IELTS Vietnam

Academic Listening, Bài học
106

Academic Listening 7: Without the doing, the dreaming is useless [99U]

awesome7d February 11, 2013

Em có một ước ao, em có một khát khao … rồi em làm gì nữa? Có phải bạn cũng đang gặp tình trạng tương tự? Bạn có rất nhiều ý tưởng, bạn muốn nó thành hiện thực, nhưng nhiều khi bạn thấy mắc kẹt để rồi dẫn đến bỏ cuộc. Người ta nói “ước mơ chỉ là ước mơ”, bạn nghĩ sao? Hãy nghe những chia sẻ của Rilla Alexander về quá trình thực hiện ý tưởng của chị nhé ^^

16 phút để cảm nhận và mình tin chắc bạn sẽ không cảm thấy lãng phí một chút nào.

Cá nhân mình thấy đây là một bài nghe khá thú vị, thú vị cả về nội dung của câu chuyện lẫn khả năng trình bày của người nói. Bài nghe không sử dụng những từ ngữ phức tạp mà rất đơn giản, cách dẫn chuyện rất lôi cuốn cùng với cách phát âm cũng rất dễ nghe (đặc biệt là ending sound ‘s’ va ‘ed’).

Lời khuyên: Bạn nên ghi lại những gì mình nghe và so sánh lại với transcript)  

+-Transcript

Text: phần mình nghe sai

Text: phần đúng của bài nghe, phần mình thiếu hoặc không nghe được.

I love ideas, and this one, this is my best idea yet. My other ideas are good, but this one, it’s the one. I daydream about it when (while) I am walking, running and taking a shower. It’s the last thing I think about before I fall asleep, and it wakes me up in the middle of the night. I see it in everything I do. It’s getting bigger and bigger, clearer and clearer. It gives me the ring a ling (adrenaline rush). I’m so excited. I tell everyone I know about my idea: about how good it is, about how wonderful it’s going to be. It’s so good. I’m already thinking about the sequel that’s how much everyone’s going to love it.

I start researching. I find all books, and I dig deep on the Internet. I find out things that no one else would ever find. That’s how I know it’s the best idea in the world. I make (amass) pages and pages and pages of notes. I explore the what-ifs and how-abouts and I keep my mind open to everything. Just look at that idea. It’s so full of potential.

I write a to-do list, thing start happening fast. I wait for the extra special thing to ride (arrive) from the other side of the world – the thing I need to get started. It arrives. I get comfortable at my desk. I can’t work with anything hanging on (over) my head, so I check my emails. It’s good to get that out of the road. I don’t want to run out of energy while I’m working, so I just have a really little snack. I can’t work without the radio on, so I turn in to (tune in to) my favorite radio show, and I think about what I’m going to say when I’m being interviewed (they interview me) about my amazing idea.  

Ok, it really is time I turn my email off. And finally, finally, I put pencil to paper, and I work hours, and I work days. I work weeks, and I work months. And it’s time to take a step back to have a look at what I’ve done. And suddenly, I’m confronted by the overwhelming mediocrity of my ability and the banality of my idea. And it hurts. I wanted this (it) to be the best idea I’ve ever done. I wanted this (it) to be the best idea that anyone’s ever done. But, it’s not. It’s ok; I’ll work on it tomorrow or maybe the next day. I list stuff to (at least I’ve got a) really, really clean desk.

I absentmindedly Google “procrastinate”, and I find another word, and it’s “perendicate” and it mean to put off until the date after tomorrow. So, I do just that and I get to thinking: what that (about) all those ideas I’ve got? They’re really wonderful, especially that one, and that one’s looks really (pretty) good, too. And , ah, that one, that one’s the best. In fact, this idea I’m working on now – it’s holding me back. And don’t you think today is really a good day to one side of the world to the other? So, I do, I work, I move from Australia to Germany. And it’s wonderful. It’s everything I wanted. I feel rejuvenated. I can’t wait to get back to work on that idea. But first, I need to find somewhere to live. Does anyone know how to connect the Internet connecting (connected) around here?

