【TED演讲222】 The secrets of learning a new language学习一门新语言的秘诀

Want to learn a new language but feel daunted or unsure where to begin? You don't need some special talent or a "language gene," says Lýdia Machová. In an upbeat, inspiring talk, she reveals the secrets of polyglots (people who speak multiple languages) and shares four principles to help unlock your own hidden language talent -- and have fun while doing it.

刚开始学习一门新语言，你是否也会感到胆怯或不确定从哪里开始？ LýdiaMachová说，其实不需要特殊的才能拥有“语言基因”。在令人振奋的鼓舞人心的演讲中，她揭示了多元语言（说多种语言的人）的秘密，并分享了四个原则来帮助你释放自己的隐藏语言才能。

演讲人：Lýdia Machová

演讲题目：The secrets of learning a new language

学习一门新语言的秘诀

想看【视频】演讲，请点下面这些链接: （NO.222)

 中英文对照翻译

I love learning foreign languages. In fact, I love it so much that I like to learn a new language every two years, currently working on my eighth one. When people find that out about me, they always ask me, "How do you do that? What's your secret?" 

我喜欢学外语。实际上，这种痴迷让我每两年就想学一门新的外语，现在我正在学第八门外语。当人们得知此事后，总是问我，“你怎么做到的？你的秘诀是什么？” 

And what is it that enables us to learn languages so much faster than other people? I decided to meet other people like me and find that out. 

是什么让我们较之他人能够更快的学习语言？我决定见见其他像我一样的人，并试着找寻背后的答案。 

The best place to meet a lot of polyglots is an event where hundreds of language lovers meet in one place to practice their languages. 

能够遇到很多多语言者的最佳地点,是聚集了数百名多语言者的地方，他们在那里进行练习。

There are several such polyglot events organized all around the world, and so I decided to go there and ask polyglots about the methods that they use. 

世界各地有许多类似的多语言者活动，所以我决定去看看，打听一下他们各自使用的方法。 

And so I met Benny from Ireland, who told me that his method is to start speaking from day one. He learns a few phrases from a travel phrasebook and goes to meet native speakers and starts having conversations with them right away. 

我遇到了来自爱尔兰的本尼，他告诉我他用的方法是从第一天就开始说出口。他从一本旅游指南上学了一些词组，然后就去见母语者，立马和他们展开对话。 

Lucas copied this back to the first person, and in this way, he had two strangers have a conversation with each other without knowing about it. 

卢卡斯又把这段话复制发给第一个人，这样，他就让两个陌生人在完全不知情的情况下展开了交谈。 

And soon he would start typing himself, because he had so many of these conversations that he figured out how the Russian conversation usually starts. What an ingenious method, right? 

过不了多久，他就可以自己打字了，因为他看了那么多的对话，已经知道俄语的交流大概是怎么开始的了。很聪明的办法，是吧？ 

And then I met polyglots who always start by imitating sounds of the language, and others who always learn the 500 most frequent words of the language, and yet others who always start by reading about the grammar. 

此外，我还遇到了总是从模仿声音开始学习语言的多语言者，从学习500个最常用词开始的多语言者，以及总是从学习语法开始的多语言者。

You should have seen their faces when they were showing me their colorful grammar charts and their carefully handmade flash cards, and their statistics about learning vocabulary using apps, or even how they love to cook based on recipes in a foreign language. All of them use different methods, but they always make sure it's something that they personally enjoy. 

你们应该看看当他们向我展示他们多彩的语法表，专心制作的语言卡片，他们语言学习软件上的统计量，甚至他们是如何爱上用外文菜谱烧菜时，脸上自豪的神情。每个人都用着不同的方法，但是他们做到了让这件事情变成一种享受。 

I realized that this is actually how I learn languages myself. When I was learning Spanish, I was bored with the text in the textbook. I mean, who wants to read about Jose asking about the directions to the train station. Right? 

我意识到，这实际上也是我学习语言的方式。当我学习西班牙语时，我对书本上的文章没什么兴趣。我想说，谁想学胡赛是怎么问去火车站的路的啊。对吧？ 

I wanted to read "Harry Potter" instead, because that was my favorite book as a child, and I have read it many times. So I got the Spanish translation of "Harry Potter" and started reading, and sure enough, I didn't understand almost anything at the beginning, but I kept on reading because I loved the book, and by the end of the book, I was able to follow it almost without any problems. 

相反，我想读《哈利·波特》，因为这是我孩童时期最喜欢的书，而且我已经阅读了很多遍。所以我买了本西语版的《哈利·波特》开始阅读，毫无疑问，最开始我几乎什么都看不懂，但是我坚持读了下来，因为我喜欢这本书，直到读完此书，我基本可以不费力的跟上故事情节。 

If you don't like writing words down on paper, you can always type them in an app. If you don't like listening to boring textbook material, find interesting content on YouTube or in podcasts for any language. If you're a more introverted person and you can't imagine speaking to native speakers right away, you can apply the method of self-talk. 

