English, baby!

简体
Goofy - Olympic Snowboarder Liu Jiayu
滑稽的 (goofy) — 冬奥会单板滑雪运动员刘佳宇

Date: Feb 16 2010

Themes: Hobbies, Sports

Grammar: Simple Past Tense

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

Go Super to Listen

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Go Super to Listen

If you want to become a snowboarder, one of the first things you have to do is decide if you are goofy or regular.

Normally, goofy means silly, and regular means normal. But a normal person can still be a goofy snowboarder. That’s because in snowboarding, “goofy” and “regular” refer to the way you stand on the snowboard.

Goofy riders stand with their right foot at the front of the snowboard, and regular riders stand with their left foot in front. Find out if Olympic athlete Liu Jiayu is goofy or regular.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

CCTV

Liu_Jiayu

Jason: In daily usage, goofy means unusually silly or strange in a funny way. In that sense, Olympic athlete Liu Jiayu isn’t goofy at all. But English, baby! met with the young star as she arrived in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics so she could teach what goofy means on the mountain, and learn some new English phrases as well. Chinese State Television was there for the meeting too.

CCTV: The American team thinks that you may pose a threat.

Liu_Jiayu: The American team is doing what they’re doing. I’m just trying to recover from my injury and do my best. That’s all that I’m focusing on right now.

Jason: After her interview for CCTV, we helped Liu Jiayu learn a new phrase and asked her to teach an English lesson.

Liu_Jiayu: I am ready for the Olympics.

Jason: Where have you studied English?

Liu_Jiayu: I learned by myself. Oh, wow. Very good.

Jason: Do you ride goofy or regular?

Liu_Jiayu: Regular.

Jason: Can you show us what is regular and what is goofy with your feet? Is this regular?

Liu_Jiayu: Regular. Yeah.

Jason: And then, can you show us goofy?

Liu_Jiayu: Goofy, here.

Jason: OK. We were able to drop in on Liu Jiayu and we learned that she rides regular as opposed to goofy. A regular snowboarder places the left foot in front. If you ride goofy, you put your right foot in front like a skateboarder. It’s called goofy because it’s unusual.

Jason: English, baby!

Liu_Jiayu: English, baby!

Jason: Alright. Thank you so much.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Go Super to Listen

Jason talks to Olympic athlete Liu Jiayu about the word “goofy.” Outside of snowboarding, a goofy person is someone who is silly. But in snowboarding, goofy means you stand with your right foot in front of your left foot on the snowboard. This is less common than the regular stance, when you put your left foot in front of your right foot.

Liu Jiayu (刘佳宇) is one of the best female snowboarders in the world. But she says she doesn’t compare herself to other snowboarders. She just concentrates on doing the best job she can do.

It isn’t easy to become an Olympic snowboarder. Teaching yourself English is difficult, too. But Liu Jiayu has done both. There isn’t anything goofy about her, in or outside of snowboarding.

Do you ever act goofy? Where have you studied English? Do you think it’s hard to learn English by yourself?_

_For more with Liu Jiayu, visit our blog.

Comments

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41 through 53 of 53
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lovelygurl

Saudi Arabia

i didn't like to act goofy

yes i studied english by my self from along time

it is hard sometimes

and i'm agree with candycandi

ce you are right

LydiaJin

China

just change the leg's position..what a big gap between the two different meanings of this word….goofy..silly ..foolish.. ///////

good to learn.

cabdijabaar alqaliij

Somalia

iam also too i start English when i was 8 up to day i never understand well but i don't know where the problem comes from but my speaking well ….......

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

no man, it doesnt mean silly :S

SANG891

Hong Kong

Goofy = Silly. It is great to know a new word which is useful in my daily writing.

Futuristic

Philippines

well, nope at all !!! sometime I act goofy when I joke with my friends.

warrior13

Syrian Arab Republic

it's lesson to me that I get new Idea & words

but I sshould reviw this leson to save new words amd new english forms ,

nuna2300

Thailand

Great lesson..I like it so much..

clutchmann

Hungary

I have been studying English for 20 years but unfortunately I couldn't practice it very much. Speaking and speaking is very important. If you are totally beginner from English, it is very hard to learn by yourself. But if you are in basic level, it is simpler to develop your written English knowledge alone (studying words and grammar, reading articles, books).