WEBVTT 00:00:00.001 --> 00:00:28.500 欢迎收听我们的同样讲播客,我是柯珍。今天呢,Gigi不在,但是我们有一个嘉宾。你好,你好,David。你好,你好。欢迎来到我们播客。谢谢。那David呢,他是一个英国人,他生活过在中国很多年。 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:31.400 是的,很长时间,十三年。 00:00:31.400 --> 00:00:38.000 十三年,哇塞,挺好的。那David,你给我们介绍一下你是谁。 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:48.440 So my name is David. 之前我住在中国十三年,在昆明,西南的中国,在云南省,昆明市。 00:00:48.440 --> 00:00:53.760 我一边教英语,一边学中文。 00:00:53.760 --> 00:00:56.539 So a little English, a little Chinese. 00:00:57.339 --> 00:01:05.220 And it's really nice to hear how you're mixing up China and England, 00:01:05.339 --> 00:01:07.880 because you're sort of between the two places, aren't you? 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:12.460 Yeah, often I have students who say this or, oh, your English is so good. 00:01:12.600 --> 00:01:14.159 No, no, no, your Chinese is so good. 00:01:15.860 --> 00:01:16.340 Yeah. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:18.539 Where do you feel more at home? 00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:23.399 Now, I think it's a mix. 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:31.120 It's really hard, actually, because there's some parts that I'm used to being in China and there's some parts that I'm used to being in England. 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:37.900 Like, for example, I live in Kunming before, which is famous for having pleasant weather all year. 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:43.060 So actually, for weather wise, it's very comfortable to be in Kunming. 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:43.680 Yeah. 00:01:44.220 --> 00:01:47.420 But for other parts, I think England is more comfortable. 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:51.720 Even food. For years, I've been in China and I love Chinese food. 00:01:51.919 --> 00:01:54.079 But I just like the food here in England. 00:01:54.739 --> 00:02:02.439 Is that because you've grown up here and you're used to like roast dinners and beans on toast and things like that? 00:02:02.559 --> 00:02:05.119 Yes, exactly. These are all the comfort foods. 00:02:05.119 --> 00:02:14.419 I still really enjoy like things in China, 拉面, 火锅, 饺子. I 特别喜欢吃饺子。 00:02:14.419 --> 00:02:17.119 我也是, 我也是, 好吃。 00:02:17.119 --> 00:02:23.799 Oh, brilliant. So you were initially teaching English in China, or you were actually teaching 00:02:23.799 --> 00:02:27.679 English in China all the time, right? Yes, all the time I was there, I was teaching 00:02:27.679 --> 00:02:44.939 English at different training schools. Okay, and that's 部席? 培训. 培训学校应该是。 培训机构。 Industry, yeah, the 培训 structure. 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:48.539 Yeah. How did you find that? How was that? 00:02:49.079 --> 00:02:53.999 I really enjoy it, actually, because we would teach on the evenings and weekends. 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:56.799 So that often meant you have the mornings to yourself. 00:02:57.059 --> 00:03:00.999 So I have a morning person, so I would enjoy having the mornings. 00:03:01.239 --> 00:03:04.319 And then we would be teaching at the weekends. 00:03:04.799 --> 00:03:08.319 So then on Monday and Tuesday, we would have time off. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:16.399 And China is meant to have the largest population. Maybe it's behind India now. I'm not sure. 00:03:16.799 --> 00:03:17.479 I think so. Yeah. 00:03:17.719 --> 00:03:26.439 But I never really felt that because my weekend was Monday and Tuesday when everyone was at work. So actually, that was that was a nice structure to teach to. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:29.899 Oh, that's actually that sounds brilliant because you won't have that. 00:03:29.899 --> 00:03:35.159 Yeah, exactly. 00:03:36.279 --> 00:03:39.079 So did you do a lot of traveling then while you lived there? 00:03:39.119 --> 00:03:41.059 Or did you mainly stay in Kunming? 00:03:41.799 --> 00:03:43.199 Quite a bit of traveling. 00:03:43.859 --> 00:03:45.559 There's all these famous places. 00:03:45.819 --> 00:03:51.979 Even in Yunnan, there's Dali, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna, Shangri-La. 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:54.479 These places are all quite fun. 00:03:54.999 --> 00:03:58.579 And now it's very convenient to take the high-speed train. 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:00.759 You can go anywhere you want. 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:01.319 Okay. 00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:05.559 So what was teaching English like then? 