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Global Warming Vacation Dialogue Development Below is original dialogue as submitted by Karen (蔡一芥 , Cài Yījiè). |
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A:I’m thinking of traveling to somewhere this summer,can you give me some advice? B:Well… it’s a bit difficult.As you know, in recent years the southern areas of China are often attacked by floods,while there is a serious shortage of water in the North. A:Oh,yes.All of these result from the globle warming.Inland lakes are becoming smaller and smaller now. B:But lakes in Tibet are becoming bigger. A:Why is that? B:They are larger at first because of the melted ice of the mountains,but they will then become smaller and smaller when all the ice are melted.Maybe you can go there this summer to have a look at them before they finally disappear in the world. A: That sounds like a good idea.How can I go there? B:By train… Train!Oh my god.I’m sorry to tell you that the frozen earth in Tibet are also being melted,which threatens the safety of railroads there. A:What a pity.It seems that globle warming has a big influence on us. B:Yes.Maybe we’ll have to change our traveling habits in several years,going to the south to enjoy the sunshine on the beaches in winter and heading for the high mountains in the north to get cool in the summer. A:Maybe several years later we can travel to the north pole to have a look at polar bears. B:I’m afraid polar bears will have already died out that day.It is said that in the year 2100, 15 to 40 percent of the species will be facing the danger of dying out. A:That’s terrible. B:I just can’t imagine what the world will be if we don’t take any effective steps to bring the situation under control. |
| And now, below, is the dialogue Karen submitted corrected for grammar and spelling, but not for word usage. Corrected words are in red. |
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A: I’m thinking of traveling to somewhere this summer. Can you give me some advice? B: Well… it’s a bit difficult. As you know, in recent years the southern areas of China are often attacked by floods, while there is a serious shortage of water in the North. A: Oh, yes. All of these result from the global warming. Inland lakes are becoming smaller and smaller now. B: But lakes in Tibet are becoming bigger. A: Why is that? B: They are larger at first because of the melted ice from the mountains, but they will then become smaller and smaller when all the ice has melted. Maybe you can go there this summer to have a look at them before they finally disappear from the world. A: That sounds like a good idea. How can I go there? B: By train… Train! Oh my god. I’m sorry to tell you that the frozen earth in Tibet is also being melted, which threatens the safety of railroads there. A: What a pity. It seems that global warming has a big influence on us. B: Yes. Maybe we’ll have to change our traveling habits in the future, going to the south to enjoy the sunshine on the beaches in winter and heading for the high mountains in the north to get cool in the summer. A: Maybe a few years from now we can travel to the north pole to have a look at polar bears. B: I’m afraid polar bears will have already died out by then. It is said that in the year 2100, 15 to 40 percent of all species will have died out. A: That’s terrible. B: I just can’t imagine what the world will be if we don’t take any effective steps to bring the situation under control. |
| Next, below, is the dialogue corrected to make it more "native speaker". |
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A: I’m thinking of traveling this summer. Any idea where I should go? B: Well… it’s a bit difficult. There’s a lot of flooding in the south and a water shortage in the north. China is a mess. A: Yeah. Global warming. We’re losing all our inland lakes. B: And lakes in Tibet are getting bigger. A: I didn’t know that? B: They’re larger now because of the melted ice from the mountains, but they will become smaller and smaller when all the ice has melted. Maybe you can go there this summer to have a look at them before they finally disappear. A: I’ll get a train ticket. B: Train! You can’t take the train. The frozen earth in Tibet is also melting, so the railways aren’t safe and most of the trains have stopped running. A: That’s terrible. B: Yes. Everything is changing. A: Maybe a few years from now we can travel to the north pole to have a look at polar bears. B: I’m afraid polar bears will already be gone by then. The scientists say that by the year 2100, 15 to 40 percent of all our existing species will be extinct. A: This just gets worse and worse. B: I just can’t imagine what the world will be like if we don’t do something. A: Yes. But what can we do? What on earth can we do? |
