学会一门外语其实很简单

1、学会一门外语其实很简单 Simple guide to speaking foreign languages This is a guest post from Benny the Irish polyglot of Fluent in 3 months.本文作者Benny，一位在3个月内便通晓多种语言的爱尔兰人。 When I was 21 years old, the only language I spoke was English. I had done quite poorly in languages in school and believed th

2、at I was too untalented and even too old to consider ever speaking a foreign language, even basically.我到21岁还只会说一种语言，那就是英语。在学校的时候，我就在语言学科上学得很不好，以至于我认为自己完全没有什么语言天赋，甚至认为自己太老了，学不会外语，即使是基础的外语也学不会。 Now seven years later I speak eight languages fluently and can get by quite well in several others. In

3、my day-to-day life I almost never speak English and my travels and scope of friendships have been greatly enriched because of this.然而七年后的今天，我却可以流利地说八种外语，另外还有几种外语说的也不错。现在我在日常生活中基本都不说英语了，而且由于会多种外语而大大扩展了我的朋友圈子。 How I reached this stage was not by studying a lot or investing thousands in software o

4、r courses. It was by applying the simple principles outlined here.有人要问我是如何做到在短时间内精通多种外语的？我没有经过大量的学习，没有花钱买各种各样的学习软件，也没有参加各种培训班。我只是很好的应用了以下这几条原则: Having the right learning approach制定恰当的学习规划What mostly surprises people is my confidence that anyone can reach a high level of fluency in a language in

5、 just a few months. Many of us will have studied a language for years in school and are barely able to string a sentence together, so this idea might sound nothing short of arrogant.我认为任何人都有可能在短短几个月内精通一门语言，人们通常会惊讶于我为何如此自信。鉴于大多数人在学校学了多年的外语之后往往还只会简单的拼出一句话，我的这个观点可能会显得有点自夸。 However, considering wha

6、t you are actually doing in school; a couple of hours of theory, using the language unnaturally for exam purposes, and some half-interested homework this barely adds up to a few weeks of real work even over half a decade.但是，想想看我们在学校学外语时都是怎么学的？几个小时的理论，为了通过考试而机械地去练习外语，以及一些没有兴趣投入的家庭作业.。按照这样即使学了好多年，真正学习

7、的时间加起来也不过几个礼拜而已。 After just two months living in Budapest, with no previous exposure to the language, I was ready to be interviewed entirely in Hungarian on video. I am not smarter or more talented than anyone else who might attempt this, but I am much more committed and serious about reaching

8、my goals.我以前从未接触过匈牙利语，但在布达佩斯生活了仅两个月后，我就可以用匈牙利语进行视频对话。我并不比其他任何人更聪明或更有天赋，我只是更坚定于更认真地对待自己想要达到的目标。 You dont have to devote your life to the language, but you must invest at least an hour a day, ideally more, which involves focused use of the language.你不必把全部精力都投入到学习外语，但必须保证每天至少花一个小时，超过一个小时当然更好，来专注于练

9、习这门外语。 Casual interest can only get you so far if you just want to speak a language, that gives you no edge. Who wouldnt want that? To make real progress, that want has to become a need.With focus and your full attention you can learn much quicker仅仅是兴趣爱好不会有很大的进展如果你只是“想要”说一门外语，这没有给你任何界定。谁不想要多说一门

10、外语呢？想要真正有所进展的话，那这个“想要”就要变成“需要”。  And there is only one way the language will become a true necessity: you need to start speaking it with other people, now.Stop learning the language, and start speaking it!有一个方法可以把外语变成真正的必需：假如你现在就要用外语和别人交流。 不要再学外语了，开始说出来吧。If I had to summarize what def

11、initely separates those who fail in attempts to reach conversational fluency and those who succeed, based on my experience of meeting thousands of language learners, it is simply the fact that the latter group actually use the language. Not for exams, not for listening to podcasts or reading, but to

12、 communicate with human beings.我接触过数千个学外语的人，他们都想要达到能用外语进行流利对话的目标，但有的失败了有的成功了，如果要我说这两类人的主要区别是什么，我会说一个简单事实就是后者真正的去使用外语了，不是为了考试，不是为了听广播或者阅读，而是用外语去和别人交流。 If your goal is to be able to read perfectly or understand the radio perfectly, then lots of reading and listening will be precisely what you nee

