[1]It is one of the least populated countries in the world.加拿大确实属于地广人稀,每平方公里仅有三个人,加拿大地跨六个时区。从东海岸到西海岸开车要花上两周的时间。
[2]concentrate在这里表示“集中于”。同时它还有另外一个意思,表示“集中精力”。
国外大学探底细
A: Jake, I,d like to tell you something about the universities in the States today.
Jake,我今天给你讲讲美国大学的事儿。
B: Wonderful. I would like to know how university works before I go abroad.
好啊。我出国之前也想了解一下大学是怎样运作的。
A: Ok, first, you should know 3 very important people on campus. They,re chancellor, who,s in charge of the whole university. Program director, who is always a professor and he teaches. The last one is department chair, who is in charge of the whole departments.
首先,你得知道学校里的三个重要人物。他们是校长,他负责整个大学。部门督导,他通常是个教授。最后是系主任,他负责所有的系。
B: Then what comes after them?
那他们之后呢?
A: Then there comes dean, who,s in charge of diffenent colleges.
之后是主任。他负责各个分院。
B: Where do I pay the tuition?
我在哪交学费呢?
A: The Bursar,s Office. That is also a place\where\ you can apply for financial aid. But make sure you apply for the loan every January.
财务处。在这里你也可以申请经济援助。但只能在一月申请。
B: Thanks. What about registering classes? Where should I go to register my class?
谢谢。那我在哪登记课程呢?
A: You,ll have to go to the Registrar. A Registrar could be a person, and it could be a department.
你得去登记处。Registrar既可能是一个人,也可能是一个部门。
B: Is there more?
还有吗?
A: Of course. Cause you are a foreign student, I,m afraid you,ll have to go to the Study Abroad Department. That,s a department that helps abroad students to get housing and other stuff.
当然,因为你是外国学生,恐怕你得去一趟海外学生部。那是帮留学生找房子和办其他事情的部门。
B: Jesus. There,re so many things to remember.
老天,这么多。
A: And they have…
还有……
B: [exaggeration]Oh my God.
[夸张地]天啊!
Attention Please (特别提醒)
[你可以请外教反复帮你模仿/训练下面句子/词组的正宗美式发音]
[1]Where do I pay the tuition? tuition通常是指学费,而另外一个词fee则是指杂费。上学时我们会交学杂费,因此就有tuition fee合用的情况。
[2]the Bursar,s Office 这是学员们教学费的地方。这个词既可以指人,也可以指地方。
[3] Registrar课堂登记处
东西文化有不同
A: Drew, where did all your money go?
Drew,你的钱都花哪去了?
B: I don,t know. I make like 2,000 a month, but now I can,t afford my house.
不知道啊。我一个月赚两千加元。可是现在我连房租都付不起。
A: Drew. You just said you borrowed some money from your mom. Does that mean you have to pay back?
Drew.你刚才说向你妈妈借钱,是不是说你还得还呢?
B: Yes,why?
是的,为什么这么问?
A: She,s your mom. She should help you.
她是你妈妈,她应该帮你的。
B: Yes, she did.
她是帮了我。
A: Don,t get me wrong. I mean she should give you money,not lend you.
别误会我的话,我是说她应该给你钱,而不是借你钱。
B: But why? Because she,s my mom?
为什么啊?因为她是我妈吗?
A: Yeah. You know in China, parents are supposed to give their children money. As a matter of fact,most parents are saving money for their money for their children.
是啊,你知道在中国,父母应该给他们子女钱的。实际上,大多数的父母们都在为孩子们攒钱。
B: Is this one of China,s traditions?
这是中国的传统吗?
A: Yes
是的。
B: [chuckles]You know what, I think this is really weird. I moved out of the house when I was 16. I was totally on my own since then.
[笑]你知道吗,我觉得这很奇怪。我十六岁从家里搬出去,从那以后我就一直靠我自己。
A: I know you are independant. But parents should give you the money you need.
