美語情景對話 第587期:Missing Home 想家

Todd: Hey, Keiko, you lived in The States for five years, right?

託德：嘿，惠子，你在美國生活了五年，對嗎？

Keiko: Yep.

惠子：對。

Todd: When you were there, what did you miss about Japan — like what foods or TV shows or stuff like that?

託德：你在美國的時候想念日本嗎？比如想念日本的食物或電視節目之類的？

Keiko: I did miss the food a lot — very healthy food, not oily, just simple, grilled fish, miso soup, simple rice, natto. I missed that a lot.

惠子：我非常想念日本的食物，想念那些不油膩，又簡單的健康生物，比如烤魚、味噌湯、米飯和納豆等。我非常想念這些食物。

Todd: Now did you cook Japanese food in the states?

託德：你在美國有做日本食物吃嗎？

Keiko: I lived with parents and my parents and my mom tried to cook as much but obviously it's hard to get those Japanese foods, ingredients in the states. It was pretty difficult at that time and it was also quite expensive, when you could get it.

惠子：在美國時我和父母生活在一起，我媽媽會盡量做日本食物吃，不過在美國很難買到日本的食材和調料。食材很難買，而可以找到的食材又很貴。

Todd: Right.

託德：沒錯。

Keiko: So, we didn't have it so often or everyday so I missed it.

惠子：所以我們不是經常做日本菜，不是每天都吃，所以我纔會想念。

Todd: Now what did you think of the Japanese restaurants in America? Were they up to par or? You can be honest.

託德：你覺得美國的日本餐廳怎麼樣？那些餐廳能達到標準嗎？你可以實話實說。

Keiko: Yeah, it was kind of strange at that time because they came in a very un-Japanese looking dish, and you know, the taste was, it's very quite similar to authentic but it's not quite authentic.

惠子：當時我覺得非常奇怪，雖然他們端上來的菜看上去不像日本菜，可是味道和日本菜很像，不過不是那麼正宗。

Todd: Right.

託德：沒錯。

Keiko: It was very close but still it wasn't the authentic Japanese.

惠子：味道很接近，不過不是正宗日本菜的味道。

Todd: Now was there anything else you missed, like was there television shows or music or radio stations, things like that?

託德：除了食物你還有其他想念的東西嗎，比如電視節目、音樂節目或是電臺節目之類的？

Keiko: Actually, I didn't think about these things when I moved because I was kind of forced to be adapted to American culture, so I didn't have, almost I didn't have time to really think back, "Oh, I miss this, I miss that" but I wanted to catch up with my friends in American school, I tried to watch TV shows in the states and I tried to talk to my American friends about that, so no, not in terms of TV and radio.

惠子：實際上我在美國時不太想這些東西，因爲我的情況有點像被迫去適應美國文化，所以我完全沒有時間回想，“哦，我想念這個，我想念那個”我沒有這個時間，我希望趕上在美國學校的同學，我努力去看美國的電視節目，和美國朋友談論這些節目，所以我不太想念電視節目或電臺節目。

Todd: OK. Now, actually, what grades were you in school? What level?

託德：好。當時你上幾年紀？達到什麼水平了？

Keiko: I moved to the states when I was 13, so the end of my junior high school first grade in Japan, so I moved into almost the beginning of the seventh grade in The States.

惠子：我搬去美國時是13歲，在日本唸完了初中一年級，我去美國以後上七年級。

Todd: And then you graduated high school?

託德：你在美國待到高中畢業？

Keiko: And then I graduated high school.

惠子：對，待到高中畢業。

Todd: Whoa!

託德：哇！

Keiko: Yeah, it was almost six years.

惠子：對，差不多有6年的時間。

Todd: Man, that must have been something.

託德：天哪，你肯定經歷了很多。

Keiko: Yep.

惠子：對。

Todd: Now, American high schools are known to be a lot easier than Japanese high schools. Did you feel like it was a lot easier?

託德：一般人們認爲美國的高中課程比日本的簡單。你覺得美國的課程簡單嗎？

Keiko: Actually, it's a good question because I get that asked all the time but I don't think it's true because I think what's hard in Japan is I think the school in Japan is not so hard but you have to study for the entrance exam for university. That's more difficult, but in The States I found it difficult. I mean the school was actually quite difficult because we have, every day we have a homework from all the subjects. We have every chapter test every week from all the subjects and every homework and every little test you do in the states, it counts when you want to get into university so every day you have to work hard, whereas in Japan you don't even have to go to school. I mean you could just go to the certain amount of days to school and you can still graduate but then you just have to do really well on the entrance exam for university, so I think that's a big difference.

惠子：這是個不錯的問題，總有人問我這個問題，我不這麼認爲，因爲日本課業比較難的原因是，學校課程並不難，但是你要爲準備大學入學考試而努力學習。這很難，可是我發現美國的學校課程很難。美國的課程很難，因爲每天所有課都會留作業，美國每週各科都會進行考試，美國所有的家庭作業和考試對考大學來說非常重要，所以每天都要努力學習，可是在日本你不用每天都去學校。只要達到一定的出勤天數，也可以畢業，前提是你在大學入學考試中要取得好成績，所以我認爲這是很大的不同。

Todd: Ok, thanks, thanks, Keiko.

託德：好，謝謝，謝謝你，惠子。

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. up to par 達到標準的；合格的；
例句：It's a constant struggle to try to keep them up to par.
要讓他們達標，需要不斷努力。
2. adapt to 適應；
例句：I do not think I'll ever adapt to this culture.
我恐怕永遠也適應不了這種文化。
3. think back 回憶；回想；
例句：I keep thinking back to the day I arrived here.
我不斷回想起剛到這兒那一天的情景。
4. catch up with 趕上，達到（標準、水平等）；
例句：I have to work hard to catch up with the other students.
要想趕上其他同學，我得特別努力才行。
5. in terms of 在…方面；從…角度看；根據…來說；
例句：The job is great in terms of salary, but it has its disadvantages.
就薪金而言，這個工作倒是挺不錯的，但也有一些不利之處。