Daily Echo Practice: A Very Strange Woman
                                             THIS WEEK    
                       NEW!!! Listen to the three episodes with
                              a new easy-to-use format!!!
                   https://jochun.tw/a-very-strange-woman/



Episode 1:
10/17/22-11/01/22

New!!! This episode in handy Echo practice format                  

Copy and paste the numbered and segmented text below into oTranscribe,
then load the audio at the link below into oTranscribe.
Play and pause the audio file where required to do your Echo practice:

Numbered clip for daily Echo Practice:
https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/AVeryStrangeWomannum.mp3



Segmented text:

10/17/22 
1.  A Very Strange Woman 
|

     Brad and Ryan were just about
| to start their dinner of beef noodles. |

     “She’s kind of cute,” Brad said, | glancing at a woman
| sitting alone at another table. |

     “Yeah,” replied Ryan.
| “She looks busy with her work.” |


10/18/22
2.   “Her food’s here.
| She’s put her work away to eat,” | Brad said. |

      After Brad and Ryan paid their bill,
| Ryan said, “She’s back at work, | writing in her notebook.  |

      Maybe she has a deadline to meet?”
|


10/19/22
3.   The next day Brad and Ryan
| found seats together on the MRT | to go to campus.  |

     “Hey, isn’t that the woman
| we saw in the restaurant?” Brad asked, | looking across the aisle. |

     “Yeah, that’s her all right,
| reading a book,” replied Ryan. | “Wonder where she’s headed.” |


10/20/22
4.   “Well, looks like we’re getting off first,
| so we won’t know,” Brad replied. |

     After their classes,
| Brad and Ryan met again | at their usual coffee shop. |

     “There she is again,” Ryan said.
| “Three times in two days.” |


10/21/22
5.   Brad thought for a minute.
| “You know, there’s something | really odd about her,” he said, | “but I just can’t put my finger on it.” |

     “She looks totally normal to me,” Ryan replied.
| “But I know what you mean – |

     there’s something kind of weird
| about her somehow. |   No idea what, though.” |


10/22/22
6.  Brad and Ryan chatted a bit more
| as they finished their lattes. |  

     Brad glanced up at the woman again
| and closed his eyes briefly. |

    “I know what it is.
| And it is really, truly strange,” he said. |


10/23/22
7.  “So what is it?”
| Ryan asked anxiously. |

     “Have you noticed,
| that every single time we’ve seen her…” | Brad started.  |

     “What?” Ryan asked impatiently.
|


10/24/22
8.   “…she has not pulled out her phone even once?!”
|  

    Ryan looked up,
| then shook his head in amazement. |

    “My gosh, you’re right!” he exclaimed.
| “That must be one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen!!” |


Original clip, without numbering:
https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/CETPron2022/AVeryStrangeWoman.mp3



Episode 2: 10/25/22-11/02/22                  

New!!! This episode in handy Echo practice format     
      
Copy and paste the numbered and segmented text below into oTranscribe,
then load the audio file at the link below into oTranscribe.
Play and pause this audio file where required to do your Echo practice:
https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/AVeryStrangeWoman2num.mp3 


Segmented text:
10/25/22  
9.    “I wonder if she’ll take
| her phone out this time,” | Brad said.  |  

      “She’s hard at work again,
| writing in her notebook,” | Ryan replied. |
 
      “She certainly must have
| to look something up | sooner or later,” | Brad said.

10/26/22
10.   “Or check her email,”
| Ryan added.

        “Or her LINE,” Brad said.
| “I wonder if she’s on LINE.”
 
        “Well, I have an evening class now,
| so I won’t find out today”, Ryan said. | 


10/27/22
11.   “And I need to get to work,”
| Brad said. |

       “How have things been
| at the cram school lately?” | Ryan asked, | as he put on his jacket. |

       “We have some new foreign teachers,”
| Brad replied. | “We’ll see how they do, | and how long they last.” |


10/28/22
12.   “Hmm,” Ryan said,
| “if past experience is any guide…” |

       “Yeah, I know,” Brad sighed.
| “But we’ll wait and see how they do. | See you tomorrow.” |

       “Yeah, have a good work night.
| Bye,” Ryan said. |


10/29/22
13.   Brad took the MRT
| to his cram school downtown. |

        The two new teachers were already
| in their classrooms teaching. |

        Brad
watched and listened for a while
| from the window in the door. |


10/30/22
14.   Things seemed to be going OK,
| though he noticed | that several of the students |  

       
were playing with their phones
| or chatting with each other. |

        Brad went to his desk
| and started looking over | some new promotions for the school. |  


10/30/22
15.    In-person enrollments
| had fallen steeply | during the pandemic, |

        and several cram schools
| ended up closing permanently. |  

        Brad’s school was struggling
| to fill its classrooms again. |


11/01/22
16.   They would also
| be needing some new teachers, |

        since some teachers
| had to be let go. |  

        He didn’t want to have to
| go through that again. |


11/02/22
17.    But in fact | it happened fairly often | at cram schools. |

         He started writing up an ad
| to be posted in the Taiwan News, |

         wondering who, if anybody,
| the cat would drag in this time… |


Original clip, without numbering:    
https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/AVeryStrangeWoman2.mp3  



Episode 3: 11/03/22-11/10/22            

New!!! All episodes of "A Very Strange Woman" in handy Echo practice format               

Copy and paste the numbered and segmented text below into oTranscribe,
then load the audio file at the link below into oTranscribe
Play and pause this audio file where required to do your Echo practice:
https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/AVeryStrangeWoman3num.mp3   


Segmented text:
11/03/22
18.    The bell rang, | and students started streaming out | of the classrooms.

