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Views #335 | Intermediate 4

Three Wishes

Todd talks about what he would change if he had three wishes about himself.

Script
Vocab
Quiz

Todd

OK, I'm going to talk about my one wish. I think everybody has one or two things they wish they could change about themselves and for me I really wish I could sing. Unfortunately I have a terrible voice. I cannot sing at all, and in Japan, this is very embarrassing because Japanese people love to go to karaoke, and karaoke is when you go with a bunch of friends to a place, a karaoke bar, I guess, or center, and you get a small room and inside the room there are TV's and songs are on the TV's. You can choose what songs to watch and then one person sings the song and everyone listens and it's very popular in Japan and it's a lot of fun but it's really embarrassing because I can't sing and everybody always says, " No, no, no, you sing. Oh, no, it's OK. It's OK. Don't worry. Don't be embarrassed," but after I sing, my singing is so bad that everybody doesn't want me to sing anymore, so it's also really hard for me because I teach children and I love teaching children and

when you teach children you need to teach songs, and so I sing many, many songs with my students, for example, "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" or "Row-Row-Row your boat!" or many many songs, but I can't sing and so luckily the kids really don't care so usually it's alright that my voice is really bad but sometimes they tell me, they say, "Sensei, Sensei!" in Japanese, "You're singing is terrible!" so it's really embarrassing but I have to do it. Songs are very important for children when they're little. I think the reason I cannot sing is because unfortunately in my country we don't sing as children and I really would like this to change. It really bothers me. I've noticed in Thailand, in Japan, in other countries that I have taught, children sing in elementary school a lot and in the United States you don't do this and I think's it's terrible because you need to sing when you're little to train your voice so it can learn tones and so it can learn how to sing properly and because I never learned to sing when I was little it's almost impossible to learn how to sing when you're older, so yeah, I really wish I could sing but I just don't think that it's ever going to be a reality.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

terrible voice

Unfortunately I have a terrible voice. I cannot sing at all.

When you have a 'terrible voice' it means that you cannot sing in tune very well.

Notice the following:

I can't believe she won the singing competition. She has a terrible voice.
I would like to learn to sing as I have a terrible voice.

embarrassed

"No, no, no, you sing. Oh, no, it's OK. It's OK. Don't worry. Don't be embarrassed,"

When you are 'embarrassed' it means that you feel foolish and ashamed. Usually when you are embarrassed your face feels hot and looks red.

Notice the following:

I could never wear that hat as I would be too embarrassed.
I was embarrassed to ask the teacher for help.

don't care

Luckily the kids really don't care.

When you 'don't care' about something it means that it is not important to you.

Notice the following:

I don't care if we do not win, I have had great fun.
I don't think they care if we can come or not.

train your voice

You need to sing when you're little to train your voice so it can learn tones.

When you 'train your voice' it means that you learn to sing the notes in a correct tune.

Notice the following:

Classical singers spend years training their voices.
You can go to singing lessons and train your voice.

reality

But I just don't think that it's ever going to be a reality.

When something is a 'reality' it means that is actually happening in the real world.

Notice the following:

You live in fantasy land, you need to come back down to reality.
In reality you have to work very hard to become a professional singer.

Vocabulary Quiz

terrible • embarrassed • don't care
train • reality

I used to get really when I had to speak in front of many people.
He seems like a very nice person, but in he only thinks about himself.
They live in Los Angeles, but they about celebrities at all.
The fact that he has a voice is part of the reason why it's so funny.
I could never your voice to sound like Mariah Carey, but you can definitely improve what you have now.

Answer the following questions about the interview.

Three Wishes

Vocabulary Quiz

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