米国赴任13週目が終了。
7月から地元サンタクララ市のAdult EducationのESLコースのSummer Courseに一ヶ月通っています。平日2回、夜7時から9時半までの10回コースです。料金は100ドルくらい。
授業の中身ですが、毎回テーマに沿ったアメリカ独特の言い回し、イディオム、決まり文句的なフレーズを学習します。結局はフレーズや表現なんですかね。
生徒同士で話す時間も多く取られています。生徒は各国の人がいて、生まれて初めて話す国も人も多いです。イランから来た人と「アメリカのどこが好きか」という話で私が、天気が良いこと、などと答えると彼は、「自由である、平等である」ということを話すので、脳天気日本人とは違うことを思い知った次第です。
あと、生徒のアクセントのクセは強く、聞き取りは難しいです。生徒との会話の中でリスニング力を磨いている状態です。
9月からの秋のコースもあるので申し込む予定です。
CaptureStreamの新しいバージョン、早く完成しないかな。。。
3.実践ビジネス英語 2013/7 Lesson 8 Second Acts 1,2,3
■前回の復習です
unsettling
play into the hands of someone
flighty
calm and collected
objective frame of mind
keep a stiff upper lip
■意味を考えてみよう。今日取り上げる単語が含まれています
I made a point of spending a lot of quality time with my folks instead of carousing with the sold gang.
One big reason is that he took a beating on the stock market during the recession.
Dad's such an inveterate workaholic that it's hard to imagine him being happy without his nose to the grindstone.
The last few years of recession and recovery saw many people suffer serious loses in the stock and real estate markets, not to mention layoffs and stagnant incomes.
He's feeling the heat from younger salespeople who are going after new clients.
Getting the pink slip can mean long months of searching with no success, just soul-destroying rejection.
They can get into a really negative rut.
They start believing the hoary adage about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks.
Everyone should have a Plan B to fall back upon.
If you've got enough skill and drive you can reinvent yourself.
★carouse, 飲み騒ぐ
drink alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way.
ex) They danced and caroused until the drink ran out.
I made a point of spending a lot of quality time with my folks instead of carousing with the sold gang.
★take a beating on the stock market, 株の取引でかなりの損失を出す
take a beating
to be beaten, bested, or defeated.
ex) The candidate took a beating in the primaries. The team took quite a beating.
One big reason is that he took a beating on the stock market during the recession.
★inveterate, 常習的な、慢性の、根深い
having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change:
ex) An inveterate gambler
Dad's such an inveterate workaholic that it's hard to imagine him being happy without his nose to the grindstone.
★with one's nose to the grindstone, 一生懸命働いて
keep one's nose to the grindstone
work hard and continuously:
ex) She kept her nose to the grindstone, her feet on the ground and her hands to herself.
Dad's such an inveterate workaholic that it's hard to imagine him being happy without his nose to the grindstone.
★stagnant, 停滞した、伸び悩んだ
showing no activity; dull and sluggish:
ex) A stagnant economy
The last few years of recession and recovery saw many people suffer serious loses in the stock and real estate markets, not to mention layoffs and stagnant incomes.
★feel the heat, プレッシャーを感じる
the heat
<informal> intensive and unwelcome pressure or criticism, especially from the authorities:
ex) A flurry of legal proceedings turned up the heat in the dispute.
He's feeling the heat from younger salespeople who are going after new clients.
★soul-destroying rejection, 気がめいるような不採用
soul-destroying
(of an activity) unbearably monotonous:
ex) As loveless marriages go, it is threatening to become the most soul-destroying variety.
Getting the pink slip can mean long months of searching with no success, just soul-destroying rejection.
★get into a negative rut, 悪い状況にはまり込む、悪循環に陥る
rut
a habit of pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change:
ex) The EC was stuck in a rut and was losing its direction.
They can get into a really negative rut.
★hoary adage, 陳腐なことわざ
hoary
overused and unoriginal; trite:
ex) The hoary old adage often used by Fleet Street editors.
They start believing the hoary adage about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks.
★fall back upon, ...に頼る、...を当てにする
have resource to when in difficulty:
ex) They normally fell back on one of three arguments.
Everyone should have a Plan B to fall back upon.
★reinvent oneself, 再出発する、自己改革する
take up a radically new job or way of life:
ex) The actor wants to reinvent himself as an independent movie mogul.
If you've got enough skill and drive you can reinvent yourself.
■前回の復習の答えです
unsettling, 動揺させる、不安をもたらす
play into the hands of someone, （人）の術中にはまる
flighty, 気まぐれな、移り気な、軽薄な
calm and collected, 落ち着き払った、沈着冷静な
objective frame of mind, 客観的な気持ち
keep a stiff upper lip, 何があっても冷静で自分の感情を表に出さない、何事にも平然としている
