So many Olympic sports come down to perfection. Can you do what you are attempting to do perfectly? In the luge, a few thousandths of a second can separate the competitors, and in half pipe snowboarding, one small wobble can cost you the gold.
And so it was with Liu Jiayu on Thursday night in the ladies’ half pipe finals, who just a few days before taught an English lesson on the term “goofy” for English, baby! Unlike the men’s half pipe, in which Shaun White just got so much higher than everyone else and was the undisputed victor, the ladies’ competition could have been won by any of the competitors going into the second run. Liu Jiayu–who entered the competition ranked 2nd–came into the final run in fourth place. She looked so good up until her final trick, when her board grazed the blue rim of the half pipe. She didn’t fall, but she wobbled, and instantly she and everyone watching knew, she would not advance past fourth.
So while she was explaining what it means to ride goofy earlier in the week (although she rides regular), Liu Jiayu actually ended up demonstrating the other meaning of goofy–you know, funny looking and silly. Because for a split second after she hit the rim of the half pipe on that final run, she looked a little goofy catching her balance. But at age 18, I have a feeling the world will be getting to know Liu Jiayu better over the next few years and that she will continue to demonstrate how uncharacteristic that goofy moment was.
If it weren’t for the cameras, you wouldn’t have known they were Olympic athletes. At the airport, the Chinese snowboarding team just looked like a bunch of kids arriving in Vancouver to head up to the mountain.
Two media outlets were there to capture the arrival of the greatest foreign threat to a sport dominated by Americans, CCTV–the NBC of China–and English, baby!
CCTV’s coverage aired that night. The story took the angle that the athletes’ first challenge in Canada was to use their English skills with the media.
The athletes acted like seasoned, secretive stars and didn’t give any in-depth responses to questions from the CCTV reporter. Luckily, we weren’t looking for anything in-depth from them, we were just hoping to have fun making a couple of English lessons. Take a look at our first video with Liu Jiayu(刘佳宇), Sun Zhifeng(孙志峰), and Cai Xuetong(蔡雪彤), a lesson on the phrase “drop in.”
The finals for women’s half pipe are just about to start and we are excited to see how Liu Jiayu and Sun Zhifeng, who made it through the preliminary rounds will do!
In just a few hours we are heading to Vancouver to make English lesson videos at the 2010 Winter Olympics. In honor of our departure, take a look at our Olympic preview lesson on “go for the gold.” We are seriously aiming high. There should be some major adventures on this trip. Get ready to be surprised over the next two weeks.
It’s not often you get to go to the Olympics by car. Driving to the Olympics is going to be really fun! We’re lucky to have them so close to us, just a half-day’s drive away.
Here’s a little English lesson. When you’re getting ready to travel somewhere, you can announce the place you’re going and say “or bust” afterward. This means, “We’re going to get there no matter what!” or “We’ll get there or die trying!” Sometimes in the US you’ll see cars with things like “Las Vegas or Bust!” written on the windows. You know the people inside are on a fun road trip if you see that.
But after watching our Olympic preview video, you’ll know Jason isn’t joking around when he says “Vancouver or bust!” He has a serious mission up there. Wish him luck, and get ready to learn a lot of English on the journey!
In just over a week, the greatest event in the world for spandex will begin. No, it’s not a professional wrestling championship, it’s the Winter Olympics, of course!
From bobsledders to skiers, Olympic athletes from every country wear lots of spandex. Here at English, baby!, the team we’re sending to Vancouver to bring back lessons on winter sports idioms is no different. Today we launched our official Ebaby! at the Vancouver Olympics page, and the most important element of our Olympic uniforms just arrived–the Ebaby! blue spandex body suit!
The photo is me in my speed skating pose, and as you can see, the theme of “something you’d be a little embarrassed to wear in public” carries over from our 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics uniforms. I think that wearing silly outfits helps encourage people we meet to participate in our videos. Even if you stumble on your words or lose at the game we’re playing, there’s no way you’ll dumber than us!
We stood out so much on the streets of Beijing that strangers stopped to take pictures of us. I wonder if we’ll be such a spectacle in Vancouver. We can’t get too distracted being ridiculous–we’ve been hard at work planning the best ways to create educational and memorable English lessons at the Olympics. We’re dedicated to bringing home even more gold (so to speak) than the videos made in Beijing. Take a look at our new Olympic banner and get ready!