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:07.339 Were your students well behaved? 00:04:08.999 --> 00:04:12.639 I think sometimes people talk about what's their superpower. 00:04:13.219 --> 00:04:18.039 And for me, I think my superpower is interacting with children. 00:04:18.039 --> 00:04:24.319 Like I think that I am a little bit better than I am at other things. 00:04:25.039 --> 00:04:31.599 So that's the most enjoyable part of it for me, because I think it's easy to make kids laugh. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:33.679 Like whatever you say, they're going to laugh. 00:04:33.799 --> 00:04:35.219 And that's really nice. 00:04:35.479 --> 00:04:38.019 you know, to have that environment, like positivity and laughter. 00:04:38.419 --> 00:04:40.659 I can imagine what that would be like for our listeners. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:46.579 David came into my, one of my classes and shared his experience of teaching English in China. 00:04:46.799 --> 00:04:51.699 And some of the examples he was giving were really, really positive and really nice, right? 00:04:51.739 --> 00:04:53.219 So you talked about your big nose. 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:55.319 That was something that students were obsessed with. 00:04:55.319 --> 00:05:02.539 Yeah, to give them ideas, like examples like this in class, then, you know, they'll find it really fun to, 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:09.959 I think that probably among Chinese culture, it's not so usual to make jokes with a teacher in this way. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.439 So for them, they just thought, oh, this is really fun. 00:05:13.559 --> 00:05:14.839 We don't normally do this. 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:19.179 So what's the difference between the teaching styles then in China and in Britain? 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:20.759 I mean, you've experienced both. 00:05:21.119 --> 00:05:31.019 Yes. I remember seeing a BBC documentary where they had the Chinese teachers come to the UK and teach in Chinese style and the English teachers would teach in English style. 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:39.519 And that really resonated with me because I could definitely see exactly how it happens the same in my life. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:46.419 So what you see in Chinese classrooms is a lot of rote learning, typically like following the teacher and what they're saying. 00:05:46.659 --> 00:05:54.699 And they have more controlled examples where students have to answer questions, but in a controlled context, not in an open context. 00:05:54.699 --> 00:06:01.859 And for example, like creative writing or writing a letter or even things like in an ESL context. 00:06:01.859 --> 00:06:06.999 of like writing a postcard that wouldn't happen necessarily in a Chinese learning environment 00:06:06.999 --> 00:06:12.039 a lot of the time whereas in an English learning environment I feel like there are a lot more 00:06:12.039 --> 00:06:18.019 creative options yeah so you brought that English learning environment to China in a way through 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:23.839 teaching your classes in a more relaxed way yeah sometimes I think it was more the having a more 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:29.579 relaxed and fun environment was like less common for them and that's that's more of what I brought 00:06:29.579 --> 00:06:35.359 do you think which which type do you think works better are they equally i think that's the thing 00:06:35.359 --> 00:06:39.679 when the way that i've described it makes it sound like the chinese system wouldn't work at all 00:06:39.679 --> 00:06:45.159 but actually it totally does work yeah what you see is they put in large numbers of hours into 00:06:45.159 --> 00:06:51.179 their studies and there's this whole 10 000 hours thing of deliberate practice and actually if you 00:06:51.179 --> 00:06:58.479 put the time into anything then you do see results and often i think i saw that with the 00:06:58.479 --> 00:07:04.339 the language learners that I taught because I taught in classrooms where the parents would 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:10.579 come to class with students and they'd make notes at the back and then they would review at home 00:07:10.579 --> 00:07:15.519 every night with the students so they wouldn't just have an hour of class a week with me they'd 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:21.139 have all of that time reviewing with their parents and then when they come into class it was just so 00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:27.379 easy for them oh wow and we know that that's the best way of learning right as to learning class 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:30.299 but the actual learning then happens outside of class. 