         Brad watched them | jostle each other | and chatter and laugh noisily

         as they headed | for the restrooms and elevators. |

11/04/22
19.    Finally, the teachers emerged. | 

         “How’d things go today, Owen?” | Brad asked. | 

         “Fine!” Owen replied, | “at least as far as I can tell.” |

11/05/22
20.    “Need help with anything?” | Brad asked. |  

         “No, everything seems | to be OK, thanks. |

         Some students don’t seem | that happy to be here, |

         but there’ll always | be a few of those,” | Owen replied. | 

11/06/22
21.    “Most of them | seem to get into | what we’re doing.” | 

         “Keep up the good work!” | Brad said, then added, |

         “Do you know of anybody | who might be interested | in a teaching job here?” |

11/07/22
22.    “Mmm…not offhand,” | Owen replied, | “but I’ll ask around.” |

         “Thanks,” Brad said. | “Have a good night.” |

         “You too,” Owen replied, | as he pulled up his backpack | 

         and headed toward the elevators. |

11/08/22
23.    Brad got back to his ad writing. |

         “Tired of your old job? | Join our energetic team! |

         TESOL certificate | and one year | teaching experience required. | 

11/09/22
24.    North American accent preferred. |
Evening hours. | 

         Send your complete cv | with cover letter | to the email address below," | he wrote. | 

         The phone rang. |

         “Adore English,” Brad said. | 

11/10/22
25.    “We’re calling | from Zhongshan Precinct,” | a man’s voice said | in a serious tone. |

         “Do you have a foreign employee | named “Miles Greene”?” he asked. |

         “Umm,” Brad hesitated… |    


Original clip, without numbering:   
https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/AVeryStrangeWoman3.mp3  


Episode 4: 11/10/22-11/18/22         

New!!! All episodes of "A Very Strange Woman" in handy Echo practice format!

             mp3 file:
             https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/AVeryStrangeWoman4num.mp3  

Segmented text:
11/11/22
26.      “Is Miles in some kind of trouble?” | Brad asked. |

           “I just need you to tell me | if Miles Greene | is currently employed | at your company,” | the man said. |

           “Well, he did | use to teach classes here, | but left the company | late last year,” | Brad replied. |

11/12/22
27.      Brad really would have liked | to pass the call on to Mr. Lin, | the owner of the cram school, | but he wasn’t in. |

           In addition,
| Mr. Lin didn’t know much | about hiring and the teachers. |  

           Teachers came and went so often
| he didn’t really try | to keep track of them all. |
 
           That was Brad’s job.
|

11/13/22
28.     In addition,
| Brad was now a bit curious. |

          On the one hand,
| he knew how problematic | Miles was. |

          He was often late for class,
| and he sometimes | called in at the last minute | to say he couldn’t make it that day. |  

          Sometimes he was simply AWOL
| with no notification. |

11/14/22
29.    Brad had to be ready
| to step in and sub for him | at any time. |  

         Sometimes Brad even had to
| make a special trip | to the school to fill in | when he wasn’t on duty. |

         This pattern got old pretty fast,
| and everybody agreed | it was time to send Miles on his way. |

         But they needed a replacement
| before they could take action. |  

11/15/22
30.     And while there are always
| plenty of foreigners | looking for |

          relatively undemanding work
| and OK pay, |

          you had to screen them
| very carefully, |  

          or you might end up
| in the same fix again, | or worse. |

11/16/22 
31.      So it took time,
| lots of often fruitless interviews, | and a number of applicants | on three-week probation, |

           but they were finally
| able to find | a replacement for Miles, | and then give him the boot. |

           Miles did not go quietly.
|  

11/17/22
32.
     He said
| that he was only late | or missed class | due to “emergencies” | beyond his control, |  

          like the time
| a broken pipe | led to flooding | in his apartment. |

          He said the students loved him,
| and they were making great progress | in their speaking. |

11/18/22
33.
    Funny how many more “emergencies”
| Miles had in his life | than anybody else Brad knew. |

          As for the students’ progress,
| Brad only knew | about the frequent complaints he received |

          from both the parents
| and the students. |

11/19/22
34.     Parents said
| they weren’t getting | all the class time | they’d paid for. |

          You’d sometimes see Miles
| joking around with students | during break, |

          so maybe he got along
| with some of them OK. |

11/20/22
35.     But others reported
| that he often told raunchy jokes in class |

          and flirted
| with some of the prettier girls. |

          Some said
| he sometimes showed up in class | after one too many beers. |

11/21/22
36.     Miles was flaky,
| no question about it. |

          But criminal?
| Brad didn’t think | he was quite that bad. |

          So why was he now
| in police custody? |

          Brad suddenly realized
| he’d missed something | Officer Liao had just said, |

          and asked him to repeat it.
|


Original clip, without numbering:  
https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/AVeryStrangeWoman4.mp3  







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