BLS Education

The “as __ as __ phrase” is quite common in English, but seems to be rarely discussed. In its basic form, it is used to relate or compare two things that are similar in some way. The similarity is expressed by placing an adjective or adverb in the first blank and the thing the subject is being compared to in the second blank.

“The young girl could run as fast as a deer.”

It can also be used in a less poetic fashion to simply compare two things:

“My brother is as tall as I am.”

The as __ as __ phrase is also used frequently in action-oriented phrases or phrases that express possibility:

“Please come as soon as you can.”

It can also used in a negative construction:

“The man is not as stupid as he looks.”

It can also be used as an introduction to stating an opinion:

“As far as I'm concerned, I don’t use AI much. I prefer to do things myself."

As __ as __ phrasing really lends itself to figurative language. Many English idioms use this form, such as:

“The manager was a sharp as a tack and was not fooled by the lazy employee.”

“Assembling the new bookcase was as easy as pie.”

“The champion boxer was a cool as a cucumber as the challenger taunted him.”

You can see that these idioms often have older references that are somewhat unclear today. For example, “as easy as pie” began as a 19th American expression, "as easy as eating pie,” which referred to the fact that pie was enjoyable to eat. This got shortened over time.

The idiom “as cool as a cucumber” stems from the fact that due to their high water content, cucumbers are generally lower in temperature than their surroundings. Before air conditioning and refrigeration, this was more apparent. “Hot” has been used since the 1300’s to refer to intense emotions, such as anger or passion. According to medieval humoral beliefs, a person’s personality was based on a mixture of different bodily fluids (“humors”). “Cool” evolved to refer to a person not ruled by passion. It was first noted poetically in John Gay's 1732 work, “The Beggar's Opera.” In this line, you can also note another as __ as __ phrase no longer in use:

"Pert as a pear-monger I'd be, If Molly were but kind; Cool as a cucumber could see. The rest of womankind."

This is yet another example of the fact that the best way to improve your English is to be a regular reader of literature.

As __ as __ phrases are as easy as pie to use. Though some English idioms can seem difficult to understand they are not as hard as they seem. If you read English literature regularly, you will learn many of the idiomatic uses and your English will be as good as it can be.

「as as as」短語在英語中很常見，但似乎很少有人討論。它的基本用法是將兩個事物連結起來或進行比較，這兩個事物在某些方面相似。第一個空格用形容詞或副詞來表達相似之處，第二個空格則填入被比較的事物。

“The young girl could run as fast as a deer.”

它也可以用來比較兩個事物，但語氣可能沒那麼詩意：

“My brother is as tall as I am.”

「as as」短語也常用於表示行動或可能性的短語中：

“Please come as soon as you can.”

它也可以用在否定句：

“The man is not as stupid as he looks.”

它也可以用作引出觀點的開頭：

“As far as I'm concern, I don't use AI much. I prefer to do things myself.”

「as as 」這種表達方式非常適合比喻。許多英語慣用語都使用這種形式，例如：

“The manager was a sharp as a tack and was not fooled by the lazy employee.”

“Assembling the new bookcase was as easy as pie.”

“The champion boxer was a cool as a cucumber as the challenger taunted him.”

可以看出，這些慣用語通常有較早的來源，但如今已不太清楚。例如，“as easy as pie”最初是19世紀美國的一個表達“as easy as eating pie”，指的是吃派很美味。隨著時間的推移，這個表達被簡化了。

習語「as cool as a cucumber」源自於黃瓜含水量高，溫度通常比周圍環境低這一事實。在空調和冰箱出現之前，這一點更為明顯。 「Hot」一詞自14世紀以來就被用來指稱強烈的情緒，例如憤怒或激情。根據中世紀的體液學說，人的性格取決於不同體液（「體液」）的混合。 「Cool」一詞則演變為指稱不受激情支配的人。它最早出現在約翰·蓋伊1732年的作品《乞丐歌劇》的詩作中。在這句詩中，你也可以注意到另一個不再使用的「as __ as __」片語：

“Pert as a pear-monger I'd be, If Molly were but kind; Cool as a cucumber could see. The rest of womankind.”

這再次證明，提升英語能力的最佳方法是經常閱讀文學作品。

「as __ as __」片語的使用非常簡單。雖然有些英語慣用語看起來很難理解，但其實並沒有那麼難。如果你經常閱讀英文文學作品，你會學到很多習慣用語用法，你的英語程度也會達到最佳狀態。

https://youtu.be/rvIwFReWisY?si=aRaUNoXMdRX2KHom. “Action!” The whole world knows the sight and sound of a “clapper,” the slate board with the movable top that can make a sharp “CRACK!” sound and is used to signal the beginning of filming. What many people don’t realize is how many words are related to “action” because of its Latin root.

This is the third video in the series that compliments the Vocabulary Victory English Root Word Cards. It is about the word family based on the Latin-derived English bases, “act,” “ag,” “ig.” Though this word family has only Latin roots, it is one of the largest ones: it has a whopping 144 words! There are so many derived words, they take up four flashcards.

