我能慢到何种程度？（对话）

在今天这期节目开始前，你会听到一些广告，正是这些广告让我能靠做这个节目谋生。不过如果你愿意支持我，又不想听广告，我也完全理解。

Before today's episode you're going to hear some advertisements which help make it possible for me to do this as my job, but if you want to support me and would rather not hear adverts I completely understand.

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You should try EasyStoriesInEnglish premium.

高级版意味着更多专属内容，加入之后，你不仅能免广告收听所有剧集，还能获得额外的福利，比如更多故事和对话类播客。

Premium means extra special and by joining you not only get all the episodes without adverts but also extra special bonus content like extra stories and conversational podcasts.

直接访问 easystoriesinenglish.com/supportsupport，即可开启七天免费试用。

Just go to easystoriesinenglish.com/supportsupport to start your seven day free trial.

如果你是在 Apple 播客上收听，只要在节目列表顶部点击‘免费试用’就能加入。

If you're listening on Apple podcasts just click try free at the top of the episode list to join.

接下来，让我们听听赞助商的消息。

And now a word from our sponsors.

大家好，欢迎来到 EasyStoriesInEnglish。

Hello and welcome to EasyStoriesInEnglish.

对。

Yeah.

今天我们来学点英语。

We're gonna learn some English.

我们一起学。

We're gonna learn together.

你通过听我说话就能学会英语。

You're gonna learn some English by listening to me.

我的名字叫一个特别棒的朋友。

My name is a real good buddy.

和往常一样，你可以在简介里的链接找到文字稿。

And as always, you can find the transcript at the link in the description.

网站是 easystoriesinenglish.com。

It's on the website, easystoriesinenglish.com.

把所有文字稿都读一遍。

Read all the transcripts.

把所有文字稿都读一遍。

Read all the transcripts.

收听 EasyStoriesInEnglish。

Listen to EasyStoriesInEnglish.

哇哦。

Wow.

是的。

Yeah.

对。

Yeah.

EasyStoriesInEnglish。

EasyStoriesInEnglish.

好的。

Okay.

停。

Stop.

停。

Stop.

我这就停。

I'll stop.

我保证。

I promise.

今天这段录音可能会被一份送到我家门口的特别快递打断。

The way, today's recording is possibly going to be interrupted by a very special delivery to my front door.

是的。

Yes.

没错。

That's right.

我从一家咖啡店订了一杯奶酪配海盐的拿铁，他们要给我送到家门口。

I've ordered a cheese and sea salt latte from a coffee shop and they're bringing it to my front door.

不过在那之前，先说说今天这一集的主题和氛围——我能慢到什么程度？

But first, let me introduce the theme, the atmosphere for today's episode and that is how slow can I go?

几个月前我录过一整集，那时候特别累，累到说话都慢得不行，也没做平时那些夸张的举动。

Now I recorded a whole episode a few months ago when I was really tired and I was so tired that I just spoke really slowly, and I didn't do my usual crazy thing

上下起伏，或者

of going up and down or

你知道的，我有点像个怪人。

you know going I'm a little monster.

我没那么做，是想省点力气。

I didn't do any of that because I wanted to save my energy.

后来我发现根本没开录音，那一整期都没录下来，真是又惊讶又懊恼。

So imagine my surprise and disgust when I realized afterwards that I had not actually hit record and I didn't record any of that episode.

不过，录一期故意慢慢说话的节目，这想法挺吸引我的。

But the idea of an episode where I just try to talk really slowly appealed to me.

我觉得这里面有点东西。

I thought there was something there.

有点怪，对吧？

It's a bit strange.

对吧？

Right?

我不是打算做一期完全给初学者听的节目，所以如果你已经是中级或高级水平，我这种语速可能反而太慢了。不过，这正是现代科技的妙处所在。

Because I'm not aiming to make this like a completely beginner level episode, so this speed of speech may even be too slow for you if you're listening at an intermediate or advanced level, but that's where the magic of modern technology comes in.

你可以直接调到1.5倍速播放，要是胆子大，干脆开到两倍速——那就让我变成一只打了兴奋剂的花栗鼠吧。

You can just play it at 1.5 times speed or if you're feeling really daring two times speed why not make me talk like a chipmunk on steroids.

我决定做这期节目，是因为我觉得这种创作限制挺有意思的。

So I decided to do this episode because I think it's an interesting creative restriction.

我做对话类节目时容易收不住，说得太快，用的词也太难。

I can get carried away when I do the conversational episodes and talk too fast and use too difficult language.

