这是我的播客，想聊就聊（对话）

在今天的节目开始前，你会听到一些广告，这些广告帮助我能把这份工作持续做下去。但如果你想支持我又不想听广告，我完全理解。

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.

你可以试试《轻松英语故事》高级版。

You should try Easy Stories in English Premium.

高级版意味着特别待遇，加入后你不仅能收听无广告的所有剧集，还能获得额外专属内容，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.

只需访问easystoriesinenglish.com/supportsupport即可开始7天免费试用。

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

如果你在苹果播客上收听，只需点击剧集列表顶部的'免费试用'即可加入。

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

现在请听一段来自我们赞助商的话。

And now a word from our sponsors.

欢迎收听《轻松英语故事》，这个播客节目能让你的英语从一般到不错，从不错到很棒。

Welcome to easy stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from okay to good and from good to great.

我是主持人阿里尔·古德博迪。

I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show.

今天的节目内容是关于...其实我也不知道，因为我是即兴发挥的。

Today's episode is a conversation about I don't know yet, because I'm improvising.

今早写日记时我写下这句话：每个周五我都怀着早起录制播客的美好愿望入睡，而每个周六醒来时都精疲力尽，于是睡过头，最后又没了录制节目的兴致。

I was journaling this morning and I wrote down the line, every Friday I go to bed with the best intentions of waking up early and recording an episode of the podcast and every Saturday I wake up shattered, exhausted, and then I sleep in, and then I don't feel like recording an episode of the podcast.

但此刻我还是在周六这天录起了播客节目。

But here I am anyway on a Saturday recording an episode of the podcast.

不过——又一个不过——我这次采用即兴发挥的方式，这样能让自己轻松些。

But, another but, I'm doing it improvisationally, and that is a way of making it easier for myself.

正如前几期节目里提到的，最近几个月我确实很疲惫，压力很大，整体处于低能量状态，或者说我的全部精力都投入到了日常工作中。

As I have alluded to in the last few episodes, I have been pretty tired, pretty stressed, and just generally low on energy in the last few months, or rather all of my energy has going into my day job.

我在中国宁波的一所学校任教，显然，在异国全职工作非常耗费精力。

I teach at a school here in Ningbo, China, and obviously, working full time in a different country takes a lot of energy.

这谁能想到呢？

Who could have guessed?

所以最近分配给《轻松英语故事》的精力空间确实不如从前了。

So I've not had quite as much mental space for easy stories in English as before.

但这些适应期很漫长。

But these adjustment periods are long.

我正逐渐安顿下来，建立日常习惯，并且有信心在接下来的几个月里、在新的一年里，能够将更多的爱、精力和关注奉献给你们大家，因为实际上，现在已经快2026年了。

I'm slowly getting more settled, building my routines, and I'm confident that I will be able to dedicate more of my love, energy, and attention to all of you in the months to come, in the new year, because in fact, it is a very almost 2026.

我们正飞速奔向圣诞节和年底，这让我难以置信。

We are racing towards Christmas and the end of the year, and it's hard for me to believe that.

主要因为在中国这里，圣诞节几乎没什么存在感。

Mainly because here in China, Christmas is barely present.

我总共只看到过两棵圣诞树，只在一个地方听过他们播放圣诞音乐。

I have seen two Christmas trees in total, and I have been in one place where they played Christmas music.

就是昨晚我去市中心那家高档日本商场吃饭时——按中国标准算相当昂贵的一餐，但确实非常美味。

It was the fancy Japanese mall in the center of town where I went last night for a very delicious meal, quite an expensive meal by Chinese standards, but a very delicious meal nonetheless.

这家商场里播放的圣诞音乐包罗万象，从传统圣诞歌曲的高雅器乐改编版，到那些甜得发腻、俗气十足的圣诞颂歌之类。

And in this mall, they were playing Christmas music that ranged the whole gamut from classy covers, classy instrumental covers of traditional Christmas tunes to really schmaltzy, cheesy, saccharin, you know, overly sweet Christmas carols and things like that.

就是那种圣诞音乐让我一听就酸得龇牙咧嘴。

Just the kind of Christmas music that makes me go, like I've just bitten into a lemon.

但昨晚我听到最引人注目的曲子是《去年圣诞》，我把心给了你，第二天你就把它抛弃。

But the most notable tune I heard all night was, last Christmas, I gave you my heart and the very next day, you gave it away.

现在有辆警车。

Now there's a police car.

好吧，也许你们听不到警车声，但刚才外面有辆警车在鸣笛。

Well, maybe you can't hear the police car, but there was a police car playing its siren outside.

哦，警车和救护车的鸣笛声。

Oh, the sound of police and ambulance sirens.

这声音让我多怀念美好的老伦敦啊。

How that makes me nostalgic for bonny old London.

不。

No.

威猛乐队这首《去年圣诞》

The reason Last Christmas by Wham!

之所以如此著名，是因为在英国圣诞节期间它简直无处不在。

Is such a notable tune is that in The UK, it is absolutely inescapable at Christmas.

无论你在英国哪里，都会听到威猛乐队的《去年圣诞》。

No matter where you go in The UK, you will hear last Christmas by Wham.

老实说，通常十月份就开始播放了，他们放得真的很早。

Usually, in October, to be honest, they start playing it really early.