And five years pass, and I go back and forth, and I go round and round, and I work hard, and I live life, and I day dream. And I come up with so many wonderful ideas. And my idea starts to look really old. And I begin to hate it, and it tosses (taunt) me, and I am stuck. It turns (turned) in to the huge weight that unfulfilled expectation. I’ve tried (been trying) so hard not to fail, but I have in fact failed, failed to finish anything. And anything, even something that fails to meet my expectation would be better than nothing. I give up.

And that’s when it happens. I realize my idea wasn’t old. It’s not even bad. It just wasn’t ready, and it needed to develop, and it needed to grow, and it needed to turn into something new. And all those ideas that I had when I thought I wasn’t do anything?  They’ve now joined together and make these (this) new idea. There’s (they’re) ideas from my life, There’s (they’re)  ideas from my books, places I’ve been, and they’ve all come together, and I’m ready to go again. And best of all, in all those years that I was procrastinating, I actually think that I got a little bit better.  

I love this idea. I’ve got the adrenaline rush again. But how I can make sure I can (actually) finish it this time? I realize that I know how to finish the idea, because I do it all the time. But what make those ideas any different?

They’ve got the deadline, and those deadlines full speed I (force me to) have realistic expectations. Instead of being preoccupied by how wonderful my idea is, I concentrate on getting it done. It doesn’t mean I ’m going to be on the (don’t bend over) backward to make it the best I can, but the most importance thing is that I actually make it happen.

My suffer (most of those) ideas involve other people. Where do they are (Whether they’re a) client or people they work with. There’s somebody that I actually want to excite. And to excite them, I have to have something to show them.

And most crucially, I only work on one idea at the time. I don’t give up easily. I don’t get distracted.

Of course, I still daydream, but if I catch those ideas in my idea book, it actually means that I can focus on what I am doing.

I also break an (the) idea up into sections. That makes it easy to work on the small tasks rather than focusing on the whole goal. But, in the case of client projects, it’s so naturally to (you can actually) get paid. You need (have) to tell people where you’re up to, so they may (‘ll) pay their (the) invoice.

But of course everything I do isn’t paid. And for those projects, I have to be really content with ticking things off, crossing things off in (the) to-do list. And when that isn’t enough, there’s always chocolate.

But all the chocolate in the world really doesn’t make work fun. Dreaming up the idea is fun. It’s all about play, the potential, and certainty that come with new ideas, but that only the tip of the ice-berg. Floating underneath the water is the huge mess (mass) and it’s the work. It’s actually doing the idea.

It’s about mistakes and failure, and they always fell down (self-doubt). And it takes time, and focus and concentration to rework them and to actually make that idea happen.

Without the doing, the dreaming is useless.

Ok, I am going to make this idea happen. But, I’m not going to talk about what I am doing. I’m going to talk about what I have done. It’s not hypothetic anymore.

First of all, I set some rules: deadline, I break things up into the sections. If I set boundaries, it means I have to make less decision while I’m actually working. But it’s also shows (so) something I can (I’ve got something to) push again. And I like to squeeze into the gasps (gaps) between the rules and to create something unexpected. And part of that it then (is staying) open to the idea and falling down unexpected parts. Letting my ideas take control.

I accept that it’s very unlikely that these ideas (this idea) are (is) going to work how (out) by the way. It’s going to take time, and patient. I have to refine it. I have to untangle it. I have to make it work. Rather than blaming the idea or dwelling in (on) my own lack of talent, I concentrate on doing it. It’s going to take mistakes. It’s going to take failures. But that’s just part of the process.

Of course, there’s always going to be another idea that looks better. But that because I am not working on that idea. If I started working on it, then I’d also discover its flaws and its failures.

I have to stay open to the fact that the idea might be bad, but if I figure that out quickly enough, I can try to (and) fix those failures. And if not, at least I give it a really good shot.

But I don’t give up. I don’t abandon this one. I don’t cripple it with shell down (self-doubt). I just keep working. I work so hard that I’m prepared to defend it. But I do listen to the feedback that other people give me and I make changes depend on the critique. Actually, sharing is part of the process, and I don’t even need to get feedback from people because that’s (it’s) how I feel. If I know I’m not 100% proud, it means that there’s something I can still fix.