所以这算是给我自己踩刹车，逼自己认真点，确保每句话都经过深思熟虑。创作上的限制其实特别有意思，它们总能带来意想不到的结果。更准确地说，限制反而能激发新的创意——作为创作者，限制反而让你更自由，帮你突破边界，发现新点子。

So this is kind of a way of grounding myself, holding myself accountable, making sure I'm really delivering a thoughtful, careful monologue and creative restrictions are interesting, they always create a new result there's a better way of phrasing this I think restrictions unlock new forms of creativity and ironically restrictions actually give you more creativity as an artist, they help you expand what you can do and stumble upon new ideas.

要不是开了这个播客，逼着自己按特定格式写短篇故事，我根本不会写这么多短篇。

I would have never written so many short stories if I hadn't started this podcast and I had to write short stories in a specific format for learners.

为不同水平的英语学习者写故事，真的提升了我的写作能力，也让我做出了以前根本不会想、甚至觉得自己根本做不到的作品。

Writing stories at a variety of levels for English learners has really improved my skills as a writer and has led me to create some kinds of work that I never would have been interested in before or perhaps wouldn't have been able to do.

不过咱们还是别再聊这些主题和框架了，你肯定更想听听那杯芝士海盐拿铁到底怎么回事。

But enough about the thematics and schematics of this episode because you're probably dying to know more about that cheese and sea salt latte.

我原本以为伦敦的饮品组合已经够奇怪了。

Now I thought there were some strange drink combinations in London.

伦敦人对姜黄拿铁、甜菜根拿铁早就习以为常了。

London is no stranger to a turmeric latte or a beetroot latte.

甜菜根就是那种特别红的蔬菜，吃多了连尿都会变红，但甜菜根拿铁居然意外地好喝。

Beetroot is that really red vegetable that if you eat it your pea becomes red as well and a beetroot latte is actually surprisingly delicious.

当然，还有开心果拿铁，自从迪拜巧克力火了之后，所有开心果口味的东西都一夜爆红——那可是近几年最莫名其妙的饮食潮流之一。

Of course we also have pistachio lattes and anything pistachio flavored has become meteorically successful in the wake of Dubai chocolate, one of the stupidest culinary phenomena to affect our world in the last few years.

是的，我试过迪拜巧克力，味道还行，就是太甜了，你不如去土耳其商店买块库纳法，味道差不多，价格还便宜不少。

Yes I have tried Dubai chocolate and it's fine, it's too sweet, you can just go to a Turkish shop and buy Kunefeh It's basically the same thing and it's usually a lot cheaper.

所以我来中国的时候，根本没想到这里的饮品会这么脑洞大开，结果真让我大开眼界。

So when I came to China, I wasn't expecting to be surprised by some of the out there drinks options, But here, they really take it to a whole new level.

前几天我喝了一杯芦荟冰美式，从我说话的语气你大概能猜到，我对芦荟和美式混合的味道实在提不起兴趣。

The other day, I had an aloe vera iced coffee, and as you can probably tell from my tone of voice, I wasn't a big fan of aloe vera and americano mixed together.

完全不喜欢。

Didn't like that.

那我怎么会点奶酪海盐拿铁呢？

So why did I go for the cheese and sea salt latte?

不过我对这个搭配还是抱点希望的，以前我喝过加奶酪的饮品，感觉还不错，我觉得热拿铁加点奶酪和盐，说不定真能行。

Well I'm more hopeful about this combination I have had savory cheese in drinks before and I've liked it I think a hot latte with cheese and salt could work.

我愿意试试看。

I'm willing to give it a go.

前几天我点了一份寿司，好像上面撒了奶酪粉。

Now the other day I did order some sushi that I think had cheese powder on it.

上面确实有一层粉末，但我完全不买账。

It had some kind of powder on it, and I did not approve of that.

咱们走着瞧吧。

So we'll see.

说实话，我本来根本没打算点咖啡，但已经对这些中国App上瘾了。

To be honest, I wasn't even planning on ordering coffee, but I've become quite addicted to some of these Chinese apps.

在西方，我们老抱怨TikTok和Instagram，但在China，那完全是另一个级别了。

Now in the West, we complain about TikTok and Instagram, but in China, it's a whole other ballgame.

就像所有中国应用一样，不管是银行App、购物App还是外卖App，功能多得数不清，而且都在互相模仿。

Like every Chinese app, whether it be a banking app, a shopping app, a food delivery app has a million options and they're all trying to do what the other apps are doing.