我猜在美国，玛丽亚·凯莉的《All I Want For Christmas》大概也是同样的情况——哦天啊女王，对不起我今天说不出你的名字——玛丽亚·凯莉的歌。

I guess in America, it's probably the same thing with All I Want For Christmas by my by Maria oh, my god, Queen, I'm sorry, I can't say your name today, by Mariah Carey.

现在甚至有个叫'威猛末日'的游戏，这是对'世界末日'（Armageddon）一词的文字游戏。游戏规则是看你能在圣诞季坚持多久不听威猛乐队的《去年圣诞》，如果听到了这首歌你就输了。

Now there's even a game people play called Whamageddon, which is a play on words with the word Armageddon, which means the end of the world, which is a game where you see how long you can make it into the Christmas season without hearing last Christmas by Wham, and if you hear the song, then you lose.

但如果你认识其他参与游戏的人，你可以通过给他们发送或播放这首歌让他们输掉游戏。

But if you know other people who are playing, you can make them lose by sending them the song or playing the song to them.

我从未参加过'威猛末日'，但我要说如果我参加而且人在中国，而其他玩家在英国，我几乎肯定会赢。

I have never participated in Whamageddon, but I will say if I was participating and I was in China and the other people playing were in The UK, I would almost certainly win.

既然说到昨晚这家餐厅的话题，值得提一下我在中国的生活方式真的改变了很多。

And while I'm on the topic of this restaurant last night, it's worth mentioning that my lifestyle has really changed in China.

我聊过这里食物、交通、衣服——几乎所有东西相对而言有多实惠，至少以西方人的工资水平来看。

I've talked about how relatively affordable food, transport, clothes, pretty much everything is here, at least on a westerner's salary.

但昨晚这一点尤为明显，因为我吃了一些在英国菜单上从未见过的奇特食物，就算真在菜单上看到，以我的收入水平恐怕也进不了那种餐厅的门。

But it was really apparent last night because I ate some very unusual food, food that I have never even seen on a menu in The UK, and if I were to see it on a menu, I would probably not be in the right tax bracket to be sitting in that restaurant.

是啊。

Yeah.

我太穷了根本吃不起那种食物。

I would be too poor to be eating that food.

但在中国，一切皆有可能。

But here in China, anything is possible.

我吃了骨髓。

I had bone marrow.

骨髓就是骨头内部的部分，显然骨头外部很硬，但里面有个小管状结构充满了这种脂肪状的肉物质就叫骨髓。

Now marrow is the inside part of a bone, obviously, outside of a bone is very hard, but there's a little tube inside that's full of this fatty meaty stuff called marrow.

其实我读到过一个有趣的理论。

And actually, I read an interesting theory.

我记得是在尤瓦尔·赫拉利的《人类简史》这本书里看到的。

I believe it was in Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens, a history of mankind.

但这个理论认为，人类最初的生态位——即我们最初的生存方式——是等待其他动物猎杀其他动物并吃掉尸体后，我们就像老鼠一样过去拿走所有骨头，敲开它们，吃掉里面的骨髓。

But the theory is that humans original ecological niche, so originally, the way we survived was we waited for other animals to kill other animals and eat the bodies, and then we would go in like rats and take all the bones, break them open, and eat the marrow inside.

有点像——虽然这不是普遍现象，我在中国没见过——有点像你小时候喝的那种塑料管装酸奶。

A bit like, now this isn't a universal thing, I haven't seen them in China, but a bit like those little plastic tubes of drinkable yogurt you had when you were a child.

在英国，最流行的应该是叫'yoobs'？

In The UK, the most popular one I think is yoobs?

是叫'yoobs'吗？

Are they called yoobs?

就是那种小塑料管装的酸奶，你撕开顶部然后吸出里面的内容。

They're like little plastic tubes of yogurt and you rip off the top and you suck out the inside.

在中国没有这种，但他们有很多罐装的很稀的酸奶，你可以插吸管喝。

In China, they don't have those, but they have many pots of very liquid yogurt that you put a straw in and drink.

所以我喜欢想象原始人类其实发明了这个，只不过他们不是在喝小管酸奶，而是在塞伦盖蒂草原上敲开羚羊骨头吸食骨髓。

So I like to imagine the original humans, actually invented this, but instead of drinking little tubes of yogurt, they were breaking, antelope's bones in the Serengeti and sucking the marrow out.

昨晚我在餐厅里吸食羚羊骨骨髓了吗？

Did I suck the marrow out of an antelope's bone last night in the restaurant?

没有。

No.

端上来时已经煮熟了，但感觉有点超现实，因为我直到上菜才意识到盘子里会有这么一大块骨头，里面还煮着骨髓，配着美味的酱汁和调料。

It arrived cooked, but it was a bit surreal because I didn't realize until it arrived that I would have like a massive chunk of bone on my plate with that that was cooked with the marrow inside and some lovely sauces and dressings.

味道很好。

And it was good.

非常美味。

It was it was delicious.

肉质非常嫩，多汁且肥美。

It was really tender, very juicy, fatty.

还配了一些特别棒的面包，既松软又酥脆，但用勺子直接从骨头里挖骨髓吃的感觉让我觉得自己有点野蛮或原始，敲击骨头时发出的声音更增添了这种超现实感。

It was with some really nice bread that was so soft and crunchy at the same time, but I felt almost a bit, barbaric or animalistic eating, you know, scooping marrow out of a literal bone and, you know, I could tap the bone with my spoon and it went was surreal.

