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????MatthewYoulden speaks nine languages fluently and understands more than adozen more. In fact, for the longest time I didn’t even know he wasBritish. When I told Matthew how I’ve been struggling to merelypick up a second language, he had the following advice for me. Ifyou believe that you can never?becomebilingual, take note!
???????馬修·約登能流利說(shuō)9門語(yǔ)言,還能聽(tīng)懂另外十幾門!其實(shí)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間我都不知道他是英國(guó)人。我連學(xué)一門外語(yǔ)都覺(jué)得超吃力,后來(lái)他給我以下的要點(diǎn)。如果有和我一樣覺(jué)得自己沒(méi)天賦學(xué)得累的人,開(kāi)始筆記吧!
????1. KNOW WHYYOU’RE DOING IT
????1.弄清學(xué)外語(yǔ)的目的
????This mightsound obvious, but if you don’t have a good reason to learn alanguage, you are less likely to stay motivated over the long-run.Wanting to impress English-speakers with your French is not a verygood reason; wanting to get to know a French person in his or herown language is another matter entirely.
????這聽(tīng)起來(lái)好像沒(méi)什么,但如果沒(méi)有好的理由,你就非??赡茉谶@場(chǎng)長(zhǎng)跑中掉隊(duì)。為了炫技而想要學(xué)法語(yǔ),這可不是啥好理由;而想學(xué)會(huì)法語(yǔ)去了解法國(guó)人,這就另當(dāng)別論了。
????2. DIVEIN
????2.潛心修行
????“I tend towant to absorb as much as possible right from the start. So if Ilearn something I really, really go for it and try to use itthroughout the day. For me it’s about actually putting what you’relearning into practice – be that writing anemail, speaking to yourself, listening to music, listening to theradio. Surrounding yourself, submerging yourself in the newlanguage culture is extremely important.”
????“從下決心學(xué)的那一刻,我就開(kāi)始用全身心吸收。所以我一開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言,就會(huì)一整天都使用它,比如寫郵件、自言自語(yǔ)、聽(tīng)音樂(lè)等,把自己完全丟進(jìn)那個(gè)語(yǔ)言文化環(huán)繞起來(lái)的環(huán)境里。這個(gè)非常重要的?!?
????“I always haveat the back of my mind that it’s adapting your way of thinking tothe way of thinking in that language.”
????“我總是感覺(jué),腦海里的思考都要轉(zhuǎn)變成這種語(yǔ)言文化。”
????3. FIND APARTNER
????3.找到你的小伙伴
????Matthewlearned several languages together with his twin brother Michael(they tackled their first foreign language, Greek, when they wereonly eight years old!). Matthew and Michael, or the Super PolyglotBros. as I’d like to now refer to them, gained their superpowersfrom good-ol’, healthy sibling rivalry:“You have someone with whomyou can speak, and that’s the idea behind learning alanguage.”
????馬修有好幾種外語(yǔ)都是和他雙胞胎兄弟邁克爾一起學(xué)的(他們8歲就學(xué)了希臘語(yǔ))!我為什么要強(qiáng)調(diào)這對(duì)超級(jí)學(xué)霸兄弟,因?yàn)榭傆X(jué)得他們之間的良性競(jìng)爭(zhēng)關(guān)系,對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)特別有幫助。
????4. KEEP ITRELEVANT
????4.學(xué)百遍不如用一遍
????If you makeconversation a goal from the beginning, you are less likely to getlost in textbooks.:“You’re learning a language to be able to useit. The creative side is really being able to put the language thatyou’re learning into a more useful, general, everyday setting– be that through writing songs, generallywanting to speak to people. You don’t necessarily have to goabroad; you can go to the Greek restaurant down the road and orderin Greek.”
????建議你一開(kāi)始就把交流放進(jìn)目標(biāo),這樣就不會(huì)陷在教科書里了?!皩W(xué)語(yǔ)言的目標(biāo)是為了使用它,最好是創(chuàng)造性地把它融進(jìn)日常生活中??梢允菍懜柙~、挖掘和人說(shuō)話的渴望。你甚至不必一定去國(guó)外,比如學(xué)希臘語(yǔ)就只要找到當(dāng)?shù)氐南ED餐館,用希臘語(yǔ)點(diǎn)單?!?
