1. Slow Down Your Speaking Speed 1.放慢你说话的速度 You might be an eloquent speaker when it comes to your mother tongue, but expecting the same standards from yourself when speaking in a foreign language may not be very realistic. 使用母语时,你可能是一位雄辩的演说家,但是如果用一门外语想要达到同样的效果似乎是不现实的。 Especially, if you’re at the early stages of learning. Learners are often told not to worry about the mistakes they’re making, however, it is easy to understand why you would like to make a good impression on your audience. To overcome this difficulty, you may try slowing down your speaking speed. 尤其当你还在初学阶段。学习者经常被告知不要担心犯错误,然而,你想给听众留下好印象这一点很容易让人理解。为了克服这个困难你可以尝试放慢语速。 Nobody will hold it against you if you speak more slowly and clearly.Great speakers do the same to get their message across. Selecting your words carefully may also be seen as a sign of respect towards your audience. It shows that you want to give them the best possible answer. 如果你说的慢一点,清楚一点,没有人会反对。伟大的演说家也用同样的方式传达他们想要表达的消息。字斟句酌可能被看作一种你尊重听众的标志。这说明你想尽可能给他们最好的答案。 2. Give Yourself Time to Think 2.给你自己时间去思考 You may be worried that the people you’re talking to are impatient and would like you to say what you want as quickly as possible. 你可能会担心你正在与之交谈的人不够耐心,想要你尽可能快地说完你想说的内容。 It may not be true – people often prefer a well-thought-out answer to a rushed one. 这可能不是真的 – 与一个草率的回答相比,人们更愿意你经过周详的思考后再做回答。 Another practical thing you can do is equipping yourself with fixed sentence patterns you can use when remaining silent doesn’t seem to be an option. 另一个你可以使用的实用方法就是在沉默不是一个好选择的时候,可以使用一些固定的句式来缓解尴尬。 Here’s an example: 你可以这样说: Why is there so much violence on TV? That’s a good question. Let me think for a moment, I haven’t really thought about it before. Well, I suppose… 为什么电视上有如此多的暴力现象?这是一个很好的问题。让我来想一会儿,我之前没有认真地想过这个问题。我认为… Here the speaker gains considerable amount of time to reflect just by repeating the question and adding a few sentences. If you do the same, you’ll sound more fluent and won’t feel the pressure of having to say something before you’re ready. 通过重复问题和加几个句子,演讲者就会得到足够的时间去考虑问题。如果你也这样做,就会听起来更加流利,并且在你准备好去演讲之前不会有压力。 3. Learn Sentences, Not Only Words 3.学习句子,而不仅仅是词汇 In a way, this will take the pressure off too. When you learn a new word, try to memorize a couple of sentences that contain it. 在某种程度上,这样也会减少压力。当你学了一个新词,去尝试记几个包含这个词的句子。 There might come a time when you can use one particular sentence with little, or no alteration at all. Unfortunately, many people learn words by heart, but have no idea how to use them in a sentence. 可能会有这种情况,你不假思索地用了一个特别的句子。不幸的是,许多人牢牢地记住了词汇,但是却不清楚在句子里应该怎样去使用它们。 4. Learn to Listen 4.学会去听 When speaking in a foreign language, you might be so focused on what you are saying , that you forget to listen to what others are saying. 说一门外语时,你可能会把注意力集中在内容上,却忘记去听别人正在说什么。 This is a big mistake as they might be using the exact words or grammar you’ll be needing later on. So pay attention to what’s being said around you, it’s your most important resource at the time of speaking to someone. 这是一个严重的错误,因为你在以后的日子里会用到他们曾经说过的某个确切的词汇或者语法。因此把注意力集中在你周围的人所说的内容上,当你以后跟别人交谈的时候,这将是你最重要的资源。 5. Practice Your Interrogatives 5.练习提问 We also need to keep in mind the fact that communication is a two-way process. Not only does it make you seem uninterested – even rude – if you don’t ask questions, you might also end up being the one who has to do all the talking. So, when you’ve run out of ideas about what to say next, remember: others might have something to add. 我们应该记住这个事实:交流是一个双向的过程。如果你不问问题,这不仅仅会使你显得冷漠 – 甚至粗鲁 ,你也可能不会再是那个主导话语权的人。因此当你不知道接下来该说点什么的时候,请记住:或许可以让其他人进行补充。 For example: 例如: What are your views on that? 对此你有什么看法? How about you? What do you think? 你呢?你怎么想? Questions like this will keep the conversation going and will show your interest in other people’s opinion. They will also give you time to relax a little. 这样的问题会使对话继续下去并且能够表现出你对他人观点的兴趣。他们也会给你一点时间去放松一下。 6. Produce, Produce, Produce 6.产出,产出,产出 As I said at the beginning of this article, you might know a lot about the language, but this is passive knowledge that must be activated somehow. Your aim is to be able to produce correct English; practice is undeniably the best way to learn and improve. 像我在这篇文章开始说的一样,你可能学习了许多关于语言的知识,但是这只是一些需要被激活的被动性的知识。你的目标应该是说出正确的英语; 而练习无疑是学习和提高的最好的方式。 Writing is one way of producing language; it may help you get used to and reflect on the ways English is used, which might prove to be useful when speaking. 写作是一种产出语言的方式;它会帮助你熟悉并且思考使用英语的方式,当你交谈的时候,写作也是起作用的。 Speaking, on the other hand, is a much more spontaneous process. Find people you can practice with. I have a feeling that it will be agreat experience. 在另一方面,说是一个更自发的过程。去找一个可以和你一起练习英语的人。我有预感这将是一个奇妙的经历。 I hope you will find these tips useful. Feel free to ask any questions if something is not clear. 我希望你会觉这些技巧有用。当你有问题的时候,不要拘束,去提问。