如何在不出國(guó)的情況下學(xué)好一門(mén)外語(yǔ)

What I am going to tell you today might help you save thousands of dollars. Forget about the idea that the best way to learn a foreign language is to live in a foreign country. You can learn a foreign language well at home if you have the motivation.

今天我要告訴你的這件事可能會(huì)幫你省下幾千塊。別信學(xué)外語(yǔ)最好的方法是住在外國(guó)。只要你想，在國(guó)內(nèi)也能學(xué)好一門(mén)外語(yǔ)。

I am living proof. When I was 13, I learned that my aunt was going to immigrate to the US.

我就是一個(gè)活生生的例子。13歲的時(shí)候，我聽(tīng)說(shuō)我的阿姨要移民美國(guó)。

"Can you please take me with you? I want to improve my English," I asked.

我問(wèn)她：“你能把我一起帶走嗎?我想提高我的英語(yǔ)。”

She patted my head and said, "You are a smart girl. You can go native without going abroad."

她拍拍我的頭說(shuō)道：“你是一個(gè)聰明的女孩。不出國(guó)也能說(shuō)得一口地道的英語(yǔ)。”

Later on, I learned that she was actually saving money for her own children to study English in the US, which is a "common-sense truth" among many Chinese parents.

后來(lái)我了解到，她實(shí)際上是在為自己的孩子到美國(guó)學(xué)英語(yǔ)而省錢(qián)，這是許多中國(guó)父母“常識(shí)性的真理”。

I was disappointed, but I wanted to prove she was right that I could go native without going abroad.

我很失望，但是我想證明的確如她所說(shuō)，我不用出國(guó)也能說(shuō)一口地道的英語(yǔ)。

Fifteen years later, when I travelled to the US for the first time, my American friends were impressed at how well I spoke English.

15年后，當(dāng)我第一次去美國(guó)的時(shí)候，我的美國(guó)朋友都很驚訝我的英語(yǔ)居然說(shuō)得如此之好。

"Where did you learn English," they asked.

他們問(wèn)：“你哪兒學(xué)的英語(yǔ)?”

"In China," I answered. They did not seem to believe me.

我說(shuō)：“在中國(guó)。”他們似乎不信。

My secret to learning English well at home is to learn it like a child.

我在國(guó)內(nèi)學(xué)英語(yǔ)的秘訣就是像一個(gè)小孩一樣去學(xué)這門(mén)語(yǔ)言。

You know how children learn their mother tongue or a second language without formal studies. Observe your child’s language development if you have one. They listen before they can even speak, and when they start speaking, they simply repeat the words.

你知道小孩是怎么學(xué)習(xí)母語(yǔ)，或是之前沒(méi)有學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)的情況下學(xué)習(xí)第二語(yǔ)言。如果你有孩子，觀察一下你的孩子是怎么學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言的。他們甚至在還不會(huì)說(shuō)話之前就會(huì)聽(tīng)人講話，而當(dāng)他們會(huì)說(shuō)話之后，他們會(huì)簡(jiǎn)單重復(fù)同一個(gè)單詞。

To avoid accidently boring myself to death by listening to and repeating the same text, I picked my favorite TV show, downloaded it in MP3 and listened to it repeatedly. The first time, I got lost and I had no idea what they were talking about. The second and third time, I picked up a little more. The fifth time, I was able to follow along the story without understanding every single word. I listened, listened and listened until those dialogues were stuck in my head.

為了避免重復(fù)聽(tīng)相同的文本把自己無(wú)聊死，我把我最喜歡的電視節(jié)目下載到了MP3里，一遍又一遍地聽(tīng)。第一遍的時(shí)候我完全摸不著頭腦不知道他們?cè)谡f(shuō)些什么。第二遍第三遍的時(shí)候，我抓住了點(diǎn)兒什么。第五遍的時(shí)候，我已經(jīng)可以在不明白每個(gè)單詞的情況下知道整個(gè)節(jié)目的來(lái)龍去脈了。我聽(tīng)、再聽(tīng)、還聽(tīng)，直到所有對(duì)話都被我記在腦子里。

The next step is to find a conversation partner at home. Back in the 1990s, I used to go to those "English corners" where Chinese people gathered to speak English with all kinds of accents together. I eventually stopped going and started talking to myself in English. For a while, my mother thought I had a mental problem. However, in 2017, you can make technology work for you. You can simply look for language exchange events through sites such as Meetup or Skype with your foreign friends.

下一步就是在國(guó)內(nèi)尋找一個(gè)對(duì)話伙伴?；氐缴鲜兰o(jì)90年代，我經(jīng)常去“英語(yǔ)角”，中國(guó)人會(huì)聚集在這些地方，講各種口音的英語(yǔ)。最終我不再去英語(yǔ)角，轉(zhuǎn)而用英語(yǔ)自言自語(yǔ)。有那么一段時(shí)間，我媽甚至認(rèn)為我得了精神病。然而現(xiàn)在是2017年，你可以讓一些技術(shù)為你所用。你可以在Meetup和Skype這些網(wǎng)站上尋找語(yǔ)言交流活動(dòng)，和你的外國(guó)朋友們對(duì)話。

Finally, have you ever heard people saying they can’t learn a language because they work full time? My advice is to make your job work for you. Find a job that you have to use a foreign language. That’s 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week of practice time.

最后，你有沒(méi)有聽(tīng)人說(shuō)過(guò)因?yàn)樗麄円毠ぷ鳎圆荒軐W(xué)一門(mén)語(yǔ)言?我的建議是讓你的工作也能為你所用。找一份你必須要使用外語(yǔ)的工作。那樣你每天就有8小時(shí)、每周就有40小時(shí)的練習(xí)時(shí)間。

Let’s get back to my aunt who immigrated to the US. One day, she took me to a restaurant when I visited her in Chicago. I wanted to test her language ability, so I let her do the talking.

讓我們?cè)倩氐轿夷莻€(gè)移民美國(guó)的阿姨上來(lái)吧。當(dāng)時(shí)我去芝加哥看她，她帶我到一家飯店吃飯。我想看看她的語(yǔ)言能力，所以我讓她點(diǎn)單。

"We order," she said to the server.

她對(duì)服務(wù)員說(shuō)：“我們要點(diǎn)單了!”

"We want this, this and this," she pointed on the menu, "Oh, we no drink, thanks," she concluded.

她指著菜單說(shuō)：“我們要這個(gè)、這個(gè)和這個(gè)。”最后她還說(shuō)了句：“我們不喝，謝謝!”