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Okay, Karen. Now let’s talk about how to make this interesting and entertaining. So far you are telling people things that they already know, if they have seen Al Gore’s movie and paid any attention to the global warming issue. There is no conflict in your dialogue because both the characters are, essentially, the same person. They think the same way and have the same opinions and feelings about things. To make this interesting you need to add conflict, and you add conflict by making each character a different person, with her own views and attitudes. The dialogue below is just off the top of my head, and I’m not ready to say I like it yet, but I hope it gives you some ideas: |
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A: I’m thinking of traveling this summer. Any idea where I should go? B: You should go on a bicycle tour. Get some exercise. A: Exercise makes me tired. B: A bike tour would be good for you. See the country at a nice leisurely pace and don’t contribute to global warming. A: Global warming. That’s all I hear from you. Can’t you give it a rest? I’m tired of hearing about it. B: It’s an important issue. A: Not that important. I don’t even think it’s really happening. B: Okay, well, why don’t you go to Shanghai. You like shopping. A: You know I can’t do that. Shanghai is flooded. B: Beijing then. You could go to Beijing. A: (exasperated) Beijing is flooded too. You’re just trying to pick a fight. B: You could go south. Maybe visit Hainan. A: Are you kidding. In the summer? You know how hot it is on Hainan. It’s too hot to live there even in the winter, let alone in the summer. I’d die in that heat. B: Well, go north then. Maybe head for Tibet. A: (sarcastic) Oh sure. Where the trains are all running off the tracks if they are running at all. You know Tibet is a mess. The lakes are overflowing. B: Right. Sorry. I forgot about that. And this has nothing to do with global warming? A: There’s always variation in the weather. Some years it’s hotter than others, and some years it’s colder. B: Well, maybe you should just stay home this summer. Save the fossil fuels for future generations. A: Future generations? Why should they get my oil? What makes them so special? B: (sighs) Sometimes I wonder why we are friends, you know that? A: Yeah. Me too. |
| And FINALLY, here's the version that resulted from my students translating the dialogue into Chinese dialect. |
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ǎn xià tiān xiǎng chū qù liù liù, qù nǎ er hǎo a? A: 俺夏天想出去溜溜,去哪儿好啊? Dēng zhe nǐ nà pò dān chē suí biàn guàng guàng ba , jiǜ B: 蹬着你那破单车随便逛逛吧.就 Dāng duàn liàn shēn tǐ ba 当锻炼身体吧． A:Gàn shá ne? xiǎng lèi sǐ wǒ zǎ di? 干啥呢？ 想累死我咋地？ Qí chē hǎo a! lái gè xiāng cūn fēng qíng yóu , B:骑车好啊！来个乡村风情游, Hái bù ài zhe quán qiú biàn nuǎn . 还不碍着全球变暖． quán qiǘ biàn nuǎn. ǎn zǎ lǎo tīng nǐ shuō li? A:全球变暖。俺咋老听你说哩？ Shěng shěng ba nǐ! 省省吧你！ Zhè shì rè diǎn na! B:这是热点呐！ Yǒu shá dà bù liǎo de, Bié zhěng de zhè me A:有啥大不了的，别整得这么 zhēn hǎo me? 真好么？ Hǎo hǎo hǎo…… nǐ zǎ bú qù shàng hǎi a? gòu wù kuáng. B:好好好 …… 你咋不去 上 海 啊？购 物 狂。 Bù xíng ,shàng hǎi bèi yān le. A:不 行，上海被淹了。 Nà jiù shàng běi jīng qù. B:那就上北京去。 běi jīng zǎo yān le. A:北京早淹了。 ǎn cuò le, wǎng nán biān qù ba, B:俺错了，往南边去吧， Hǎi nán zǎ yàng? 海南咋样？ Kāi fēi jī? zhè rè li bā jī de, nǐ gěi wǒ A: 开飞机? 这热哩吧唧的，你给我 Zhěng hǎi nán qù. Wǒ dōng tiān hái xián rè ne. 整海南去。我冬天还嫌热呢。 ……nà jiù qù xī zàng ba, zài běi biān er. B:……那就去西藏吧，在北边儿。 Nà shì , xī zàng nà dì fāng huǒ chē yì kāi jiù A:那是， 西藏那地方火车一开就 tuō guǐ.Wǒ dà hǎo de qīng chūn bù néng bèi nà 脱轨。 我大好的青春不能被那 lǐ de hú shuǐ yān mò a. 里的湖水淹没啊。 ài ya, wǒ zǎ wàng le ne, yǒu shá néng zhěng zhěng B:哎呀，我咋忘了呢，有啥能整整 Zhè gè wēn shì xiào yìng ne? 这个温室效应呢？ Tiān qì bù jiù biàn lái biàn qù,hū lěng hū rè de? A:天气不就变来变去，忽冷忽热的？ Nà nǐ jiù zài jiā hǎo hǎo dāi zhe, B:那你就在家好好待着, Zhèng hǎo gěi nǐ ér zi sūn zi shěng shěng yóu. 正好给你儿子孙子省省油。 Gān wǒ ér zi sūn zi shá shì a? A:干我儿子孙子啥事啊？ tā men hái méi chū shēng ne,Pín shá qiǎng wǒ de? 他们还没出生呢，凭啥抢我的？ Hàn……wǒ jiù nà mèn le, zán liǎ zǎ jiù chéng B:汗…… 我就纳闷了，咱俩咋就成 péng yǒu le ne? 朋友了呢？ Nǐ yǐ wéi wǒ xiǎng a! A:你以为我想啊！ |