每个App都有类似抖音的视频流，都能攒金币，能换成现金或者当折扣用；都能领红包，其实就是优惠券，经常有时间限制，或者只能用于特定商品；还有各种小游戏，比如养鸡、种树、清理海洋、建发电站，你只要喂树、散步就能赚积分。有些游戏甚至能真正在现实世界种树，养鸡游戏还能得爱心蛋，捐出去后公司会捐钱给慈善机构——倒也不是全都是坏处，就是太乱了。

So every app has a video feed like TikTok, every app allows you to collect coins which you can either convert into real money or use for discounts in the shop, every app allows you to get these red envelopes which are basically just vouchers and often they're time limited or they can only be used on specific products, every app has these little games where you can like raise chickens on a farm or grow trees or clean up the ocean or create green energy in a power plant and you earn points in these games by like feeding the tree or going for walks or whatever and in some cases like the tree game you can actually plant trees in the real world and in the chicken game you get love eggs which you can then donate to charities and then the company will actually give money to the charities so it's not like it's all bad but it's terribly confusing.

我老是搞不清楚，用这些功能到底是省钱，还是被更深地拖进了消费主义的泥潭。

I'm never quite sure if I'm saving money by using these things or if I'm just being pulled deeper into a consumerist hellhole.

就在刚才，我在美团上看了十几分钟特别无聊的短视频，美团可是中国最大的外卖平台。

Like, just now, I spent maybe ten or twenty minutes watching really stupid short videos on Meituan, which is probably the biggest Chinese delivery app.

它不只送餐，还能送电池、电子产品、鲜花，几乎你临时需要的任何东西都能送。

It's not just food, they also deliver batteries, tech, flowers, basically anything you want at short notice.

我就是在这儿点的那杯拿铁，看完一堆视频后，我攒了一大堆金币，换成了现金，大概八块钱，也就是一两美元，算下来真不值当花这么多时间。

That's where I ordered my latte from because after watching a bunch of videos I had accrued a large pile of gold coins which I have converted into real money which is about 8 Yuan, so it's about ATP, so it probably wasn't worth all that effort.

我在美团上看视频赚的钱，肯定低于最低工资，但他们还给了我一个16块钱的红包，专门用来点餐，我一想，那不如就点杯咖啡吧。

I'm certainly making less than the minimum wage watching videos on Meituan, but in addition to that they also gave me a red envelope to use on food ordering food and it was quite a generous red envelope of 16 yuan So I thought, well, maybe I'll just order a coffee.

我就点了。

And I did.

我这杯咖啡花了17块，折合英镑大概1.7镑。

And I got the coffee for like 17 yuan, which is £1.70 in GBP.

这价格还挺划算的。

And that's a pretty good deal.

但说实话，要不是我一直在刷这个App，也没人给我发这个福利，我根本不会买这杯咖啡。

But also, I'm like, if I hadn't been scrolling through this app in the first place, and I hadn't got offered this thing, I probably wouldn't have bought this coffee in the first place.

说到底，还是平台赚了。

So at the end of the day, the company wins.

不过我得说，跟Instagram、TikTok这些西方App比起来，刷几个小时下来，你只收获了焦虑、抑郁和腰酸背痛；可在中国的App里，光是看傻乎乎的视频、玩点小游戏，真能赚到钱，这至少有个实在的回报。

I do have to say though, it's quite refreshing because the western apps like Instagram and TikTok, all you get from scrolling them for hours is depression, anxiety and a bad back whereas on the Chinese apps you get actual money just for watching stupid videos or playing silly games so there is like an actual incentive to it.

有些App甚至内置了电子书阅读器，看书写还能拿奖励。

Some of the apps even have built in e readers and you get rewards for reading books.

我不觉得这些书是什么文学经典，但能鼓励人读书，不管读什么，总归是好事。

Now I don't think these books are exactly world class literature but the fact that it's encouraging reading in any form is commendable, I guess.

不过，我得承认，我见过的一些中国短视频内容，真让人无语。

However, I have to say some of the things I've seen in Chinese short form videos.

哦，关于美湾，只能说很多这类视频根本不适合家庭观看，中国政府对某些内容有非常严格的限制。

Oh, on mei twan, let's just say a lot of these videos are not family friendly and the Chinese government does have very strong restrictions on certain kinds of content.

但今天我看到的一些内容，我觉得在美版抖音上早就被封了。

But some of the stuff I just saw today, I think would be banned on American TikTok.

那简直一点性暗示都没有，而且到一定程度就戛然而止了。

It was incredibly asexual, and obviously, it only goes up to at certain points.

但与此同时，我心里直嘀咕：哇塞。

But at the same time, I was like, woah.

这实在有点过头了。

This is really too much.