Because I did not make an epic length video, I divided it into two parts. This video is the first part. It covers the Latin background and the first section of the word list, which consists of the listed words without prefixes.

This a word family wherein the “past is present.” The Latin word “agere” and its forms, “actus” & “agum,” had many derived ancient words with different connotations. The core meanings of their Modern English derivative bases (“act,” “ag,” “ig,”) are “to do," "drive," "put in motion,” and “perform,” and they reflect these ancient usages and expand on them.

Besides the ancient Latin usages, there have been many specific usages for certain words that developed over time. This word family really demonstrates how suffixes not only change parts of speech, they can create a word that can develop a special meaning. Once this meaning is established it can be transferred in some form to a new usage. This is why the history and etymology of words is not only interesting, it can help you to understand word meanings in a more in-depth way.

I hope you enjoy the video. I plan to make videos about each of the word families in the Vocabulary Victory English Root Word Cards, so please subscribe to my BLS Education YouTube channel so you don’t miss any — plus it helps me a lot. I’m trying to build an English education business that is a bit different, and hopefully has more depth, in a world where everyone is being sold on AI and not thinking and not using the wonderful brain that God gave us. That is not what I stand for. Thanks.

「開拍！」全世界都知道「場記板」的景象和聲音，它是一種頂部可移動的板子，能發出清脆的「咔嚓」聲，用來發出開拍的信號。但很多人可能不知道，由於「action」一詞源自於拉丁語，它衍生出了許多相關的詞彙。

這是「詞彙勝利英語詞根卡」系列的第三集。本集講解的是基於拉丁文字根「act」、「ag」、「ig」的字族。雖然這個字族只有拉丁文字根，但它卻是最大的字族之一：足足有144個字！衍生詞如此之多，以至於需要四張單字卡才能全部收錄。

由於影片長度有限，我將其分為兩部分。本集是第一部分，主要介紹拉丁語背景以及詞彙表的第一部分，即不帶前綴的單字。

這是一個「過去即現在」的字族。拉丁語單字“agere”及其衍生形式“actus”和“agum”衍生出了許多含義各異的古代詞彙。它們在現代英語中的派生詞根（“act”、“ag”、“ig”）的核心含義分別是“做”、“驅動”、“啟動”和“執行”，這些詞根反映了古代的用法並在此基礎上有所擴展。

除了古代拉丁語的用法之外，隨著時間的推移，某些單字也發展出了許多特定的用法。這個詞族充分展現了後綴不僅能改變詞性，還能創造出具有特殊意義的詞語。一旦這種意義確立，它就可以以某種形式轉移到新的用法中。這就是為什麼詞源學和詞史不僅有趣，還能幫助我們更深入地理解詞義。

希望您喜歡這個視頻。我計劃為“詞彙勝利英語詞根卡”中的每個詞族製作視頻，所以請訂閱我的BLS教育YouTube頻道，這樣您就不會錯過任何視頻——而且這對我的幫助也很大。在這個人工智慧盛行、人們不再思考、不再運用上帝賜給我們奇妙大腦的世界裡，我正努力打造一個與眾不同、更有深度的英語教育事業。這與我的理念背道而馳。謝謝。

2A Act, Ag, Ig Background and Part 1 of the Word List This is the third video in the series that compliments the Vocabula...

Albert Einstein was not only a genius, he was a wise and kind man. His quote reflects a deep understanding of the importance of the imagination. Why reading is so powerful for the imagination — and the brain — is that the symbols on the page and the words they represent must be actively assembled into images and stories by the brain. This is an active process, what is called a “Deep Process.” When we add the different intonations and dramatic characterizations of fairy tales read aloud, the amount of active processing is very high. The need for the brain to imagine is also very high.

Einstein repeatedly stated that imagination was more important than intelligence on its own.

Besides the cognitive demands on the brain, the need for focus and concentration with reading imaginative fiction is very high. And many classic fairy tales — even though they were written for children — have fairly complex vocabulary. Increasing your active vocabulary is one of the most concrete ways to increase your IQ. The more words you use, the more complex your neural structures must be. In other words, your children become intelligent.

Studies have repeatedly shown that regular readers have more complex neural pathways. They are also able to focus for longer periods of time, so they can perform more complex tasks. The more a person reads, the better reader he or she becomes. The time spent reading together creates more emotional bonding between the parent and child. The sharing of the story creates more connections to other things in the child’s life. In other words, the child becomes even more intelligent. An interesting statistic is children whose parents read to them as a child are more successful later in life.

By contrast to the positive effects of reading, especially shared reading aloud, in addition to the addictive nature of most screen content, constant exposure to stimulation from screens does not generate creativity. It is what is called “Passive Consumption.” This is especially true of “scrolling.” The screen-based life also reduces emotional intelligence because it is isolating.

