实战口语情景对话 第228期:European Life 欧洲生活

 Todd: Now Norman, you've lived in Japan for awhile. Have you lived in any other countries? 

托德：诺曼，你在日本生活过一段时间。你还在其他国家生活过吗？

Norman: Yes, I've lived in Germany as well. 

诺曼：对，我还在德国生活过。

Todd: Germany! 

托德：德国！

Norman: Yes, I lived for five years. I had two contracts² in Germany. The first one in the seventies, for three years. I was an immersion³ teacher, which means⁴ that they're English students at the elementary level who take all their courses in French, so with a particular second language approach I would teach them not only French, but I would teach them mathematics⁵ in French, science in French, visual⁶ arts in French, physical education in French 

诺曼：没错，我在那儿生活了五年。我曾在德国签了两份工作合约。第一份是在70年代，合约期限是三年。我当时是融入课程的老师，意思就是他们都是水平为初级的英语学生，他们所有的课程都要用法语讲授，所以作为一种特殊的第二语言教学方法，我不仅要教授他们法语，而且还要用法语教他们数学、科学、视觉艺术和体育。

Todd: Wow, in Germany. 

托德：哇，在德国。

Norman: In Germany, yes! This was for the Canadian Armed forces. The, usually it's the man the father, who's there as a soldier, but sometimes it's the woman. But they have, they do have children and there was a need for some Canadian schooling⁷. They hire teachers to teach the children of military⁸ personnel⁹. 

诺曼：对，在德国！这是为加拿大武装部队提供的课程。那些士兵通常都已为人父，不过有时也会有女性士兵。不过他们都有孩子，所以就需要为这些加拿大人提供教育。他们雇佣老师教导军人的孩子。

Todd: Wow! What a cool job! What did you think about Germany? 

托德：哇！这工作真棒！你觉得德国怎么样？

Norman: Germany is very interesting in that it's a very lively country, I find. I enjoyed certainly the nature part. Every weekend, Susan and I tried to go on what they call volksmarch, which means, it's, "volks" means popular, popular walk. You have a choice of five kilometers, ten kilometers, or fifteen kilometers walk and at the end, once you complete the walk, you get a metal, and the walk is always in some nice village. You go up the hills, up the mountains, you have beautiful sights, and every now and then they have some kind of a food stand with a Bavarian band playing, and then you have those Bavarian sausages and it's just a whole lot of fun so we would take our children along with us and it would be quite an event. 

诺曼：我想，德国非常有意思，是一个充满活力的国家。我非常喜欢那里的自然风景。每周末，苏珊和我都要去称之为大众行走的活动，"volks"的意思是大众的，大众行走。你可以选择五公里走、十公里走或是十五公里走，最后你完成行走以后，会得到一枚奖牌，这种行走活动通常都在美丽的山村举行。你可以爬到山上，看到美丽的风景，有时他们会准备食品店，那里有巴伐利亚乐队演奏音乐，还有巴伐利亚肉肠，整个过程非常有意思，所以我们会带着孩子们一起参加，这是一件重要的活动。

Todd: That's nice. How long did you live in Germany? 

托德：那很好。你在德国生活了多长时间？

Norman: I lived there five years total. 75 to 78,for a three year contract¹, and then 85 to 87, a two year contract. 

诺曼：我一共在那里生活了五年。从75年到78年，一份三年的合同，之后是85年到87年，一份两年的合同。

Todd: Wow, so you speak German as well. 

托德：哇，所以你的德语也说的很好。

Norman: I do, I do, but now I have not spoken it for quite a long time so it would take a little bit of, let's say, review. 

诺曼：对，没错，不过我已经有很长时间没有说过德语了，所以需要稍微复习一下。

Todd: Wow! tri-lingual. That's cool! 

托德：哇！你会说三门语言。真棒！ 

1 contract   

n.合同，契约，婚约；v.使缩短，感染，订约

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• I'm under contract to teach here for one year.我按照聘约要在这里教一年书。

2 contracts   

n. 合同，契约，婚约，合约 v. 订合同，缩短，缩小，感染（疾病），招致

参考例句：

• In conversational English "is not" often contracts to "isn't". 口头英语中is not常缩写为isn‘t。
• Our contracts are currently under review. 我们的合同正在复查。

3 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

4 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

5 mathematics   

n.（用作单）数学；（用作单或复）计算(能力）

参考例句：

• He has come out in front in the study of mathematics.他在数学方面已名列前茅。
• She is working at a difficult problem in mathematics.她在做一道数学难题。

6 visual   

adj.视力的，视觉的，观看的，直观的，看得见的，光学的

参考例句：

• The film is a visual art.电影是一种视觉艺术。
• His designs have a strong visual appeal.他的设计在视觉上很有感染力。

7 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

8 military   

n.军队；adj.军事的，军人的，好战的

参考例句：

• The area has been declared a closed military zone.这个地区已宣布为军事禁区。
• The king was just the tool of the military government.国王只是军政府的一个傀儡。

9 personnel   

n.[总称]人员，员工，人事部门

参考例句：

• The personnel are not happy to change these rules.全体工作人员对改变这些规定很不高兴。
• Personnel has lost my tax forms.人事部门把我的税收表格给弄丢了。