English, baby!

crash course

Date: Sep 08 2004

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“A few months. It was a crash course, all day every day. I had a lot of songs to learn in a short time, so I just had to keep the guitar in my hand. It’s funny, I always wanted to learn to play guitar, but I had to learn so much advanced stuff so fast without any kind of musical foundation. Maybe I’ll go back to it eventually.”
-Sean Penn, in response to a question asking him how long it took him to learn the guitar for the movie Sweet and Low Down

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

a crash course is a class you take, in which you receive a large amount of information over short period of time

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Being a language learner, you have probably heard this term before. It is used a lot to describe courses where you are expected to learn something very quickly. I have seen it used very often to describe language courses. Another place I have heard this is on the job. When you have to learn your role very quickly, someone gives you a crash course.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

””Hey look! They are offering a crash course in Russian at the language school. I have always wanted to learn Russian! I have just never had enough time to take a class.”“

””Hey look! They are offering a crash course in Russian at the language school. I have always wanted to learn Russian! I have just never had enough time to take a class.”
“When I started my job, I got a crash course in all of the graphics programs. I had never used them before. Now I am really good at all of them.”
“Before our wedding, I decided to learn how to dance. We took a crash course in dancing. We learned so much in those two weeks!”
“

””When I started my job, I got a crash course in all of the graphics programs. I had never used them before. Now I am really good at all of them.”“

””Before our wedding, I decided to learn how to dance. We took a crash course in dancing. We learned so much in those two weeks!”“

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

A “crash course” in one in which a person tries to learn as much as he can in a short period of time, such as memorizing as many phrases as possible in a foreign language in a matter of a month or even a week before one goes abroad.
by joe (Xiangtan, Hunan, China)
A crash course is one that happens very fast because the student or person involved does not have time to devote to it in an extended way.
by paola (pasto, colombia)
crash course means people learn or study something in a short time for a kind of purpose.
by sabrina (jiexiu, China)
i guess the crash course means the time he learned guitar is quite shorter than the normal learner ,and got the same lever,so called a “crash course”
by britney (xuzhou, China)
I think crash course means you have to learn something fast in a short time so that you are forced to practice it very hard and over and over again.
by Portia (Hualien, Taiwan)
tense, harsh , with lots things to do in a short time
by lee (hk, china)
It means, when you need to do something but the time is so little… so you should try to do it in this short time…
by Yarineth (Panamá, Panamá)
When do you have no time to do something, or short time. I can do a intensify course, quickly course
by rosane (cruzeiro-sp, Brazil)
It refers to a type of lesson people take to learn about something much more quickly than people normally do, usually for emergancy.
by Yi (Hangzhou, China)
Crash Course means taking course in a short time, effectively use the time to learn something
by Imah (Tarakan, Indonesia)
a course in which people learn something in a very short time
by kevin (Yantai, China)
I think a crash course probably means—try to learn and to grasp something in a very short time.
by J (Shanghai, China)
crash course means that the situation for someone who must to do a lot of things in a little period and it keeps so buzy .
by kathleen (beijing, china)
Sean Penn want to say with “crash course” is that his life is so acelerated.
by Carlos mario (Valledupar, Colombia)
crash course: bunch of lessons purposed to teach in a short term as much is possible
by Valeria (Tempio Pausania, Italia)
I think that a “Crash course” means an intensive course you take to learn something in a very short time
by Rafaela (Pato Branco, Brasil)
crash course means learn something in a very short time.
by shuang (chongqing, china)
I think “crash course” means a very great effort to reach the desired results quickly..
by Dana (Dubai, UAE)
I think “crash course” is when someone has to learn something very fast, maybe for a new job for example.
by Ricardo (Salvador, Brazil)
To get some special skills in a short time by means of intensifying of studies.
by Jana (Vienna, Austria)
the course that help you to learn something by quick method
by huirong (wuxi, china)
to learn something in very short time
by ronin (Melbourne, Australia)
A crash course is like cramming for a new set of knowledge.
by Jaya (Manila, Philippines)
maybe it means a busy and dull lesson.This kind of lesson should have effects at once.
by angel (zhejiang, China)
The special course to learn something within the least time!
by Sally (Shanghai, China)
intensive course, or course that’s especially difficult for beginning learners because it contains introduction and much unfamiliar information about a new subject.
by Elaine (Taipei, Taiwan)