In children, this means that the hours spent on screens has an “opportunity cost”: instead of their time being spent in activities that require concentration and may strengthen their cognitive abilities and skills and add to their knowledge and emotional structures, they have spent the time of their development years in a blank state. Because of the addictive nature of smartphones, their ability to perform tasks that require concentration is severely diminished. This is why children and young people raised with smartphones in their hands, in addition to having poor reading and comprehension, generally have few hobbies and interests and are literally interested in nothing. They cannot imagine anything and need a screen to provide everything. In other words, they are stupid.

The effects of using AI during development years add to this profound damage. AI searches diminish both the amount of knowledge people have internalized and people’s ability to use the knowledge they have. They simply remember how to search for it. This is called “Shallow Processing.”

So children raised with AI will have considerably less knowledge in their brains. Less knowledge means fewer complex neural connections and associations. Research from MIT and Stanford indicates that relying on chatbots for essays or problem-solving leads to lower neural engagement, poorer memory recall, and diminished critical thinking skills. Simply accepting AI-generated answers reduces analytical problem-solving. In other words, AI makes a smartphone-dulled child even stupider.

阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦不僅是個天才，更是一位睿智仁慈的人。他的名言反映了他對想像力重要性的深刻理解。閱讀之所以對想像力——以及大腦——如此重要，是因為書頁上的符號及其所代表的文字必須由大腦主動組合成圖像和故事。這是一個主動的過程，被稱為「深度加工」。當我們朗讀童話故事時，不同的語調和生動的人物刻畫更能激發大腦的主動加工能力。大腦對想像力的需求也非常高。愛因斯坦曾多次指出，想像力比智力本身更為重要。

除了對大腦的認知需求之外，閱讀充滿想像力的虛構作品也需要高度的專注力和專注力。許多經典童話故事——即使是為兒童創作的——也包含相當複雜的詞彙。增加你常用的詞彙量是提高智商最直接有效的方法之一。你使用的詞彙越多，你的神經結構就必須越複雜。換句話說，你的孩子會變得更聰明。

研究一再表明，經常閱讀的人擁有更複雜的神經通路。他們也能更長時間地集中註意力，從而完成更複雜的任務。一個人閱讀越多，閱讀能力就越強。親子共讀能增進父母與孩子之間的情感連結。分享故事能讓孩子將故事與生活中的其他事物連結起來。換句話說，孩子會變得更聰明。

一項有趣的統計數據顯示，父母在孩子小時候經常唸書給他們聽的孩子，長大後往往更容易成功。
與閱讀（尤其是親子共讀）的正面作用相反，除了大多數螢幕內容具有成癮性之外，持續接觸螢幕刺激並不能激發創造力。這被稱為「被動消費」。 「刷屏」尤其如此。螢幕生活也會降低情緒智商，因為它會讓人感到孤立。

對兒童而言，這意味著螢幕時間存在「機會成本」：他們本應將時間用於需要集中註意力、能夠增強認知能力和技能、豐富知識和情感結構的活動中，卻在成長的關鍵時期處於一種空白狀態。由於智慧型手機的成癮性，他們完成需要集中註意力的任務的能力嚴重下降。這就是為什麼從小就接觸智慧型手機的兒童和青少年，除了閱讀和理解能力差之外，通常也缺乏嗜好和興趣，對任何事物都提不起興趣。他們缺乏想像力，需要螢幕來提供一切。換句話說，他們很愚鈍。

在成長階段使用人工智慧會加劇這種深遠的損害。人工智慧搜尋會減少人們內化的知識量以及運用現有知識的能力。他們只會記得如何搜尋。這被稱為“淺層處理”。

因此，從小接觸人工智慧的兒童大腦中的知識量會顯著減少。知識量減少意味著複雜的神經連結和關聯也更少。麻省理工學院和史丹佛大學的研究表明，依賴聊天機器人來完成論文或解決問題會導致神經參與度降低、記憶力下降以及批判性思考能力減弱。僅僅接受人工智慧產生的答案會削弱分析性問題解決能力。換句話說，人工智慧會讓一個沉迷於智慧型手機的孩子變得更加愚鈍。

“Put” is a common Modern English verb with roots in the Old English “putian”: "to move a thing physically so as to place it in some situation.” In its Modern English form, it has many different usages, so of which are quite old. For example, the Olympic sport, the shot put, comes from 1300’s “to hurl…especially with an upward forward motion of the arm.”

It also has figurative meanings, such as the Modern English ”put to sleep,” which is the euphemism for “to euthanize or kill an animal mercifully to minimize suffering.” In the 1400’s “put to death” meant “to execute” a criminal or traitor.” Other older usages that survive in Modern English are related to the earlier meaning of “make a declaration,” also from the 1400’s. We say “put it in writing” if we want a promise to be stated strongly or “Let me put it this way…” if we want to make a stronger, clarifying statement about a point we are trying to make. The expression “put to shame,” from the 1500’s is still used as a comparative meaning “is far superior to,” as in a sentence such as “The train system in China puts the trains in the U.S. to shame.”

