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Adelina |
Chris |
Life's Ups and Downs
Adelina talks with Chris about some of the lessons she has learned in her life.
Chris: Hi, Adelina. So, let's talk about ... about life in general. Could you tell me a bit how ... how has been your life, some highlights up till now?
Adelina: Well, I don't know. I can say my life is like a roller coaster so I don't know, I think life is all about learning lessons and I completely agree when they say that when you stop learning lessons then you are ready to die. So I don't know, I think I'm learning experiences and lessons every day.
Chris: Explain me why you would say you're like a roller coaster, your life is a roller coaster. Like, you travel a lot or you ... I don't know, explain that.
Adelina: Yeah, my life is a roller coaster because I hate routine so because of that I travel a lot and I change job a lot and I change friends a lot. Well, I still keep them but I'm not with them I'm not like a girl that lives in a village and she always hangs out with the same people and everything so that's why maybe my learning experiences are much more in volume than a person that they are like robots that they do every day the same routine and the same things all over again so they will learn less lessons than me for example.
Chris: So in a way you're not like a stable person?
Adelina: No I'm not. Who wants to be a stable person?
Chris: Well, I guess there are different opinions about that.
Adelina: Yeah, of course but it's like for me, to do every day the same, to have all the future so planned, it's like a movie you've already seen.
Chris: Yeah, that seems more like ... like you said that you're quite spiritual that you have a lot philosophies about that but it could also turn out bad for you.
Adelina: Why?
Chris: I mean, of course, you're not a stable person, you want to try new things but not everything you try has a happy ending.
Adelina: No, but I think if I keep trying I will find my happy ending, but my really happy ending.
Chris: I guess that's the real idea behind learning.
Adelina: Yeah, and also to get better, to challenge yourself. Like, I don't know, I'm very critic with myself and I think it's good because at the end of the day, it's the only way you can get better.
Chris: Yeah, and is there an example, a highlight of, for example when you fail that something and learn that important lesson in life?
Adelina: I don't know, I cannot say something specific. but I fail ... when I fail I don't blame anybody else, I blame myself because I trust people or because I put too much faith in something. I don't have the only control of it. That's when I fail, when I trust other people and there are so many people with two faces and they don't turn the way they are selling themselves, you know. So that's when I fail because I trust too much.
Chris: Okay, thanks for that.
Adelina: Thank you.
like a roller coaster
My life is like a roller coaster.
This phrase means there are many high points and low points in life. We have ups and downs. Notice the following:
- Her career was like a roller coaster.
- Success is like a roller coaster. It is slow going up and fast going down.
stable person
You're not like a stable person.
A stable person does not have much change or drama in their life. Notice the following:
- Good parents are usually stable people.
- Young people find the stable life boring.
lesson in life
It's an important lesson in life.
A lesson in life is something important that you learn about life. Notice the following:
- You don't learn the lessons in life in school, but rather in the real world.
- He is young, so he has many lessons in life still to come.
two faces / two-faced
There are so many people with two faces.
A two-faced person acts one way in someone's presence, but another way then they are not around. Notice the following:
- My boss is so two-faced. He says nice things to our face but then writes bad reports about us.
- You cannot trust her. She is two-faced.
sell yourself
They are not how they are selling themselves, you know.
When you sell yourself, you present yourself to others so they have a high impression of you. Notice the following:
- You always have to sell yourself on the first date.
- He did a bad job of selling the company in his presentation.
Vocabulary Quiz
two-faced • sell yourself
About the Teacher / Creator
Hello, and welcome to elllo. My name is Todd Beuckens. I've been an ESL teacher for 25 years. I created elllo to provide teachers and students free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.
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