2009年ESL之旅行交通购物 12 Describing Speech and Language Ability（打印版）

2009年ESL之旅行交通购物 12 Describing Speech and Language Ability（在线收听）

12 Describing Speech and Language Ability

GLOSSARY

it’s Greek to me – a phrase used to show that one doesn’t understand anythingthat one is hearing or reading, usually because it is too difficult or technical

* I tried to understand this chapter in the science textbook, but it’s Greek to me!

fluent – with the ability to speak a language very well, almost like a nativespeaker

* Sean is studying Arabic, but it will be many years before he’s fluent.

to make out – to be able to understand or see something that is very difficult tounderstand or see

* We can’t make out what the doctor wrote on this form. Can you read herhandwriting?

to get by – to be able to survive or cope, but not very well

* Would you be able to get by on just $10 per day?

to have a good command of – to understand something very well; to be anexpert in something; to have a lot of knowledge about something

* Professor Conkling wants all of his students to have a good command of musictheory.

comprehension – an understanding of what one has read or heard

* Duncan is trying to improve his English comprehension skills by listening to thenews on the radio every morning.

stock phrase – a group of words that one has memorized for speaking inanother language, especially if one doesn’t have the language skills to createthat phrase on one’s own

* Before traveling, we tried to learn some important stock phrases, like “Where’sthe bathroom?” and “How much does this cost?”

haltingly – slowly and with hesitation or periods of silence between words

* Sheila speaks haltingly, focusing on the pronunciation of each sound.

to freeze up – to be unable to do or say anything, usually because one isnervous or frightened

* As soon as she walked onto stage, she froze up and couldn’t remember whatshe had planned to say.

phrase book – a small book with many phrases in a foreign language, used as atool to communicate with people who speak that language

* Let’s buy a Farsi phrase book and learn how to say some basic things beforeour trip.

to get through to (someone) – to help someone understand oneself; to be ableto communicate one’s ideas to someone

* The Wangs are worried that they don’t know how to get through to theirteenage son.

articulate – able to speak clearly and be understood; able to communicate one’sideas in a way that other people can understand

* Wisteria is much more articulate when she writes than when she speaks.

to cobble together – to use many different pieces of information to createsomething useful, especially when one doesn’t have a clear plan for doing so

* The professor couldn’t find a textbook she liked, so she cobbled together thecourse from many different books, articles, and websites.

to get (one’s) point across – to be able to communicate one’s idea so that it isunderstood by someone else

* He didn’t give a great presentation, but it was good enough to get his pointacross to the audience.

to follow (one’s) lead – to do what another person is doing; to copy anotherperson’s behavior

* Why can’t you follow your sister’s lead and sit quietly while the adults talk?

to bring (something) up – to introduce a new topic of conversation; to talk abouta specific thing

* Don’t let me forget to bring up the new sales figures in tomorrow’s meeting. Iforgot to talk about them last time.

to misinterpret – to misunderstand; to believe that someone’s words or actionshave a different meaning than what he or she had originally intended

* She has always been nice to him, but he misinterpreted her friendship asromantic interest.

to run (someone) out of town – to make someone leave a city, usually becausehe or she has done something wrong or because everyone dislikes him or her

* In the past, a woman could have been run out of town for getting pregnantbefore she was married.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why doesn’t Blaire want to say something to the speaker?

a) Because she’s nervous.

b) Because she doesn’t know Greek.

c) Because she doesn’t speak the language well enough.

2. Who would be the best communicator?

a) Someone who speaks haltingly.

b) Someone who is articulate.

c) Someone who can cobble sentences together.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to get by

The phrase “to get by,” in this podcast, means to be able to survive or cope, butnot very well: “Chad didn’t understand math very well, but he studied hard andwas able to get by in the course.” The phrase “to get over (something)” means tostop spending time thinking about something bad that happened in the past andbegin to live one’s normal life again: “You and Betty broke up more than threemonths ago. It’s time to get over it and start dating other women!” The phrase“to get through (something)” means to endure, or to continue through a difficultsituation: “I know this has been a difficult month, but we’ll get through it together.”

Finally, the phrase “to get along” means to have a friendly relationship and enjoyspending time with each other: “It’s nice to see our kids getting along so well.”

to bring (something) up

In this podcast, the phrase “to bring (something) up” means to introduce a newtopic of conversation or to talk about a specific thing: “Please don’t bring up hisdivorce. He doesn’t like talking about it.” The phrase “to bring (someone) down”

means to make someone feel sad or depressed: “Whenever I spend time withCarmen, she always brings me down because she spends so much time talkingabout wars and poverty.” The phrase “to bring (someone) along” means to takeanother person to a particular event: “I’d love to go to the movies with you, butcan I bring my little sister along?” Finally, the phrase “to bring out” means to giveemphasis to something, or to help some characteristic be seen: “The color ofyour dress really brings out the green in your eyes.”

CULTURE NOTE

Many American high schools offer classes in “speech” (the ability to make oral(spoken) presentations) and “debate” (the ability to argue one’s opinion). Atmany schools, all students have to take a speech class, but a debate class isusually an “elective” (a course that is not required for graduation, but can bechosen by students).