As a Germanic English word, it has many phrasal verb varieties, many of which are also quite old.

put across — to clearly communicate ideas. "Put oneself across" refers to presenting your personality or character effectively.

put away — can either mean “to replace something back in its original storage” (Put away your toys.”) or it can be an imperative to a not use a gun that has been drawn and is ready to be fired or it can mean “to defeat in a convincing manner” as in “The heavyweight champion boxer put away his opponent in the first round.”

put back — replace in its original place. It can also mean “not buy” as in “Put it back on the shelf.” It is also used to describe a delay in a previously stated timeline: “The rain put back the construction by a week.” Similarly, it also means “to set a clock to an earlier time “(e.g., end of daylight saving time). A completely unrelated use is: “to drink something (usually alcoholic) quickly” as in “Pete put back 3 shots of vodka before meeting with the army commanders.”

put down -- to stop holding an object, record information in writing, insult or belittle someone, kill an animal to end suffering (euthanize), or suppress a rebellion by force. It can also mean to pay a deposit, land an aircraft, attribute a cause to something, or “lower your weapon and don’t use it,” for example is someone has drawn a gun: “Put down your gun!”

put forward — to suggest, propose, or present an idea, plan, or person for consideration. “Put your best foot forward” means “to make a great first impression, act at your best, or make a determined effort to succeed. Dating back to the 1600s, this idiom encourages presenting your finest attributes in behavior, appearance, or work to achieve a positive outcome.

put off — to postpone or delay an event/task or to cause someone to lose interest, feel aversion, or be discouraged or cause aversion. It can also mean o interrupt or make someone lose concentration: "Don't play with your phone during the match —it puts me off my game"

off-putting — "Off-putting" is an adjective describing something unpleasant, unsettling, or discouraging, creating an unfavorable impression that makes you want to avoid it. It often refers to behaviors,, sights, or smells that feel awkward, arrogant, or repelling, such as a rude attitude, a strange odor, or intense, pushy sales tactics. “The President’s crude remarks were off-putting to the visiting dignitaries.”

put on — It is commonly used for dressing ("put on a coat"), initiating a device ("put on the radio"), or gaining weight ("put on five pounds").“ It also means to deceive or trick, usually in a joking manner. “Put on a happy face” is a common idiom that means “Smile and you will feel better.”

put out — extinguishing a fire or cigarette, publishing or releasing information/products, inconveniencing someone, and extending a part of the body. In vulgar slang it means a woman consenting to have s*x.

put over — similar to “put across” (to clearly communicate ideas) but can also be negative, especially when “one” is added: “put one over” means to deceive or trick someone into believing something that is not true.

put through — Noteworthy for having several key meanings: connecting a telephone call, finalizing a plan/deal, paying for someone's education, or causing someone to experience something difficult. Related to the latter is the phrase “put through the wringer,” which means “to subject someone to a severe, stressful, or highly unpleasant experience, often involving intense questioning, criticism, or hardship. It originates from old-fashioned laundry devices that squeezed water out of clothes, evoking a feeling of being emotionally or mentally "wrung out"

put together — to assemble parts into a whole, create a plan, or organize a team. “To put it all together” means “to infer a conclusion from separate facts. “Put our heads together” means to exchange ideas about a challenging situation. “Put together” can also be a vulgar adjective to describe a woman with a beautiful body.

put up — to build, erect, hang, display, accommodate (provide shelter), or increase prices. It is frequently used for constructing structures (e.g., "put up a tent"), displaying items (e.g., "put up a sign"), or providing overnight accommodation (e.g., "put me up")

"Put up your dukes" is an idiom inviting someone to fight, meaning to raise your clenched fists into a boxing stance. Originating in the mid-19th century, "dukes" is Cockney rhyming slang for "fists" or “hands. A related idiom is “Put up or shut up,” which means that someone should either take action to prove their claims or stop talking about them.

"Put up your hands" (or "put your hands up") sometimes as “Put ‘em up!” means to raise both hands in the air, usually as a command to surrender, or to admit guilt/take responsibility for a mistake.

put up with — to tolerate, endure, or accept an unpleasant situation, person, or behavior without complaining. “People should not put up with those who those who advocate hatred against immigrants.”

put upon —to be taken advantage of, treated unfairly, or burdened with too much work, usually because someone is too kind or helpful to say no.

I hope I have successfully put across the versatility of “put” especially in phrasal verbs. I hope you are not feeling put out by its complexity. The best way to increase your vocabulary is to read fiction regularly. “Don’t put off your reading!”

