美語情景對話 第588期:Missing The States 想念美國

Todd: So, Keiko, now you are back in Japan. You live and work in Japan. Do you miss things about the U.S.?

託德：惠子，你現在回日本了。你現在在日本生活和工作。你想念美國嗎？

Keiko: Many things. First of all, I miss my friends a lot. I miss the food, especially Mexican food.

惠子：我想念美國的很多事情。首先，我非常想念我的朋友。我還想念美國的食物，尤其是墨西哥美食。

Todd: Me, too. Me, too.

託德：我也是，我也是。

Keiko: Cause I think you and I both lived in California, the best place for Mexican food.

惠子：我想你和我都在加利福尼亞州生活過，那裏的墨西哥美食非常正宗。

Todd: Right, I'm a huge taco addict. I love tacos and I'm bummed that I can't get tacos in Japan.

託德：沒錯，我特別喜歡墨西哥玉米捲餅。我非常喜歡墨西哥玉米捲餅，我覺得在日本吃不到墨西哥玉米捲餅。

Keiko: Me, too.

惠子：我也喜歡。

Todd: Yeah, what's your favorite thing in Mexican food?

託德：嗯，你最喜歡的墨西哥食物是什麼？

Keiko: I love burritos. It's a good combination of beans and rice.

惠子：我喜歡墨西哥圓餅，豆類和米飯的完美結合。

Todd: Right. Right.

託德：沒錯，沒錯。

Keiko: I love — and I used to go to this small burritos restaurant in The States and it was run by Mexican people and they didn't speak any English. We had to order in Spanish but the food was just as authentic as you can get.

惠子：我以前在美國時經常去一家墨西哥人開的墨西哥圓餅餐廳，他們不會說英語。我們要用西班牙語點餐，那裏的食物非常正宗。

Todd: Yeah, it's just fantastic back home.

託德：嗯，味道很正宗。

Keiko: Yeah.

惠子：對。

Todd: Now you mentioned Spanish. Did you study Spanish when you were in high school?

託德：你剛提到了西班牙語，你在高中時學過西班牙語嗎？

Keiko: Actually, I didn't because I was taking ESL class, English as a second language, so that counted as my foriegn language credit.

惠子：沒有，因爲我上的是把英語作爲第二語言的課程，那就算是我的外語學分。

Todd: You were taking ESL classes.

託德：你上的是把英語作爲第二語言的課程。

Keiko: Yeah, I was.

惠子：對，是的。

Todd: That's not fair. You were getting easy A's.

託德：這不公平。你可以很輕鬆就拿到A。

Keiko: No, cause I think for three years I was sitting in the class and not understanding a word.

惠子：不是，有三年的時間我在教室上課的時候一個字都聽不懂。

Todd: I don't think so. But you're perfectly fluent now so it is hard to believe you sitting in ESL classes.

託德：我不這麼認爲，你現在的口語非常流利，很難想象你上的是把英語作爲第二語言的課程。

Keiko: Well, thank you but it was pretty difficult the first three years and then finally one day, after three years, I just understood the word without trying to translate in my mind. It was kind of fascinating, but.

惠子：謝謝你的誇獎，不過前三年的時候真的很艱難，三年後有一天，我在沒有翻譯的情況下突然明白了那些詞的意思，那種感覺很神奇。

Todd: When you were in The States what do you think helped you learn English the most, was it talking with people or listening to radio or?

託德：你在美國時，你認爲對你學習英語最有幫助的是什麼？是和人們交談還是聽廣播或是其他的？

Keiko: I think everything, just to be in that situation and for just environmental English and my father tried to put me to the school where there's no Japanese so I don't hang out with the Japanese people so I was forced to be in a community of just American people so I think that was very, I learned in a hard way but I think it was the best thing that my father ever tried to do.

惠子：我覺得都很有幫助，在純英語環境下，我爸爸把我送去了一個沒有日本人的學校，我不能和日本人一起玩，我只能在全是美國人的環境中生活，雖然我學習得很困難，但是我認爲這是我爸爸做過的最好的事。

Todd: That's interesting. Well, thanks a lot Keiko.

託德：這很有趣。非常謝謝你，惠子。

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重點講解：
1. first of all 首先；第一；
例句：First of all, let's set the scene.
首先讓我們來敘述一下背景。
2. used to do sth. 過去常常；過去曾；
例句：Young ladies used to have lessons in deportment.
少女以前要上儀態課。
3. hang out 閒逛，逗留；
例句：We usually hang out in the common after class.
我們放學後通常會在廣場上消磨時間。
4. be forced to do sth. 被迫做某事；
例句：I was forced to sign the agreement against my will.
我被迫違心地在協議上籤了字。