另一方面，当我偶尔刷微信短视频时，系统推荐了一些创作者，他们的视频让我着迷、困惑，甚至有点害怕。

On the other hand, when I've dipped my toe into the short video feed on Weixin or WeChat, it suggested certain content creators to me whose videos entice me, baffle me, and terrify me.

有个人专门抓青蛙、大鲵、鳄鱼这些动物，把鸡蛋塞进它们嘴里，再用锡纸和泥巴裹起来，烤熟了直接吃。

There's this one guy who takes animals like frogs, giant salamanders, and crocodiles, puts an egg in their mouth and then wraps them in tinfoil and mud and bakes them and then eats them.

他做这事的方式，有种说不出的怪异感。

And there's something about the way he does it.

而且全程配着欢快的背景音乐和各种音效，比如嘘声、欢呼声，最后他一口咬下那整只烤得巨大的鳄鱼，整个画面简直让人目不暇接。

And it has all this fun peppy music and sound effects like booing, hoo and then the way that he just takes this massive baked crocodile at the end and takes a bite out of it, it's all quite overwhelming.

另外，西方现在挺流行给狗狗做SPA，剪指甲、按摩、涂护肤品，但我在微信上好几次被推荐一个视频，那人给鸭子、鸡或者青蛙做按摩护理，结果视频播到一半，她突然就把动物拿去煮了，我当场就愣了：这发展也太意外了。

There's also, you know, this trend that's also popular in the West of people giving spas to their dogs, like they clip their dog's nails, they give their dog a massage, they put some skincare products on the dog, but I did get suggested on WeChat several times this person who will give the massage and the treatment to like a duck or a chicken or a frog and then halfway through the video suddenly she's cooking the duck or cooking the chicken or cooking the frog and it's like, oh, okay, I wasn't expecting that.

现在我已经慢慢接受了，这里对待动物的方式确实很不一样。

Now I've kind of just accepted that the approach to animals is very different here.

说实话，我觉得在很多方面，这种做法反而更合情理。

I actually think in many ways it's much more sensical than the western approach.

在西方，大家喜欢狗和猫这些可爱的小动物，也爱吃肉，但就是不愿意去想肉是怎么来的，不想看见屠宰过程。很多人乐意吃别人做好的肉，却自己不敢动手处理生肉。人们对哪些动物能吃、哪些不能吃，往往有一套很随意的划分标准。

In the West we love dogs and cats and cute animals and we love eating meat but we don't like to think about the production of meat, we don't want to see meat being produced, many people will happily eat meat someone else has prepared but they can't prepare meat with their own hands, There are slightly arbitrary distinctions about what animals are considered acceptable to eat and which are unacceptable to eat and so on.

而在中国，态度很直接：这些动物，就是拿来吃的。

Whereas in China, their animals, we're gonna eat them.

当然，具体做法因地区、阶层和个人差异很大，但总体是这个思路。

Seems to be the attitude, obviously it varies a lot by region, social class, individual.

比如我曾经去了一家快餐店，差不多就是中国的肯德基。

But for example, I was in this fast food restaurant that's kind of like the Chinese equivalent of KFC.

他们放了一段视频，展示鸡在屠宰厂里被加工的过程，整个身体被拆解成用来做汉堡的肉块。

And they had a video showing chickens being prepared in like an abattoir, like in a factory, factory, like the body's being taken apart to make the parts of meat that will go into your burger.

在西方的快餐店，这种画面绝对不可能出现，因为他们不想让你把血腥的肉类生产过程，和眼前香喷喷的汉堡联系起来。

And in a Western fast food place, they would never show that because they don't want you to make the association between the violence of actual meat production with the pretty delicious burger that's in front of you.

另外说件事，我昨天去上了一节普拉提课。

In other news, I went to a Pilates class yesterday.

前几天我路过一家商场，看到里面有个瑜伽和普拉提工作室，就进去咨询了一下。

The other day, I walked past a mall and I saw that they had a yoga and Pilates studio, so I decided to go in and talk to them.

昨天我终于去体验了一节课程。

And yesterday I finally tried out one of the classes.

我以前从没练过普拉提，不过因为练过很多瑜伽，感觉差别也不算大。但用第二语言上健身课，完全是另一种体验。

Now I'd never done Pilates before but having done a lot of yoga it's not that different But doing an exercise class in a non native language, doing an exercise class in your second language is a whole different experience.

那真的太累了。

It was so intense.

首先，整节课强度就很高，结束的时候我浑身都汗透了。

First of all, the class was just generally intense, and I was sweating from head to toe by the end.

而且那个班人特别少，学员个子也都小，就是每个人都比我矮不少。

Also, it was a very small class, and the people in the class were small, as in everyone was much shorter than me.