00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:33.539 The classroom can only just be sort of the first trigger. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:35.819 Absolutely. Absolutely. 00:07:36.419 --> 00:07:38.679 So did the parents learn any English then? 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:42.239 Yes, actually, I would always try to like bring them into the class. 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.539 You know, you ask students like, oh, what's your mum's favourite colour? 00:07:46.019 --> 00:07:49.739 And then, you know, we go and check with the mum, is it true or not? 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:52.799 And you'd be like, ah, you don't know your mum's favourite colour. 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:55.899 This is going to be a problem for you and things like this. 00:07:55.899 --> 00:07:59.139 So in a friendly way, so that they would enjoy learning it. 00:07:59.359 --> 00:08:02.339 Oh, that's excellent. Yeah. And the parents would have liked that, right? 00:08:02.339 --> 00:08:07.719 They did like it, but a lot of them were very shy. They actually weren't very willing to speak much. 00:08:08.159 --> 00:08:13.799 So often you kind of have to be gentle with them because it's different when you've got your kid there as well. 00:08:14.359 --> 00:08:20.219 Oh, my child is speaking better English than I am. So they're not very willing to try. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:23.699 Yeah. And then in front of the other parents. 00:08:24.139 --> 00:08:25.479 Oh, yes, for sure. Yes. Yeah. 00:08:25.479 --> 00:08:28.439 So that was teaching English in China. 00:08:29.099 --> 00:08:32.999 And obviously there are lots of different teaching styles in Britain as well. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:36.339 But for a Chinese student to come to Britain, 00:08:36.939 --> 00:08:45.599 来到英国留学,然后在大学学习呢,我们的学法完全不一样。 00:08:45.599 --> 00:08:49.479 是的,然后可能他们不习惯了。 00:08:49.999 --> 00:08:53.539 所以第一个是可能是人口音。 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:55.799 每个人的口音都有点不一样 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:58.579 然后有一些人的口音可能很重 00:08:58.579 --> 00:09:02.839 所以学生可能不习惯 00:09:02.839 --> 00:09:08.739 因为在中国会强调老师有很正常的口音 00:09:08.739 --> 00:09:10.399 可能是美式口音 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.479 他们不习惯人有 00:09:12.479 --> 00:09:14.739 比如说在英国苏格兰的 00:09:14.739 --> 00:09:16.599 苏格兰的口音完全不一样 00:09:16.599 --> 00:09:18.879 不可能 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:19.879 不可能 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:21.599 这是很难懂的 00:09:21.699 --> 00:09:24.339 So they need some time to adapt. 00:09:24.939 --> 00:09:25.979 What can they do? 00:09:26.339 --> 00:09:27.179 What can they do? 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:29.659 I think you have to listen. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.299 You have to listen to language as much as you can. 00:09:32.439 --> 00:09:34.639 It's all about the time you put in, I think. 00:09:34.959 --> 00:09:40.059 If they've got a chance to listen to podcasts and other things like this, this is really good. 00:09:40.539 --> 00:09:42.139 I think that's a great idea, yeah. 00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:43.699 Active listening as well. 00:09:44.199 --> 00:09:46.299 This is a difficult thing to do by yourself. 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:51.999 But when you have to answer questions, for example, on what you've heard, then that's great. 00:09:52.619 --> 00:10:00.199 One important thing for Chinese students is for learning a language, you don't have to understand 100% of what's said to you. 00:10:00.299 --> 00:10:05.299 If you're getting like 80 to 90%, actually, that's already really good. 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:09.299 And you can probably answer questions then from that. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:10.339 Yeah. 00:10:10.339 --> 00:10:17.779 Yeah. And it's very interesting because I've learned a lot of languages and you've obviously also learned Chinese and we'll talk about that in a bit. 00:10:17.779 --> 00:10:25.639 But when you learn a language, there is this phase where you speak the language relatively well, but there's still so much that you don't understand. 