我还吃了蒜香炒蘑菇和墨鱼香肠。

I also had mushrooms fried with garlic and cuttlefish sausage.

我甚至不打算解释墨鱼是什么，因为老实说，我也不太记得墨鱼长什么样了，总之是一种不常吃的鱼类。

I'm not even going to try and explain what cuttlefish is because to be perfectly honest, I don't really remember what cuttlefish looks like, but it's a kind of fish that one does not eat very often.

当然，这是我第一次以香肠的形式食用它，但我可以热忱推荐墨鱼香肠。

And certainly, it was the first time I have eaten it in sausage form, but I can heartily recommend cuttlefish sausage.

我最近还吃了什么让我感觉非常优雅？

What else have I been having recently that makes me feel very classy?

啊，我的穿衣风格正在经历转变，因为你可以买到质量不错的衣服，也许不是超级高品质，但肯定比普通快时尚高一个档次。

Ah, my dress sense is taking on a transformation because you can get good quality clothes, perhaps not super high quality, but certainly a cut above normal fast fashion.

在中国，你可以非常便宜地在网上买到质量不错的衣服。

You can get good quality clothes online in China very cheap.

所以最近，我为冬天买了一件大气的智能大衣。

So recently, I bought a big smart coat for the winter.

它是羊毛材质的。

It's made of wool.

它有着宽大的肩部设计，剪裁出非常漂亮的轮廓，穿着它搭配西装去上班，我看起来非常风度翩翩，非常优雅，非常像福尔摩斯，非常像二十世纪二十年代的黑色侦探，所以我决定要完善这个造型。

It has really big shoulders that cuts a really nice silhouette, and wearing it over my suit to work, I look very debonair, I look very classy, very Sherlock Holmes, very nineteen twenties noir detective, so I decided, let's perfect the look.

我买了一条漂亮的大围巾，一些皮手套，甚至还有一顶帽子——我不知道这种帽子的名称，它是羊毛材质的经典男士帽，不是软呢帽，可能更接近窄檐软呢帽，如果你知道它们长什么样的话。

I got a nice big scarf, I got some leather gloves, and I even got a hat, which I don't know the name of the kind of hat, it's a wool hat, a classic men's hat, not a fedora, maybe closer to a trilby, if you know what those look like.

总之，我会把我的风格转变照片上传到easystoriesinenglish.com的文稿页面上，具体链接我现在还不知道，因为我还没决定这期节目的名称。

Anyway, I will put pictures of my style change up on the transcript at easystoriesinenglish.com slash I don't know yet because I haven't decided what the name of this episode will be.

不过没错，这种风格转变既得益于这些衣服的低廉价格，也与我目前所处的环境有关。

But yes, this style change has been facilitated both by the low cost of said clothes, but also by the environment I'm in.

因为这种造型在某种程度上是传统英伦风格的。

Because this look is kind of traditionally British in a way.

对吧？

Right?

我穿得像一位旧时代的英国绅士。

I'm dressing like a kind of old world British gentleman.

如果我在伦敦穿这些衣服，人们可能会觉得我有点装腔作势，像个潮人，好像我太刻意了，或者想打扮成那种花哨的银行家类型——因为在伦敦确实有这类穿着考究的银行家，而我不想给人这种印象。

And if I was to wear those clothes in London, I think people would think I was a bit of a poser, like a hipster, like I'm trying too hard, or I'm trying to look like some kind of fancy banker type because you do get these rich banker types in London who do dress very smartly, and I don't want to give off that impression.

所以在中国穿这身让我感觉自在得多。

So it's something that I feel much more comfortable wearing here in China.

总的来说，中国社会也有这种在公共场合各管各的态度。

Generally, in China, there's also this attitude of minding your own business in public.

所以如果你看到有人穿着奇装异服，大家也就随他们去了。

So if you see people wearing crazy clothes, you just kind of let them do their thing.

另外，我计划了一趟日本之旅。

In other news, I have planned a trip to Japan.

录制这段内容时是12月6日，从20号到27号我将在日本各地旅行。

It is the December 6 as I record this, and from the twentieth to the twenty seventh, I shall be jet setting around Japan.

我将飞抵名古屋，然后在高山住两晚——那是个美丽的历史小镇，从那里可以一日游前往白川乡，那是个保存完好的日本传统村落。

I'm going to be flying into Nagoya, and then I'm going to spend two nights in Takayama, which is a beautiful historic town from which I can do a day trip into Shidakabago, which is a beautifully preserved historical Japanese village.

你可能还记得播客里有一期节目叫...叫什么来着？

Now you may remember an episode of the podcast called, What was it called?

稍等。

One moment.

《搞砸的假期》。

A holiday gone wrong.

那个故事叫《搞砸的假期》。

The story was called A Holiday Gone Wrong.

我记不起那集的名字并不奇怪，因为我是2021年7月发布的，距今已超过四年，这太疯狂了，因为在我脑海里感觉那集是去年才发布的。

And I'm not surprised that I couldn't remember the name of it because I released it in 2021, in July 2021 over four years ago, which is insane because in my head, I released that episode last year.

这个播客最奇怪的地方在于，我会发誓说某些故事是前几天刚录的，实际上却是多年前写的，反之亦然。

Like, this is what's very strange about this podcast is I will swear that stories I recorded just the other day, actually, I wrote years ago and vice versa.

