📙 Part 2: Describe something you did that made you feel proud

This episode's vocabulary

To turn out (phrasal verb) - to happen in a particular way or to have a particular result, especially an unexpected one.

No mean achievement/feat (idiom) - a great achievement.

Proofreading (noun) - the process of finding and correcting mistakes in text before it is printed or put online.

To break out (phrasal verb) - if something dangerous or unpleasant breaks out, it suddenly starts.

Blasted (adj.) - used in phrases to express anger.

The dust settles (idiom) - if the dust settles after an argument or big change, the situation becomes calmer.

To work up something (phrasal verb) - to develop an emotional or physical state that you feel strongly, after a period of effort or time.

Turnaround (noun) - a positive change; improvement.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, shoot.

R: It's not a recent accomplishment. But I'm quite proud of the fact that I managed to publish my last book. This was in 2020. So it's a little while back, but it took a lot of effort. And I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I had to collect all these interviews with teachers around the world, which was no mean feat since I had to travel to places all over Moscow and then to America, and Kurdistan in northern Iraq. I also had to organize the chapters, put everything into the right place in the right order, and do most of the proofreading and audio taping, although I did get a little bit of help with that last part. As if all of this wasn't enough, when I began working on it finally, a global pandemic broke out and threw the world into chaos. And I thought I would never publish the blasted thing. However, as the dust settled, and my new schedule came into focus, I managed to work up the will to get on with it. And, well, I did. I think the reason I'm most proud of it, I mean, after putting in all that work and research and getting myself into some rather dangerous situations, since Iraq is not very known, well, it's not well known for being stable. It's because I achieved my goal, I wanted teachers to have a voice and I wanted a diversity of voices at that, and I got it together. Moreover, I think the fact that I managed it in the middle of a global crisis is pretty impressive, to be honest with you. If I hadn't done it, what I just said in mind, I'd still be pretty pleased with everything else I did, but to publish a book on top of that, it's rather good going. Though I couldn't have done it without help from my good friend Lena who did the cover art for one of the editions. And my colleagues, Chris and Chi Wei who typed up their own audio scripts. Although that wasn't my idea. They did insist on it. Now that I think about it. However, we did it and we managed to get everything together and out in time for the summer of 2020. So not a bad turnaround overall.

M: And are your friends proud of it as well?

R: I don't know. I haven't asked them.

M: Thank you, Rory!

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