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Is It Better To Be Happy or Successful？
快樂和成功，哪一個更好？(上)
空中英語教室 20250106
修正英文文法，保留中文部分，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Hi friends,
Welcome back!
I’m John. Today is a great day to learn something new, so let’s do that together. My name is Ann Marie, and you’re joining us here on Studio Classroom, friends.
I have a question for you all. This is from our "Talk About It" section of the magazine. Today’s question, Ann Marie, is: "Are you content with your life? Why or why not?"
Wow, John, this is a pretty deep question. I would say, in general, yes, I am content with my life where I am in life. Of course, there are things that I wish I could change, but those are pretty small things for me. Sure, there’s a lot of work to do every day and every week, isn’t there? But I’m also really content with my life. Sometimes we can say I’m content with the big picture, the way things are going. Thank God.
Well, friends, it’s time to hear a little conversation between two friends, Ben and Anna. They’ll be asking each other about contentment. Let’s read that right now.
Is it better to be happy or successful?
What is most important when it comes to living a good life?
Anna is eating lunch alone, lost in thought. Ben walks by.
"Hi, Anna! What are you up to? What’s got you so deep in thought?"
"Oh hey, Ben, I’m just thinking about my life and considering a career change."
"Really? From what you told me, you’re very successful."
Hi, I’m Jack.
今天的usage tip是 "when it comes to"
後面接動名詞或名詞的句型，要表達談到某特定的主題時，就可以用上"when it comes to"這個句型了。它可以放在主要子句之後，也可以放在主要子句之前。譬如："when it comes to living a good life, what is most important?"
這個句型的意思跟 "speaking of" 或 "talking of" 相似，不過後者的表達較為口語，而且只能放在主要子句之前。
我們來看一個例句："When it comes to research, attention to detail is crucial for ensuring a study’s reliability."
在進行研究時，注重細節對於確保研究的可靠性非常重要。
Alright friends, in our opinion article this month, we read: Is it better to be happy or successful? What do you think?
And we have a conversation between two friends. They’re asking, "What is most important when it comes to living a good life?"
What’s Anna doing at the start?
Well, we see here that Anna is eating lunch alone, and she’s lost in thought.
Now, here’s a question for you, John. When you are eating lunch alone, do you usually like people to come by and talk to you?
"No matter if I like it or not, people do, because I have three little kids, so they’re always interrupting my lunch, and I love it. I often do like a quiet moment to eat and think."
Being "lost in thought" is a helpful expression to know, though. But what does that mean?
Well, if you are lost in thought, it means that you’re giving all your attention to what you’re thinking about, and it usually means that you don’t notice what’s going on around you.
"Did you just say something? I’m sorry, I was lost in thought. I wasn’t paying attention."
But "lost in thought" is a helpful phrase you can use. Maybe the student got lost in thought during the class and didn’t hear what the teacher was saying.
Alright, well, here we’re saying that Ben is walking by, and he has something to say. He says, "Hi, Anna, or Anna, what are you up to?"
Let’s talk about this phrase "up to."
Okay, "being up to something" means busy doing something. You can also use the word "occupied with" if you want to use fancy English.
Now, there’s a thing we always say in America, "What’s up?" Right? It’s a way of saying, "What are you up to?" but it’s a little bit squished together. Exactly.
And this is a common way that we use this phrase: "What are you up to?" You can use this in general when you’re asking people who you haven’t seen in a long time, "What’s going on in their lives?"
"What have you been up to recently?"
Now, when someone asks you this question, common ways to respond are maybe vacations you’ve gone on, or what’s been going on at work, or maybe if you’ve been to an interesting restaurant recently, you can share that as well.
Those are some ways you can answer the question, "What have you been up to recently?"
Because, friends, you will get this question a lot, so be prepared with English speakers, especially in America, to make a little bit of what we call "small talk."
Small talk is a casual way of sharing a little bit of information about your day, and it helps people begin to talk about deeper things.
That’s right.
Alright, so Ben is asking Anna, "What’s got you so deep in thought?"
This is very similar to that phrase we just saw, "lost in thought." Now, if you are deep in thought, it generally means something a little different, though. It means that you are thinking very hard about something, and maybe you are thinking about the reason something is happening, or you are thinking about all the information you know about a topic.
That’s right. You could say, "The man was deep in thought. He was worrying about the future."
