How It All Started: 18 Years of Rachel’s English on YouTube · Rachel's English
Rachel分享她在YouTube上18年的英语教学经历，从最初的发音课程到如今的影响力。适合练习英语发音、口语表达和文化背景。
Wow, it's been 18 years to the day.
哇，整整18年过去了，时间一分一秒都没有变。
Since I uploaded my first YouTube video, and yes, way back then, I was teaching the American accent.
从我上传第一个 YouTube 视频开始，没错，那时候我正在教授美式口音的发音方法。
Just curious, how old were you 18 years ago?
只是好奇一下：18年前你多大年纪？
Put it in the comments.
请在评论区中写下你的想法。
A lot has changed since then.
从那以后，很多事情都发生了变化。
A lot of my videos were shot here in New York City where I used to live.
我的很多视频都是在这里——纽约市拍摄的，那是我曾经居住的地方。
I had a lot of adventures here, like this time when I went to Coney Island with some friends.
我在这里经历了许多有趣的冒险经历，比如这次我和一些朋友一起去科尼岛（Coney Island）的时候。
Say something to the Rachel's English audience!
对《Rachel’s English》的观众说些什么吧！
But my channel started when I was living in Germany.
不过，我的频道是在我居住在德国的时候创建的。
This is my first ever video.
这是我第一次制作视频。
I was inspired to teach the very tricky sound combination THS.
我受到启发，决定教授这个非常复杂的音素组合——“THS”。
So the TH sounds, the tongue begins through the teeth.
那么，当我们发出 TH 这个音时，舌头的运动是从牙齿开始的。
So to make this sound, you simply pull your tongue back into your mouth while you keep the pressure of air coming through.
要发出这种声音，只需将舌头收回口腔内，同时继续保持空气的流动（即不要停止呼吸）。
I shot it in the bedroom of the apartment I shared with two other people, including
我是在我和另外两个人合住的公寓的卧室里拍摄这段视频的。
Mingwei from China, who here is eating an American pancake I made with chopsticks.
来自中国的明伟，他正在用筷子吃我做的美式煎饼。
I was there for six months studying German at the Gütte Institute and eating pastries.
我在那里待了六个月，期间在 Gütte 研究所学习德语，并经常享用各种糕点。
I was 29, an opera singer doing some auditioning in Europe, and getting more comfortable with the German language.
那时我29岁，是一名歌剧演员，正在欧洲参加一些试镜活动，同时也在逐渐适应德语。
For those of you doing the math, yes, I am currently 47,
对于那些正在计算年龄的人来说，没错，我现在确实47岁了。
nearly 48.
接近48。
So here I was obsessed with the voice.
于是，我就对那个声音着了迷。
This is me seeing a pretty famous aria from the magic flute.
这就是我在聆听《魔笛》中那首非常著名的咏叹调时的情景。
Do you recognize it?
你认得它吗？
I love the voice.
我喜欢这个声音。
I love the breath.
我喜欢这种气息（或：这种感觉）。
I love feeling how we make sound.
我喜欢感受我们是如何发出声音的。
And I was studying German, French, Italian, and Spanish.
我当时正在学习德语、法语、意大利语和西班牙语。
And back in the fall of 2008, at the Gütte Institute, I had a classmate and friend named Girei from Turkey,
2008年秋天，在Gütte研究所，我有一位来自土耳其的同学兼朋友，名叫Girei。
who not only was studying German, but also English.
这个人不仅在学习德语，还在学习英语。
And he wanted me to help him sound more American.
他希望我能帮他改口，让他的说话方式更符合美国人的习惯（也就是更“美国化”）。
And that unlocked the idea.
而这为一个新想法的诞生打开了大门。
I started giving him tips on the accent.
我开始给他一些关于如何改善口音的建议。
He told me I was good at it.
他告诉我，我很擅长这件事。
And on October 13, 2008, I uploaded my first video on the THS sounds.
2008年10月13日，我首次将我的视频上传到了THS Sounds网站上。
Fourths, myths, so tricky.
四分之一……这些关于“神话”的说法真是太复杂、太难以理解了。
In 2008, YouTube was a very different place.
2008年时，YouTube还完全是另一个样子。
Videos were capped at 10 minutes.
视频的长度被限制在10分钟内。
Most were grainy and shot on webcams, like mine.
大多数视频的画质都很模糊，是用网络摄像头拍摄的（就像我的视频一样）。
Brands weren't really on YouTube yet.
当时，品牌们还几乎没有在 YouTube 上开展任何活动（或：品牌在 YouTube 上的推广还很不活跃）。
It was just regular people living regular lives.
他们只是普通人，过着平凡的生活罢了。
The biggest channels were vloggers like the vlog brothers.
最受欢迎的频道属于那些视频博主，比如“Vlog Brothers”这样的团队。