 And if you’re thinking of traveling or studying abroad, learning a new language is imperative. 如果你想出国旅游或留学，学习一种新语言是势在必行的。 Actually speaking a foreign language fluently takes a lot of hard work and practice. Even if you study every day, it can take years to master some languages. Meanwhile, you start to get frustrated at your lack of progress and you want to give up. 事实上讲一门流利的外语需要很多的辛勤努力和实践。即使你每天学习，掌握某一门语言也要花数年的时间。与此同时，你开始因进步迟缓而变得沮丧，你想放弃了。 Don’t. 千万不要！ There are all kinds of rewards associated with speaking a second language. Not just intangible rewards, like being able to chat with locals when you travel, but psychological and health rewards as well. Studies show that being able to speak a second language may help you multitask and prevent dementia. 讲第二门语言，有各种各样的回报。不仅仅是无形的回报，比如旅行时你能够与当地人交流，而且还有心理和健康方面的回报。研究表明，能说第二门语言可以帮助你培养一心多用以及预防老年痴呆。 So if you want to reap all of the benefits of speaking a second language, how can you continue working on your language skills without getting burnt out? Here are 6 tips to simplify your language learning. 所以如果想收获说第二外语的种种好处，在你抓狂以前，在语言技能训练上你要怎样继续努力？这里有6个技巧可以简化你的语言学习。 1. Have a Word of the Day. 今日一词 Trying to learn everything at once and getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of words in your new language can be overwhelming. Sometimes, even if you do learn new words, you forget them quickly because you haven’t heard them enough in context. 马上着手学习和面对学习新语言的大量词汇要承受的巨大压力，这真的让人感到不知所措。有时候，即使你确实学到了新单词，你很快就会忘记它们，因为你在语境中听得还不够多。 One way to get around this problem is to keep a few new words in your vocabulary by using them on a daily basis. Since it takes an adult an average of 150 times to learn to use a new word properly, having a Word of the Day or several words can help build your vocabulary. 一种解决这类问题的方法是通过每天使用新词汇来记忆它们。成年人平均要150次才学会合理地使用一个新词，一天学一个或几个新词可以帮助你积累词汇量。 You can do this one of two ways. One, you can keep a running list of words you’d like to learn and designate one to be the word of the day. Or, two, you can wait for new words to come up organically in conversation, and then try to use the new word several times. 有两种方法可以做到。一是把你想学的单词做成单词列表，并指定一个单词为“今日一词”。另一种是你可以等候出现在谈话里的新单词，然后试着用上几次新单词。 2. Speak the language as much as you can (especially with native speakers). 尽可能多地讲这种语言（特别是与母语人士） It goes without saying that the best way to learn how to speak a language is to actually speak it. Reading and studying grammar books will only get you so far. 不用说，学习如何说一门语言的最好方式是说这门语言。阅读和学习语法只会让你远离语言的实质。 And yet, it’s so easy to get trapped in the “not-good-enough” mindset, where you don’t speak because you think you don’t speak well enough. And then your speaking doesn’t get better. 除此之外，你还很容易陷进“不够好”的心理模式，有了这种心理之后你就不会开口说，因为你认为自己讲得不够好。于是你的口语就得不到提升。 So make an effort to communicate with native speakers of your language. You’ll learn a lot more in a 5 minute conversation with a native Spanish speaker than you will from another English speaker who’s had 2 years of college Spanish. Try to spend 80% of your time speaking with those who speak the language better than you. 所以努力与你所学英语的母语人士交流。与本土西班牙人聊5分钟对话，比起和那些来自英语国家在大学里学了两年的西班牙语的人交流，你学到的会更多。试着把80%的时间花在和比你讲得好的人交谈。 3. Listen to foreign language radio or TV, even as background noise. 听外语之声或看外语电视，即使是作为背景音也好。 Part of learning to speak a foreign language properly is learning the intonations and rhythms of the words. In French, for example, you can’t put the emphasis on different words in a sentence to vary what you mean (like you can do in English). And it’s easy to distinguish beginner students from near-native speakers by listening for the ones who pronounce French like it’s English. 正确地学习讲外语，其中一部分是学习语调和单词的节拍。例如在法语里，你不能和学习英语一样，把重点放在句子里的不同单词上来改变你的意思。而且初级学习者和本土母语人士很容易区分开来，因为有些人的法语是英语形式的。 The remedy to that is to listen to the language as much as possible. 补救的办法是尽可能地多听。 Try to hear the pacing of the words, how they’re pronounced in different contexts, and what the different intonations are. How does the language sound when the speaker is excited, or angry, or asking an accusatory question? Even listening to the language in the background will help you to pick up information on how the language is spoken. 试着听话语的速度，它们在不同的语境中是如何发音的，又有哪些不同的语调。当说话人兴奋、或愤怒、或是指责时，语言又会是怎么样的呢？即使是听当作背景音的语言，也会帮助你感知到语言的特点。4. Look up words you don’t know in a monolingual dictionary. 在单语词典里查找你不认识的词 Figuring out the meaning of words can be tricky in a foreign language, since direct and accurate translations don’t always exist. While getting the word for physical objects, like milk or desk, might be straightforward, translating concepts can be a lot harder. 对于一门外语，找出单词意义可能是件棘手的事，因为直接和准确的翻译并不总是存在。用直观物体对应这个词，如牛奶或书桌，可能简单明了，但翻译概念是难上加难。 By looking words up in a monolingual dictionary, you can make sure that the word or phrase you choose actually means what you think it does. 通过在单语词典里查找单词，你能保证你选择的单词或短语实际上表达了你想的意思。 5. When you make a mistake, immediately try to correct yourself. 当你犯了错误时，试着立即纠正自己。 Lifehack recently published an article stating that if you mistype a word, you should delete the whole word before retyping it correctly to reprogram your brain to do it properly the next time. The same goes for learning a language. Lifehack上最近发表了一篇文章，文章指出如果你打错了一个字，在重打之前你应该删除整个词，这样下次你才正确。对于学习一门语言是同样道理。 If you misspeak, and catch your mistake, immediately correct yourself by repeating the sentence correctly. It will help you program your brain to avoid making the same mistake again, and solidify the grammar rules in your mind. 如果你说错了，逮住你的错误，立即纠正自己的错误，把这个句子正确地再说一遍。它将帮助你的大脑避免再犯同样的错误，并将语法规则扎根在你的脑海里。 6. Carry around a notebook and write down new words you learn. 随身携带一个笔记本，写下你学习到的新单词 If you’re in the beginning stages of learning a language, this process might be too overwhelming, since you’re learning new words all the time. But once you get to an intermediate or advanced level, your learning process slows down. In the beginning, you progressed easily because you were learning simple verb tenses and lists of super useful vocabulary that you use every day – hello, “How are you?”, “Can I have a pen, please?” – and when you get past that stage, the learning suddenly gets more difficult. 如果你处在学习一门语言的开始阶段，这个过程可能很有压力，因为你总是在学习新单词。但是一旦你达到了中级或高级水平，学习过程将会减慢。刚开始，你很容易就有进步，因为你在学习简单的动词时态以及每天使用到的超级有用的一系列词汇，像“你好”、“你好吗？”、“请问，我可以借支钢笔吗？”——当你过了这个阶段，学习突然间变得困难了。 When you’re advanced, keeping a record of the words you learn can also help you from getting frustrated and thinking that you aren’t learning anything new. As long as you use the language, you’ll always be progressing. 当你到了高级水平，记录好你学习的单词，你就不会沮丧，更不会说自己没学习到新东西。只要你在使用这门语言，你就永远都在进步。 | |
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