Tomasz P. Szynalski 苗淑華

Pronunciation is the biggest thing that people notice2 when you are speaking English. Let me tell you a true story about this.

當(dāng)你說英語時(shí)，發(fā)音是人們能注意到的最明顯的特征。我給你講一個(gè)真實(shí)的故事。

Michal and I once went to a conversation class taught by Americans. Before the class started， the teacher said to us， “So， do you speak good English？”

我和米哈爾曾經(jīng)參加過由美國人講授的對話課。在上課之前，老師對我們說：“你們的英語說得好嗎？”

I said， “We think so.”

我回答說：“我們認(rèn)為還好?！?/p>

The guy said， “It sure sounds like you do.”

那個(gè)人說：“聽起來確實(shí)如你所說?！?/p>

Notice that I just said three words， and the teacher could already tell if my English was good or bad. Why did he think my English was good？ It wasnt because I used difficult words or grammar structures3. It was the way I pronounced English words.

請注意，我只說了三個(gè)單詞，老師已經(jīng)知道我的英語是好是壞了。他為什么認(rèn)為我的英語很好呢？這不是因?yàn)槲沂褂昧藦?fù)雜的單詞或語法結(jié)構(gòu)，而是我的英語發(fā)音。

When you talk to a person in real life， they may not notice your limited4 vocabulary or grammar mistakes5. But they will notice right away if your pronunciation is good or bad. If your pronunciation is bad， they will think about you as the guy/girl who speaks bad English， and good grammar and vocabulary wont help you！

當(dāng)你在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中與人交談時(shí)，他們可能不會注意到你有限的詞匯或語法錯(cuò)誤。但是他們會立即注意到你發(fā)音的好壞。如果你的發(fā)音不佳，他們會認(rèn)為你的英語說得不好，語法和詞匯好對你沒有幫助！

◆Communication6

Good pronunciation should be one of the first things that you learn in English. You can use simple7 words to say what you want to say. You can use simple grammar structures. But there is no such thing as“simple pronunciation”. Even if you use correct grammar， people may simply not understand what you want to say.

◆交流

良好的發(fā)音應(yīng)該是你學(xué)英語的第一件事。你可以用簡單的詞說出你想說的話，可以使用簡單的語法結(jié)構(gòu)，但是沒有“簡單的發(fā)音”之類的東西。即使你使用正確的語法，人們也可能根本不理解你想說的話。

◆Can you communicate in English？

Almost all English learners say，“I dont need to study pronunciation. I just want to communicate in English.” Many of them think that they can communicate in English because they can communicate with their teacher and other students. Do not make this mistake！You have to remember that：

◆你能用英語交流嗎？

幾乎所有的英語學(xué)習(xí)者都說：“我不需要學(xué)習(xí)發(fā)音。我只想用英語交流?！彼麄冎械脑S多人認(rèn)為自己可以用英語交流，因?yàn)樗麄兛梢耘c老師和其他學(xué)生交流。不要犯這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤！你必須記?。?/p>

●Your teacher has been listening to bad English for years. He or she can understand it much more easily than the other people.

●Other students are usually from the same country as you. So， they speak English like you and they make the same mistakes. So it is easy for them to understand you.

●你的老師多年來一直在聽不地道的英語。他或她比普通人更容易理解它。

●其他學(xué)生通常與你來自同一國家。因此，他們和你講一樣的英語，而且犯的是同樣的錯(cuò)誤。因此，他們很容易理解你。

The only true test is： Go to America or Britain and try to talk to “normal8 people”—a clerk at a supermarket， a bus driver， etc. If they can understand you， then you can say that you can communicate in English.

唯一的真實(shí)考驗(yàn)是：去美國或英國，然后與“正常人”交談，例如超市的店員、公共汽車司機(jī)等。如果他們能聽懂你的話，那你就可以說你能用英語交流。

◆Communication is not enough9.

If you can communicate in English with people from other countries， congratulations！Its a big achievement10. Now you should ask yourself two questions：

●Is my English easy to understand？

●Is my English pleasant11 to listen to？

◆能溝通是不夠的。

如果你可以和其他國家的人用英語交流，那么恭喜你！這是一個(gè)很大的成就?，F(xiàn)在，你應(yīng)該問自己兩個(gè)問題：

●我的英語好懂嗎？

●我的英語好聽嗎？

Some people communicate successfully in English， but have a heavy foreign accent12. Although you can understand what they are saying， it is not easy. You have to listen to them really carefully， which takes effort.

有些人可以做到用英語交流，但有很重的外國口音。盡管你可以理解他們在說什么，但這并不容易。你必須認(rèn)真仔細(xì)地聽他們說的話，這很費(fèi)力。

If you speak English with a heavy foreign accent， you are making things difficult for people who listen to you. If you have a clear， pleasant accent， people will simply enjoy talking to you. They will want to spend time with you.

如果你說英語時(shí)帶有很重的外國口音，那對于那些聽你說話的人來說，想聽懂就會很困難。如果你擁有清晰明了，且動聽的口音，人們將很樂意與你交談，也會愿意和你相處。

【Notes】

1. pronunciation [?????] n. 發(fā)音 （pronunciate [?????] v. 發(fā)音）

2. notice [?????] vt. 通知;注意到;留心 vi. 引起注意 3. grammar structure語法結(jié)構(gòu)

4. limited [?????] adj. 有限的 5. mistake [?????] n. 錯(cuò)誤;誤會;過失

6. communication [?????] n. 交流，溝通（communicate [?????] v. 溝通;相通;交流）

7. simple [?????] adj. 簡單的

8. normal [?????] adj. 正常的;正規(guī)的;標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的

9. enough [?????] adv. 足夠地，充足地 adj. 充足的

10. achievement [?????] n. 成就;完成;達(dá)到;成績

11. pleasant [?????] adj. 令人愉快的，舒適的;討人喜歡的，和藹可親的

12. accent [?????] n. 口音;重音