Name: English Tutor Nick P Verb Phrase (173) Dumb Down
Uploaded: 2019-11-11T02:14:22.000Z
Duration: 3 min 14 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi this is to Tutor Nick P and this is Verb Phrase 173. The verb phrase today is to

dumb down. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. If some content you know,

what's inside the material , the content. If some content is dumbed down,  the

content of a book,  speech,  show,  etc.  is simplified. So it is made into a simpler form

or simpler English or reduced intellectually to make it available to

more people. All right. Let's continue. Now,  now of course,  this idea to dumb down

obviously it means that the level is too high for the people you're trying to

explain it to or tell it to or teach it to. So you have to lower it. That's what

they mean by to dumb it down. It doesn't sound so nice,  but basically it means that

you have to simplify it. Okay. Let's continue. Let's look at ... we have got three

examples here. Example number one. That speech is too technical,  you need to dumb

it down. Okay. And put it into layman's terms. You know simple terms. So the

average person will be able to understand it. So you need to dumb it

down because the...  maybe they're using too many high-level technical words that

average people won't understand. So they have to dumb it down a little bit,  so

more people can understand what they're saying. At least the audience that he's

going to be speaking to. All right. Number,  number two here. Many have accused the

Department of Education of deliberately dumbing down the material or the course

material and requirements rather than doing the hard work of finding ways to

teach students to absorb more knowledge.  Yeah. This has been over the years some

people have noticed this and said this you know,  instead of trying to find more

ways to you know,  really make sure the students know more knowledge. It's

sometimes easier to simply dumb ... if you dumb down the material then maybe

at least those beginning students can get higher grades and then maybe if they

get used to it then you might have to dumb it down again. But anyway this is another

way that we often hear dumb down used.  All right. Number three here. They had to

dumb down and make simplified versions of those classic novels. So these might

make classic novels that were written on a very more intellectual higher level

for students who are just starting to learn English. So maybe their vocabulary

is limited , but they still wanted to have versions of the classic novels for them.

So they had to change some of the writing and change some of the words to

use more simplified words. So they had to dumb down the novel maybe make a shorter

version of it or at least a more simplified version of it. So they had to

dumb down that book or that novel. Okay.  Anyway I hope you got it. I hope  it was clear.