00:10:26.179 --> 00:10:31.819 But your brain sort of fills in the gaps and sort of, I don't know, it's like cotton wool, isn't it? 00:10:31.939 --> 00:10:37.439 It's like there's this tiny little cloud around that word that you don't understand. 00:10:37.819 --> 00:10:39.839 And you're sort of imagining what it could be. 00:10:39.939 --> 00:10:42.359 And sometimes your imagination runs wild. 00:10:42.699 --> 00:10:47.119 So you imagine something very, very different from what it really is. 00:10:47.119 --> 00:10:47.959 I remember one. 00:10:48.079 --> 00:10:51.239 Actually, I didn't know the meaning, but I didn't know the meaning. 00:10:51.819 --> 00:10:56.359 But there was a bus crash and I was on the top level of the bus. 00:10:56.359 --> 00:10:59.179 And I could hear someone speaking in Chinese. 00:10:59.779 --> 00:11:03.359 面包车这样子,然后面包车那样子,然后面包车这样子. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:06.759 And I didn't know what 面包车 meant. 00:11:07.099 --> 00:11:09.939 I only knew that 面包 was bread. 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:10.299 Yeah. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:13.639 So I thought, oh, is there bread all around, 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:16.279 like on the ground outside or what's going on? 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.599 But actually 面包车 is a kind of a van. 00:11:19.939 --> 00:11:20.159 Yeah. 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:22.639 So there's things like this where you're like, huh? 00:11:22.999 --> 00:11:25.059 And you might miss a beat like I did. 00:11:25.079 --> 00:11:26.039 And sometimes it's funny. 00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:27.439 You get good stories. 00:11:27.439 --> 00:11:28.499 面包车就是好故事。 00:11:28.499 --> 00:11:31.459 如果就是有一些这样的发生, 00:11:31.559 --> 00:11:32.359 你可以跟其他人讲。 00:11:32.359 --> 00:11:33.759 买面包的车。 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:34.139 Yeah. 00:11:34.139 --> 00:11:37.619 可以就是开玩笑说的。 00:11:37.619 --> 00:11:42.079 But yeah, sometimes it might be embarrassing or heavy, 00:11:42.219 --> 00:11:45.059 but afterwards you then remember that forever. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:46.139 Exactly. 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:48.539 And this is what we're stressing. 00:11:49.979 --> 00:11:54.159 You know, 犯错是正常的,是需要的。 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.899 学习一门语言,你就必须犯错。 00:11:57.899 --> 00:11:59.519 Yeah, 必须。 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:03.519 这就是学习的一个过程。 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:15.919 Yeah. And then you learn. But it's embarrassing. But at the same time, if you laugh about it, like you said, it's probably the best way, isn't it? 00:12:16.099 --> 00:12:22.119 Oh, for sure. You've got more experience of this than me because you've got so many languages. 00:12:22.859 --> 00:12:29.479 Yeah, but you sort of, you know, it's a process every time you think, oh, now I've learned a few languages. Now I'll be OK. But no. 00:12:29.479 --> 00:12:36.379 then you learn a new language and you start again oh yeah but it's very normal when you 00:12:36.379 --> 00:12:41.259 move to another country to uh to have that situation isn't it where you feel that you 00:12:41.259 --> 00:12:46.979 don't understand everything but you can probably be okay not understanding everything yeah absolutely 00:12:46.979 --> 00:12:53.159 that's very very normal so let's talk about you learning chinese because you learn chinese in 00:12:53.159 --> 00:13:02.739 China. How did you learn it? Okay, so I started out with a language learning app just to get the 00:13:02.739 --> 00:13:10.459 basic characters down like 100 or 200 characters and maybe 300 words. Usually a word is two 00:13:10.459 --> 00:13:19.279 characters. After having like established those, I went on to Chinese readers. So I would just read 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:25.299 basic reader with my Chinese teacher continuously until they became more and more fluid. And there 00:13:25.299 --> 00:13:30.499 are loads of great readers out there, especially now. They have lots of graded readers from very 00:13:30.499 --> 00:13:35.699 basic up to very advanced. Did he use an app or did he use a book? He used a book at the time, 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:41.459 right? So yeah, after like getting those basic characters down and words down, I switched to 00:13:41.459 --> 00:13:49.259 books. Recently, I'm reading Shi Wang Weishima, which is a famous series of questions and answers. 00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:53.439 And it's really a lovely series, very straightforward to read. 00:13:53.659 --> 00:14:02.739 And the level is for maybe for like middle school or high school students to read about physics and chemistry and biology and these kind of topics. 