Podcast Audio:
Audio Transcription:
玫芬: 欢迎大家！我是玫芬，今天 我在这儿跟我的同学玉兰，想讲一讲童年教育。
Welcome everybody! My name is Meifen [Maven], and today I am here with my classmate Yulan [Maggie] to talk about childhood education.
玉兰：对，在孩子教育的问题上各个家长有自己的看法。
Yes, every parent has his or her own opinion on the issue of children’s education.
玫芬：不但父母都有不同的意见，而且住的地方和文化也对孩子的童年有影响。
Not only do parents have different opinions, location and culture can also have an impact on children’s childhood.
玉兰：比如说，我们俩都是美国人，但是我是在华盛顿州出生长大的，而你是从中西部来的，对吗？
For example, we are both from the US, but I was raised in Washington and you are from the Midwest, right?
玫芬：对。我小时候，我和我的家庭住在几个地方，但是我在南达科他上中、高中学。
Right. When I was a kid, my family and I lived in several places, but I went to middle school and high school in South Dakota.
玉兰：你的家长管你的教育吗？带你去上课外活动像钢琴，画画儿，游泳，什么的？
Did your parents control your education? Take you to extracurricular activities like piano, painting, swimming, etc.?
玫芬：不完全是。那时候，我主要的重心是念书，把时间都花在学习上。
Not entirely. At that time, my main focus was school and I spent all my time studying.
玉兰：你应该让你的家长很高兴吧。你有什么自己选的兴趣爱好吗？
You must have made your parents happy. Did you have any interests or hobbies you chose yourself?
玫芬：我花了几年学舞蹈，但是那是我自己的兴趣爱好。我父母从来没逼迫我。
I spent a few years studying dance, but it was my own hobby. My parents never pushed me.
玉兰：我的妈妈带我去参加一些课外活动，但是不太多。比如，弹钢琴、游泳、和骑马。
My mom took me to some extracurricular activities, but not too many. For example, playing the piano, swimming, and riding horses.
玫芬：哇，骑马？很高档的运动。你的家庭很有钱吗 哈哈
Wow, horseback riding? A very fancy sport. Is your family rich? Haha
玉兰：没有，没有，一点儿也没有。我的阿姨是骑马老师。因为免费，所以我妈妈让我去和她学。
No, no, not at all. My aunt was a horseback riding teacher. Because it was free, my mother had me learn from her.
玫芬：啊，我懂了。听起来那让你不太高兴？
Ah, I understand. Sounds like that didn’t make you very happy?
玉兰：是的。我喜欢马，但是我阿姨太严格了，她让我真讨厌骑马。但是，别的活动还好。我一直喜欢游泳和钢琴。
That’s true. I like horses, but my aunt was too strict, she made me hate riding. But the other activities were ok. I have always enjoyed swimming and piano.
玫芬：无论那时候你喜不喜欢，你觉得学这些东西都是对你现在有用的吗？
Whether or not you liked them at the time, do you think learning these things will be useful to you now?
玉兰：我觉得是有用的。对一些技能来说，只要知道怎么做就好了。你呢？你希望小时候你的家长让你学过什么吗？
I think it’s useful. For some skills, it’s just a matter of knowing how to do them. And you? Is there anything you wish your parents had taught you when you were a child?
玫芬：有时候，我希望我也有一些这样的技能，但是我很高兴父母让我好好念书，不急着参加课外活动。长大以后，我还可以学新的东西。
Sometimes, I wish I had some of these skills, but I’m glad my parents let me study hard and not rush into extracurricular activities. After growing up, I can still learn new things.
玉兰：不过，有一些东西在小的时候学比较容易。比如，学语言。
But some things are easier to pick up when you’re a kid. Like learning languages.
玫芬：你说的对。如果是那样，现在上中文课当然就比较容易。
You’re right. If that [having studied as a child] were the case, it would certainly be easier to take Chinese classes now.
玉兰：我希望我的家长鼓励我学习其他语言。虽然那时候没有机会学中文，我可能学了西班牙语。那会非常有用。
I wish my parents had encouraged me to learn other languages. Although at that time there were no opportunities to learn Chinese, I could have studied Spanish. That would be very useful.
玫芬：你说的有道理。有时候，不是父母或者孩子的选择。在我的家乡，就没有那么多机会学东西，像别的语言。
You make a good point. Sometimes, it’s not the choice of the parents or the children. In my hometown, there were not many opportunities to learn things, like other languages.
玉兰：那你在高中学什么外语呢？
Then, what foreign language did you study in high school?
玫芬：我的高中提供学生选西班牙语或者法语。我选法语，但是只学了两年因为我不喜欢那门课。
My high school offered students a choice of Spanish or French. I took French, but only studied it for two years because I didn’t like the class.
玉兰：你可以继续自己学习。
You could continue to study on your own.
玫芬：哎，我试了。没有老师，学法文就很难。
I’ve tried. Without a teacher, it’s difficult to learn French.
玉兰：是的，在大学的语言课比高中的更好。但是一些东西不能从书上学的。
Yes, language classes in college are better than those in high school. But some things cannot be learned from books.
玫芬：对，像怎么说得和母语的人一样好、怎么用现代的俚语、成语、什么的。
Right, like how to speak as well as a native speaker, how to use modern slang, idioms, etc.
玉兰：没错，我从玩儿游戏和看电视中学到了不少。
Exactly. I’ve learned a lot from playing games and watching TV.
玫芬：啊，我就知道，把所有的时间都花在看抖音上是教育性的！
Ah, I knew all that time spent on Douyin was educational!
玉兰：对，对，给我们自己一个玩儿的好借口。
Right, right, give ourselves a good excuse to have some fun.
玫芬： 好，时间差不多到了，那我们需要结束这个播客。谢谢你跟我们一起说话。
Okay, the time is almost up, so we need to end this podcast. Thank you for speaking with us.
玉兰：当然没问题，谢谢你请我来。
Of course, no problem, thank you for having me.
都： 再见！
Bye!
Maven Neumiller & Maggie Wettergreen
Maven Neumiller and Maggie Wettergreen are students in the second year of the Chinese program at WWU. This podcast interview was written as part of a class assignment.