So Anna says, "Oh hey, Ben, I was just thinking about my life and considering a career change."
"Career" is a great word. It means someone’s profession or the work someone does, typically for a long period of time.
Their career. That’s right.
And career is not just for the job you have at the moment or your job at one company, for example.
Her career in education spanned over decades in several different schools. So here, from this example, you can see we’re talking about her career as a teacher, not just at one school but all the schools she ever taught in. That’s right.
People usually have a career in some kind of field or some kind of subject or area of work.
And Anna – excuse me – Ben says, "Really?" He’s surprised. He says, "From what you’ve told me, you’re very successful."
We’ll talk more about what it means to be successful and what Anna thinks about this in the next section of our conversation.
Is it better to be happy or successful?
"I am, but I don’t find very much fulfillment in the work I do."
"I’m really surprised. Doesn’t success bring fulfillment?"
"I thought so for a while, but I’m finding that’s not always the case."
So you think being satisfied and happy is as important as success or even more?
"I’m beginning to think it’s more important. Happiness contributes to better health, it lowers stress, lowers the risk of heart disease, and improves the immune system."
Welcome to Language Lab.
我們先來看 "immune system" 這個複合名詞，意思是免疫系統。KK[ɪˋmjun] DJ[iˋmju:n]
例如："Children who play in the dirt have stronger immune systems than those who don’t."
玩泥巴的孩子比不玩的孩子免疫力更強。
或者是：
"Our immune system is designed to keep us from getting sick and promote healing after illness or injury."
我們的免疫系統目的是防止我們生病並且在生病或受傷後促進康復。
如果單獨看 "immune" 這個形容詞，意思就是免疫的。
例如："Having and recovering from a disease can make you immune to it in the future."
患過一種疾病並從中康復後，會讓你今後對這種疾病具有免疫力。
Okay friends, remember, Ben has just been surprised that his friend Anna is considering a career change. He said, "Really?"
And what does Anna respond?
Well, Ben has said that he understands that Anna is very successful, and Anna says, "I am." She is very successful. But the problem is, she doesn’t find very much fulfillment in what she does.
Now we need to talk about this word "fulfillment."
Friends, the idea of fulfillment is the achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted.
You could say, "I found a lot of fulfillment in the work with kids that I did. It was very fulfilling."
Would also be the verb form.
You generally feel that you’ve accomplished something or that you feel content when you feel fulfilled.
And of course, fulfillment can come from different things in your life. But what Anna is saying here is, although she feels very successful, she doesn’t feel like she’s actually achieving anything.
I see. And there’s that feeling of fulfillment that comes with it. It’s a good feeling.
And now we’re wondering, how does someone get fulfillment?
Ben says, "I’m really surprised. Doesn’t success bring fulfillment?"
Doesn’t success bring that feeling?
But what does Anna say?
Well, she says, "I thought so for a while, but I’m finding that’s not always the case."
And I would have to agree with Ben and Anna here. For some people, success does bring fulfillment, because different things can bring fulfillment for different people. But Anna doesn’t agree. She said it’s not always true.
"It’s not always the case" is such a good phrase when you’re talking about ideas. It just means not necessarily true. One thing does not always equal another thing.
And Ben asks another important question.
"So you think being satisfied and happy is as important as success or even more?"
So here is the part of our lesson.
Where we’re seeing the two opinions, friends: on one hand, some people may think that success and achievement are the most important things in life. Other people might feel that being satisfied and happy is the most important thing in life. Now, of course, since this is a "What’s Your Opinion?" article, you are welcome to discuss this as well, and you should discuss this question in English. Two points of view are always a great way to test your language skills.
We see here that Anna says, "I’m beginning to think it’s more important." So, Ana has changed her opinion over the years, and she says, "I’m beginning to think"—that means she’s recently had a particular thought. Oh, okay, so you can use this phrase when your thinking is changing. For example, "I’m beginning to think that we are lost; we’ve been driving on this road for too long." And Anna gives some examples here about why she has started to change her mind. She says, "Happiness contributes to better health," and I have read studies like this before, where people who are happier are generally healthier.
I think so. Part of it might be because sadness hurts your health, so being happy might not answer all your problems, but it can’t hurt. And we read that happiness contributes to or adds to better health. It lowers stress. There’s a word you probably know: stress. And it lowers the risk of something else. That’s right, it lowers the risk of heart disease, and it improves your immune system.