我知道你很独立,可是父母们应该给你你所需要的钱啊。
B: Marco. I,m not trying to persuade you. But you should be aware of the fact that we,re from 2 very different countries. The fact that my mom lent me money doesn,t mean she is mean or she doesn,t love me. It,s just part of being indendant. Know what I mean?
Marco.我不是想试图说服你,不过你应该知道我们来自两个不同的国家,我妈妈借我钱并不是说她很小气,或是说她不爱我。这只是独立的一部分。懂我的意思吗?
A: I don,t know who,s luckier, Chinese or Canadians?
我不知道谁更幸运,中国人还是加拿大人?
Attention Please (特别提醒)
[你可以请外教反复帮你模仿/训练下面句子/词组的正宗美式发音]
[1] Don,t get me wrong.别误会。这是很常用的口语,而且出现频率极高。表示误会还有一个词,就是misunderstand。这句话也可以说成Don,t misunderstand me。
[2]I was totally on my own .我一直都是靠我自己。on my own表示靠我自己。
跨国文化尽情聊
Student: Drew.Do you like going to parties?
学生:Drew,你喜欢聚会吗?
Teacher: Yes .My friends say I,m a real party animal.
老师:是的,我朋友说我是聚会迷。
Student: What,s the party like in your country?
学生:你们国家里聚会是什么样子的?
Teacher: Well,you know,cause beer is very expensive in Canada, we always bring our own beer. It,s called BYOB party,and we play drinking games,sometimes it,s really crazy.
老师:你知道,在加拿大,啤酒是很贵的,所以,通常我们都自带酒,这叫BYOB聚会,我们也玩儿一些游戏,有时会玩得很疯。
Student: What do you do at parties, drinking?
学生:你们聚会时都干些什么?喝酒吗?
Teacher: Yeah,we drink, dance, pick up, hot chicks and have fun.
老师:当然,我们喝酒,跳舞,泡妞,开心--
Student: Hot chick?
学生:Hot chick是什么意思?
Teacher: That means beautiful girls.
老师:漂亮姑娘。
Student: Are there lots of parties on campus?
学生:校园里有很多聚会吗?
Teacher: Yeah.We would party after exams.You know we need to relax. So we hit the bars.
老师:是啊,我们经常考试后聚一聚,你知道我们需要放松,因此就去泡吧。
Student: Hit?
学生:Hit是什么意思?
Teacher: Oh! Hit the bars doesn,t mean we hit them.It means we make a list of bars and go around them.
老师:噢,hit在这里不是指打的意思,Hit the bar表示我们列一张酒吧的单子,然后挨个去逛。
Student: Oh. Thanks.
学生:噢,谢谢。
Teacher: You,re welcome.
老师:没问题。
Attention Please (特别提醒)
[你可以请外教反复帮你模仿/训练下面句子/词组的正宗美式发音]
[1]BYOB是英语Bring Your Own Beer的首字母缩写。由于国外的酒很贵(4到5美元或加元),因此人们会自带酒水,在国外时可要当心,别轻易向别人要烟或酒,弄不好就会被别人当成Social smoker或Social drinker,就是那些自己不带烟或不买酒,却总是向别人要的那种人。
[2]drinking games,国外的drinking games和国内可不一样,有一种游戏是互相问问题,不管多尴尬都要回答,甚至有人会问你:Who did you sleep with last night?
[3]pick up hot chicks中文的直译是泡妞。hot chicks是男孩对女孩的称呼,尤其是漂亮女孩儿。男孩儿们更常说的是“Let,s go to the bar and pick up some hot chicks。”绝对地道。
[4]hit the bars不要被hit这个词迷惑,hit the bar在这里就是指去泡吧,hit就是go to的意思。另外还有几个跟hit有关的用法,也很常用,比如hit the road表示Let,s go. hit the book表示Let,s study. hit the sack表示Go to bed。
[5]Party animal表示聚会迷,需要注意的是animal表达这种含义时,仅用于这种情况,千万别自创出什么movie animal来,那就出笑话了。