Material
It makes me want to be a more compassionate and giving person because when you're confronted with the idea of your own mortality, you have to ask yourself:
這讓我變成更有同情心、願意付出的人。因為面對死亡時，你會問自己：
Date
Apr 23, 2022
Recording
“Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them” – George Eliot
Hi everyone, Hubert back again with another episode of the Pronunciation Challenge. Let’s talk about death again. For the frequent listeners, you may remember I once spoke about my friend. Let’s look at death in a different light this time. Instead of death being looked at as a negative thing, perhaps it can be a good reminder for us that time is limited and we should make the best of the time we have left? Maybe we should forgive a certain person for something they did many years ago? Maybe we should stop wasting our time and giving a person so many chances and let them go? It really depends on your situation but once you know that time is limited, maybe the choice would be clearer to you. Let’s get to the featured sentence first before I tell you about a certain mindset that changed my relationship with my father.
Today’s featured sentence:
It makes me want to be a more compassionate and giving person because when you're confronted with the idea of your own mortality, you have to ask yourself:
I’ll say that again.
It makes me want to be a more compassionate and giving person because when you're confronted with the idea of your own mortality, you have to ask yourself:Ok, now time for the Pronunciation Tips.
For the first word, we have
compassionate
Four syllables.
“Com” has a short U sound. “Pa” has a short A sound. “Ssion” has your typical “s” or “t i o n” sound, which sounds like “shun”. “Nate” kind of sounds like “knit” like you’re knitting a sweater. Compassionate.
Next up, we have
confronted
Three syllables
“Con” has a short U sound. “Fron” sounds like the word front, like front and back. “Ted” sounds like the word “did”. Here’s a quick tip. When the last letter is either a D or a T and you’re adding the past tense of “e d” onto the word, then pronounce the ending with an “id” sound.
Lastly, we have,
mortality
Four syllables.
The first syllable, “mor” sounds like the word “or” but with an M in front. “Ta” has a short A sound. “Li” has a short U sound and “ty” is as it sounds, the letter T. Mortality.
Moving onto Vocabulary!
The first word is:
1. compassionate
Definition
showing compassion
Used in a sentence you could say,
“He was a wise, compassionate leader.”
Next word,
2. confront
Definition
to face, meet, or deal with a difficult situation or person
Used in a sentence, you could say:
“I had to confront Oscar about all the things he was saying about me behind my back.”
And lastly,
3. mortality
Definition:
the way that people do not live for ever
Used in a sentence, you could say:
“After my grandmother’s death, I was more aware of my own mortality.”
Ok, so let’s talk about Jesse Itzler! He is an owner of the NBA team, Atlanta Hawks. I still vividly remember (vividly means very clearly) an interview in which he spoke about death. I’ll ask you the same questions Jesse asked the interviewer.
What’s the average age a person (in whatever place you’re located) dies at? It doesn’t have to be accurate, but let’s just say, around what age? Let’s just say 80 to make things easier to understand. How often do you see your parents? For people living in the west, they might only see their parents a few times a year. Let’s say you live far away (like I do) from my parents. I probably only get to see them every couple of years. Now, let’s say your mom or dad is 75 years old and you only see them once a year. You have 5 more chances to see your mom or dad. Now, this may sound grim (grim means very serious or sad) but it also forces you to see this from a different perspective. Why don’t you visit your parents more often? Why don’t you say or show how much they mean to you more often? Instead of putting off that family gathering, why don’t you put off that meeting at work instead? I’m just asking questions because everybody’s situation is different.
It was because of this interview that I made an effort to talk to my dad more. We never used to speak to one another but he’s old now and there’s no point in fighting anymore and for what? I just wanted to be right. It was childish. We have a much better relationship now.
Ok, I don’t want to bore you with another one of my stories. Make sure you get your recordings in if you haven’t done so already. Find me on Instagram if you want to see what I’m up to at hughtran_. See you in the next episode, bye!