我们说的英语：初期问题

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大家好，欢迎收听《地道英语》，在这里我们会解释英语流利人士使用的表达方式，以便你也能运用。我是菲菲。

Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I'm Faye Faye.

我是菲尔。菲菲，你吃午饭了吗？

And I'm Phil. Have you had lunch yet, Faye Faye?

还没呢，怎么了？

No, not yet. Why?

食堂新装了一套系统，我觉得他们正遇到初期问题。食物都没煮好。

They've got a new system in the canteen and I think they're having some teething problems. Nothing was cooked properly.

哦不，希望情况不太糟。我们来看看你刚才用的表达‘teething problems’。你不是牙齿受伤了吧？

Oh no, I hope it wasn't too bad. Let's look at that expression you just used teething problems. You didn't hurt your teeth, did you?

不是的。‘Teething problems’通常另有含义。字面上，teething指婴儿长第一颗牙的时期。这对他们和父母来说可能是一段艰难时光，但我们常用这个表达来描述新事物初期遇到的暂时性问题。

No, no. Teething problems usually mean something different. Literally, teething is when babies are getting their first teeth. It can be a difficult time for them and their parents, but we often use the expression to talk about the temporary problems that you have with new.

如果你在工作中改变做事方式，比如，最初可能会遇到一些磨合期的问题。新技术在引入时也常会出现这类初期问题。好在它们通常只是暂时的。随着你逐渐适应，这些初期问题就会消失。

If you change the way you do something at work, for example, you can have teething problems at first. New technology often has teething problems when it's introduced. The good thing is that they are usually only temporary. As you get used to things, the teething problems go away.

让我们听听其他人谈论关于初期问题的情况。

Let's listen to some other people talking about teething problems.

我刚换了新手机，虽然很喜欢，但还有些初期问题没弄明白所有设置。经理让我在办公室和几位新同事合作，我们还没完全适应彼此，确实存在些磨合问题。

I've just got a new phone and I really like it, but there are a few teething problems. I don't really understand all of the settings. The managers have got me to work with some new people at the office and we haven't really got used to each other yet. There's been a few teething problems.

我知道你在新软件使用上遇到些问题，但我认为这些都只是初期磨合问题。

I know you're having some problems with your new software, but I believe they're just teething problems.

我们一直在学习用'初期问题'这个表达来描述与引入新事物相关的暂时性困难。

We've been learning the expression teething problems to talk about temporary problems related to the introduction of something new.

由于初期问题通常被视为暂时且几乎不可避免的，你会经常听到人们用'只是'、'仅仅'这类副词来修饰这个表达。

Because teething problems are often seen as just temporary and almost inevitable, you'll often hear adverbs like 'just' and 'only' used with the expression.

所以你可以说食堂那些问题只是初期磨合问题。或者说别担心，这些仅仅是初期问题。意思是这些状况都在预料之中，不会持续太久。

So you could say that those problems with the canteen are just teething problems. Or say, don't worry, they're only teething problems. The idea is that any issues are to be expected and shouldn't last too long.

这个节目也不应该持续太久，所以我们到此结束吧。

And this programme shouldn't last too long either, so let's finish here.

下次见。

See you next time.

再见。

Bye.