“put”是現代英語中常見的動詞，其詞根源自古英語“putian”，意為“將某物物理移動，使其置於某種位置”。在現代英語中，「put」的用法多種多樣，其中一些用法相當古老。例如，奧運項目鉛球（shot put）的詞源可以追溯到14世紀，意為「投擲…尤指手臂向上向前移動」。

「put」也具有比喻義，例如現代英語中的“put to sleep”，是“為了減輕動物的痛苦而對其進行安樂死或殺死”的委婉說法。而在15世紀，「put to death」則意味著「處決」罪犯或叛徒。現代英語中還保留著一些更古老的用法，這些用法與“make a declaration”（發表聲明）的早期含義有關，該含義也源於15世紀。例如，如果我們想鄭重地表達一個承諾，我們會說「put it in writing」；如果我們想更明確、更清晰地闡述某個觀點，我們會說「Let me put it this way…」。 “put to shame”這個表達源於16世紀，至今仍用作比較級，表示“遠勝於”，例如“The train system in China puts the trains in the U.S. to shame.”

作為源自日耳曼語系英語的詞彙，它有許多短語動詞形式，其中許多都相當古老。

put across — 清楚表達想法。 「put oneself across」指的是有效地展現你的個性和性格。

put away — 可以指“把東西放回原處”（把你的玩具收起來），也可以表示不要使用已經拔出並準備射擊的槍支，或者表示“以令人信服的方式擊敗對手”，例如“重量級拳擊冠軍在第一回合就擊敗了​​對手”。

put back — 放回原位。它也可以表示“不買”，例如“把它放回架子上”。它也用來描述先前既定時間表的延誤：「下雨使施工推遲了一周」。同樣，它也表示「將時鐘調早一些」（例如，夏令時結束）。一個完全不相關的用法是：“快速喝下某物（通常是酒精飲料）”，例如“皮特在與軍隊指揮官會面之前喝了三杯伏特加”。

put down－停止持有某物、以書面形式記錄資訊、侮辱或貶低某人、殺死動物以結束其痛苦（安樂死），或用武力鎮壓叛亂。它還可以指支付定金、降落飛機、將某事歸因於某事，或“放下武器，不要使用它”，例如當有人拔槍時：“放下你的槍！”

put forward－建議、提議或提出某個想法、計劃或人選供考慮。 「Put your best foot forward」的意思是「給人留下良好的第一印象，展現最佳狀態，或為成功而努力」。這個慣用語可以追溯到17世紀，它鼓勵人們在行為、外表或工作中展現自己最好的特質，以取得正面的結果。

put off－指延後或延後某事/任務，或使某人失去興趣、感到厭惡或氣餒。它也可以指打斷或使某人注意力分散：“比賽時別玩手機——這會讓我分心。”

off-putting－「off-putting」是一個形容詞，用來形容令人不快、不安或沮喪的事物，給人留下不好的印象，讓人想要避開它。它通常指讓人感到尷尬、傲慢或反感的行為、景像或氣味，例如粗魯的態度、奇怪的氣味或咄咄逼人的推銷手段。 「總統的粗俗言論令人反感。」令來訪的貴賓感到不快。

put on — 常用來指穿衣（“put on a coat”）、啟動裝置（“put on the radio”）或增重（“put on five pounds”）。它也指欺騙或戲弄，通常帶有玩笑的意味。 「put on a happy face」是一個常見的習慣用語，意思是「笑一笑，你會感覺好些」。

put out — 指熄滅火焰或香菸、發布或發行資訊/產品、給某人帶來不便以及伸展身體的某個部位。在粗俗俚語中，它指女性同意發生性行為。

put over — 類似於 put across（清楚傳達想法），但也可以帶有負面含義，尤其是在加上“one”之後：“put one over”的意思是欺騙或戲弄某人，使其相信不真實的事情。

put through——值得注意的是它有幾個關鍵含義：接通電話、敲定計劃/交易、支付某人的教育費用，或使某人經歷困難。與後者相關的短語是“put through the wringer”，意思是“使某人遭受嚴重的、壓力巨大的或極其不愉快的經歷，通常包括嚴厲的質疑、批評或困苦”。它源自於老式的洗衣機，可以擠出衣服中的水分，讓人聯想到一種情緒或精神上被「榨乾」的感覺。

put together－將各個部分組合成一個整體，制定計劃，或組織團隊。 “to put it all together”的意思是“推斷出…”

https://youtu.be/5K5iBW4kWYY?si=mj08fsZnmqQ4FXqF

“Cinderella read aloud” is the newest in my series of videos in which I read winners of the Caldecott Medal for Best Illustrated Children’s Book. It was the winner in 1955 and was illustrated and translated from the French by the remarkable Marcia Brown, who holds the record for Caldecott Medals, winning three times, and winning the Honor six times.

The story of Cinderella is found in different forms in almost every world culture, some quite ancient. The version we know, and what Ms. Brown translated and illustrated, came from Charles Perrault’s 1697 “Contes de ma mère l’Oye” better known in English as “Mother Goose Tales.” These also included “Sleeping Beauty,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Puss n’Boots,” and others. Though ostensibly “children’s stories,” they were written with intentionally beautiful language because fairy tales were the fashion in Parisian literary salons.