所以有些器械的高度不太适合我这个身高，得自己不断调整。

And so some of the exercise equipment was not quite positioned at the right level for my height.

不过教练还挺夸我的，说我做得不错。

So I had to make a lot of adjustments, but the teacher was very complimentary.

上运动课的时候，你自然会盯着别人看，琢磨他们怎么做动作，但你也能通过指令和动作直接学到很多语言。

And obviously, in an exercise class, can kind of look at other people and figure out what they're doing, but you do learn a lot of language very directly through the commands and the corresponding physical activity.

比如我现在知道了‘膝盖’怎么说，虽然不确定记对了没，但上课时这个词老出现。

So for example, I now know the word for knee is I think it's I might have got that wrong but it came up a lot in the class.

还有‘呼息’就是‘呼吸’，因为上课时老在强调呼吸。

Also Hu Xi is breathe because there was a lot of breathing in the class.

所以，这确实是一次特别累的经历，但同时也特别有成就感。

So, yeah, that was an intense experience, but it was also so gratifying.

每次在这里做这种事，我都觉得自己像打游戏通关了一样。

Every time I do something like that here, I feel like I've completed a quest in an RPG.

我就像解锁了新成就一样。

I've like unlocked a new thing.

比如第一次去看牙医、剪头发、配新眼镜——这些我本来就得做的事——每次我都特别有成就感，因为得用一种全新的语言和文化去应对这些事。但真挺有满足感的，也让我更清楚地意识到，当你不是移民、生活在自己的国家时，有多幸运：你知道所有流程，懂语言，清楚价格，连小细节都知道，比如健身馆该不该有更衣室之类的。

Like the first time I go to the dentist or get my haircut or get new glasses, which are all things I need to do by the way, I will feel such a sense of accomplishment because I'm having to learn how to do it in a new language and in a new culture, but it feels really great and it really makes you realize how much of an advantage you have when you're not an immigrant, like when you live in your home country and you know how all the systems work, you know the language and you know how much it's going to cost and even small things like the payment structure, whether you expect there to be a changing room at an exercise studio and so on.

前几天我其实挺低落、挺孤单的，但那节普拉提课让我自信心大增，而且对学中文也特别有帮助——我跟老板聊了挺久，还得用中文谈好我想买的课程套餐，这绝对是实战练习。

So I had been feeling pretty miserable and lonely the last few days, but that Pilates class gave me a huge boost to my self esteem and I think it's going to be fantastic for my Chinese also because I was chatting to the owner a lot and I had to, you know, negotiate the package of classes I wanted to buy in Chinese so that was definitely useful practice.

这儿的天气最近终于开始凉快了一点。

The weather has actually started to cool down a bit here.

最近阴天多，前几天温度降到23度了。说实话，作为英国人，23度我照样穿T恤出门，但跟之前动不动就30多度的天气比，变化真挺明显的。老实说，我宁愿要烈日当空，也不要阴雨连绵，整天阴天，总让我想起英国，可我想要的是阳光。

It's been much cloudier and it got as low as 23 degrees the other day, which okay as a British person, I can still go out in a T shirt in 23 degrees, but it is quite a marked change from 30 plus degrees which is what I got used to and to be honest I would rather have the blistering heat and sunshine than cloudy wet weather because when it's cloudy all day, it just reminds me of being in The UK and I want sunshine.

我喜欢阳光。

I like sunshine.

我得说，我胳膊晒得挺黑的，虽然上班时衣服经常盖着。

My arms are actually pretty tan here, I have to say, even though they're often covered up with my shirt at work.

就这样吧。

So there you go.

对了，如果你想更多地了解我在中国的经历，一定要关注我的Instagram账号Ariel Goodbody。

By the way, if you want to see more visual descriptions of my time in China, definitely follow me on Instagram Ariel Goodbody.

我每周都会发一些照片合集，记录在中国看到的有趣事物，比如前几天下暴雨时，我看到一只青蛙在地上蹦蹦跳跳，特别可爱。

I have been posting just little collections of pictures every week or so showing interesting things I've spotted in China, for example, the other day when there was a rainstorm, I saw a frog on the ground hopping about, that was very cute.

还有几张我在东成湖边拍照的照片，那是个位于宁波南部的漂亮湖泊。

There are some lovely pictures of me posing next to Dongcheng Lake, which is a beautiful lake in the South of Ningbo.

如果你还想了解更冷门的内容，比如我在这里发现的那些稀奇古怪的食物——说实话，我真发现了不少——那就去easystoriesinenglish.com/email订阅邮件通讯吧。

And if you want even deeper cuts, like you want to know about weird food items I found here, and believe me, I found a lot of weird food items here, then you should join the email newsletter at easystoriesinenglish dot com slash email.