我以为某个故事是最近才录的，结果发现其实是四年前录制的。

I think a story is really recent when I actually recorded it, like, four years ago.

总之，我猜可能很多人没听过《一场糟糕的假期》，你们真应该听听，因为这实际上是我写过的最喜欢的故事之一。

So anyway, I guess many of you maybe haven't listened to A Holiday Gone Wrong, so you definitely should because it's one of my favorite stories I've written actually.

简单来说，如果你没听过或需要回忆一下，这是个日本电子游戏/动漫系列，讲述少女们发疯互相残杀和时间旅行的故事，他们使用的场景就是这个完美还原的日本历史村落。

So basically, if you haven't heard it or you need your memory jogged, there is a Japanese video game series slash anime that is about teenage girls going crazy and murdering each other and time travel, and the setting they used was this historical Japanese village, which they preserved perfectly in the anime.

这里早就是个旅游景点，但这部动漫带来了更多游客。

And it's long been a tourist spot, but this anime brought in a lot more tourists.

作为这部作品的狂热粉丝，它是我最爱的动漫之一。

So as someone who really loves this show, it's one of my favorite animes ever.

我一直想去这个村庄看看，那里看起来会非常美。

I've always wanted to go to this village, and it looks like it could be very beautiful.

如果下雪的话，那景色绝对会美得惊人，但无论如何都会非常漂亮。

If it snows, it's going to be absolutely gorgeous, but either way, it's going to be really pretty.

所以我非常非常期待能去那里。

So I'm very, very excited to be going there.

希望不会像我写的故事里那样遇到不幸事件。

Hopefully, like in my story, I won't have any unfortunate incidents.

在我写的故事里，去那个村庄参观的人差点死掉。

In the story I wrote, the person who visits the village almost dies.

所以有点奇怪，因为我写了这个故事，讲的是一个热爱这部动漫的人去了那个村庄，然后差点死掉。

So it's a bit strange because I wrote this story about someone who loves the anime going to the village and then almost dying.

我就想，我是不是创造了自己的命运？

And I'm like, have I just created my own destiny?

我是不是制造了让自己在度假时惨死的条件？

Have I just manufactured the conditions for me to die horribly while on holiday?

我当然希望不是这样，但在故事里他是夏天去的，而我要冬天去，所以我觉得我会没事的。

I sure hope not, but in the story, he went in the summer and I'm going in the winter, so I think I'll be fine.

是的，我要飞往名古屋，先去高山和白川乡待两天，然后南下大阪住两晚。

So yes, I'm flying into Nagoya, I'm going to Takayama and Shirakawa go for two days, then I'm going down to Osaka and spending two nights there.

我之前去过大阪，算是当日往返的那种短途旅行，对那里印象不深。

I've been to Osaka, like, on a day trip, like, and I don't remember that much about it.

所以我觉得再去一次会很好，说实话，我想体验一下那里的夜生活。

So I think it'll be nice to go again and honestly, get a bit of nightlife, I think.

我真的很想去夜店狂欢、跳舞。

I just really feel this itch to go clubbing and party and dance.

最后三天我会去福冈住在我朋友那里，其实是我在英国巴斯时的童年玩伴。

So And then for the last three days, I'm going to Fukuoka to stay with my friend, actually, my childhood friend back from Bath in The UK.

他过去几年一直在日本工作。

He has been working in Japan for the last few years.

这其实很有趣，因为我在伦敦前一份工作的同事——一位日本前台女孩，前一年在福冈也和他共事过，我们是完全偶然发现这层关系的。

It's very funny actually, because someone I worked with at one of my previous jobs in London, a Japanese girl who was the receptionist, also worked with him back in Fukuoka the year before, and we found this out completely randomly.

所以世界真小啊，到处都是这种随机的人际联系。

So there's like random connections, it's a small world, etcetera.

不过，能再次和我的朋友住在一起让我非常兴奋，同时也很期待去福冈——这是我从未去过的日本地区，那里会比我去的其他地方稍微暖和些，但整体来说，我觉得我的假期还是会相当冷的。

But yeah, I'm very excited to be staying with my friend again, and I'm excited to be visiting Fukuoka, which is a region of Japan I have never been to, and it will be slightly warmer than the other places I'm going to, but overall, it's going to be pretty cold, I think, for my holiday.

关于日本有个特别有趣的现象，就是和中国朋友聊日本时，会发现所有地名和人名在中文里的发音完全不同。

One thing that's really funny about Japan and talking to people in China about Japan is all the place names and people names in Japan have completely different pronunciations in Chinese.

如果你对中文和日文不太了解，我会试着解释这个现象，不过有点复杂。

And if you don't know much about Chinese and Japanese, I'm going to try and explain this, but it's a bit complicated.

日本人使用汉字来书写。

So Japanese, they write using Chinese characters.

他们还有一些其他字母系统，但主要还是用大量汉字来书写。

They also have some other alphabets, essentially, but they use a lot of Chinese characters to write.

但有时他们会用日语单词的发音来读这些汉字，有时又会用中文发音来读外来词。

But sometimes they pronounce them using the pronunciation of a Japanese word, and then sometimes they use the Chinese pronunciation for loan words.

所以同一个汉字可能读作...也可能读作...前者是日文读法，后者是中文读法。

So you will have a character that could be pronounced like or it could be pronounced So is the Japanese reading and is the Chinese reading.