Ms. Brown’s translation is lovely and her word use is wonderful. It has a Lexile difficulty measure of 840L to 890L which was fine for a 4 to 8 year old in 1955, but today, in our smartphone lobotomized world, it matches up to a 10 to 12 year old.

It has 2,302 words, which is also more words than picture books today usually have today. I didn’t read it fast, because English is not the first language of many of the people watching the video. I also wanted to put the character nuances in the verbal expression.

The music is traditional French melody often called "Iris" and is the carol tune commonly known as "Gloria," famously associated with the hymn "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Angels from the Realms of Glory.” It is a 18th-century French carol, “Les Anges dans nos campagnes,” featuring a distinctive, cascading refrain, frequently used in the UK for Christmas carols. This beautiful version is by the artist Kaazoom and I think it is a perfect match for Cinderella.

The video is about 19 minutes long, which is also a bit longer than the normal “short attention span” videos of today.

The Caldecott Medal was first awarded by the American Library Association in 1938, so there have been 89 of them. I am buying them all for the BLS Education Library. So far I have 68 of them and have made 4 read-aloud videos. Some of the winners are all pictures with no words, so I won’t do them, but I have a project of making read-aloud videos of the entire collection. Please subscribe to my BSL Education Youtube channel. It helps. Thank you and enjoy the video.

https://youtu.be/5K5iBW4kWYY?si=mj08fsZnmqQ4FXqF

「灰姑娘朗讀」是我「凱迪克獎最佳兒童繪本獎」系列影片的最新一期。這本《灰姑娘》於1955年獲獎，由傑出的瑪西婭·布朗（Marcia Brown）從法語翻譯並配圖。布朗女士保持著凱迪克獎最多得獎的紀錄，曾三度榮獲凱迪克獎，六度榮獲凱迪克獎榮譽獎。

灰姑娘的故事幾乎在世界所有文化中都有不同的版本，其中一些版本非常古老。我們熟知的版本，也就是布朗女士翻譯和配圖的版本，源自夏爾·佩羅（Charles Perrault）1697年出版的《鵝媽媽童謠集》（Contes de ma mère l’Oye），英文譯名為《鵝媽媽童謠》（Mother Goose Tales）。系列還包括《睡美人》、《小紅帽》、《穿靴子的貓》等故事。雖然表面上是“兒童故事”，但這些故事的語言優美流暢，因為童話故事在當時的巴黎文學沙龍中風靡一時。

布朗女士的譯文優美動人，用詞精妙。它的藍思閱讀指數為840L至890L，這在1955年對於4至8歲的孩子來說難度適中，但在如今這個智慧型手機普及、資訊爆炸的時代，它相當於10至12歲孩子的閱讀水平。

全書共2302個單詞，比現在的繪本通常包含的單字數量還要多。我沒有快速朗讀，因為很多觀看影片的人的母語並非英語。我也想透過語言表達來展現人物的細微差別。

配樂是一首傳統的法國旋律，通常被稱為「鳶尾花」（Iris），也就是人們熟知的聖誕頌歌曲調「榮耀頌」（Gloria），它與著名的讚美詩《天使歌唱在高天》（Angels We Have Heard on High）和《榮耀之境的天使》（Angels from the Realms of Glory）緊密相連。這是一首18世紀的法國聖誕頌歌《Les Anges dans nos campagnes》（我們的鄉村天使），其獨特的層疊式副歌在英國常用於聖誕頌歌。這個優美的版本出自藝術家Kaazoom之手，我認為它與灰姑娘的故事完美契合。

這段影片長度約19分鐘，比如今常見的「注意力短暫」的影片要長一些。

凱迪克獎由美國圖書館協會於1938年首次頒發，至今已頒發89屆。我正在為BLS教育圖書館收集所有獲獎作品。目前我已經收集了68本，並製作了4個朗讀影片。有些獲獎作品只有圖畫沒有文字，所以我不會製作它們的朗讀視頻，但我計劃將所有獲獎作品都製作成朗讀視頻。請訂閱我的BSL教育YouTube頻道，這對我很有幫助。謝謝觀看！

Cinderella read aloud Winner of the 1955 Caldecott Medal, Cinderella was illustrated and translated from the French by Marcia Brown. It is a lovely story with some excellent voca...

As a teacher for over 20 years in 5 countries, I have been up close to a lot of students. Since the ironically named “smartphones” appeared in 2010, the decline in student attention has been palpable. But it is minor compared to what AI is doing to students. Before the schools even knew what to do about it, students were using AI to do their work. When the schools woke up and started putting in AI detection programs, the students shifted their attention — NOT to doing their work — but to finding ways to fool the AI detectors.

Now many university administrators — including here in Hong Kong — have decided to join the billionaire “tech bros” in lobotomizing the students and have spend fortunes on incorporating AI into the curriculum with “guidelines.” Now the student’s effort is devoted to presenting the appearance of following the AI use guidelines, so they can use AI to do everything and, as quickly as possible, get back to playing with their phones with as little interruption from classwork as possible.