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:07.659 Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's brilliant. Yeah. And especially if you're interested in the topic, right? 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:12.619 Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that also is really important for language learners. 00:14:12.779 --> 00:14:22.279 I've had students before who their parents have watched like Downton Abbey and then they're like, I want my daughter to talk like this person. 00:14:23.739 --> 00:14:31.279 OK, we'll try. And the technique that is encouraged for that is shadow reading. 00:14:31.779 --> 00:14:36.859 I don't know. Shadowing. Yeah. Yeah. Shadowing. And I do the same for Chinese. 00:14:36.859 --> 00:14:43.079 so I would read text at the same time as my teacher and yeah see how that helped and I think 00:14:43.079 --> 00:14:47.999 it did help you're doing it actually with your teacher rather than the recording yeah rather 00:14:47.999 --> 00:14:53.359 than recording with my teacher yes oh that's interesting so shadowing is usually you have a 00:14:53.359 --> 00:14:59.739 text usually a relatively short text a recording of maybe a minute sometimes shorter sometimes longer 00:14:59.739 --> 00:15:06.039 and you would listen to that a few times until you know it pretty much inside out you know it well 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:13.059 and then you speak alongside the recording and you try to totally replicate the recording. 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:19.259 Absolutely. That's the technique. And with a teacher, then instead of you're doing it with 00:15:19.259 --> 00:15:24.939 a recording, you're doing it with a live person who's speaking at the same time. And so you might 00:15:24.939 --> 00:15:30.139 be sharing a book that you both try and read from at the same time or something. But familiarity 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:37.999 with text is very important and i found this to be the best way for developing like good 00:15:37.999 --> 00:15:45.339 pronunciation in chinese and for learning english it's the same obviously in english we don't have 00:15:45.339 --> 00:15:52.919 tones but we have intonation so for learning chinese tones i think it's even more crucial 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:58.539 but for a chinese student coming to britain and learning to speak like in downton abbey if this 00:15:58.539 --> 00:16:05.999 is what you want you can try to do shadowing with uh absolutely with Downton Abbey and learn it off 00:16:05.999 --> 00:16:12.799 and although I think that nowadays I don't think it's terribly important I mean Chinese parents 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:21.519 definitely will emphasize having a some standard accent but actually in the UK people are not really 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:29.259 that concerned about it. Not anymore. It changed, didn't it? In the 1950s, 1960s, it was all 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:35.639 standard BBC and then you were posh. You were important. And if you spoke with a local accent, 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:42.379 you were from that area or working class. And it's changed in the media, on television, 00:16:42.859 --> 00:16:51.499 on radio. It has changed a lot. Yeah. When I first moved to the UK about 20, 00:16:51.499 --> 00:17:01.199 five years or so ago I moved to Manchester or Manchester as I would call it and lived there 00:17:01.199 --> 00:17:09.659 for five years or so my partner was from Manchester so I spoke Mancunian every day and I learned a lot 00:17:09.659 --> 00:17:14.699 of Mancunian expressions Mancunian is just a dialect from Manchester that's what you call 00:17:14.699 --> 00:17:20.019 Manchester English but I learned a lot of northern expressions and when I then moved to Bristol 00:17:20.019 --> 00:17:25.379 it was really strange because some of those expressions were northern they were special to 00:17:25.379 --> 00:17:31.239 that area and not everybody would understand or people would say i had a strange accent because i 00:17:31.239 --> 00:17:37.379 was speaking i was still speaking with a german accent but i had you know some of those mancunian 00:17:37.379 --> 00:17:44.379 expressions in there and sometimes i still have them oh really yes yeah not not that often anymore 00:17:44.379 --> 00:17:49.579 when you visit manchester do they come in very rarely but yeah it's