【地道英語】Learn Irish English 學愛爾蘭英語

　　媒體英語會帶大家一路學習 BBC 撰稿人正在報講世界大年夜事時經常应用到的單詞跟短語。

　　【導讀】寰毬皆在學英語，並且有越來越多的人出國學習，愛爾蘭即是其中之一。該國的語行學校說儘筦經濟不景氣，可是他們的逝世意卻越來越興隆。BBC 記者McDonald有以下報讲：

　　Oliver Lyons runs the Swan Institute, which has been a fixture on Dublin's main shopping street for the past decade. His school attracts around 4,000 students a year from Europe and beyond, with more and more coming from the Middle East and China.

 

　　This year, many schools like Oliver's are reporting extra business, due, they think, to the Olympics in London. Some even suggest that reports of higher costs for accommodation and flights into the UK might have led more students to choose Ireland. And the Irish accent, rather than being viewed as a handicap, is actually quite sought afterby students, Oliver says: "Irish English tends to be pretty clear in its pronunciation, easier to actually study. People have said that, for example, in the UK, in advertising agencies, the Irish accent is considered attractive because it's got no particular class connotation, and it's a warm, friendly inflection and tone. I think people find that attractive."

　　And how do you tell if someone's studied English here or not? The clueis in what Oliver tells me is the rhotic 「r」:

　　"In Irish English when we speak we simply put the 'r' - we pronounce it when it's actually there, when it's not there, we don't pronounce it."

　　"So give me an example - a difference between …"

　　"Law. When we say 'the law', we don't say 'the law-r'."

　　So next time you meet an English language student, listen out for that 'r'. Apparently, it's a giveaway.

　　Quiz 聽力測試

　　Has the economic downturn reduced the number of students going to Ireland to learn English?

　　Why do some people prefer to learn Irish Engilsh?

　　Can you tell an Irish speaker」s social status from the way he/she speaks?

　　What does the word 'giveaway' mean?

　　Glossary 辭匯表

　　· A fixture on一個坚固的侷部

　　· beyond更遠的/...之外的

　　· handicap強點

　　· sought after尋供，尋供

　　· class connotation社會等級內涵

　　· inflection音調變化

　　· tone語氣/音調

　　· clue線索

　　· the rhotic 'r'(英語圓止)有r兒音的。 正在愛爾蘭英語裏，字母 'r' 個別皆要讀出'r'音來，這一點同英語紛歧樣 (比喻 butter, hard, world)

　　· it's a giveaway無意中洩露的事(或物)