Let’s talk about the immune system, friends. Okay, the immune system is the part of the body and the system that fights sickness and infection. So, your immune system is made up of many parts, all working together. That’s right. Alright, friends, we’ll be right back after today’s infocloud.
Hello, friends! Welcome to Info Cloud. Hey, Garrett, did you see Tom’s new watch?
Hey, Rex, yeah, I saw it. It must have cost a fortune.
Definitely! But strangely, Tom doesn’t seem to be very happy with the watch.
That’s a perfect example of how money can’t buy happiness, right?
Even though Tom bought something really expensive, it didn’t make him happier.
Exactly. The saying "money can’t buy happiness" means that material things like fancy watches, bags, clothes, cars, and even houses can’t bring true, lasting happiness.
Yeah, I guess the joy from buying something new fades pretty quickly.
It does. True happiness comes from things like good relationships, personal achievements, and meaningful experiences—not just from what you own.
So, when we say "money can’t buy happiness," we’re reminding ourselves that while money can buy nice things, it can’t buy the things that truly matter.
That’s it, Rex. Maybe next time we think about buying expensive things, we should ask ourselves what we are really looking for.
money can’t buy happiness 金錢買不到快樂 我們都知道金錢在一個人的生活中扮演著相當重要的角色
但是很多人相信money can’t buy happiness金錢買不到快樂
money can buy happiness的說法也經常引起討論
錢真的買不到快樂嗎？當我們買新東西的時候，應該還是會感到相當興奮也很開心
money can buy happiness指的是錢能夠買到短暫的快樂，但是並不持久
真正能夠讓人感到快樂的、應該是良好的人際與家庭關係、個人成就或是相當有意義的人生經歷
對於money can buy happiness的說法不曉得你的看法如何呢
這就是今天的infocal我們下次雲端見
Is it better to be happy or successful? I get that, but success brings stability.
Stability brings security and peace of mind.
But can you have peace if you’re striving all the time?
I think it might be better to be content. Then you can enjoy life more and create better relationships with others.
Those are good points, but I feel that striving for success encourages personal growth.
Personal growth allows us to reach our full potential.
接下來看security這個名詞意思是安全感
譬如security is the feeling that everything you need
such as food, clothing, shelter, and love will be provided
安全感是指你所需要的一切如食物衣服住所和愛都會被滿足
security的形容詞是secure意思就是穩固的或是安全的
例如this car seat will keep your baby safe and secure while traveling
這款汽車座椅可以確保你的寶寶在旅途中安全無慮
secure也可以當作動詞意思是成功獲得
譬如
the team managed to secure a place in the world championships
該隊在世界錦標賽中獲得了一席之地
Alright, friends, in our conversation today, we’re talking about success. And as we heard, Ben says, "I get that, but success brings stability."
Anne Marie, what is stability?
Well, the idea of stability is the state of being fixed, permanent, and the fact that something will continue on in the future without being changed.
Sometimes we talk about a job bringing a lot of stability. For example, typically you say a government job has a lot of stability. It’s not going to go away super quickly.
So, what Ben is saying here is that if you’re successful, then you’ll be stable. And I’m not sure if I necessarily agree with this, because I think that sometimes success can be fleeting. You could be successful in one area, but who’s to say next week or a year later you will continue to achieve the same things or continue to be successful?
What do you think, John?
Well, it depends on what success even means. You know, for some people, success is to have a lot of crazy different experiences, and for others, having a more stable job is success. Again, what do you think?
Use the English words you learned from today to share your opinion.
We also have a phrase here: stability brings something else called security and peace of mind. Okay, security here means the freedom from danger. Right?
That’s right. Here’s an example of how you could use it in a sentence:
Locking the door at night gives me a sense of security, so I feel free from danger.
Anna has something to say here. She says, "But can you have peace if you’re striving all the time?"
So, we’re talking about another concept here. We talked about happiness, we talked about success, and now we’re moving on to talking about this idea of feeling at peace.
Oh, you know, there is a famous verse from the Bible: "Strive to be at peace with everybody."
So, there are certain things that are good to strive for, but Anna says, "I think it might be better to be content than you can enjoy life more and create better relationships with others."
So, she’s saying that being content is the opposite of striving.
Emory, what’s a definition for "content"?
