実践ビジネス英語 ディクテーション (3/16,17)

こんにちは。NHKラジオ「実践ビジネス英語」”Talk the Talk”のディクテーションです。

Lesson 23のテーマは、’Virtual Reality and the Future of Travel’（仮想現実と未来の旅）でした。Vignetteでは、さまざまなタイプの体験型旅行の市場が大きく伸びている一方で、バーチャルリアリティ（VR）が旅行業界に画期的な変化をもたらしていることが話題になりました。

“Talk the Talk”では、HeatherさんがVRに関連して、旅や語学について話されています。「その外国語が使われている社会を体験していなければ、理解するのが難しかったりする言葉や発想がたくさんある（There are so many terms and ideas that can be hard to understand in a foreign language if you’re not experiencing the society that they’re used in.）」というご指摘に共感します。

 Virtual Reality and the Future of Travel

（S: 杉田敏先生　H: Heather Howardさん）

S: Our current vignette talks about how virtual reality is changing the travel industry, allowing people to get a taste of travel destinations from home. What dream vacation would you like to sample, Heather?

H: I’ve always wanted to travel around Scandinavia, but I’ve never really had the chance.

The most I’ve ever done was 18-hour layover in Copenhagen on the way to Italy many years ago.

My husband and I walked around the city for a bit, and had lunch at a beautiful theme park that first opened in 1843.

But that was about it. Then we had to go to the airport and fly out again.

So I’d like to get a taste of what I could do in Copenhagen with more time, and what other parts of Denmark would be especially interesting to visit.

I’d also like to sample a trip around Germany; that’s another country that I’ve just passed through and for even less time than Denmark.

I never got out of the Munich airport.

S: Do you think such virtual tours will actually hurt the travel business?

H: This reminded me of something I heard once about baseball games in the United States.

Apparently, when they started broadcasting games on the radio, back in the day, some people worried that it would decrease attendance at the ballparks.

But as I recall, it had the opposite effect: more people thought to themselves, this sounds like fun, I want to see a game in person…

So, my guess would be “No”.

I think the real thing will always have more appeal in the end.

At least until they manage to do things like simulate the taste of local foods in our mouths, and the feel of walking in the waters off a tropical beach.

When I first pondered this, I thought “and virtual travel wouldn’t allow us to buy souvenirs, either”, but it probably would, wouldn’t it?

People could visit a virtual shop, choose things to buy and have them shipped from overseas.

S: What about learning vacations? What kind of learning vacation would you like to take?

H: Hmm, now, there is a question.

I took singing lessons long ago and really enjoyed them, so that might be fun.

A week or two studying with a professional teacher somewhere.

Oh, and learning to play the violin has always been on my bucket list; it would be wonderful to try that.

I also love European history, so I wouldn’t mind a lecture tour of historical sites in Britain or Russia.

S: Ueda mentions how virtual reality could help with language study.

H: It certainly could.

There are so many terms and ideas that can be hard to understand in a foreign language if you’re not experiencing the society that they’re used in.

I remember back in college, my Japanese textbook listed the different kinds of commuter trains in Japan.

Well, it was hard to grasp exactly how they differed from each other until I finally came here in my junior year, and actually used them every day.

It would have been a big help if I could have strapped on a pair of goggles in the language lab and boarded some virtual trains to get a feel for the system. 

お読み下さり、ありがとうございます♪