just wake up one day and your daughter started talking to you out of the blue in Russian?
Lisa: Well… not exactly, we were walking down the street when she saw a matrioshka in a store window….
Alexander: A what?
Lisa: A matrioshka! One of those Russian dolls that fit into each other… anyway, as soon as she saw that she started reciting a Russian poem.
Alexander: How on earth would she know a Russian poem?
Lisa: Her babysitter is Russian and she sometimes sings or reads to her in Russian. So, I guess Nefeli’s picking up Russian was inevitable.
Alexander: That’s really amazing!! Doesn’t she get confused? She’s only three!!! Lisa: Well …actually, no!
Now answer some questions…
1. Alexander says, “Your daughter started talking to you out of the blue in Russian.” What does “out of the blue” mean? “Out of the blue” means all of a sudden and unexpectedly.
2. Lisa says “She started reciting a Russian poem”. What does “recite” mean? “To recite” means to read out a poem.
3. Alexander says, “How on earth would she know a Russian poem?” How does he feel when he says this? He feels surprised.
4. Lisa says, “So, I guess Nefeli’s picking up Russian was inevitable.” What does “pick up a language” mean? “Pick up a language” means learn a language. Please visit our site at www.hau.gr to find the transcripts, explanations and activities.
GLOSSARY
1.incredible (adjective) If something is incredible it is very difficult to believe. (e.g. The tricks the magician did were incredible.)
2.inevitable (adjective) Something which is inevitable is certain to happen and it cannot be avoided. (e.g. The accident was the inevitable since he was driving under the influence of alcohol.)
3.out of the blue (expression) If something happens out of the blue, it is completely unexpected. (e.g. One day, out of the blue, he announced that she was getting married.
4.pick something up (phrasal verb) means to learn a new skill or language without formal instruction. (e.g. When you live in a country you soon pick up the language.)
5.recite (verb) which means to say a piece of writing out loud from memory. (e.g. The little girl recited the poem she had learned at school to her parents.)
6.Why on earth (informal expression) can be used to show surprise, confusion or anger. (e.g. Why on earth are you going on holiday to Africa, if you hate the heat?)
Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the words from the glossary.
1. He…………………………..…….French by living in Paris for 6 months.
2. Mr. Vramoushka’s resignation came without warning. It was totally………………………………… .
3. In the play at the end of the year, each chills has to………………… a poem.
4. After vigorously exercising for 5 hours it was…………………..that she would feel tired.
5. ……………………………did she take the job if she doesn’t want to be a secretary in the first place?
6. It was………………….that she passed all her exams without having studied.