最简单的方法就是打开本集的文稿，往下拉到底部，那里有个小表格，填一下就能订阅。我每出一集新节目都会发一封邮件，最近我还在邮件里写了一些像日记一样的小随笔。

The easiest way to get it is just to go to the transcript for this episode and scroll down to the bottom, you'll find a little form there to join the email newsletter, if you don't know I send out an update with every new episode and recently I've been writing little like diary entries in the emails.

就是随便聊聊最近在想什么，分享一些照片。

I've just kind of been talking about what's on my mind, sharing some pictures.

这些内容可能太有哲思，或者太视觉化，不适合放上播客，但又不够精美，也不适合发在Instagram上。

Basically, it's stuff that's maybe too philosophical or too visual to go on the podcast, but also not aesthetically gorgeous enough to go on Instagram.

所以它有种很特别的氛围。

So it's like a very specific kind of vibe.

如果你想知道我更深入的想法，想听点更私密、更沉思的内容，或者只是想看看中国和西方食物混搭的搞笑照片，那一定要订阅我的邮件通讯。

If you feel like you want to pick my brains and really hear my deep thoughts on something, slightly more intimate thoughts, slightly more ponderous thoughts or if you just want to see funny pictures of weird combinations of Chinese and Western food you should definitely join the email newsletter.

我录这段的时候是9月21号，所以这期节目录得挺早的。但从9月29号开始，中国有个为期一周的假期，就是中秋节，大家都能休一周假，我打算去杭州，那是宁波和上海之间一座漂亮又有历史感的城市。

As I'm recording this, it's the September 21 so I'm recording this quite a bit in advance, but from the September 29 there is a one week holiday in China, it's the mid autumn festival so we get a week off work and I am going to be going to Hangzhou which is a big beautiful historic city between Ningbo and Shanghai.

我决定在假期第一天，也就是27号星期六就出发，待三天，一、二、三，严格算三天，不过要是算上前后时间，可能有四天。

I decided to go right at the start of the holiday on Saturday the twenty seventh and I'm staying for three days, one, two, three, yeah three days technically, maybe four depending on how you count it.

我30号早上离开，杭州有个特别美的湖，叫西湖。

I'm leaving on the morning of the thirtieth and Hangzhou has another beautiful lake called West Lake.

那里有茶亭。

It has some tea pavilions.

还有挺酷的俱乐部和酒吧。

It has some cool clubs and bars.

我打算去城里北边的一个古村落玩一天。

I'm going to do a day trip to a historic village north of the city.

我觉得这趟肯定特别棒，最重要的是，我能好好休息几天，不用上班。

I think it's going to be a great time, and most importantly, I'll have some time off work.

这真是再好不过了。

That is very welcome.

我甚至可能专门做一期关于杭州的节目，因为有几位听众留言说，特别喜欢我之前那期关于汉堡的节目。

So I may even do a whole episode about Hangzhou because some of you commented that you really liked my episode about a Hamburg.

所以也许我也该像那样，做一期杭州的。

So maybe I should do something similar about Hangzhou.

走着瞧吧。

We'll see.

但我真的特别期待放个假，说实话，这假期太必要了。

But I'm just really excited to have a holiday, like believe me, it's needed.

我们才教了四周，但这四周——准确说，到目前为止的三周——简直太紧张了。

We will only have been teaching four weeks, but those four weeks, well, the three weeks we have done so far have been incredibly intense.

我还没觉得完全像离水的鱼，但确实累得够呛，节奏一点都没松过。

I don't quite feel like a fish out of water still, but I do feel tired and it's been pretty relentless.

孩子本来就难带，尤其是教他们一门不太会的语言，一天九节课，精力旺盛，可又累又烦躁，你懂的。

Like kids are challenging and especially when you're teaching them a language that they don't know so well, and they have like nine classes a day and they're full of energy, but they're also tired and frustrated and they you know you know what it's like.

你上过学。

You went to school.

你明白意思了。

You get the gist.

如果我有学生在听，嗨，别忘了做作业。

Actually, if any of my students are listening to this, hello, and do your homework.

如果有家长在听，嗨，请督促孩子完成作业。

And if any parents of students are listening to this, hello, make your child do their homework, please.

我觉得我布置的作业其实挺有意思的。

I like to think my homework activities are quite fun, personally.

天哪。

Oh, dear.

不如在这集结尾做个小小实验？

And why not end this episode with a little experiment?

