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Sarah |
John |
Teaching Overseas
Sarah talks about teaching abroad in several different countries.
John: So Sarah, you're an English teacher, right?
Sarah: That's right.
John: You must have taught in many countries before.
Sarah: Yeah, I did. I taught in the USA, in Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan and Ecuador.
John: Oh, Ecuador.
Sarah: Yeah.
John: So you must be able to speak Spanish very well.
Sarah: I think so. I studied really hard, and then when I lived in Ecuador, I spent a lot of time talking to people.
John: Did you teach Spanish, too?
Sarah: No, I didn't. When I lived in Ecuador actually, I volunteered for the United Nations.
John: Wow.
Sarah: And I taught families and they were being relocated to Canada because they were fleeing the drug wars of Colombia.
John: Wow.
Sarah: So I felt very badly for these families but they had a really bright future. So that was good. But then one week, I had a family, a couple of families and they were being relocated to Sweden.
John: Oh.
Sarah: And I said, "I can't teach them Swedish." And the UN said, "Well, maybe just teach them English." So I thought, they're going to Sweden, they don't need to learn English right now. And my friend at the time – she's Norwegian, and we were living together. And every day, she helped me to learn a little bit of Swedish. Just enough for one class so that I could teach these families…
John: Wait, wait.
Sarah: …some Swedish.
John: You were teaching Swedish language?
Sarah: Yes.
John: You are an English speaker.
Sarah: Yes.
John: You lived in Ecuador.
Sarah: Yes.
John: And a Norwegian person taught you Swedish.
Sarah: Yes.
John: So you could teach Swedish to people from Ecuador.
Sarah: From Colombia, currently living in Ecuador.
John: So they could move to Sweden.
Sarah: Yes.
John: And you did this as a volunteer.
Sarah: Yeah. I wanted to help people. So I moved to Ecuador and I got a volunteer job with the United Nations to help teach people but I never thought I would be teaching Swedish.
John: Wow.
Sarah: Yeah. It was a lot of fun.
John: I would like to try that someday, too.
Sarah: You can do it.
volunteer
I volunteered for the United Nations.
When people volunteer to do something, they offer to do it for free or without being told to do so. Notice the following:
- He volunteered for the army.
- I volunteer at an animal shelter once a week.
must
You must be able to speak Spanish.
Here, must means probably. The listener is guessing that the speaker can likely do something. Notice the following:
- You are a pilot, so you must travel a lot.
- He is a banker, so he must be rich.
really hard
I studied really hard.
When you do something really hard, then you do it with great effort. Notice the following:
- He works really hard.
- Are you working hard or hardly working?
relocate
They were being relocated to Canada
When you relocate, you move from one area to another area usually for a job or for school. Notice the following:
- Because of my dad's job, we relocated a lot.
- If you take the job, are you willing to relocate?
flee
They were fleeing the drug wars of Colombia.
When people flee an area, they leave hurriedly because of danger or need. Notice the following:
- Due to the flood, people fled to higher ground.
- People need to flee the war zone.
bright future
They had a really bright future.
If a person has a bright future, that means he or she will likely have good things happen to them in their lifetime. Notice the following:
- Most people think he have a bright future.
- That girl has a bright future ahead of her.
Vocabulary Quiz
relocate • flee • bright future
Related Video - One Minute English
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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