Well, if you’re content, it means you are happy or satisfied where you are. Contentment can mean different things for different people. Some people who live a very simple life can feel content in that simple life. Some people, no matter how much stuff they have and how much money they have, will never feel content.
And I think she makes a really good point that relationships are one of the most important things. Because you can have lots of success, but if you don’t love the people around you, it’s not going to be a peaceful time. You’ll always be striving to protect your reputation.
That’s a good point.
And I think that Ben does not agree with Anna here. He says, "Those are good points." So, he’s saying, "Okay, what you’re saying, I understand where you’re coming from. I see what you’re saying." But he says, "I feel that striving for success encourages personal growth."
Okay, Ben has a point here. I might have to agree with Ben in this sentence. When you are trying to be successful or trying to achieve something generally, you are learning new things and growing.
Absolutely. And personal growth is a really great phrase. It means the way a human being develops. Remember, you’ve all been given a lot of gifts. You all have value. So the more we remember that and we grow, life can be full of a lot of joy.
That’s right.
He says, "Personal growth allows us to reach our full potential."
We’ll be right back after today’s fun facts.
Hello, fact friends! I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today. Did you know that striving comes from the word "strife," which means conflict?
You could say, "There was a lot of strife in that family."
Strife normally means conflict that is between people.
I hope your life does not have strife, and that’s today’s fun fact.
Alright, so strife can mean conflict.
And Marie, I’ve got a question: What point from today stood out for you?
There are multiple points that I’ve already thought a little bit more about, and I think if I had to say one thing, it would be that I think both Anna and Ben don’t have the whole picture.
Because success is important. If we don’t achieve things in life, then what is the point of living? But also, if you’re not happy or you’re not fulfilled or content in your life, you’re never going to feel that you’ve actually achieved anything.
So, I think it’s impossible to have one without the other.
That’s a really good point. What do you think the big picture is?
It reminds me of a Bible verse that says, "To work hard is of some value, but to be content and to know God is of great value."
Think about it.
Well, friends, that’s all the time we have for today. My name is Ann Marie,
and I’m John,
and we’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom!
Is It Better To Be Happy or Successful？ 快樂和成功，哪一個更好？(下)
空中英語教室 20250107
修正英文文法，保留中文部分，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Sure, here’s the corrected version with proper English grammar and the simplified Chinese changed to traditional Chinese:
Hi friends, welcome back!
I’m John, and today is a great day to learn something new, so let’s do that together. My name is Ann Marie.
This is Studio Classroom, and friends, we’re happy that you are joining us today. Ann Marie, our lesson is our opinion lesson, and we’re asking this question:
Is it better to be happy or successful? What do you think?
Well, this is a really good question. It’s something that you should talk about in English, friends.
In our lesson, we have two different characters: Ana and her friend Ben. We start off our lesson by finding out that Ana is thinking about a career change.
That’s right, she’s switching jobs. Ben is confused; he thought that she had a great career, but she’s saying that it’s not always the case that being happy comes with being successful.
That’s right. These are the two opinions that we are finding in our article today: What’s more important, to be successful and achieve a lot, or to be happy and content?
There are a lot of different points of view when it comes to this topic, friends. We’re going to talk about two of them more in today’s conversation.
Let’s get started right now.
Is it better to be happy or successful?
My current career has proven to me that success can be very stressful.
Stress can lead to health problems, but studies show that happy people tend to live longer.
But what good is a long life without a future? Success opens doors to further opportunities, which can create a brighter future. It also brings recognition from others, and that increases one’s self-esteem.
But I’m none the happier for all my recognition. It feels pretty empty to me.
Hi, I’m Jack.
今天的 usage tip 是 “none + 比較級形容詞 + 介系詞 for + 名詞” 的用法。
這個句型是在表達絲毫沒有因為這個名詞而變得更怎麼樣。
在一般的情況下，句中的名詞發生時，人們通常會預期這個形容詞的狀態會同時發生，但這個句型是強調實際狀態並非如預期所想。
文章中這個句子“but I’m not happier for all my recognition”的 “recognition”（讚賞）理應是讓人感到快樂，但 Ana 卻沒有感到更快樂。
“Not happier”我們來看一個例句：
The investors seem none the worse for the financial crisis.
投資人似乎並沒有因為金融危機而受到任何影響。
Alright, Anne Marie, we’ve got another Anna here.