比如大阪的'坂'字是用表示'大'的汉字写的，所以字面意思就是'大山坡'。

So in Osaka, the is written with this character that means big, so literally means big hill.

但在中文里，通常每个汉字只有一个发音和一个音节。

But in Chinese, you just have generally one pronunciation and one syllable per character.

所以当中国人谈论日本地名或日本名人时，他们会直接用中文发音来读这些名字。

So when Chinese people talk about Japanese places or famous Japanese people, they pronounce their names just using the Chinese pronunciation.

但问题在于，首先这些发音通常与日语中的中文借词发音不同，因为日语是在不同历史时期从不同方言中借入这些词汇的。

But the problem is that, first of all, that pronunciation is often different from the Chinese pronunciation in Japan because Japanese borrowed these words at different points in history from different dialects.

对吧？

Right?

因此那个在日语中读作的字，在现代普通话里读作。

So that character that's pronounced in Japan is pronounced in modern Mandarin Chinese.

但更复杂的是，如果一个日语词汇用汉字书写但采用日语发音，中国人仍然会使用中文发音来读。

But then additionally, if a word in Japanese is written with Chinese characters but pronounced using Japanese words, Chinese people will still just use the Chinese pronunciation.

简而言之，大阪在中文里被称为'大坂'，这显然和'Osaka'的发音完全不同。

So the long and the short of it is Osaka in Chinese is called which obviously sounds nothing like Osaka.

再比如著名的日本作家村上春树，这是个日本名字但用汉字书写。

Or for example, you have the famous Japanese author Murakami Haruki, which is a Japanese name but is written using Chinese characters.

所以村上春树在中国被读作，你可以想象，如果一个普通日本人听到，他们完全不会意识到那指的是村上春树。

So Murakami Haruki is pronounced in China as which as you can imagine, if an average Japanese person hears they will have no idea that that refers to Murakami Haruki.

但同样，当我给来自不同国家的学生上课时，假设有几个中国学生，如果我提到任何日本名字，他们通常不知道我在说谁，即使是像村上春树这样非常有名的人物。

But also when I've been teaching a class with people from different countries and let's say there is a few Chinese students, if I mention any Japanese names, they generally don't know who I'm talking about, even if it's someone very famous like Haruki Murakami.

甚至有时候我提到像京都这样的地名，他们得想一会儿，因为他们习惯称之为'京都'的中文名'金都'。

Even if sometimes I mention a place name like Kyoto, they have to think a bit because they're used to it being called Jindu, which is the Chinese name.

所以，是的，这有点烦人，因为如果我想用中文谈论我在日本的旅行，就必须学习所有这些地方的新叫法，这让人感到困惑和沮丧。

So, yeah, it's kind of annoying because if I want to talk about, say, my travels in Japan, in Chinese, I have to learn all of these new words for what the places are called, and it just gets kind of confusing and frustrating.

理论上，你也可以反其道而行之。

Theoretically, you could do it the other way around.

比如，当你说日语时，你可以按照日文汉字音来读中国地名。

So, like, when you speak Japanese, you could pronounce Chinese place names according to the Sino Japanese pronunciation.

这是我从未见人真正做过的事，但像是个有趣的思想实验。

This is something I've literally never heard anyone do, but it's like a fun thought experiment.

对吧？

Right?

上海这个词就是'上海'这两个字，意思是'在海上'，因为它是个港口城市。在日语里他们说'上海'，基本上就是直接借用了中文发音。

So Shanghai is the characters Shanghai, which means on the sea because it's a port city, and in Japanese they say Shanghai, which is basically just an adaptation, a direct loaning of the pronunciation.

但如果你真想搞笑，你可以把它读作'Shoukai'或'Joukai'，这是用日语里这些汉字的中文发音来读的，因为这些发音也是历史上借用过来的。

But if you really wanted to be funny, you could pronounce it Shoukai or Joukai, which would be pronouncing it using the Chinese pronunciations of those characters in Japanese because these are, again, historical pronunciations that have been borrowed.

我从没听过日本人这么读。

I've never heard Japanese people do this.

我不确定他们能不能听懂。

I'm not sure they would understand.

当我最初决定要搬到宁波时，我跟一个日本朋友提起这事，我说：'哎，你听说过宁波吗？'

When I first decided I was moving to Ningbo, I talked to a Japanese friend about it and I was like, oh, have you heard of Ningbo?

她表示没听说过。

And she hadn't.

然后我说：'哦，我想在日语里应该叫Nimbo吧'，就是用这些汉字在日语里的发音来念。

And I was like, oh, well, I guess in Japanese it would be Nimbo, but you could pronounce it which would be like, again, using the Japanese pronunciation of these characters.

但同样没什么用，她还是不知道这个地方。

But again, that didn't help, you know, she still didn't know the place.

总之，抱歉，如果你对语言学不感兴趣，这些对你来说可能完全是天书，完全无法理解，但我觉得挺有意思的。

So anyway, sorry, if you're not interested in linguistics, this may have all just been gobbledygook, it may have been completely incomprehensible to you, but I find it quite interesting.

我想英语中最接近的例子就是像佛罗伦萨这样的地名，在意大利语里是Firenze，或者西班牙语中伦敦是Londres，显然与英语不同。

I guess the closest equivalent we have in English is place names like Florence when in Italian it's Firenze or the fact that in Spanish London is Londres, which is obviously different from the English.

