【英语趣味课堂】在家上学-Home Schooling

Peter: So Sarah you told me earlier that you've been home-schooled, it sounds really interesting, I've never met somebody who's been home-schooled, so could you tell me a little bit more about your experience with it?

 

Sarah: Yes, absolutely. Well I'm the youngest of four children, so I was the last one to come up being home-schooled. But my father decided¹ to home-school us as soon as it became legal² in our state. And for me it was a very different experience than my older siblings³. I think when they were younger my father did more of the formal teaching⁴, like at all once, like lecture style. But by the time I came along, he didn't do that anymore. So my learning⁵ predominantly came from books. And I remember even as young as second grade, like doing all of my work by myself. One of my favorite aspects of it when I was like in second and third grade is I could do all of my work on Monday and then have the rest of the week to play, didn't have to do any work.

 

Peter: Wow! That sounds really nice. How come your parents decided to home school, what was important for them?

 

Sarah: My older sister had a lot of problems in school and they were in the principal's office like every day. And so that's initially⁶ what made them start thinking about it. And from there they made the decision and so all the rest of us were home-schooled after that.

 

Peter: Wow! That's fascinating⁷. Tell me, the fact that you were home-schooled, did that make any difference in terms of making friends with other people in the neighborhood or were there other families that home-schooled children too that you could be friends with?

 

Sarah: Yes, there were some families that we were close friends with, that we vacationed with and did everything with growing up. For me, personally, the social aspect wasn't huge because I'm more of an introvert⁸. So I like to be alone more than my other siblings. But we were all very involved in different things, my brother in many sports and my sister and I in ballet⁹ and I played in an orchestra¹⁰, and I took piano and violin and sang in a girl's chorus¹¹. So I was around other children my own age all the time.

 

Peter: Right. Yeah, it sounds pretty busy actually.

 

Sarah: Yeah.

 

Peter: So could you tell me, what's a typical day in home-schooling, what does it work like? What does it look like?

 

Sarah: It's pretty much just self-study. So I guess what most people envision as like homework at the end of the day, that's just your school day, is just working through different books, different activities, so mainly textbooks. It's very different now though. People who are home-schooled now, there is all sorts of groups and like online and videos and different things. But because I was home-schooled in the 80s, it looked very different than it does now.

 

Peter: Okay. So how did your father ... did he work as well and did he work and home-school you or was that his main thing, to home-school you?

 

Sarah: My father owns a radio station and he has a manager for that radio station, so that allows him to not have to be down there very often. But when he did he would just take us with him to work, and so we'd do our work wherever he was.

 

Peter: Wow, that's pretty cool!

 

Sarah: Yeah.

 

Peter: And all four kids would do their homework and go through their textbooks by themselves, things like that?

 

Sarah: Yes, we were all very self-motivated, so.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

by the time I came along

 

By the time I came along, he didn't do that anymore.

 

Here, the speaker means¹², before 'I was born' but it also means 'before I arrived.' Notice the following:

 

My father was rich by the time I came along.

By the time we came along, the party was over.

social aspect

 

Personally, the social aspect wasn't huge.

 

The social aspect refers to having friends and people you can socialize with. Notice the following:

 

Many people choose college for its social aspect, not academics.

I like the social aspect of my work, but that is about it.

huge

 

It wasn't a huge thing.

 

Here, huge means important. Notice the following:

 

Getting a job downtown was huge.

The boss likes you. That is huge!

at the end of the day

 

So I guess what most people envision as like homework at the end of the day.

 

The phrase¹³ 'at the end of the day' just talks about the most basic conclusion about something. Notice the following:

 

At the end of the day, you need to take care of your health.

We are all humans at the end of the day.

down there

 

That allows him to not have to be down there very often.

 

We often say 'down there' instead of just 'there' to refer to a location¹⁴. Notice the following:

 

Are you going to the beach? We will follow you down there.

I am not sure what is down there?

 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 legal   

adj.法律的，依照法律的，合法的，法定的，正当的

参考例句：

• He is my legal adviser.他是我的法律顾问。
• This is partly a political and partly a legal question.这个问题部分是政治问题，部分是法律问题。

3 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

4 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

5 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 fascinating   

adj.迷人的，吸引人的，使人神魂颠倒的

参考例句：

• Your ideas are fascinating to me.你的这些主意对我来说是有吸引力的。
• The very style of the book is fascinating.这本书的风格本身就会引人入胜。

8 introvert   

n.性格内向的人

参考例句：

• You are very much an introvert.你是一位地道的内向性格者。
• The same conversation that energizes the extravert also drains the introvert.同样的交谈能让外向者荣光焕发，却让内向者精神颓靡。

9 ballet   

n.芭蕾舞

参考例句：

• Angela studied ballet for six years.安吉拉学了六年芭蕾舞。
• She is a celebrated star of ballet.她是一个芭蕾舞明星。

10 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

11 chorus   

n.合唱，合唱队，齐声

参考例句：

• Never before have I heard this song sung in chorus.我从来没有听过这首歌的合唱。
• The children repeated the words after her in chorus.孩子们跟她齐声朗读单词。

12 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

13 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

14 location   

n.地点，位置，定位

参考例句：

• It is a suitable location for a new school.那是建一所新学校的合适地点。
• I have to find a convenient location for the shelves.我得找一合适的地方放这些书架。