a sometimes it's just i slip 00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:55.539 back into them yeah i mean i'm from uh southwest and sometimes there's a natural tendency to 00:17:55.539 --> 00:18:01.639 imitate people's accents yes and i sometimes do that as well i go more west country and i 00:18:01.639 --> 00:18:10.939 yeah have a kind of farmer accent if you speak with a southwest accent even bristol accent 00:18:10.939 --> 00:18:16.799 yeah the same but you know further i was in the countryside even worse so you are perceived to 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:24.099 be a farmer you're you know you're perceived to be maybe a bit stupid yeah they definitely carry 00:18:24.099 --> 00:18:30.239 some stereotypes sometimes don't they and it's i guess it's still an issue here but less luckily 00:18:30.239 --> 00:18:36.099 less and less so especially like you said with the regional news programs showing like people 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:42.659 with accents coming on there i mean that's really positive work yeah it's weird being in china for a 00:18:42.659 --> 00:18:47.519 long time as well you're in a kind of mixed you're in an international group so actually your word 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:54.339 use changes things like eggplant for example rather than aubergine yeah because the american 00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:58.959 speakers will definitely use all this vocabulary sets and you see it every day in the words that 00:18:58.959 --> 00:19:05.739 you teach like zucchini as well courgette and things like this yeah so did you have like set 00:19:05.739 --> 00:19:10.739 teaching books you were teaching from and they would use american words yeah absolutely and a 00:19:10.739 --> 00:19:16.739 few years ago they all changed because in recent years the curriculums in china have all changed 00:19:16.739 --> 00:19:24.579 so yeah and typically they go for american words yeah yeah i think that's very normal that's what 00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:32.899 we learned in germany even though our textbook was set in england but the the english words 00:19:32.899 --> 00:19:40.139 it was potentially just because of the cultural influences i was into british music so i learned 00:19:40.139 --> 00:19:44.459 a lot of British words, but the English we all learned at school was American. 00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:45.439 Oh, really? 00:19:45.639 --> 00:19:45.779 Yeah. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:52.239 So for students from China who come to Britain, that may be a bit of a surprise, right? 00:19:52.419 --> 00:19:57.739 Yeah, absolutely. And well, sometimes they have a kind of mix. I always think of this word, 00:19:57.739 --> 00:20:03.979 the word water, and in an American pronunciation would use like a D, I guess. 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:04.539 Water. 00:20:04.959 --> 00:20:18.599 Yeah. And, but obviously with British pronunciation, the A is like war, like even like the Chinese war, whereas Chinese students seem to mix it up. 00:20:19.139 --> 00:20:32.219 So they wouldn't use this D and they wouldn't use this like, or like sound, but they would have like a mix of like T and American A, which I can't think how it sounds like now. 00:20:32.219 --> 00:20:32.999 Oh, yes, I see. 00:20:33.459 --> 00:20:35.839 Yeah, it's really difficult to know how to pronounce it, 00:20:35.959 --> 00:20:38.419 which way is okay and which one isn't. 00:20:38.739 --> 00:20:40.579 You hear lots of different versions. 00:20:41.159 --> 00:20:45.339 And then in Britain, obviously, some people don't say the T or the D at all. 00:20:45.439 --> 00:20:46.219 They just say wah. 00:20:46.659 --> 00:20:47.219 Oh, yeah. 00:20:48.219 --> 00:20:48.579 Yes. 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:48.799 Right? 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:51.279 It's true, yeah. 00:20:51.919 --> 00:20:54.739 So for a Chinese student coming to Britain hearing wah. 