所以我们西方语言里也不是没有这种现象，只是确实少见得多。

So it's not like we don't have this phenomenon in Western languages, but it's certainly much less common.

而且我认为这对国际贸易和交流是真正的障碍，比如当你向中国人提及著名的日本人时，他们根本不知道你在说谁。

And I think it's a real barrier for international trade and communication when, like, when you mention famous Japanese people to a Chinese person, they don't know who you're talking about.

其实我觉得...我也不知道。

I think it's actually I don't know.

或许说成严重问题听起来太夸张了，但我认为确实在某种程度上限制了很多这方面的交流。

Maybe a serious issue makes it sound dramatic, but I think it does slightly limits a lot of conversations in that aspect.

因为当我教初级英语时，你知道，通常会尽量使用那些普遍通用的例子。

Because when I'm teaching English at lower levels, you know, you generally try to use a lot of references that are universal.

对吧？

Right?

比如，选择全班同学都认识的人物、产品或地点作为话题，这样更容易展开对话。

Like, people who all the class will know, products, places that everyone will be familiar with so you can have more of a conversation.

但当班上有几个中国学生时，这就困难多了，因为他们对这些引用完全不熟悉，或者对这些事物有不同的称呼。

But that's much harder when there's a few Chinese students because suddenly none of these references are familiar or they use a different name for these things.

总之，我觉得我已经絮絮叨叨说了不少了。

Anyway, I think I have rambled a fair amount.

今天还有其他事情要做，老实说主要是放松，但最后我想说今早我有个领悟——正如我之前提到的，我最近精力有些不济，工作了一周后还要录制、编辑、发布播客确实很累，但我发现整个过程中我最不喜欢的部分几乎都与YouTube有关。

I've got other things to do today, mostly relaxing, to be honest, but I just wanna finish by saying I had this realization this morning, because as I've alluded to, I've been struggling a bit with my energy, like, after a long week of work, it's a lot to then record, edit, post a podcast, but I realized the parts of the process I enjoy the least are pretty much everything to do with YouTube.

所以我开始做播客是因为在2019年时，播客还只意味着音频，没有视频，而制作音频比制作视频简单得多。

So I started doing a podcast because back in 2019, a podcast meant audio, no video, and producing audio is so much easier than producing video.

我觉得说制作音频产品花费的时间不到视频的五分之一甚至更少，这并不夸张。

I don't think it's dramatic to say it takes five times less time, if not more, to produce an audio product.

录制和编辑视频给整个流程增加了太多复杂性，但幸运或不幸的是，现在播客要有视频并且能在YouTube等平台观看已经成为常态和预期。

Recording and editing video adds so much more complication to the process, but fortunately or unfortunately, it's just become normal and expected now that podcasts will have a video and be accessible on platforms like YouTube as well.

随之而来的是更高的期待，比如每期节目要有不同的封面设计，还要有吸引眼球的YouTube缩略图来吸引观众。

And along with that, there's been higher expectations of like different cover arts for each episode and having splashy YouTube thumbnails that attract people in.

因为YouTube确实很强调他们的数据分析功能，基本上你在YouTube上制作视频，他们会提供大量关于视频表现的数据，某种程度上是在逼迫你去优化视频、制作最佳缩略图、蹭热点话题，而播客平台则不会这样。

And because YouTube really pushes their analytics, basically, you make videos on YouTube, they give you a lot of information about how well they do, and they really kind of bully you into trying to optimize your videos, make the best thumbnails, create videos on trending topics, whereas podcast platforms don't do this in the same way.

所以自从我开始在YouTube上发布节目后，就感受到越来越大的压力要去优化播客的这个部分。

So since I started posting episodes on YouTube, I felt an increasing pressure to optimize that part of the podcast.

我投入了更多精力在视觉效果、剪辑方式和缩略图上，这额外耗费了大量时间。

I've put more effort into how it looks, how it's edited, into the thumbnails, and that adds a bunch of extra time.

现在的情况是，我既要剪辑视频、制作缩略图，还要在剪辑音频的同时处理画面内容。

It's like now I have to edit video and make a thumbnail and editing like visuals while I'm editing the episode.

如果你从未录制或剪辑过视频，这可能听起来很微不足道，但实际上确实会大幅拖慢进度，而且我并不享受这个过程。

And if you've never recorded or edited a video, this might sound quite trivial, but it does actually slow the process down a lot, and I just don't enjoy it very much.

我喜欢录音。

I love recording.

这个环节，我很喜欢。

This part, I love.

我也喜欢剪辑音频。

I like editing audio.

我并不喜欢这个。

I don't love it.

这仍然是工作，但我发现它比编辑视频更可控，而且你可以更轻松地在不同内容间切换。

It's still work, but I find it more, I guess, manageable than editing video, and you can cut between things more easily.

但基本上，我今天早上意识到的是——虽然我之前也隐约知道——我的观众中通过YouTube观看的人只占很小一部分。

But basically, what I realized this morning is, well, I kind of knew this before, but the section of my audience that watches on YouTube is a very small proportion of people.

大多数人都是在播客应用上收听，所以花这么多精力去讨好YouTube上的观众，试图把YouTube打造成播客的主要观看平台，而每集只有大约2000人观看（虽然这个数字也不错），但比起播客应用上的听众数量要少得多，这有点傻。

Most people are listening on podcast apps, so it's a bit silly to spend so much effort on trying to court listeners or viewers on YouTube on trying to make YouTube, you know, the place to view the podcast when it's still only maybe, like, 2,000 people who view each episode, which, you know, is a good amount of people, but it's much much less than the viewership sorry, the listenership I have on podcast apps.