For job seekers, AI programs will instantly “adjust” their CV’s to exactly match the job descriptions of employment they are seeking, so HR departments have the new headache of how to screen out know-nothing candidates with AI-improved CV’s — so HR departments need new AI programs to help them deal with this AI-generated problem.

Instead of customer service, companies now have AI “chatboxes” that are a Kafka-esque, non-responsive bureaucracy on steroids. Companies can now gleefully fire all the human CS agents, replace them with AI — and our customer issues go unresolved as we waste time “chatting” with unresponsive machines.

The U.S. stock market charges upward, led primarily by “The Magnificent Seven” tech companies who keep reporting profit bonanzas This is good for the top 10% of wealthy Americans, who own 87% of U.S. stocks. But those company’s glowing earnings reports are also accompanied by notices of record layoffs due to — you guessed it — AI. 40% of Amazon full-time employees have food and rent anxiety and many require government assistance (which is being gutted by tech company-friendly politicians). Meanwhile, its owner has a USD$500M yacht and rented most of the city of Venice for his wedding — but is still hellbent on fighting unionization and replacing human workers with robots.

AI data centers consume most of the local water and electricity and generate little in the way of benefits to the local communities. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that cut taxes on billionaires also had a hidden provision to prohibit AI regulation for 10 years. Hmm. Wonder why.

Technology has always eliminated jobs, but the trend has increased exponentially. In the days of videotaped movies, the Blockbuster video rental chain had a market value of USD$5B to USD$9B with over 84,000 employees worldwide. By contrast today, Netflix has a market value of USD$384B to USD$388B, but only has 16,000 employees.

AI is the newest technology. It is actually really good at one thing: concentrating wealth into a smaller group of billionaires.

Tell me again: why is AI supposed to be so great for everybody?

身身為一名在五個國家執教二十餘年的教師，我接觸過無數學生。自從2010年「智慧型手機」（諷刺的是，它的名字就帶有諷刺意味）問世以來，學生的注意力明顯下降。但這與人工智慧對學生的影響相比，簡直微不足道。在學校還沒意識到該如何應對之前，學生們就已經開始利用人工智慧完成作業了。當學校終於醒悟過來，開始引入人工智慧偵測程式時，學生的注意力卻轉移到如何欺騙人工智慧偵測器上，而不是完成作業。

如今，許多大學管理者——包括香港的大學——都決定加入億萬富翁“科技精英”的行列，對學生進行“腦葉切除術”，並斥巨資將人工智慧融入課程，同時制定“指導方針”。現在，學生的精力都集中在如何假裝遵守人工智慧使用指南上，以便他們能夠用人工智慧完成所有事情，並儘快回到手機前，盡可能減少對課堂學習的干擾。

對於求職者來說，人工智慧程式會立即「調整」他們的履歷，使其與所申請職位的描述完全匹配。因此，人力資源部門面臨著新的難題：如何篩選掉那些履歷經過人工智慧優化、一竅不通的求職者——所以，人力資源部門需要新的人工智慧程式來幫助他們應對這個由人工智慧帶來的問題。

如今，企業不再使用人工客服，而是使用人工智慧“聊天機器人”，這些機器人就像卡夫卡筆下的世界裡那些反應遲鈍、效率低下的官僚機構。企業現在可以興高采烈地解僱所有人工客服人員，用人工智慧取而代之——而我們的客戶問題卻得不到解決，因為我們把時間浪費在與毫無反應的機器「聊天」上。

美國股市一路飆升，主要由「七大科技巨頭」領漲，這些公司不斷公佈巨額利潤。這對擁有87%美國股票的美國最富有的10%人群來說是好事。但這些公司亮眼的獲利報告也伴隨著創紀錄的裁員通知，而原因——你猜對了——正是人工智慧。亞馬遜40%的全職員工面臨食物和房租的焦慮，許多人需要政府援助（而政府援助正被親科技公司的政客們大幅削減）。與此同時，亞馬遜老闆擁有一艘價值5億美元的遊艇，包下了威尼斯的大部分城市舉辦婚禮——但他仍然堅持反對工會化，並試圖用機器人取代人類工人。

人工智慧資料中心消耗了當地大部分的水和電，卻幾乎沒有為當地社區帶來任何好處。川普的「美好法案」（Big Beautiful Bill）雖然削減了億萬富翁的稅收，但其中卻隱藏著一項條款，禁止對人工智慧進行為期10年的監管。嗯，真讓人費解。

科技一直在淘汰工作崗位，但這種趨勢如今呈指數級增長。在錄影帶時代，百視達（Blockbuster）錄影帶租賃連鎖店的市值高達50億至90億美元，在全球擁有超過8.4萬名員工。相較之下，如今 Netflix 的市值高達 3,840 億美元至 3,880 億美元，卻只有 16,000 名員工。

人工智慧是最新科技。它其實只擅長一件事：將財富集中到少數億萬富翁手中。

再說一次：為什麼人工智慧對每個人都如此有益？

https://youtu.be/8J93a8yu23U?si=oqWVQMtTNfYWCWbV

This was a video I made a few years back in answer to a student's question: "Why are there so many words in English?" I had taught the The History of English and found that it was not only interesting and fun, it helped students build their vocabularies. I made a Part II as well that you can see on my YouTube Channel. I am hoping to make a lot more videos this year, so please subscribe!