In a speech class, usually students are “assigned” (told to work on) topics andgiven time to prepare their presentation, often using “visual aids” (things foraudience members to look at while one presents information). Some of thespeeches are “impromptu,” meaning that the students might have only 1-2minutes to prepare their speech. Students learn how to organize their ideas and“overcome” (be able to work past) their fear of “public speaking” (makingpresentations in front of groups of people).

In a debate class, students learn how to present and “defend” (protect fromattack) opinions on “controversial” (with many different, strong opinions) issues.

Sometimes they have to “argue” (present information for or against something)opinions that are not their personal opinions. They have to learn to “support theirargument” (show the reason for believing something) with “facts” (things that canbe proven as true) and be “persuasive” (able to change other people’s opinions).

Many schools have competitions for debate teams, with the winner often “goingon” (moving up to the next level) to compete at the city, state, or national level.

Many parents “encourage” (try to help) their children to participate in debateteams, because they think it helps them “develop” (improve and grow) their “selfconfidence”

(belief that one can do something) and is good preparation for afuture “career” (job).

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 521: DescribingSpeech and Language Ability.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 521. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com. Consider supporting this podcast by becomingan ESL Podcast member. When you do that, you get an 8- to 10-page LearningGuide for every episode we currently produce. Or, you can make a donation bygoing to our website as well.

This episode is called “Describing Speech and Language Ability.” It’s a dialoguebetween Blaire and Antonio. They are talking to someone who speaks a differentlanguage and they are having difficulty communicating with that person,something I’m sure we all have an experience with. We’re going to look at somevocabulary that we use to describe someone’s language ability and the way theyspeak. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Blaire: Do you have any idea what he’s saying?

Antonio: It’s Greek to me. You’re supposed to be the one who’s fluent. Can’tyou make out what he’s saying?

Blaire: I never said I was fluent. I said I could get by in the language. There’s abig difference.

Antonio: Why don’t you try saying something to him?

Blaire: What should I say?

Antonio: How about, “I don’t have a good command of the language. Could youplease speak more slowly?”

Blaire: I don’t think speaking more slowing will help my comprehension.

Besides, I only know a few stock phrases, and even those I can only sayhaltingly, if I don’t freeze up altogether.

Antonio: Give me the phrase book. I’ll see if I can get through to him.

Blaire: What are you going to say?

Antonio: I don’t know, but we’re two fairly articulate people. We should be ableto cobble together a few sentences to get our point across, don’t you think?

Blaire: Okay, I’ll follow your lead, but, um, just don’t say anything insulting…likelast time.

Antonio: Are you bringing that up again?! It’s not my fault that the entire townmisinterpreted what I said! I was trying to compliment the women, not insultthem.

Blaire: Tell that to the men who ran you out of town!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue between Blaire and Antonio begins with Blaire asking, “Do youhave any idea what he’s saying?” Do you know what this person is saying? Shedoesn’t understand him. Antonio says, “It’s Greek to me.” This is an oldexpression that means I don’t understand anything that I’m hearing or anythingthat I’m reading, usually because it’s too difficult or it’s too technical. “It’s Greekto me,” Greek being the language of Greece, of course. The idea is that thatwould be very difficult for someone to understand. I’m not sure the exact originof that expression, but that is the expression we use when something is verydifficult to understand, and you don’t understand any of it.

Antonio says, “You’re supposed to be the one who’s fluent.” “To be fluent”

means that you can listen to, understand, and speak a language very well. So,Antonio is saying to Blaire well, you said you were fluent – you are supposed befluent in this language; we don’t know what language it is. Antonio says, “Can’tyou make out what he’s saying?” The verb “to make out” is a two-word phrasalverb meaning to be able to understand or see something that is difficult tounderstand or see. So in this case, the language is difficult; to make out whathe’s saying would be to understand, even though it is difficult. “To make out”

also has an informal meaning – very different. It would mean, usually, for aromantic couple to express their physical affection – their physical liking of eachother some way, by kissing for example. It’s a word that you would probablyhear high school students use more than anything. Although since I didn’t havea girlfriend in high school, I never used the word myself that much.

Anyway, back to our dialogue, not my personal history! Antonio says, “Can’t youmake out what he’s saying,” and Blaire says, “I never said I was fluent. I said Icould get by in the language.” “To get by” means that you are able to survive;you are able to do something, but not very well. In this case, to get by in alanguage means you could survive in a country that spoke that language, but youwould not do very well in speaking it. “Get” is one of those verbs that has dozensof meanings, for a few of them, take a look at our Learning Guide for someexplanations.

Blaire says there’s a big difference between getting by and being fluent. Antoniosays, “Why don’t you try saying something to him?” Blaire asks, “What should Isay?” Antonio says, “How about, ‘I don’t have a good command of thelanguage.’” “To have a good command of (something)” means to understandsomething very well, to be an expert in something, to have a lot of knowledgeabout something. It could be anything, not just languages; you could have agood command of computer programming, you could have a good command ofpodcasting. Here, it’s being used to refer to how good you are – how fluent youare in a language.