另一个问题是：当你制作播客时，你会假设听众看不见你，所以你会避免谈论视觉内容。但一旦开始制作视频播客，你可能会提到自己穿的衣服，这样就会疏远那些只听不看的听众。

This is the other problem is when you're making a podcast, you assume people cannot see you, so you talk in a way where you're not going to reference visual things, but then once you start making a video podcast, you might talk about the clothes you're wearing, but then you're alienating the people who are listening but not watching.

我只是觉得这没必要。

I just think it's unnecessary.

我认为现代社会过度痴迷视觉元素。

I think modern society is overly obsessed with the visual.

就像那些短视频广告，所有东西都在你眼前视觉轰炸。

It's like short form video adverts, Everything is visual in your face everywhere.

说实话，我有点厌倦了。

I'm getting a bit sick of it, to be honest.

你知道，最近我下班回家就放古典音乐，那感觉真好。

You know, recently, I've been coming home from work and just putting on classical music, and that's lovely.

我不一定总要在吃晚饭时看什么该死的YouTube视频。

And I don't always need to be watching a damn YouTube video while I eat dinner.

老实说。

It's much better if I don't do that, to be honest.

抱歉，END。

So sorry, rambling and ranting, But basically sorry.

抱歉，我跑题了。

I'm getting to the point.

我保证。

I promise.

我保证。

I promise.

我快说到重点了

I'm getting there.

我意识到的是，我可以做任何我想做的事

The thing I realized was, I can do whatever I want.

我做这个播客已经快七年了

I've been making this podcast for almost seven years.

我有一群忠实的听众

I have a dedicated audience.

谢谢你们

Thank you.

我还有一份全职工作，不仅能支付账单还能有结余

And I have a full time job that pays my bills and also leaves me money left over.

所以我完全没理由为YouTube的事这么焦虑

So I have absolutely no reason to be stressing out this much about YouTube.

老实说，如果我愿意，我可以完全不投入任何精力

To be honest, I can put in no efforts if I want to.

对吧？

Right?

我并不是说我会完全不投入努力。

And I'm not saying I'm gonna put in zero effort.

我仍在为这期节目录制视频。

I am still recording a video for this episode.

但所有这些繁琐恼人的事情，比如缩略图、剪辑视觉效果之类的，抱歉。

But all of these tedious annoying things like thumbnails, editing in visuals and stuff, I'm sorry.

我会减少投入，因为对我而言不值得。

I'm gonna put in less effort because it's not worth it for me.

更广泛地说，我想我会在播客上做更多尝试，玩得更开心些。

And on a broader note, I think I'm just going to experiment more with the podcast and try and have more fun.

这很难，因为显然它最初是个故事播客，所以我不想让每期都变成对话形式，尽管我的对话式节目也算另一种讲故事的方式。

It's difficult because, obviously, it started off as a story podcast, so I don't want to make every single episode conversational even though my conversational episodes are kind of like a different form of storytelling.

对吧？

Right?

但对我来说，像这样坐下来录制一集没有剧本、随心所欲的节目要轻松得多。

But it's much easier for me to sit down and record an episode like this where I don't have a script and I just do what I want.

对吧？

Right?

这样容易多了。

That is so much easier.

压力更小。

It's less stressful.

没那么令人畏惧。

It's less daunting.

而且我知道你们很多人依然很喜欢这种形式。

And I know that many of you still really enjoy this.

我收到了很多对谈话式节目的积极反馈。

I get very positive feedback on the conversational episodes.

事实上，我最初是作为独立节目来做这些的，因为有太多听众说：'我们就爱听你聊自己的生活。'

It's something that actually I started doing as separate episodes because I got so many people saying, I love the parts where you just talk about your life.

我想了解更多关于这个。

I want to hear more about this.

如果我几周没发布节目，就会收到评论说：爱丽儿，你去哪儿了？

If I don't post an episode for a few weeks, I get comments like, Ariel, where are you?

爱丽儿，快回来。

Ariel, come back.

爱丽儿，跟我们说说你的日语考试。

Ariel, tell us about your Japanese exam.

所以大家想知道，而你们就是这些'大家'，亲爱的听众们。

So the people want to know, and the people are you, dear listeners.

所以，是的，我可以做我想做的事。

So so, yeah, I can do what I want.

我不是说要在播客上停止写作和讲故事，但我不想把自己限制在特定的形式里。

I'm not saying I'm going to stop writing and telling stories on the podcast, but I'm not going to hold myself to a specific format.

我不会把自己束缚在严格的时间表上，也不会把精力花在那些视觉内容上，...

I'm not going to hold myself to a really tight schedule, and I'm not gonna put effort into all of this visual stuff, like thumbnails and all of this metadata stuff that I find really tedious and just puts me off from making the episodes in the first place.

我对AI抱有矛盾的态度。

I have an ambivalent relationship with AI.

如你所知，我过去曾用AI生成过许多封面图片，某种程度上这很棒，我能做到这一点。

As you know, I have used AI to generate many images for cover art in the past, and in some ways, this is amazing that I can do that.

我认为这让我能在无需支付艺术家费用的情况下获得精美的封面，当然对此我有些愧疚，因为我们本应支付艺术家报酬。

I think it allows me to have nice cover art while not having to pay for an artist, and obviously, I feel a bit guilty about that because we should be paying artists.

