It’s important to have role models who can inspire us and illustrate that learning English can be the first step to a new life and a highly successful career. Teachers can do this, but sometimes it’s nice to have some loftier examples to aspire to.
学英语时,榜样的激励作用至关重要——他们让我们意识到,学英语可能是人生改变和事业成功的第一步。虽然老师能起到这样的作用,但有时受人追捧的名人或许也可以担当此任。
With that in mind, here we reveal four celebrities whom you might be surprised to discover learnt English as a second language. And they all have two things in common – they’re all Hollywood stars, and they’re all women.
抱着这种想法,今天我们将介绍这四位名人:你可能不知道,其实英语只是她们的二外。这四位全都是好莱坞明星,且都是女性。
桑德拉·布洛克(Sandra Bullock)
Despite being born in Arlington County, Virginia, Bullock was raised in Nuremberg, Germany, where her American father – stationed in charge of the US Army’s Military Post Service in Europe – met her German mother. Having spent 12 years in Germany, German naturally became her first language.
布洛克虽出生于弗吉尼亚的阿灵顿,却成长于德国纽伦堡。她的父亲是美国人,曾于欧洲负责主管美国陆军邮政局。她的母亲是德国人。纽伦堡是布洛克父母的相遇之处。布洛克在德国生活了十二年,德语自然而然成为了她的母语。
Here’s footage of Bullock speaking to a German journalist after her 2010 Academy Award Best Actress win for her role in the film The Blind Side:
2010年时,布洛克凭借《弱点》斩获奥斯卡金像奖女主角奖项,这是她获奖后接受德国记者采访时的情景: