درسنامه واژه ها

Masanori – Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin Dodds, one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. Welcome to this month’s vocabulary lesson for the conversation Masanori. I have the text of the conversation and I’ve made some notes about some words or groups of words you may have had difficulty understanding. So I’ll be explaining those as they relate to this conversation.

Alright, let’s talk about three words that you hear in a lot of our conversations. The first one is y’know, y’know. And actually it’s two words, it’s two words combined into one word. So sometimes when we’re speaking fast, instead of saying you know, which would be a slower way of saying it, we say y’know, which is a lot faster.

And the second word is yeah. Yeah is a slang word for yes. The third word is like. So like can have different meanings but a lot of times you’ll hear it in our conversations and it doesn’t have a meaning. So it’s just a filler word. That happens quite often in our conversations where we use the word like and it has no meaning.

Alright, so let’s begin. Masanori, the title of this conversation, so Masanori, that’s the name of AJ’s nephew. So it’s his wife, Tomoe, it’s her sister’s son.

Okay, in the very beginning I say, “I think he was 1-1/2 or 2 years old when we saw him on Maui.” So Maui is the name of one of the Hawaiian Islands.

And then AJ says, “When you saw him already at age 1-1/2, he was obsessed with, at that time, seeds, avocados, plants.” So obsessed means always thinking about, so he was always thinking about seeds and avocados and plants. And seeds, these are the inside parts of fruits that you don’t eat. So, for example, an apple…the brown little pieces on the inside that are hard and you don’t eat, those would be seeds. And an orange, they’re white. They’re in the middle and they’re hard and you don’t eat them.

And avocados, this is a type of fruit which grows in, usually in warmer weather, I think. It’s green.

Sometimes people I think confuse it with a vegetable but it’s actually a fruit.

Okay, then AJ says, “His big obsessions now are cicadas in the summer and then acorns in the fall and spring.” So cicadas are a type of insect or a bug, a type of bug, and they can actually fly. And acorns, this is a type of nut. Squirrels eat them a lot.

And then AJ says, “He’s kind of into beetles now, too.” So beetles, this is another type of insect or bug.

They’re black usually.

And then Joe says, “We saw those pictures that Miyumi had and it was insane just how many of those acorns there were.” Miyumi, this is the name of Tomoe’s sister and it’s Masanori’s mother. And insane, insane means unbelievable. It was unbelievable just how many of those acorns there were.

And then AJ says, “So that’s 100, roughly a 100 pounds of acorns in their apartment in bags and boxes.” So when he says roughly, roughly a 100 pounds of acorns, roughly means about.

Alright, then AJ says, “This gigantic box of them in their apartment.” So gigantic means really big.

And then AJ says, “He’d get me sometimes. ‘C’mon!’” So c’mon means come on, kind of like y’know, it’s two words combined into one, come and on.

And then AJ says, “We’d just go hunting around for cicadas the whole time.” So when he says hunting, he means looking, they would go looking for the cicadas.

And then AJ says, “They all die in the summer and the larva go dig down into the ground and hibernate.” So hibernate means to sleep through the winter.

And then AJ says, “So then he switches to acorns in the fall.” So switches means changes.

And then Joe says, “What’s great is his enthusiasm has really spilled over.” So enthusiasm means excitement. And when Joe says his excitement or his enthusiasm has spilled over, spilled over means it’s influenced others. It’s had an affect on others.

And then Joe says, “I think what will be interesting is to see if his interests carry over from childhood into adulthood and if his level of enthusiasm is sustained.” So sustained means continues. It’ll be interesting to see if his level of enthusiasm continues.

And then AJ says, “I’ll be shocked if he goes into accounting or something unrelated.” So shocked means very surprised. And accounting, this is a career dealing with financial accounts.

And then AJ says, “There’s kind of a natural assumption that when he gets older he’s going to go into something in the natural sciences.” So natural assumption, assumption means belief. There’s a natural belief that he’ll go into a career in something like the natural sciences.

Alright, then Joe says, “It’s not as though there was someone who was piquing his interest in these things.” So piquing means encouraging.

And AJ says, “No one pushed him, no adults really encouraged it.” So pushed him, here this means motivated him, no one really motivated him. This came about from himself.

And then Joe says, “They see that person as a positive role model and they start mimicking that person.” So role model, this is someone looked to by others as an example to be imitated. And mimicking, when Joe says they start mimicking that person, mimicking means imitating.

And then Joe says, “An example was when he wanted to go to jiu-jitsu with you.” So jiu-jitsu is a type of martial art that AJ has started doing.

And then AJ says, “He’s not all into jiu-jitsu, that’s right, and it didn’t really click.” So when he says it didn’t click, what he means is it didn’t have much meaning for him.

And then AJ says, “It comes from him though for sure. Not some natural affinity.” So affinity means liking, a natural liking.

And at the very end of the conversation, I say, “I think it’s so fascinating and I’ve never known of a little kid to be so focused and obsessed with something.” So fascinating, I think it’s so fascinating, fascinating means interesting, really interesting.

Alright, this is the end of the conversation for Masanori, or titled Masanori. I’ll be right back with the commentary.