????5. HAVE FUNWITH IT
????5.游戲?qū)W習(xí)
????Using your newlanguage in any way is a creative act. The Super Polyglot Bros.practiced their Greek by writing and recording songs. Think of somefun ways to practice your new language: make a radio play with afriend, draw a comic strip, write a poem, or simply talk towhomever you can. If you can’t find a way to have fun with the newlanguage, chances are you aren’t following step four.
????用各種方式學(xué)外語(yǔ)本身是個(gè)非常有創(chuàng)意的事,這對(duì)學(xué)霸兄弟學(xué)外語(yǔ)時(shí)會(huì)用它來(lái)寫歌和錄歌。想個(gè)適合你自己的有趣的方式:和朋友一起做個(gè)廣播劇、畫連環(huán)畫、寫詩(shī)歌,或者和任何一個(gè)你能溝通的人聊天!你要是覺(jué)得找不到適合你的,那也許你沒(méi)有按第4條做。
????6. ACT LIKEA CHILD
????6.像小孩一樣去學(xué)
????The key tolearning as quickly as a child may be to simply take on certainchildlike attitudes: for instance, lack of self-consciousness, adesire to play in the language and willingness to make mistakes.New research cannot find a direct link between age and the abilityto learn. As kids, we are expected to make mistakes, but as adultsmistakesbecometaboo. When it comes to learning a language, admitting that youdon’t know everything (and being okay with that) is the key togrowth and freedom. Let go of yourgrown-up?inhibitions!
????快速學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言的訣竅,是要有小孩一樣的態(tài)度:即時(shí)、無(wú)知、愛(ài)玩、犯錯(cuò)。沒(méi)有研究能證明學(xué)習(xí)能力和年紀(jì)的直接關(guān)系,但小孩子愿意犯錯(cuò),成年人卻包袱太重,怕犯錯(cuò)怕笑話!當(dāng)你要學(xué)好一門語(yǔ)言,就要承認(rèn)和接受自己如孩子般無(wú)知,這是獲得成長(zhǎng)和自由的關(guān)鍵點(diǎn)。所以,讓顧忌和做作去死吧!
????7. LEAVEYOUR COMFORT ZONE
????7.離開(kāi)你的舒適區(qū)
????Willingness tomake mistakes means being ready to put yourself in potentiallyembarrassing situations: talk to strangers in the language, ask fordirections, order food, try to tell a joke. The more often you dothis, the bigger your comfort zone?becomesand the more at ease you can be in new situations:
????經(jīng)過(guò)上一步,意味著你做好準(zhǔn)備可以面對(duì)尷尬:和陌生人聊天、問(wèn)路、點(diǎn)菜、開(kāi)始講笑話。突破越多你的舒適區(qū)就越大,在各種情境里就更加應(yīng)對(duì)自如:
????“At thebeginning you’re going to encounter difficulties: maybe thepronunciation, maybe the grammar, the?syntax,or you don’t really get the sayings. But I think the most importantthing is to always develop this feel. Every native speaker has afeel for his or her own language, and that’s basically what makes anative-speaker – whether you can make thelanguage your own.”
????“一開(kāi)始你會(huì)遇到一些難題:可能是發(fā)音,可能是語(yǔ)法,或是你還沒(méi)學(xué)到的表達(dá)方式,重要的是培養(yǎng)自己的感覺(jué)。所有人說(shuō)自己的母語(yǔ)都會(huì)有語(yǔ)感,能不能把外語(yǔ)學(xué)成母語(yǔ),關(guān)鍵就看有沒(méi)有這個(gè)語(yǔ)感了!
????8.LISTEN
????8.仔細(xì)聽(tīng)
????You must learnto look before you can draw:“We’re able to pronounce anything, it’sjust we’re not used to doing it. For example the rolled r doesn’texist in my form of English. When I was learning Spanish there werewords with the hard r in them like perro andreunión. For me, the best way to go aboutmastering that is actually to hear it constantly, to listen to itand to kind of visualize or imagine how that is supposed to bepronounced,becausefor every sound there is a specific part of the mouth or throatthat we use in order to achieve that sound.”
