繆蘭

Recently I had a talk in Beijing with an adult Chinese friend who was complaining (抱怨) how difficult it is to study English. No surprises there. It is a difficult language to learn, just like Chinese。

最近我在北京聽一位中國朋友吐槽英語難學(xué)。這并不奇怪，英語跟中文一樣，都不好學(xué)。

I made a few suggestions based on my own experience. One involved a very valuable fact which I learned from my high school Latin and Greek teacher. He had an amazing ability to memorize (記憶) things, like poetry (詩歌), speeches, etc.

根據(jù)親身經(jīng)歷，我有幾點(diǎn)建議，其中也包括我高中拉丁語和希臘語老師的真?zhèn)鳌Ｄ俏焕蠋煂?duì)詩歌、演講等記憶力超群。

His advice to us students was that there are forty minutes each day in which our memory is better than it is during the other 23 hours and 20 minutes. This 40-minute “super memory” period is divided into two parts: the 20 minutes before we sleep, and the 20 minutes after we first awake.

他告訴我們這些學(xué)生，人在一天之中有40分鐘記憶力比其余23小時(shí)20分更佳。而這“記憶超強(qiáng)”的40分鐘又可以分為兩段：臨睡前的20分鐘和醒來后的20分鐘。

The reason is pretty simple. First, the last information you get into your brain before a good nights sleep has a better chance of taking root (扎根) than information you get during the hustle and bustle (熙熙攘攘) of normal daily routine; and, second, your mind is focused (集中的) when you first awake in the morning — so you can get more information, just like a blank sheet of paper.

理由十分簡單。首先，在進(jìn)入夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)前把信息植入腦海比在白天亂哄哄的情景下更容易扎根；其次，早晨醒來精力不容易分散，能記下更多的信息，就像一張白紙。

I took the advice to heart and it served me well in my school years. In my university days, our Chinese teacher would teach us 200 new words each day, on which we would be quizzed (測驗(yàn)) the following day. Without the “magic” forty minute technique, theres no way I would have passed those daily quizzes.

我牢記他的教誨，上學(xué)期間身體力行，受益良多。大學(xué)期間，我的中文老師每天都會(huì)教200個(gè)新單詞，次日還要搞小測驗(yàn)。幸虧有這“魔力40分鐘”秘笈，否則我早就“掛科”了。

The technique really works, but like many things, it needs practice and self-discipline (自律).

這個(gè)辦法真的很管用，但和其他很多事一樣，也需要練習(xí)和自律。

As far as language study goes, its not only useful for memorizing vocabulary. Its also a very useful period of time in which to listen to the language youre studying, even as background noise, and even if its at a level you find difficult to comprehend (理解).

隨著語言學(xué)習(xí)的深入，這個(gè)方法不僅對(duì)背單詞有幫助。在這個(gè)過程中,聽你正在學(xué)習(xí)的語言，甚至是背景的噪音，或者是你覺得難以理解的難度的內(nèi)容，也可以成為鍛煉聽力的最佳時(shí)段。

Beyond our years of formal education, memory skills are also important in any career.

記憶力除了上學(xué)必需外，在各行各業(yè)中也很重要。

How many times have you heard a speaker read their speech from a prepared text, or read the word-by-word content of a powerpoint presentation as they present each slide (幻燈片)?

你聽過幾個(gè)演講人會(huì)照本宣科，又見過幾個(gè)人在做演示時(shí)會(huì)逐字逐句地朗讀每張幻燈片的文字？

These are boring, and ineffective ways of communicating. They are no doubt to lose the audiences close attention and interest. And yet lots of people still make this mistake.

這樣的溝通方式枯燥乏味、效率低下，無疑會(huì)讓聽眾興趣索然，味同嚼蠟。但仍有很多人會(huì)犯這樣的錯(cuò)誤。

If you use the “forty minute” technique, you may not succeed in memorizing your presentation contents word by word, but youll be familiar enough that you can spend much more time making eye contact with your audience. You will attract them in the process, while glancing at your text instead of staring at it.

運(yùn)用“40分鐘”技巧，也許你并不能一字不落地背誦演示稿，卻可以充分熟悉內(nèi)容，從而留出更多時(shí)間與聽眾進(jìn)行眼神交流。你可以吸引觀眾注意力，抽空兒再掃一眼屏幕，不用緊盯不放。

Memory is of course a big challenge for any language learner, especially as we grow older. Possibly an even bigger challenge, which starts around the early years for most people and gets worse later, is the fear of looking or sounding stupid. Younger children learn language so quickly, because they are not afraid to make mistakes.

不管學(xué)習(xí)哪國外語，記憶都是個(gè)難題，特別是隨著年齡的增長。另外一個(gè)更大的難題可能是大多數(shù)人從年少時(shí)起就害怕出丑，而且越老越怕。小孩子學(xué)習(xí)語言會(huì)更快，因?yàn)樗麄儾慌路稿e(cuò)。

So, for young people learning English, my advice would be: to seize the forty-minute learning window; dont be afraid of making mistakes; and to find ways to use the language outside of the classroom, as much as possible。

所以，對(duì)學(xué)英語的年輕人，我有以下幾個(gè)建議：要抓住四十分鐘的學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)間，要克服害怕犯錯(cuò)的心態(tài)，要在課余時(shí)間盡量找機(jī)會(huì)多用。

One basic rule of language learning is: “Use it, or lose it.”

語言學(xué)習(xí)的根本法則就是“用進(jìn)廢退”。