这集我讲得特别慢，但平时播客里我讲话已经算很清楚了，你们可能还没听过我跟母语者或亲近的人聊天时的样子。

I've been talking really slowly this episode, but generally on the podcast, I talk pretty clearly, so you probably haven't heard me talking like I talk in my everyday life to native speakers and people I'm close to.

所以最后这段，我就随便聊聊，放松点，语速快一点，像平时跟朋友说话那样。

So maybe for the last bits of the podcast, I'll just kind of improvise and let my hair down, I guess, like talk fast and relaxed.

我也不确定。

I don't know.

故意这么讲，感觉有点怪。

It's a bit weird doing it deliberately.

你就当这是个高级听力训练吧。

Think of this as an advanced practice session.

你的英语听力怎么样？

How good is your English listening?

真的吗？

Really?

不过别给自己太大压力。

Oh, but don't get stressed about it.

别紧张，很多人一听说语言考试就紧张，一开口说外语就紧张，尤其是听的时候，越焦虑越紧张，发挥就越差。

Don't stress out, because people get so stressed about language exams, people get so stressed about talking a language and especially with listening, the more like anxious you are, the more stressed you are, the worse you're going to do.

昨天上健身课的时候，我根本没法停下来逐字理解语言，因为还得盯着镜子看自己的身体，不停地动来动去。

Like in this exercise class yesterday, I could not stop and process the language individually because I was also staring into a mirror, looking at my body, moving my body.

我只能顺其自然。

I just had to give in to the flow.

只能让自己完全融入课堂的节奏里。

I just had to like allow myself to be carried away by the flow of the class.

我觉得这正是理解语言交流的方式——当你真正专注地和别人用外语对话时，你不会死盯着每个词，而是感受对方整个人，看他们的表情、肢体语言，捕捉话语背后真正的意思。

And I think that's the way to think about it is like when you're present, when you're speaking to someone in a foreign language, like when you're fully and actually just generally, I think when you're talking to someone, if you're fully present, you're not focusing on their every word, you're taking in their entire being, you're taking in their facial expressions, their body language, you're taking in the deeper message of what they're saying.

那该怎么形容这种状态呢？

You're kind of what's the way to think about it?

你就像一根能量柱，让对方的能量从你身上流过，再反弹回来。

You're almost this like pillar of energy and you're allowing the other person's energy to flow over you and then bounce back.

哎，这听起来也太玄乎了。

Oh, that sounds incredibly woo woo.

但我希望你能明白我的意思。

But I hope you understand what I mean.

对吧？

Right?

你平时聊天的时候，又不是在考试。

When you're having a conversation in your everyday life, it's not an exam.

没人给你打分的。

You're not getting marked on it.

要是没听懂啥，其实也没那么要紧。

And if you don't understand something, it probably, well, it isn't necessarily that important.

你通常能感觉到，对方说的是不是重点。

Like I think you can often get a vibe of like, is there something important they're saying or it's not something important?

要是真重要的事，他们多半会说两遍，或者特意确认你听明白了。

And if it is something really important, they'll probably say it twice or like, make sure you understand.

如果你觉得真得弄懂，随时可以问，对吧？

And if it is something where you think I need to understand this, you can ask, right?

人家又不会生气，而且这样聊起来还挺有意思的。

Like people don't get mad and actually you can have a lot of fun with this.

比如昨天我和瑜伽馆的经理聊天时，她说了句什么，我一时没听懂，心里就想：这到底啥意思？

Like when I was talking with the manager of the yoga studio yesterday, there was a bit where she said something, I was like, what does that mean?

她就说：我也不知道用英语该怎么表达。

And she was like, I don't know how to say it in English.

然后你就找到别的办法沟通，比如比划、打比方，反正最后总能明白过来。

And I was like, and you find other ways to communicate like pantomime or analogies or whatever, it all shakes out in the end.

这其实让你意识到，人类交流中很多内容根本没那么重要。

It actually kind of makes you realize how much of human communication isn't that important.

我们更多是靠对方的情绪、肢体语言和语调来揣摩意思。

Like, we read a lot of someone's mood and like their inferences from their body language and their tone of voice.

所以就算没听懂每个词，通常也不会对你的生活造成多大影响。

So if you don't understand all of the individual words, it usually doesn't matter that much in terms of, like, what further impact is this going to have on my life.

当然，它可能影响你和别人拉近距离，但你完全可能和一个人毫无共同语言，却依然特别亲近。

Obviously, it can prevent you from getting close to someone, but you can also get incredibly close to someone and not have any shared language at all.

好了。

Alright.

