苗淑華

Before you can start speaking and writing in English， you have to learn how things are said in English. You do this by getting input—reading and listening to the correct English sentences of other people （ideally1， native speakers）.

在能開始用英語交談和寫作之前，你必須先學(xué)會怎么說英語。你可以通過閱讀和聽別人（最好是母語是英語的人）正確的英語句子來做到這一點(diǎn)。

Most English learners get their input from English classes. In this article， I will argue that English classes simply do not give you enough input to speak English fluently， and that you need to get English input outside the classroom if you want to be fluent. I will also give two reasons to take things into your own hands and get English input on your own.

大多數(shù)英語學(xué)習(xí)者從英語課上獲得輸入。在這篇文章中，筆者會討論英語課根本沒有提供足夠的輸入讓你流利說英語，如果想說得流利，你需要在課堂之外獲得英語輸入。筆者還將給出兩個理由，說明為什么要把事情掌握在自己手中，主動進(jìn)行英語輸入。

★Amount of Input輸入量

1. What do I mean by fluency？ I mean being able to write and speak almost as easily—and almost as correctly—as in your native language.

1. 筆者所說的流利是什么意思呢？意思是指能夠像用母語一樣輕松、準(zhǔn)確地寫和說。

2. By pages， I mean typical pages in a paperback2 book.

2. “頁”指的是平裝書的典型頁面。

3. By hours of audio， I mean hours of non-stop talking， as in a radio interview.

3. 音頻時間，指的是幾個小時不間斷的談話，就像是在電臺采訪中那樣。

To speak English fluently， you need a lot of input. If you want to become fluent， the question you need to ask yourself is： Can English classes give me 60 pages and 6 hours of input every week？ How much input are you getting in English class？

要說一口流利的英語，你需要大量輸入。如果你想變得流利，需要問自己一個問題：每周的英語課能給我60頁和6小時的輸入嗎？你在英語課上的輸入是多少？

Teachers provide little input. When they speak， they speak quite slowly， with frequent pauses. 10 minutes of listening to a teacher gives you perhaps 5 minutes of “non-stop” input. In addition， some teachers like to speak their native language instead of English.

老師提供的輸入很少。他們說話時會說得很慢，經(jīng)常停頓。聽老師講10分鐘的課，你可能會有5分鐘“不間斷”的輸入。此外，有些老師喜歡講母語而不講英語。

Other students also provide little input because they talk even more slowly than the teacher and they often make mistakes. A lot of time is wasted on exercises that give you almost no input. There are also breaks， during which nothing happens.

其他學(xué)生也幾乎不會提供輸入，因?yàn)樗麄儽壤蠋熣f得更慢，而且經(jīng)常犯錯。很多時間都浪費(fèi)在那些幾乎不提供輸入的練習(xí)上，還有沒有任何輸入的休息時間。

It becomes obvious3 that no more than 1/3 of the total lesson time is spent listening to correct English sentences. The average amount of text that you read in an English class is probably no more than 3 pages per 45-minute lesson （including texts in the textbook and teacher handouts）.

很明顯，不超過總課時1/3的時間花在了聽正確英語句子上。你在英語課堂上閱讀課文的平均量可能不超過每45分鐘3頁（包括課本和老師講義中的文本）。

★Fun 樂趣

As Ive explained above， I believe that getting input outside the classroom is the only road to fluency. But there are reasons to get input on your own even if fluency is not your goal.

正如上面所解釋的那樣，筆者認(rèn)為在課堂之外獲得輸入是實(shí)現(xiàn)流利（說英語）的唯一途徑。但是，即使流利不是你的目標(biāo)，你也有理由主動去獲得輸入。

When you choose your own sources4 of input， you can choose things that you really care about. You can read a Harry Potter book， an e-mail message from a friend， an Internet forum with useful advice， or perhaps news about your favorite football club or watch your favorite TV series. Fun leads to stronger memories. When you see or hear something that matters to you， you can remember much more.

當(dāng)你選擇自己的輸入來源時，可以挑選真正喜歡的東西。你可以讀一本《哈利波特》，一封來自朋友的電子郵件，一個提供有效建議的網(wǎng)絡(luò)論壇，也可以是關(guān)于你最喜歡的足球俱樂部的新聞，或者看最喜歡的電視連續(xù)劇。樂趣會增強(qiáng)你的記憶力。當(dāng)看到或聽到一些對你很重要的事情時，你能記住更多內(nèi)容。

Notes

1. ideally? ?adv. 理想地;觀念上地

2. paperback adj. 紙面裝訂的;紙面平裝本書籍的

3. obvious adj. 明顯的;顯著的;平淡無奇的

4. source n. 來源;水源;原始資料