如何在不出國的情況下學(xué)好一門外語

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幫你省下幾千塊。別信學(xué)外語最好的方法是住在外國。只要你想，在國內(nèi)也能學(xué)好一門外語。

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

我就是一個活生生的例子。13歲的時候，我聽說我的阿姨要移民美國。

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

我問她：“你能把我一起帶走嗎?我想提高我的英語。”

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

她拍拍我的頭說道：“你是一個聰明的女孩。不出國也能說得一口地道的英語。”

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.

后來我了解到，她實際上是在為自己的孩子到美國學(xué)英語而省錢，這是許多中國父母“常識性的真理”。

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，我不用出國也能說一口地道的英語。

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)我第一次去美國的時候，我的美國朋友都很驚訝我的英語居然說得如此之好。

"Where did you learn English," they asked.

他們問：“你哪兒學(xué)的英語?”

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

我說：“在中國。”他們似乎不信。

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

我在國內(nèi)學(xué)英語的秘訣就是像一個小孩一樣去學(xué)這門語言。

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，或是之前沒有學(xué)習(xí)過的情況下學(xué)習(xí)第二語言。如果你有孩子，觀察一下你的孩子是怎么學(xué)習(xí)語言的。他們甚至在還不會說話之前就會聽人講話，而當(dāng)他們會說話之后，他們會簡單重復(fù)同一個單詞。

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)聽相同的文本把自己無聊死，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。第一遍的時候我完全摸不著頭腦不知道他們在說些什么。第二遍第三遍的時候，我抓住了點兒什么。第五遍的時候，我已經(jīng)可以在不明白每個單詞的情況下知道整個節(jié)目的來龍去脈了。我聽、再聽、還聽，直到所有對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.

下一步就是在國內(nèi)尋找一個對話伙伴。回到上世紀(jì)90年代，我經(jīng)常去“英語角”，中國人會聚集在這些地方，講各種口音的英語。最終我不再去英語角，轉(zhuǎn)而用英語自言自語。有那么一段時間，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)站上尋找語言交流活動，和你的外國朋友們對話。

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，你有沒有聽人說過因為他們要全職工作，所以不能學(xué)一門語言?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的工作。那樣你每天就有8小時、每周就有40小時的練習(xí)時間。

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.

讓我們再回到我那個移民美國的阿姨上來吧。當(dāng)時我去芝加哥看她，她帶我到一家飯店吃飯。我想看看她的語言能力，所以我讓她點單。

"We order," she said to the server.

她對服務(wù)員說：“我們要點單了!”

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

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