I’m not going to like (lie to) you, it’s a lot of works. It takes me a really, really long time, but it’s much more satisfied (satisfying) than procrastinating. Things that I think it would (will) take me a day, take a week. Things that I think it would (will) take a week, take a month. I cross a lot of thing off to-do lists and I eat a lot of chocolate. But then, in the end, believe it or not, I finish my idea. And it’s a book, and it’s called “Her idea”, and I’d like to read it to you. And to prove it, it’s real.

Đoạn này mình không tự ghi nữa, đánh lại y chang theo cuốn sách :D

Sozi had an idea.  In fact, she had hundreds.  They came to her everywhere, any time her mind wandered.  Her head was swimming with them, all slippery and slimy.  Some were simple and smart, others silly and surprising.  The newest idea was always the best, but she loved them ALL more than the rest.  If she only had time, there would be such fun, but one thing was sure, something had to be done.  It was time to begin.  She was set to start.  She was going to make a work of art.  Hmmm.  Maybe later.  Not today, anyway.  It’s such a big task, and she’d much rather play.  Slowly and surely, one by one, the ideas slipped away until there were none.  With a flood of tears, she collapsed in a heap.  There was nothing to do but to wail and to weep.  She had no ideas; she couldn’t cope, until a kind passerby stopped to offer some hope.  Proceeding with haste, he searched and he chased.  He followed and he ran, and when, at last, he caught the idea, there was an almighty earth-shaking slam.  He gave Sozi the idea, squished for safe-keeping, caught in the moment, as it was leaping.  It was perfectly healthy; just paper-thin, preserved for whenever work could begin.  Sozi’s eyes lit up; she hugged her new friend.  “Oh please, oh please, can we do that AGAIN?”  An idea over there, and one over here, they found those ideas everywhere.  And not just ideas, but other stuff too, that might come in handy … who knew?  Happy at last, her mind was now clear.  She looked through the pages of captured ideas.  There was an idea for a book, that was the one; she made a plan to get it done.  It struggled, it squirmed, it tried to get free.  She stretched it, she smashed it, and divided it in three.  But even after she finished the start, and worked ’til half-past the middle, she still didn’t know what would be at the end, and if she’d have to begin again.  But she kept on regardless; she refused to quit; when the end came, that’s when she would deal with it.  So what did she find, when she reached the last page?  Cheering crowds?  A parade?  An award on a stage?  No.  You wouldn’t guess what she found at the end.  There was noone there except her idea-hunting friend.  He opened up proudly to give her a hug – but then, without warning, signal or clue, SLAM, he squished HER.  (Believe it: it’s true!)  But, dear reader, don’t fret, and don’t fear.  We all know, after all, this was her idea.  Living in a book, along with her friends, that’s the way this story ends.  And here at the end, the very last one, this is her idea.  And it’s completely done.

And that’s the end of the story.

+-Vocabulary

Adrenaline rush: phản ứng của hệ thần kinh giao cảm (thông tin chi tiết)

Amass (verb): chất đống, tích lũy, góp nhặt (tiền của) 

*Synonyms:  accumulate, aggregate, scrape someone or something together 

Potential (noun/adj): tiềm năng 

Mediocrity (noun): xoàng, thường 

*Synonyms: averageness, ordinaries, mundaneness, mundanity 

Banality (noun): tầm thường, vô vị 

*Synonyms: cliche, commonplace, platitude, bromide 

Tune in (Phrasal Verb): chỉnh sóng (radio)

Procrastinate (Verb): trì hoãn, chần chừ (do lười, không quan tâm)

*Synonyms: shilly-shally, drag one’s feet, drag one’s heels 

Rejuvenate (Verb): trẻ lại 

*Synonyms: revitalize, regenerate, restore 

Taunt (Verb): mắng nhiếc, quở trách, chửi bới, chế nhạo 

Bend over backwards: cố hết sức để làm vừa lòng ai đó

Bend over backwards to do something for someone: cố hết sức để làm gì đó cho ai đó

Crucial (Adj): Chủ yếu

Invoice (Noun): hóa đơn

Self-doubt (Noun): thiếu tự tin vào bản thân

Cripple (Verb): phá hỏng, tàn phá

About the speaker: Rilla Alexander (Australian-born Berlin-based designer and illustrator)

Editor: awesome7d

Source: http://99u.com/…/Without-the-Doing-Dreaming-Is-Useless

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