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:56.299 Wah, what's that? 00:20:57.439 --> 00:21:01.459 But then, I don't know, is it often do the Chinese students tend to, like, 00:21:01.879 --> 00:21:07.179 grouped together? Is that what happens here? Many of my students from different parts of the world 00:21:07.179 --> 00:21:12.179 hang out with students from that part of the world. And I was an exchange student myself in 00:21:12.179 --> 00:21:17.639 Denmark and I found other people like me, not just Germans, there were others, but you know, 00:21:17.739 --> 00:21:23.859 I had a quite an international friendship group in Denmark. And I think it's very normal. I see 00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:32.879 that here as well some students integrate really well some students are very open and very keen to 00:21:32.879 --> 00:21:40.459 find friends and integrate very quickly so find new friends very quickly other students are much 00:21:40.459 --> 00:21:49.419 more shy and struggle with english and don't know how to meet new people so that very much depends 00:21:49.419 --> 00:21:55.079 on individuals but it's very difficult when you don't speak the language very well you're in a 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:59.619 new environment everything is new everything is overwhelming and you have to find new friends 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:04.699 who speak that language really well and you don't understand what they're saying they speak quickly 00:22:04.699 --> 00:22:11.439 you don't understand them okay in english we can say hang in there yeah hang in there definitely 00:22:11.439 --> 00:22:23.899 yeah just and then eventually after a while you suddenly understand and you must have had that 00:22:23.899 --> 00:22:29.759 experience with chinese i've had that experience with chinese not that long ago where i went from 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:35.979 watching television and understood individual sentences and individual words and all of a 00:22:35.979 --> 00:22:40.179 sudden i understood everything and there would be one word i wouldn't know and i would look that up 00:22:40.179 --> 00:22:46.459 in the dictionary. But, you know, going from sort of everything is very strange to everything is 00:22:46.459 --> 00:22:50.779 really clear other than one or two words, I don't know. And that's great, isn't it? 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:54.999 Yeah, absolutely. I've definitely had that experience where it's like, ah, 00:22:55.539 --> 00:22:56.819 suddenly it all makes sense. 00:22:57.479 --> 00:23:02.919 Yeah. And it's like that. It's really, really sudden. Yeah. It takes a while of living in 00:23:02.919 --> 00:23:10.739 the country. I remember when I moved to England, I had written my PhD thesis in English. I've 00:23:10.739 --> 00:23:16.019 written my MA thesis in English. I've written some research papers in English and I moved to 00:23:16.019 --> 00:23:22.939 Britain to work here. And I often watch television not understanding everything and not understanding, 00:23:22.939 --> 00:23:29.419 you know, lots of words and being also quite surprised by people's accents. And, you know, 00:23:29.479 --> 00:23:31.759 And so I watched a lot of television. 00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:34.139 I don't really like watching television, 00:23:34.379 --> 00:23:37.659 but I watched a lot of television, got a lot of input. 00:23:38.379 --> 00:23:40.439 And then obviously because I was in the country, 00:23:40.439 --> 00:23:43.839 also a lot of output, so I was speaking all the time. 00:23:44.159 --> 00:23:46.399 And there's things about the culture as well. 00:23:46.399 --> 00:23:47.399 就是文化 00:23:47.399 --> 00:23:51.019 比如说中文经常语道人要说 00:23:51.019 --> 00:23:52.079 你吃饭了吗 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:54.079 然后如果说你吃饭了吗 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:55.739 就是回答吃了 00:23:55.739 --> 00:23:57.799 然后在英国 00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:00.299 如果你跟其他人说你吃饭了吗 00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:01.619 意思有点像 00:24:01.619 --> 00:24:03.959 你要不要跟我一起吃饭 00:24:03.959 --> 00:24:04.779 招手车车 00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:07.239 但是英国人就是 00:24:07.239 --> 00:24:08.899 你开始跟他们说 00:24:08.899 --> 00:24:10.659 如果他们开始学中文 00:24:10.659 --> 00:24:12.959 他们就是想知道 00:24:12.959 --> 00:24:14.259 How are you? 00:24:14.539 --> 00:24:15.119 How are you? 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:16.699 怎么说的? 00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:17.739 They always want to know, 00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:19.699 how do you say how are you in Chinese? 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.479 可是中国人一般来说不会说how are you, 00:24:23.819 --> 00:24:28.899 因为这个有时候就是问其他人健不健康, 00:24:29.299 --> 00:24:32.099 只是要问how are you. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.359 有别的意思,对。 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:36.519 就是和健康有关系, 00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:39.839 it's not really a question you ask every day, 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:42.239 it's like you don't really know about people's mood, 00:24:42.399 --> 00:24:44.779 it's usually have you eaten or not, 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:48.139 as a kind of general introduction. 