问题在于过去我确实负担不起聘请艺术家的费用。

The thing is in the past, I couldn't afford to pay artists.

现在，理论上我或许能支付每期封面的艺术家费用，但无意冒犯，单期节目的收入实在不足以支撑这笔开销。

Now, I guess I theoretically could afford to pay cover artists for each episode, but no offense, I don't really make enough from each individual episode for it to be worth it.

说出这些话让我感到有些难受。

I think I feel bad saying that.

你明白我的意思吗？

Like, do you know what I mean?

这真是个两难的处境，因为我确实在乎艺术。

It's like a really difficult proposition because I care about art.

我想给艺术家报酬，但视觉封面设计对我来说从来不是播客的核心部分。

I want to pay artists, but also the visual cover art has never been, like, the core part of the podcast for me.

如果我是把这当作更严肃的全职事业来经营，那么我觉得在这方面投资会更有意义。

And if I was running this as more of, like, a serious full time business, then I think it would make more sense to invest in that.

我不知道。

I don't know.

这一直是我纠结的问题。

This is something I've always struggled with.

当你从事任何副业、独立事业或创意项目时，都面临一个非常困难的平衡：既要赚取足够维持舒适生活的收入来滋养自己，又要把钱投入到艺术创作中，即使明知这笔投资未必会有回报。

There's a really difficult balance when you have any kind of side hustle or independent business or creative project between having enough money to live on comfortably and to nourish and sustain you and investing the money into your artwork, knowing you may not necessarily get a return on that investment.

有时候你投入资金，纯粹是出于对创作优秀艺术的热爱。

And sometimes you're investing the money just for the love of making good art.

这是一个非常难以把握的平衡。

That's a very difficult balance.

好吧。

Okay.

我刚才说得有点跑题了，不过希望你觉得有趣。

That was a bit more of a ramble than I intended, but hopefully you found it interesting.

希望你们也能听懂这一期内容。

Hopefully, you also were able to understand this episode.

我觉得自己说得挺慢挺清楚的，不过确实用了不少不同的词汇。

I think I spoke pretty slowly and clearly, but I did use a little I did use a lot of different vocabulary.

你知道，我是在尝试新方式。

You know, I'm experimenting.

我记得创办这个播客时，本意是要严格区分难度等级。

I know I started this podcast with the intention of, like, specifically limiting levels.

比如初学者只听初级阶段的节目。

Like, if you're a beginner, just listen to the beginner episodes.

但现在我的想法有些改变，因为语言学习者如果只接触分级内容，很容易停滞不前——你害怕尝试理解超出当前水平的内容，就永远无法突破瓶颈。

But my feelings on this have changed slightly because I think sometimes it's really easy as a language learner to just stick to leveled content, and then you never progress beyond a certain level because you're afraid to try the things you don't understand.

所以我现在尝试混搭不同难度层次的语言内容。

So I'm kind of experimenting with sprinkling in different levels and layers of difficulty and language.

我就是喜欢玩转语言。

And I just love playing with language.

我喜欢细细品味词语。

I love chewing on the words.

我喜欢使用不同的表达方式。

I love using different terms of phrases.

总之，希望即使你无法完全理解，也能觉得有趣，因为这就是生活的重要组成部分，也是学习语言的重要部分——相信我，在中国生活的我深有体会。

And anyway, hopefully, you'll find it entertaining even if you don't understand everything, because that's a big part of life and that's a big part of learning a language and believe you me, living in China, I know that.

我经常听到一些中文却完全不明白意思。

I spend a lot of time hearing things in Chinese that I don't understand.

无论如何，感谢收听《轻松英语故事》。

Anyway, thank you for listening to Easy Stories in English.

我很想读到你对这些视听内容的看法评论。

I would love to read a comment from you saying what you think about all of this visual audio stuff.

请务必让我知道你的想法。

Like, let me know.

你是忠实的纯音频听众吗？

Are you a hardcore audio listener?

你只听播客的音频版本，还是也喜欢在YouTube上观看？

You only listen to the audio version of the podcast, or do you love watching on YouTube?

你会在车里收听吗？

Do you listen in the car?

你会边吃晚餐边在家观看吗？

Do you watch it at home while you're eating dinner?

你会在睡前收听吗？

Do you listen before going to bed?

几年前我甚至有些听众告诉我，他们正在进行环球公路旅行，开着露营车，每晚都会在星空下入睡前收听《简易英语故事》。

I even had a few listeners years ago who told me they were going on this road trip around the world, and they were driving around in a camper van, and they would listen to easy stories in English every night before falling asleep under the stars.

我觉得这简直太美好浪漫了。

And I thought that was just so beautiful and romantic.

看看你能不能留下一个同样有趣精彩的评论，或者直接告诉我你如何收听这个播客以及你的想法。

So see if you can leave a comment that says fun and exciting as that, or just tell me how you listen to the podcast and what you think.

希望你生活愉快。

I hope you are having a lovely life.

希望你2025年过得不错。

I hope you've had a good 2025.

天啊。

Oh my god.

这一年快结束了。

It's almost over.

啊，太疯狂了。

Ah, crazy.

等我从日本回来，期待和你们分享我的旅程。

And I look forward to telling you all about my trip to Japan once I have returned.

再见。

Bye.