Antonio says that Blaire should say to the man, “I don’t have a good command ofthe language. Could you please speak more slowly?” Blaire says, “I don’t thinkspeaking more slowing will help my comprehension.” Actually, it probably will,but… “Comprehension” means an understanding of what you are reading orwhat you are hearing. Blaire says, “Besides (in addition), I only know a few stockphrases.” A “stock (stock) phrase” is a group of words that you have memorizedwhen you are speaking another language, especially if you can’t think ofsomething on your own. Stock phrases would be things like: “Hello.” “How areyou?” “Nice to meet you.” “Can you tell me where the bathroom is?” That lastone is very important in every language!

Blaire says that she only knows a few stock phrases, “and even those I can onlysay haltingly.” “To speak haltingly” (haltingly) means very slowly and withhesitation, or periods of silence between the words. This is very common if youare a beginner in a language, you will speak haltingly. You’ll say something andthen you’ll stop and you’ll think and you’ll say something else; that’s to speakhaltingly. Blaire says she only speaks haltingly “if I don’t freeze up altogether.”

“To freeze up” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to be unable to do or sayanything, usually because you’re very nervous or frightened: “I saw a beautifulwoman and I went up to her to ask her name. And then, when I opened mymouth, I froze up.” “Froze” being the past tense of “freeze.” I wasn’t able to doanything, I was too nervous; I froze up. That’s why I didn’t have any girlfriends inhigh school!

Blaire is saying that she is too nervous and she doesn’t know very much of thelanguage to speak. So, Antonio says, “Give me the phrase book. A “phrasebook” is a small book that has different expressions in a foreign language.

People often have them when they travel to a country where they don’t speak thelanguage, so it helps them find the words they need to say what they mean.

Phrase books are almost always bilingual by definition, so you have the phrase inyour language and then in the language you’re trying to speak. Antonio says,“Give me the phrase book. I’ll see if I can get through to him.” “To get through to(someone)” means to help someone understand what you are saying, tocommunicate your ideas to someone.

Antonio is going to try to use the phrase book to get through to this man. Blairesays, “What are you going to say?” Antonio says, “I don’t know, but we’re twofairly articulate people.” “Articulate” means to be able to speak clearly and to beunderstood, to communicate your ideas in a way that other people canunderstand. Antonio says, “We should be able to cobble together a fewsentences to get our point across, don’t you think?” “To cobble (cobble)together” is a two-word verb meaning to use different pieces of information tocreate something useful, especially if you don’t have a clear plan about whatyou’re doing. If you have a situation that you didn’t expect, you may need tocobble together a solution; take a little information from here, take some helpfrom over here, and put them together so that you can survive – you can getthrough the situation.

Antonio is saying that he and Blaire should be able to cobble together a fewsentences – put together a few sentences – to get their point across. “To getyour point across” means to be able to communicate your ideas so that someoneelse understands them. It’s similar to the expression “to get through to,” although“to get through to” can often mean the person is somehow not very bright or hassome difficulty understanding you. “To get your point across” is something thatwe would probably use more in a debate or a discussion or a formal presentationto someone.

Blaire says, “Okay, I’ll follow your lead.” “To follow (someone’s) lead” (lead)means to do what another person is doing, to imitate someone else’s behavior, tocopy what they’re doing, or to let them be the person that guides theconversation and you’re going to listen to what they’re saying and then try to saythings that would be supportive of that. Blaire says, “just don’t say anythinginsulting…like last time.” Antonio says, “Are you bringing that up again?!” “Tobring (something) up,” or “to bring up (something)” is another two-word phrasalverb meaning to talk about something from the past, to introduce a new topic. It could mean either of those things. “Don’t bring that up again” means don’t talkabout that negative or bad situation from the past. You can also use “bring up” tomean introduce a new topic of conversation: “I’d like to bring up something wehaven’t discussed yet.” So, it can mean both things.

Well, obviously Antonio did something in the past that Blaire is referring to – thatBlaire is talking about. He says, “It’s not my fault that the entire townmisinterpreted what I said!” Obviously, Antonio had another problem in using aforeign language, some negative thing that happened that Blaire is bringing upagain. He says, “It’s not my fault that the entire town misinterpreted what I said!”

“To misinterpret” means to misunderstand, to think that someone is sayingsomething different than what they really are. Antonio says, “I was trying tocompliment the women, not insult them.” So apparently, we can only guess,Antonio said something about some women. He was trying to say somethingnice about them – something complimentary, but he probably didn’t know thelanguage very well and so he, instead, insulted them, said something negativeabout the women, wherever they were.

Blaire says, “Tell that to the men who ran you out of town!” “To run (someone)out of town” means to make someone leave your city or your town, usuallybecause they have done something wrong and no one wants them thereanymore. Blaire is saying that Antonio thinks that he was misinterpreted, but shesays that the people who misinterpreted him would have a different opinion. So,“Tell that to the men who ran you out of town” means tell that to the men whowere angry at what he had said about the women in this particular place.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.