這是我幾年前為了回答一個學生的問題而製作的影片：「為什麼英文裡有這麼多單字？」當時我教的是英文史，我發現這門課不僅有趣，還能幫助學生累積詞彙。我還製作了第二部分，你可以在我的YouTube頻道上看到。我希望今年能製作更多視頻，所以請訂閱我的頻道！

BLS Education 31 likes, 1 comment. "Ba Lao Shi Program 1: Why Are There So Many Words In English?"

Something that native English speakers don’t think about is that English is one of the only languages in the world in which you don’t negate the verb — directly that is.

Negation in a language serves the basic function of reversing the meaning of a sentence:

ENGLISH: “I speak Spanish.”

GERMAN: “Ich spreche Spanisch.”

In German, to negate this sentence, we just add the negation “kein”

GERMAN: “Ich spreche kein Spanisch.”

But in Modern English, we don’t say, “I speak not Spanish.”* We say:

ENGLISH: “I don’t speak Spanish.”

We must add the auxiliary verb “do” and apply the negation to the auxiliary, not the verb. This is called “do support.”

In Modern English, ”no" negates nouns or indicates zero quantity.

ENGLISH: “There is no milk in the refrigerator.”

In Spanish, “no” can be used as a negation marker for verbs:

SPANISH: “No hablo inglés.” (“I don’t speak English.”)

In Modern English grammar, “not” is the negation marker for verbs— but it is not applied to the verb, it requires an auxiliary verb to support it. If there is no auxiliary present, in order to negate a sentence, “do” must be added and the negation applied to it (“don’t, didn’t”). Notice, the exception is the verb “to be.” The verb "to be" (“am, is, are, was, were”) is unique in English and generally does not require “do support" to form questions or negative sentences. However, every other verb does require that the auxiliary take the negation:

ENGLISH: “I can go.” “I can’t go.”

If there is no auxiliary verb, “do” must be added to support the negation, and it assumes an additional function:

ENGLISH: “I went.” “I didn’t go.” Notice that the auxiliary “do” not only takes the negation, when it is the past tense (“did”) it also takes over the job of establishing tense and the verb becomes a bare infinitive, that is, its base form without the “to.”

“Do” can be both an auxiliary and a verb. When it is used as a verb, it follows the same rule as every other Modern English verb and requires “do support” for negation, as in this sentence spoken by students all around the world:

ENGLISH: “I didn’t do my homework.”

以英語為母語的人往往忽略了一點：英語是世界上為數不多的幾種不直接否定動詞的語言之一。

語言中的否定詞的基本功能是改變句子的意思：

英語：“I speak Spanish.”

德文：“Ich spreche Spanisch.”

在德語中，要否定這句話，我們只需加上否定詞「kein」：

德文：“Ich spreche kein Spanisch.”

但在現代英語中，我們不會說「I speak not Spanish.」*，而是說：

英文：“I don’t speak Spanish.”

我們必須加上助動詞“do”，並將否定應用於助動詞本身，而不是動詞。這被稱為「助動詞助動詞」。

在現代英語中，“no”用於否定名詞或表示數量為零。

英文：“There is no milk in the fridge.”

在西班牙語中，「no」可以用作動詞的否定標記：

西班牙語：「No hablo inglés.」（我不會說英語。）

在現代英語文法中，「not」是動詞的否定標記－但它並非直接作用於動詞本身，而是需要一個助動詞來輔助表達。如果沒有助動詞，為了否定一個句子，必須加上“do”，並將否定詞應用到“do”上（“don’t, didn’t”）。需要注意的是，動詞「to be」是個例外。動詞「to be」（am, is, are, was, were）在英語中是獨一無二的，通常不需要「do」來構成疑問句或否定句。然而，其他所有動詞都需要助動詞來表示否定：

英文：“I can go.” “I can’t go.”

如果沒有助動詞，則必須加上「do」來表示否定，但它也承擔了額外的功能：

英語：“I went.” “I didn’t go.” 注意，助動詞“do”不僅表示否定，當它是過去式（“did”）時，它還承擔了確定時態的功能，動詞變為不帶“to”的原形。

「do」可以是助動詞，也可以是動詞。當它用作動詞時，遵循與其他現代英語動詞相同的規則，否定時需要“do”來輔助，例如以下這句話，世界各地的學生都會說：

英文：“I didn’t do my homework.”