For those of you who didn’t know, Anne is sometimes short for Anna, isn’t it?
Not in my case, but yes, it can be kind of like Johnny and John, you know.
I don’t know that anybody called me Johnny growing up, but sometimes the same name has a different form. Anyway, what does Ana say here?
Well, Ana says, “My current career has proven to me that success can be very stressful.”
I totally agree with this. I think it’s true. Achieving things, having success, can come with a lot of stress because you really need to push yourself and work very hard in order to achieve things.
She said, “Stress can lead to health problems.” This isn’t just her opinion. It has been proven that the more stressed out you are, the more health problems you will have. This is so true.
The word stress is that feeling of being under a lot of pressure. You feel upset and anxious. You’re stressed.
We have another phrase here: “But studies show that happy people tend to live longer.”
So we have “lead to,” which means causes eventually, and then “tend to,” that means usually.
So happy people usually live longer. Interesting.
That’s right. Now Ben has something to say about this.
Ben says, “But what good is a long life without a future?”
So let’s say you have a long life, but you are not achieving anything with your life, and you don’t have anything planned for your future. What good is it to live that long?
Here, he’s using the word “future” meaning like a career future because, of course, if you have a long life, you literally have a lot of time in your future.
But he uses this phrase, “What good is blank without blank?”
This is a question that asks about the purpose of something.
Here’s an example of how you can use it in a sentence:
What good is coffee without sugar?
If you are someone who only drinks coffee with sugar in it, you’ll say, “I would rather not have coffee at all if it’s coffee without sugar.”
I see, what good is this without something else to go with it?
We also have a phrase in our next sentence that says, “Success opens doors to further opportunities, which can create a brighter future.”
There’s that phrase, “to open doors,” and that means, well, if there is an open door, it means that there is free access to something. That means there are no obstacles in your way of getting whatever it is you’re trying to achieve.
Oh, so I could say, “Learning English can open doors to future international success.”
That’s right. We also see in this sentence that word “opportunities.” Let’s talk about what that means.
Okay, an opportunity means the chance for employment or promotion. When you’re using it in this case, we talk about a business opportunity, for example.
There are many job opportunities in that city.
There are many available jobs there.
Well, he says here, “This can create a brighter future. It also brings recognition from others, and that increases one’s self-esteem.”
Well, there are a lot of opinions about this sentence. What do you think about this, Jon?
Ooh, I think you need to be very careful with Ben’s idea here because, if your self-esteem means your personal value, right?
Yeah, this is your confidence in your own abilities and your own self-respect.
Okay, so if your self-respect depends on other people’s opinion, that means your self-respect will go away if people stop liking you, even if you do what is right.
So be very careful that your self-esteem does not depend on other people’s opinions.
Ana says that it doesn’t.
“I’m none the happier for all of my recognition. It feels pretty empty to me.”
This kind of makes me feel sad that Ana feels this way. So it makes sense why she is considering a career change.
Alright, friends, let’s continue learning with the next part of our conversation.
Is it better to be happy or successful?
Well, you can use your success to help others.
Successful people usually have the resources and influence to make a positive impact on society.
True, but there are many ways to do that. You don’t always have to do something grand to have a positive impact.
Welcome to Language Lab.
首先來看 “resource” 這個名詞，它的意思是資源或財力。
例如：
“I wanted to go to university, but since I did not have the resources, I started working full-time right out of high school.”
我想上大學，但因為沒有資源，所以高中畢業後我就開始全職工作。
“Resource” 也可以當動詞，意思是提供資源。
例句：
“The new principal will resource each classroom with colorful posters and interesting learning materials.”
新校長將每間教室配備彩色的海報和有趣的學習教材。
形容詞 “resourced” 是指設施豐富的，譬如：
“The newly resourced library includes a coffee shop and an indoor garden reading area.”
這間設施豐富的新圖書館增添了一家咖啡店和一個室內花園閱讀區。
Alright, this is a very interesting opinion conversation here.
Ben tells Ana, “Well, you can use your success to help others.”
That’s a pretty good idea.
What else does he say?
Well, he says that successful people usually have the resources and influence to make a positive impact on society.
Now, we actually have a term for this, friends.
We say that someone has a platform.
If a celebrity is doing a lot of good work or they are helping charity a lot, we say they are using their platform for good.
I see, and there are two words that go into that: resources and influence.
Emory, what are resources here?
