Pronunciation ChallengeMarcus Aurelius - How to Overcome Obstacles

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." Albert Einstein

Hello everyone, it’s Hubert Tran with the Pronunciation Challenge! Always great to be presenting you with a new challenge every week and I’m always grateful to have you listeners tune in! I think this is the second or even third time I’ve presented a video about Marcus Aurelius and his philosophies on life. For today’s video, we are trying to apply his teachings on overcoming obstacles in life! It all starts with this quote, which is quite similar to the one I presented at the beginning of this episode. “The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” What does that mean? I’ll sum it up in one sentence. Understanding your problem is actually the solution to this very same problem. If you dig deep enough into a problem, your answer is right in front of your eyes.
Alright, finish the video and come back for the featured sentence. When we’re done with that, I’ll tell you guys about how I dealt with something that used to cause me great anxiety.


Today’s featured sentence:
“I went over three variations of Quincy's problem, but this process could be continued indefinitely for any problem.

I’ll say that again.

“I went over three variations of Quincy's problem, but this process could be continued indefinitely for any problem.”

Ok, now time for the Pronunciation Tips.

For the first one, I have a blended combination!
“Went over”
Here, we want to blend the “T” into “Over” giving us “TOVER” but, if we’re going with a North American accent, let’s pronounce the “T” like a “D” instead of giving us “DOVER”. “Went over”

Next word.
Process
Two syllables
“PRO” actually sounds more like “PRAH”. With “CESS”, picture it spelt like “SES”. Process.

And our last one would be,
Indefinitely
Five syllables.
“IN” is just how it sounds, “IN” like you’re going in and out. “DE” has the short “E” sound. “FI” has a short “U” sound. “NITE” has the same pronunciation as “KNIT” like you’re knitting a scarf. “LY”, just imagine the last name Lee, as in Bruce Lee or for my Naruto fans, Rock Lee. (Who was also inspired by the great Bruce Lee)


Moving onto Vocabulary!

The first word is:
1. Variation
Definition
a change in amount or level
Used in a sentence you could say,
“She sang a variation of a popular song.”

Next word,
2. Process
Definition
a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result
Used in a sentence you could say,
“I was in the process of forming a plan before you interrupted me.”

And lastly,
3. Indefinitely
Definition:
for a period of time with no fixed end
“The trial was postponed indefinitely.”

Ok, as promised, here’s the story of how I got fired from a short film. As a kid, my dad threw me into Kung Fu class and I took it for a few years and excelled (did well) at it. I carried that confidence over many years thinking I knew how to fight (I didn’t) and when asked if I could fight for a short film, I immediately said “yes”. Once I arrived on set, I realized the person meant boxing and the director wanted me to spar with the main actor. I had no idea what I was doing and you could tell right off the bat (can tell immediately) if someone knew how to box or not. After a couple hours, the director grew frustrated and told me to go home to practice. The very next day, I was told that they were going with somebody else. I felt so stupid after that day and whenever an audition for an action scene came up, I would get anxiety and feel nervous. What was the solution? I started taking boxing lessons and got really into it for a few years. Whenever I get an audition that requires me to fight now, I don’t get anxiety anymore, I get excited. I guess you can apply that to a lot of other things in life as well. If you’re scared of something, confront it and make it your strength.

Alright, that about does it for my episode this week. Again, thank you all for listening. I really do put a lot of effort into each episode so I’m grateful for each comment and recording. Find me on Instagram at hughtran_ if you want to see what I’m up to! See everyone next week! Bye!

I went over three variations of Quincy's problem, but this process could be continued indefinitely for any problem.

I went over three variations of Quincy's problem, but this process could be continued indefinitely for any problem.

I went over three variations of Quincy's problem, but this process could be continued indefinitely for any problem