????人在學(xué)會(huì)畫畫之前,一定先學(xué)會(huì)觀察:“要相信你有能力掌握所有發(fā)音方式,不過(guò)沒(méi)有習(xí)慣而已。舉個(gè)栗子,英語(yǔ)里沒(méi)有R的大舌頭音,我學(xué)西班牙語(yǔ)時(shí)就遇到perro或reunión這種需要卷舌才能發(fā)出的單詞,我找到最好的學(xué)習(xí)方法就是不停地聽(tīng)別人說(shuō)。先聽(tīng),然后想象這個(gè)音是用口腔的那個(gè)部位發(fā)的,再模仿。
????If you can’twatch and imitate a native-speaker in person, watchingforeign-language films and TV is a good substitute.
????要是身邊沒(méi)有老外供你觀察,看電影和電視劇也是不錯(cuò)的選擇。
????9. TALK TOYOURSELF
????9.自言自語(yǔ)
????“It mightsound really weird, but actually speaking to yourself in a languageis a great way to practice if you’re not able to use it all thetime.” This can keep new words and phrases fresh in your mind andbuild up your confidence for the next time you speak withsomeone.“
????聽(tīng)起來(lái)可能有點(diǎn)怪,但在你沒(méi)法整天使用這門語(yǔ)言的時(shí)候,自言自語(yǔ)是練習(xí)的好辦法?!弊屝碌膯卧~、詞匯經(jīng)常跳躍在你的腦海里,下次開(kāi)口聊天前你也會(huì)更有準(zhǔn)備!
????10.RELAX!
????10.心態(tài)放輕松
????You are notgoing to annoy people by speaking their language poorly. If youpreface any interaction with, “I’m learning and I’d like topractice…” most people will be patient, encouraging and happy tooblige.
????你不會(huì)因?yàn)橹v得不好就惹人厭煩的,如果聊天開(kāi)始前你說(shuō):“我正在學(xué),非常希望練習(xí)……”大多數(shù)人都會(huì)很耐心,樂(lè)意鼓勵(lì)和幫助你的。
????BUT WHAT’STHE POINT?
????但是有什么意義呢?
????We’ve goneinto HOW to start learning a language, but are you still on thefence about WHY to learn? Matthew has one last point tomake:
????我們已經(jīng)探討了怎么開(kāi)始學(xué)外語(yǔ),可你是不是還停留在為什么要學(xué)外語(yǔ)?馬修還有一個(gè)觀點(diǎn):
????“I think eachlanguage has a certain way of seeing the world. If you speak onelanguage then you have a different way of analyzing andinterpreting the world than the speaker of another language does.Even if they’re really closely-related languages such as Spanishand Portuguese, which are to a certain extent mutuallyintelligible, they are at the same time two different worlds– two different mindsets. “
????我認(rèn)為每種語(yǔ)言都有其特定的認(rèn)識(shí)世界的方式。不同的語(yǔ)種,會(huì)讓你們有不同的對(duì)世界的分析和認(rèn)知。即使是兩種相似度很高的語(yǔ)言,如西班牙語(yǔ)和葡萄牙語(yǔ),在某種程度上確實(shí)互通,但同時(shí)他們又代表兩個(gè)不同的世界——不同的思維方式?!?
????“Therefore,having learned other languages and been surrounded by otherlanguages, I couldn’t possibly choose only onelanguage?becauseit would mean really renouncing the possibility to be able to seethe world in a different way. Not in one way, but in many differentways. So the monolingual lifestyle, for me, is the saddest, theloneliest, the most boring way of seeing the world. There are somany advantages of learning a language; I really can’t think of anyreason not to.”
????“因此,學(xué)會(huì)了不同語(yǔ)言,置身在不同的文化,我很難再選擇單語(yǔ)言的生活方式,因?yàn)檫@意味著你將放棄另一種看世界的方式,不僅一種,而是很多種。對(duì)我而言,單語(yǔ)種的生活是最悲哀、最孤獨(dú)、最無(wú)趣的了。學(xué)習(xí)外語(yǔ)的好處如此之多,我真的想不到不去學(xué)的理由?!?
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