Well, friends, you learned about this word in your Language Lab today, but let’s review it together.
This is a stock or a supply of money, materials, stuff, and any other assets that make something function correctly.
Okay, the stuff you have, your resources.
And then there’s also your influence, and influence is actually the ability to affect other people.
You can have a good influence or a bad influence.
You could be under the influence of a person or even a substance. For example, if you live at home, maybe you are more under the influence of your parents.
After you drink alcohol, we say you are under the influence of alcohol.
And you can use your resources and influence to make a positive impact on society.
I think Ben is definitely right.
And Ana agrees. She says, “True.”
That’s right. So you can make a positive impact, or you can also make a negative impact.
You can change things for good or bad with your platform.
Ana agrees there are many ways to do that.
So she is saying having a platform isn’t the only way that you can make a positive impact on society.
You don’t always have to do something grand to have a positive impact.
Now, this word “grand” is really interesting, and in this context, it means something large, ambitious, or impressive in scope or scale.
That’s right. You could say the ship, the Titanic, was a grand ship, but it still sank.
There’s also something called a grand piano.
Have you ever heard of those?
Yeah, so a grand piano is a larger piano than a smaller, upright piano.
So here, it’s talking specifically about size, but before we move on, John, let’s talk a little bit about what we think about Ana and Ben’s opinions here. Ana is saying you don’t always have to do something grand to make a big impact. Do you agree with that?
Absolutely! This word a positive impact is the opposite of having no impact or a negative impact, a bad impact. I totally agree. I believe that if you are faithful in the little bit that you do, then later you might get opportunities to do something big and great. But a lot of people don’t think about the impact that they’ve already been given.
Another point I want to make is that even if you are someone who stays at home with your family, or you work in a very small office, or maybe you’re a teacher and you only see students all day, every day—even if you are doing good and making a positive impact on those people, that can have consequences that you don’t even know about. You never know who those people are going to end up being. You never know if your coworker is struggling, and your positive, encouraging words had a big impact.
Absolutely. And what good is it to want to change the world if you don’t love the people that are right there around you?
Right. Well friends, there’s a lot to think about, and I’m excited we’re learning some of these words in English together. But now it’s time for our InfoCloud.
Hello, friends! Welcome to InfoCloud. Today, I want to talk about the idiom chasing rainbows. I think Rex is a great person to discuss this with because he is a man who pursues his dreams.
Yeah, I guess you could say that. And hopefully, I’m not just chasing rainbows, because that idiom implies that someone is chasing after something that is very unrealistic.
I know. I’m just teasing you, Rex. We know that rainbows are beautiful, but they are just natural reflections that cannot be touched or felt. It would be ridiculous to chase one. People are attracted to visually beautiful things, and sometimes confused by them too. And so we often use chasing rainbows to imply that a person is chasing something that is just an illusion. For example, Tom wants to be a movie star, but he’s just chasing rainbows.
But I have to say, dreams are unrealistic by nature. That’s what makes them attractive, and that’s why they bring us hope and joy.
Well, friends, if you dream of speaking English fluently and you practice at least ten minutes a day, I promise you are not chasing rainbows.
chasing rainbows 追逐一個不切實際的夢想 很多人說有夢最美，但如果有人追逐一個永遠都沒辦法實現的夢想，那他可能就在chasing rainbows（追逐彩虹）。Rainbow彩虹相當美麗，同時也很虛幻，因為摸不著也碰不到。因此chasing rainbows就用來形容追逐一個不切實際的夢想。Tom wants to be a movie star（Tom想要成為電影明星），但他只是在追逐一個不切實際的夢想。
這就是今天的INFO cloud，我們下次雲端見。
Is it better to be happy or successful? What do you mean? When we are joyful, we can spread joy. We can also encourage others, which has a positive impact.
I see your point. Maybe the answer isn’t in choosing one or the other, but in having a balance. Maybe we need success and happiness to truly thrive.
That’s worth thinking about.
接下來看形容詞 joyful 意思是「快樂的」，例如： I love the joyful sound of children playing at a playground（我很喜歡孩子們在操場上玩耍時發出的快樂聲音）。
Joyful 去掉字尾的 f、u、l 就變成了名詞 joy，意思是「喜悅」或是「快樂」，例如： Seeing her family celebrating her birthday together filled her with joy（看到家人一起為她慶生，她心裡充滿了喜悅）。
Joy 的副詞是 joyfully，意思是「快樂地」，例如： The crowd shouted joyfully as the athlete received his well-earned medal（當運動員接過他應得的獎牌時，群眾們歡呼雀躍）。
All right, friends, we’re on the last section of today’s conversation about success and joy, and Ben asks a question. He says, “What do you mean, Ann Marie?”