如果你不喜欢在纸上写单词，那你可以在软件里面打单词。如果你不喜欢听无聊的课程材料，你总是可以在YouTube上或播客里找到任何一种语言的有趣内容。如果你是个内向的人，不愿意马上就和母语者交谈，你总可以和自己练习对话。 

You can talk to yourself in the comfort of your room, describing your plans for the weekend, how your day has been, or even take a random picture from your phone and describe the picture to your imaginary friend. 

你可以在自己的房间里，对自己说话，描述你的周末计划，一天过得怎么样，甚至是从你的手机里随便选一张照片，然后把它描述给你想象中的朋友。

This is how polyglots learn languages, and the best news is, it's available to anyone who is willing to take the learning into their own hands. 

这就是多语言者学习语言的方式，而好消息是，这种方法对每个想要自主学习语言的 来说，都是可行的。 

If you're not sure which methods are effective and what is available out there, just check out polyglots' YouTube channels and websites and get inspiration from them. If it works for them, it will most probably work for you too. 

如果你不确定什么方法是有效的，以及现在有些什么方法，那么就去看看多语言者的 YouTube和主页，你可以从那里获得灵感。如果这些方法对他们适用，那么可能也对你适用。 

The third principle to follow is to create a system in your learning. We're all very busy and no one really has time to learn a language today. But we can create that time if we just plan a bit ahead. Can you wake up 15 minutes earlier than you normally do? That would be the perfect time to revise some vocabulary. Can you listen to a podcast on your way to work while driving? 

你需要遵守的第三个原则就是制定一套自己的学习体系。如今我们都很忙，没有人真正 有时间去学习一门语言。但是如果我们事前计划一下，就能挤出那个时间。你可以比平时早起15分钟吗？这段时间可以用来复习一些单词。你可以在开车去上班时听一段博客吗？

Well, that would be great to get some listening experience. There are so many things we can do without even planning that extra time, such as listening to podcasts on our way to work or doing our household chores. The important thing is to create a plan in the learning. 

这可以算是很不错的听力练习。甚至不需要提前规划时间，我们也可以做很多事情，比如在上班的路上或是做家务时，我们可以听听播客。重要的是，制定一个学习计划。 

I vividly remember the moment when I understood the first joke in German when watching "Friends." I was so happy and motivated that I just kept on watching that day two more episodes, and as I kept watching, 

我清晰的记得，当我第一次看懂德语版《老友记》里面的笑话时的情形。我十分开心，备受鼓舞，又忍不住多看了两集，随着我不断观看，

I had more and more of those moments of understanding, these little victories, and step by step, I got to a level where I could use the language freely and fluently to express anything. This is a wonderful feeling. I can't get enough of that feeling, and that's why I learn a language every two years. 

我能看懂的片段越来越多，这些小小的成就积少成多，使我可以自由熟练的使用这个语言去表达任何事物。这种感觉太棒了。这种感觉总是让我意犹未尽，就成了我每两年就学习一门语言的原因。 

So this is the whole polyglot secret. Find effective methods which you can use systematically over the period of some time in a way which you enjoy, and this is how polyglots learn languages within months, not years. 

这也是所有多语言者的秘密。找到你可以在一段时间内系统使用的有效方法，而且你还很享受这个过程，这就是多语言者在数月而非数年内就能学会语言的秘诀。 

His friends even made fun of him and gave him a Russian textbook as a joke because they thought he would never learn that language, or any language. And then Lucas started to experiment with methods, looking for his own way to learn, for example, by having Skype chat conversations with strangers. And after just 10 years, Lucas is able to speak 11 languages fluently. 

他的朋友们甚至取笑他，给了他一本俄语教材，想看他笑话，因为他们认为他永远也不可能学会俄语，或是任何一门外言。 然后卢卡斯开始试验其他方法，寻找适合自己的学习方式，比如，用Skype和陌生人聊天。仅仅10年后，卢卡斯已经可以流利的说11种语言。 

Does that sound like a miracle? Well, I see such miracles every single day. As a language mentor, I help people learn languages by themselves, and I see this every day. People struggle with language learning for five, 10, even 20 years,

这听起来是不是很神奇？如果是这样，那么我每天都会看到类似的奇迹。作为一名语言教师，我帮助人们自学语言，我每天都能看到奇迹发生。有些人5年、10年甚至20年都在语言学习中挣扎，

and then they suddenly take their learning into their own hands, start using materials which they enjoy, more effective methods, or they start tracking their learning so that they can appreciate their own progress, and that's when suddenly they magically find the language talent that they were missing all their lives. 

然后他们突然就能够将学习掌握在自己的手中，开始使用他们感兴趣的材料，更加有效的方法，或是开始记录自己的学习进度，这样他们才能肯定自己的进步，就在这段时间，他们突然神奇般的找到了自以为一直欠缺的语言才能。 

So if you've also tried to learn a language and you gave up, thinking it's too difficult or you don't have the language talent, give it another try. Maybe you're also just one enjoyable method away from learning that language fluently. Maybe you're just one method away from becoming a polyglot. 

如果你也曾试着学习一门语言，然后你因为它太难了，或是觉得自己没有语言天赋而放弃了，再试试吧。或许你离熟练的说一门语言只差一种合适的，让你乐在其中的方法。也许你离成为一名多语言者，只差那一种方法。 

Thank you. 

谢谢。  

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