00:24:48.399 --> 00:24:49.339 So there's things like that 00:24:49.339 --> 00:24:51.899 you probably see from TV when you've seen it. 00:24:51.899 --> 00:25:09.639 好奇怪的是在英国,how are you? How's it going? 你必须说,一定会说,oh great, yeah, how are you? Yeah, all right, all right. 身体不好,你很累,但是... 00:25:09.639 --> 00:25:13.899 对,最近有一个朋友他说I'm okay,然后我 uh-oh. 00:25:13.899 --> 00:25:15.439 哈希克西比! 00:25:17.239 --> 00:25:18.939 对,对。 00:25:18.939 --> 00:25:21.519 And even 不仅是中国, 00:25:21.779 --> 00:25:24.219 而且有其他国家也是, 00:25:24.499 --> 00:25:25.759 进来英国的时候, 00:25:25.999 --> 00:25:27.679 我有一个俄罗斯朋友, 00:25:28.199 --> 00:25:30.199 还有南非朋友, 00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:31.999 他就是跟我说, 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:33.399 他们来英国的时候, 00:25:33.959 --> 00:25:35.499 问人,How are you? 00:25:35.699 --> 00:25:37.199 我觉得,Oh, wow, 00:25:37.399 --> 00:25:38.939 English people are so nice. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:39.719 They ask you, 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:41.079 How are you? all the time. 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:42.459 They really consider it. 00:25:42.459 --> 00:25:45.199 But actually it's not like that. 00:25:45.419 --> 00:25:46.939 And they've realized later. 00:25:46.939 --> 00:25:48.099 我们也意识到 00:25:48.099 --> 00:25:49.759 其实这个问题只是 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:52.179 我刚到英国 00:25:52.179 --> 00:25:53.099 是一样 00:25:53.099 --> 00:25:54.219 对我也觉得 00:25:54.219 --> 00:25:58.019 那么那么友好的那些人 00:25:58.019 --> 00:25:59.779 我的邻居都跟我说 00:25:59.779 --> 00:26:01.939 你最近怎么样 00:26:01.939 --> 00:26:04.999 挺好的挺好的 00:26:04.999 --> 00:26:06.639 但是呢 00:26:06.639 --> 00:26:07.419 但是 00:26:07.419 --> 00:26:10.019 两年三年 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:11.839 之后才发现 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:14.999 这就是他们的说法 00:26:14.999 --> 00:26:15.479 对吗 00:26:15.479 --> 00:26:17.479 对,就是有一点点。 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:19.479 对,就一点点。 00:26:20.479 --> 00:26:22.299 在德国不会,就是问? 00:26:23.139 --> 00:26:23.479 一定不会。 00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:29.479 现在呢,是因为文化的那个接触,就是,对。 00:26:30.459 --> 00:26:33.939 有可能也会说,vigils。 00:26:33.939 --> 00:26:35.479 你可以说vigils,对。 00:26:36.499 --> 00:26:42.839 对,是也一样,但是在英国,more extreme, I'd say, yeah. 00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:49.819 yeah but if you ask in in in england if you ask in germany have you eaten that would be weird oh yes 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:55.439 it's lunchtime and you know and yeah it's you would not ask that would you would you ask it as 00:26:55.439 --> 00:27:01.778 a question for asking someone to to eat together have you eaten yet should we go yeah maybe you 00:27:01.778 --> 00:27:08.139 would you would do like that but just straight out have you eaten oh yeah china is like how are you 00:27:08.139 --> 00:27:17.739 it's like whoa it implies you know that yeah yeah you don't eat look at you skin and bones i know 00:27:17.739 --> 00:27:27.459 exactly you have no money shall i buy you a sandwich yeah so obviously it can be quite scary 00:27:27.459 --> 00:27:32.619 to be in a new environment and speak a new language but it takes it takes time and you get 00:27:32.619 --> 00:27:37.439 there and when you get there it's amazing isn't it when you have that feeling of i understand i can 00:27:37.439 --> 00:27:45.258 take part in conversations. I can be part of this new community now. Yeah, absolutely. And people in 00:27:45.258 --> 00:27:51.359 Britain are also very forgiving when it comes to accent and not speaking English perfectly and so 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:55.859 on, because there are lots of different accents, lots of different people, lots of different ways 00:27:55.859 --> 00:28:00.119 in which people don't speak perfectly. So you never have to feel you have to speak a language 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:06.378 perfectly to move somewhere or live there. Absolutely. Brilliant. Well, it was really 00:28:06.379 --> 00:28:11.079 nice to have you david oh it was really nice coming in thank you it was a shame we didn't 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:19.319 have gg but unfortunately i had to teach oh no he was doing his day job well maybe next time yeah 00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:23.079 next time next time exactly well thank you very much thanks bye 00:28:23.078 --> 00:28:23.858 Bye-bye.