What does Ben mean? Well, he wants to know what Ana means in this situation, and she says, “When we are joyful, we can spread joy.”
Now, being joyful is a feeling, and it’s expressing or causing great pleasure or happiness. It’s deeper than the word happiness. It’s a feeling of great contentment as well. So Ana’s point here is that what we feel affects others. When we are sitting in those feelings and feeling them for a long time, that’s going to come out, and other people will perceive that from us.
That’s right. Joy can come from making a change or taking something that’s wrong and making it better. So you could say, The music was really joyful; it encouraged everyone who heard it.
Ana goes on, she says, “We can also encourage others, which has a positive impact.” Encouraging people means not just giving them courage, but also making them feel and do better. Yeah, it can be as simple as giving someone a compliment or telling someone that you appreciate them. These are always ways you can encourage others.
Ben says, “I see your point.” This is a great phrase to know if you are in conversation with someone else, especially if you have two different points of view.
That’s right. Maybe you disagree with someone, but you’ve listened to what they say, and you say, “I see your point.” Again, it’s a metaphor. You don’t actually see the words they’re saying, but we use this term to say, I understand what you’re thinking. This is different than saying, I agree with you, because you could say that if you’ve decided that you now agree with the person and what they are saying. But this is more saying, I see where you’re coming from. I understand why you think that way.
Ben says something interesting here. He says, “Maybe the answer isn’t in choosing one or the other—success or happiness—but in having a balance.” And this is true with so many things in life.
Yeah, and he uses this word thrive to describe that balance. He says, “Maybe we need both success and happiness to truly thrive.”
Okay, thrive means to do well and to prosper, or to grow well and be blessed. It’s a really big, full word, but if you say, I was really thriving at school, it means pretty much everything is going well.
That’s right. You could say, It’s hard to thrive in a toxic environment. We also use this word thrive when we’re talking about plants or animals, or even humans. Those plants were really thriving after all the rain we got last week.
But Ana here says, “That’s worth thinking about.” If you remember our lesson from yesterday, friends, you’ll remember that Ana was deep in thought; she was thinking so hard about this topic, and now we’re kind of referencing that again. She says, “That’s worth thinking about.” You know, Ana was also eating lunch. I hope she got the chance to finish that lunch with all this thinking.
But what do you think, friends? I do think that this topic is worth thinking about. How about you?
Yeah, I definitely agree. I think one thing that we need to think about is how do you define success? Because they’re contrasting success and happiness when I think sometimes, for some people, success isn’t achieving things; it’s not accomplishing things. Success is having a family. Success is living life the way life was supposed to be lived. So it really depends on your definition of the word.
That’s right. And we shouldn’t measure our success by what someone else has achieved. But friends, now it’s that very important time—time for some fun in our Fun Fact!
Hello, Fact Friends! I’m Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today. Did you know that sometimes we say a person feels empty emotionally, but we don’t say just full? You wouldn’t say, I feel full if you’re talking about your emotions. You might say full if you were talking about eating food, but you can say that someone’s heart feels full, or something is meaningful. Ha ha! I hope that fun fact doesn’t make you feel empty. And that is today’s fun full fact. Ha ha!
Well, friends, I hope your heart is full. We’ve been talking about happiness and success. But Ann Marie, I’ve got a tough talk-about-a-question for you. Are you ready?
I think so! Here’s our talk-about-a-question for you to answer as well, friends. Would you take a lesser-paying job if it meant being happier? Why or why not?
Oh, I think it depends on a lot of things. I have to support my family, so if being happy means my family isn’t supported, then absolutely not. But in general, I don’t think money is the most important thing in life. So, if a job was doing good work that I really agreed with, then yes, I would definitely take a lesser-paying job.
That’s right. If you have a family, taking care of them should make you happy. But friends, there’s a lot to think about it. Please do practice the words you’ve learned today, and we’ll see you tomorrow. That’s all the time we have for today. My name is Ann Marie, and I’m John, and we’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.
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