13、d.如果你的目标是能够完全读懂外文资料或者完全听得懂外语广播，那么你要做的就是大量的阅读以及听力练习就够了。 However, to speak well, you need to speak often! You cant avoid this, its kind of the whole point!但如果你想要把外语说好，那就需要经常的说外语！这是免不了的，这就是说好外语的关键。 Seriously, stop studying the target language so much! A language cant be treated like a subject

14、 in school such as history or biology; in the real world you cannot fail when you make a certain number of mistakes. Other people are very helpful when you are genuinely trying to speak with them.说真的，不要过多的去闷头学外语了！你不能把一门外语看作是类似于诸如历史或生物这类学校里的学科来学习；在现实生活中，没有规定说你说外语的时候错了多少次就算是不及格。如果你诚心用外语去和别人交流，那么他们对于你学

15、外语是非常有帮助的。 People told me that in Berlin I would find it hard to convince Germans to not speak English to me all the time, but even when I was initially struggling they would be very helpful and patient with me as I spoke. They could see that I was serious about speaking their language and rewa

16、rded me for my efforts.有人告诉我在柏林你会发现很难让德国人不和你说英语，不过我刚开始德语还不太好时，就算我磕磕碰碰的用德语和他们交谈，他们也会很乐意的帮助我而且会很耐心的和我交谈。他们能看得出来我是认真地在说他们的语言，而且还会对我做出的努力进行鼓励。 I can assure you, if you start speaking now with the little you know, you will indeed make mistakes but other speakers and natives will forgive you for this

17、 and you will realize that you always had the ability to communicate and get your point across.我敢肯定，可能对某门外语你只会一点点，但如果你现在就开始尽自己所能去说这门外语，刚开始你肯定会犯一些错误，但是其他人以及以此为母语者不会因此而怪你的，而且你会发现自己总是有能力来进行交流并且能表达出自己的观点。 Thanks to this practice, any studying you do will be focused on real use of the language relev

18、ant to your life, rather than theoretical applications recommended in generic courses.这样的练习，会让你的学习侧重于在日常生活中真正的使用外语，而不像一般的学习课程那样侧重于理论上的应用。  不必出国也可以学好外语Successful language learners dont aim to speak well some day they use it now. Make all of your focus on immediate use of the language. Study

19、 can help, but it is most effective when it has immediate applications.成功的外语学习者不是只盯着将来能说好外语的目标而是现在就使用外语。把你的所有注意力都集中到立即使用外语。学习是有帮助的，但最有效的是能立即去应用它。 Find natives and other learners to practice with and arrange to meet up with them immediately. It will be hard at first, but you need real pressure i

20、f you want to make real progress.找一些外语的母语者以及其他在学这门外语的人一起练习，安排一些和他们即时的面对面交谈。一开始这会比较难，但是如果你真想学好外语的话是需要一些压力的。 Rather than downloading podcasts and buying too many courses, meet up with actual people and use the language! A few resources I like to use include:不要再去下载听力材料或者买各种各样的学习教程了，找一些人去使用外语当面交谈！我

21、个人比较喜欢以下的一些资源： M for language meet-ups in major cities. You can also read advertisements in newspapers and your local library to see if people meet up interested in speaking the language you want to. - M，通过这个网站可以在各大城市找到一起说外语的人。你也可以通过报纸上的广告或者当地图书馆来寻找有兴趣一起说外语的人。 Join Couchsurfing and ho

22、st foreign travelers in your home. The same site also has international meetings and a feature to search your city for people who speak a particular language. - 注册Couchsurfing会员，并在家里招待一些同样注册会员的外国旅游者。同时你也可以在这个网站上搜索在你的城市说某外语的人群。 You can also find native speakers online and practice over Skyp

23、e, through many language learning social networks available for free online. - 你也可以在互联网的各种语言学习社区找到那些母语者并通过Skype与他们在线交谈。You can do this in your home town.在自己的家乡你就能做到这些。 The only reason I feel that travel really does make a difference for some people is because of the pressure to perform being constantly there.我觉得出国旅行唯一的不同就在于你会有一直处在外语环境中的压力。 But many expats still waste the o