我觉得我已经说够快了，实在说不动了。

I think I've tapped out my capacity for fast talking.

我自己听着都觉得不自然。

That didn't even feel particularly natural to me.

录播客的时候挺奇怪的，尤其是聊话题的那期，根本没稿子。

It's a bit weird when I'm recording a podcast because it's like not scripted when I'm doing a conversational episode.

真的没稿子。

It's not scripted.

我可能就列个提纲，不过今天这期，我脑子里大概有个方向，知道要聊啥。

I maybe have bullet points, although with today's episode, like, I really had like a rough idea in my mind of what I was going to talk about.

但只要一站在麦克风前，我的说话方式就完全变了。

But once I stand in front of a microphone, fundamentally, the way I talk is going to change.

其实这也不奇怪，比如我给朋友发语音消息，跟打电话或者面对面聊完全不一样，因为那纯粹是自言自语。

And actually, I don't think that's that strange given that, like, if I send a voice message to a friend, it's a much different style of communication than talking on the phone or talking in person because you're just giving a monologue.

平时生活中，我们其实很少一个人自言自语。

And we don't tend to monologue in everyday lives, in our everyday lives.

所以我得说，很多人跟我说：天啊，我听你的播客完全听得懂，一字不落，可一跟人面对面聊天，就完全听不懂对方在说什么。

So I do want to say that because a lot of people say to me, oh my God, I can understand your podcast so well, I can understand you perfectly, but then when I go and have a conversation, like I can't understand the person.

但其实呢，人家本来就是另一个人啊。

And it's like, well, yeah, they're a different person.

他们没有你的声音，也没有你说话的方式。

They don't have my voice, they don't have my way of speaking.

你对他们不够熟悉。

You don't have that familiarity with them.

你能听懂我，是因为你听了我好几个小时的独白，除非你是新来的——那欢迎你，别走啊。

You can understand me perfectly well because you've heard me monologuing for hours and hours, unless you're new to the podcast, in which case, hello, please stick around.

但确实，你会慢慢对某些人建立起这种熟悉感。

But yeah, you build that familiarity with individual people.

而且，确实会有一个适应的过程。

And also, yeah, there's going to be like a conversion cost.

刚开始听对方说话可能会有点吃力，但你跟他们相处得越久，越主动去跟陌生人用英语聊天，哪怕听不懂全部内容，也会越来越轻松。

It's going to be a bit hard to understand the person at the beginning, but the longer you know them and the more you put yourself in those situations of talking to strangers, having conversations in English where you don't understand everything, the easier it's going to get.

这个比喻可能有点奇怪，但你可以把我想象成一只鸟妈妈，我们就像在树上的鸟窝里，我是那个温柔的鸟妈妈，一口一口把虫子喂到你小嘴里面。

This is a really weird analogy, but I think you can think of me as like the mother bird, like we're in the nest on the tree and I'm like the loving mother bird and I'm like feeding you worms and like regurgitating food into your little beaks.

等你准备好了要飞了，我不会把你推出鸟窝——首先，我也没这待遇拿这份钱。

And then when you're ready to fly, I'm not gonna push you out of the nest because first of all, don't get paid enough for that.

但当你真的准备好了，你会自己飞出去，那会很害怕，也会很难，不过我会一直在鸟窝里等你回来。

But when you're ready to fly, and you will fly by yourself and it will be scary and it will be difficult, but I'll be there waiting back at the nest.

如果你想再飞回窝里，听听播客，吃点暖心的虫子，我随时都在。

If you wanna pop into the nest and listen to the podcast again and have that comforting worm food, I'm here.

好了。

Okay.

这个比喻扯得太远了。

This this analogy has gone on way too far.

别误会啊，要是哪天我们在现实中见面，别指望我会给你喂虫子。

Please, because I don't want you to think that if I meet you in person, you can expect me to feed you worms.

说实话，你得自己去找虫子，自己吃自己的虫子。

To be perfectly honest, you need to find your own worms and eat your own damn worms.

我不会再给你任何虫子了。

I'm not giving you any worms.

我自己都快找不够虫子吃了。

I can barely find enough worms for myself.

好吧。

Okay.

说到这儿，我觉得该走了。

On that note, I think it's time to leave.

谢谢你的收听。

Thank you for listening.

感谢你做我这温馨鸟巢里一只活泼可爱的小鸟。

Thank you for being a chirpy, tweety little bird in my wonderful nest.

我觉得我的鸟巢特别漂亮，用最精致的树枝和树叶装饰着，下周见。

I like to think my nest is very gorgeous, decorated with the finest twigs and leaves, and I'll see you next week.

再见。

Goodbye.