Summary
Feifei is stressed about her exams so Rob has some words of wisdom for her. Apparently he learnt them at a university that Feifei has never heard of. Find out where this University of Life is and what you can learn there.
Transcript
Rob Hello welcome to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.
Feifei Oh hello…I'm Feifei.
Rob What's wrong Feifei?
Feifei I'm stressed – I've got an exam tomorrow – I hate exams.
Rob Me too. What you need to do is plan your revision a bit more, take lots of breaks, and maybe go for a run.
Feifei You seem to know a lot about preparing for exams. Where did you study?
Rob Oh nowhere you would have heard of. It's called the university of life.
Feifei The university of life. Is that in London?
Rob It's doesn't actually exist – when someone says they've been to the university of life it means they are wise but not necessarily educated – they've learnt everything just from experiencing life.
Feifei I see. Hmm, so no exams.
Rob That's right. I've just got a qualification in life! Let's hear some more examples of this phrase…
Examples I set up the business without any qualifications – everything I learnt was from the university of life.
The university of life taught me to be polite to everyone you meet; you never know when you might see them again.
Feifei The university of life – it's where you learn from life not books. So I should learn a lesson from you Rob?
Rob Yes, chill out – don't stress about exams – they're a waste of time.
Feifei Really!!! Hold on a minute. If I remember correctly, you failed your exams and you were kicked out of university.
Rob Well…err… maybe. But that was a life experience… and I learned that studying wasn't for me.
Feifei Hmmm, it sounds like you've been to The school of hard knocks.
Rob The school of hard knocks?
Feifei Yes, it's an unpleasant experience that you learn from. Anyway, I'm off to revise for my exams – I'd rather stay at my university rather than go to yours!
Rob Fair enough.
Both Bye.