A Mexican in London

BBC¹ Learning² EnglishLondon LifeA Mexican in LondonYvonne: As we know, London is a very cosmopolitan³ city –so it’s possible to meetpeople here from countries that we may never visit.
　　And that’s just what we’re doing today on London Lifewith Miguel Molina from Mexico. This isbbclearningenglish.com and I’m Yvonne Archer⁴. Hello!
　　Miguel has been living in London for about ten years andworks as an Editor in the BBC’s Latin⁵ American Service.
　　So he’s an old friend! But life is not all about work, sowhat do Miguel and other Mexicans in London do for fun? (Isthat a fair question?) Also try to spot two different waysthat Miguel uses the word ‘party’. Now there’s a bigclue for you!
　　Miguel MolinaThere’s not ‘a’ Mexican way of being, but some, they’reyoung, they have nothing else to do, so they like to partyand you can find them, you know, having fun. Others thatare becoming old, like me, just for fun, they could just gosit down in the garden and have a nice chat with friendsand (are) no longer partying.
　　Yvonne: By the way, Miguel really isn’t that old but yes,he does enjoy a nice ‘chat’ - talking with friends in thegarden – that’s if it’s not raining! We’ll look at theword ‘party’ in a moment but first did you catch thatuseful phrase⁶ - ‘There’s not A Mexican way of being’?
　　That’s a lovely way to explain that not all Mexicans arethe same.
　　Miguel MolinaThere’s not ‘a’ Mexican way of beingYvonne: Sometimes it’s believed that people who speak thesame language or are from the same continent for example,are the same. So Miguel’s phrase is a good way to answerquestions based on such beliefs without upsetting people.
　　Note the way we say ‘A’ and ‘AN’ - for example, ‘There’s not ‘a’ Chinese way of being’ and ‘There’s not‘an’ Arabic⁷ way of being’.
　　Now onto the word ‘party’. Miguel says of youngMexicans in London:
　　Miguel MolinaThey have nothing to do so they like to party…Yvonne: And the older Mexicans in London?
　　Miguel Molina(They’re) no longer partying.
　　Yvonne: So there’s the noun⁸ ‘a party’ – an event whenpeople have fun talking, playing music and dancing, forexample. And we heard the word used as a verb⁹ - ‘to party’ and ‘partying’. Do you like ‘to party’? Doyou like ‘partying’? So you’ve a few things to discussafter today’s London Life?!
　　Although London has many interesting events to go to andplaces to visit for free, lots of people who were born heredon’t actually go to them! But that’s certainly notthe case for people from other countries who live here.
　　Miguel says that Mexicans living in London generally have‘a very developed taste for cultural things’. Forexample, they enjoy visiting places like art galleries andmuseums.
　　Miguel MolinaMexicans in general, but more so Mexicans who go liveabroad, not as tourists, have a very developed taste forcultural things. That is, you find them in placessuch as the National Gallery or the British Museum or youfind them looking at historical¹⁰ places in London.
　　Yvonne: Are there ‘historical’ places where you live thatyou can easily visit but don’t?
　　Why not?
　　Of course, Miguel now lives in London but where is his‘home’ – the place where his heart really is – or even,his guitar?!
　　Miguel MolinaI live here – this is home for me. Yes, I go back toMexico and it’s home in Mexico as well. But home is, well… an artist would say: ‘home is where your guitar is’.
　　I don’t have a guitar, I don’t play anything, so….
　　But the classics¹¹ also say: ‘home is wherever you go andthey have to take you in’. So I guess, in that sense,I have a home here in London and in Mexico.
　　Yvonne: Lucky man! Do you think you could be as happyliving in another country?
　　And how would you explain what ‘home’ is? Why nottalk about that after today’s London Life. And for areminder of some of the language we’ve looked at, visit usnow at bbclearningenglish.com!

1 BBC   

abbr.（=British Broadcasting Corporation）英国广播公司

参考例句：

• She works for the BBC.她为英国广播公司工作。
• The BBC was founded in 1922.英国广播公司建于1922年。

2 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。

3 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

4 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

5 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

6 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。

7 Arabic   

n.阿拉伯语；adj.阿拉伯语的，阿拉伯人的，阿拉伯式的

参考例句：

• It is not easy to learn Arabic.学阿拉伯语不容易。
• Arabic script reads from right to left.阿拉伯文是从右至左读的。

8 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

9 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

10 historical   

adj.历史的，史实的，历史上的

参考例句：

• The book is based on historical events.这本书是根据历史事件写成的。
• We have shared the same historical experiences.咱们有着共同的历史遭遇。

11 classics   

n.文豪( classic的名词复数 )；文学名著；优秀的典范；古希腊与古罗马的文化研究（尤指对其语言与文学的研究）

参考例句：

• There are three great constituents of modern education --the classics, modern history and literature, and science. 现代教育有三大内容 -古典文学、现代历史和文学、以及自然科学。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• "The Classics on Tea", written by Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty (618 A.D.-907 A.D.) was the world's earliest treatise on tea leave production. 中国唐代陆羽写的《茶经》是世界上最早的茶叶制作专著。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》