TED演讲如何在6个月内学会一门外语.doc

.TED爆红演讲：如何在6个月内学会一门外语？Have you ever held a question in mind for so long that it becomes part of how you think?你是否曾经把一个问题留在心中很久，结果它已经成为你的一种思路？Maybe even part of who you are as a person?甚至可能已经成为你自己的一部分？Well I've had a question in my mind for many, many years and that is: how can you speed up learning?我思考了一个问题很多很多年，就是：你怎样才能加快自己学习的速度？Now, this is an interesting question because if you speed up learning you can spend less time at school.那么，这是一个很有趣的问题，因为如果你可以加快自己的学习的速度，你就可以花更少时间在学校里。And if you learn really fast, you probably wouldn't have to go to school at all.如果你真的可以学习得特别快，你可能根本就不用去上学。Now, when I was young, school was sort of okay but I found quite often that school got in the way of learning so I had this question in mind: how do you learn faster?在我小时候，上学还凑合，但我常常发现上学会阻碍学习，因此在心里面我有了这样一个问题：怎样才能学得更快呢？And this began when I was very, very young. When I was about eleven years old I wrote a letter to researchers in the Soviet Union, asking about hypnopaedia, this is sleep learning, where you get a tape recorder, you put it beside your bed and it turns on in the middle of the night when you're sleeping, and you're supposed to be learning from this.(这个想法)在我很小时候已经开始了，大约我11岁的时候，我给前苏联的研究者写了一封关于睡眠学习的信， 所谓“睡觉学习” ，就是拿一个磁带录音机放在你床边， 等你入眠后机器开始播放磁带，(然后)目的是通过这种方式来学习。A good idea, unfortunately it doesn't work.一个好主意，不幸的是它行不通。But, hypnopaedia did open the doors to research in other areas and we've had incredible discoveries about learning that began with that first question.但睡眠学习确实打开了研究其他领域的大门，并且我们从研究这个问题开始已经有了一些惊人的发现。I went on from there to become passionate about psychology and I have been involved in psychology in many ways for the rest of my life up until this point.从那开始我对心理学充满热情，直到现在我已经投入了几十年的时间从事心理学相关的不同研究和工作。In 1981 I took myself to China and I decided that I was going to be native level in Chinese inside two years.1981年，我来到了中国，并且我决定在两年内我的汉语要达到像中文母语者一样的水平。Now, you need to understand that in 1981, everybody thought Chinese was really, really difficult and that a westerner could study for ten years or more and never really get very good at it.呐，你需要明白的是在20世纪80年代初，所有人都认为汉语是真的很难学，一个西方人可能学习10年或以上也未必能学好。And I also went in with a different idea which was: taking all of the conclusions from psychological research up to that point and applying them to the learning process.还有，我带着一种不同的想法，就是把心理学对这个问题研究所得的全部结论运用到我学习的过程当中。What was really cool was that in six months I was fluent in Mandarin Chinese and took a little bit longer to get up to native.特别棒的是我在六个月内能说流利的中文，不久后，我达到了中文母语者的水平。But I looked around and I saw all of these people from different countries struggling terribly with Chinese, I saw Chinese people struggling terribly to learn English and other languages, and so my question got refined down to: how can you help a normal adult learn a new language quickly, easily and effectively?但我看到周围那些来自不同国家的人在为学习中文苦苦挣扎，中国人在为学习英文或其他语言苦苦挣扎，因此我的问题便细化到：怎样帮助一位正常的成年人更快、更容易和有效地学会第二门语言。Now this is a really, really important question in today's world.要强调的是，在今天的世界里这是一个非常非常重要的问题。We have massive challenges with environment. We have massive challenges with social dislocation, with wars, all sorts of things going on and if we can't communicate we're really going to have difficulty solving these problems.我们需要面对大量的(有关)环保问题的挑战，我们需要面对很多社会混乱和战争的挑战，各种各类事情在发生，如果我们不能沟通那我们将难以解决这些问题。So we need to be able to speak each other's languages. This is really, really important.因此，我们需要能够说对方的语言。这真的非常重要。The question then is how do you do that？ Well, it's actually really easy.接下来的问题是，怎样做到？这实际上是很容易的。You look around for people who can already do it, you look for situations where it's already working and then you identify the principles and apply them.看看你周围那些已经做到的人，寻找在什么情况下，它是有效的，识别这些原则后好好利用它们。It's called modeling and I've been looking at language learning and modeling language learning for about fifteen to twenty years now.这是一种高科技模仿，而我已经用这种方法研究语言学习大约15到20年了。And my conclusion, my observation from this is that any adult can learn a second language to fluency inside six months.接着多年的观察，我得到的结论是，任何一个成年人能在6个月内把任何外语学得流利。Now when I say this, most people think I'm crazy, this is not possible. So let me remind everybody of the history of human progress, it's all about expanding our limits.呐，当我说成年人能在6个月内学会任何一种外语，大多数人都认为我疯了，这是不可能的。因此，先让我提醒在座各位关于人类历史的进展，所有人类历史都是在扩展我们的极限。In 1950 everybody believed that running one mile in four minutes was impossible and then Roger Bannister did it in 1956 and from there it's got shorter and shorter.在20世纪50年代，所有人都相信跑出4分钟1英里的成绩是不可能的，后来罗杰·班尼斯特在1965年做到了，而从那开始跑1英里的时间变得越来越短 。100 years ago everybody believed that heavy stuff doesn't fly。100年前，每个人都相信重的物体不能飞。Except it does and we all know this. How does heavy stuff fly?它不但可以飞，而且我们大家都知道这个事实。那么，重物是怎样飞的呢？We reorganize the materials using principles that we have learned from observing nature, birds in this case.我们观察大自然的原理，在此是鸟飞行的原理， ，根据这些我们重新组织材料来使重物可以飞。And today we've gone ever further, so you can fly a car. You can buy one of these for a couple hundred thousand US dollars.如今，我们甚至走得更远，你可以驾驶一辆会飞的汽车。你可以花几十万美元购买一辆这样的汽车。We now have cars in the world that can fly.我们现在有了会飞的汽车了。.And there's a different way to fly that we've learned from squirrels.在能飞的松鼠的身上我们学会了另一种不同的方式来飞。So all you need to do is copy what a flying squirrel does, build a suit called a wing suit and off you go, you can fly like a squirrel.你只要做的是去复制一只飞鼠如何飞的原理，建造一套翼服，你就可以像一只飞鼠那样可以在天空中飞翔。Now, most people, a lot of people, I wouldn't say everybody but a lot of people think they can't draw.那么，大多数人，很多人，我不会说所有人，但很多人认为他们不会画画。However there are some key principles, five principles that you can apply to learning to draw and you can actually learn to draw in five days.然而这里有一些重要的原则，5个原则你可以利用来学习画画并且实际上你可以在5天内学会。So, if you draw like this, you learn these principles for five days and apply them and after five days you can draw something like this.如果你平时画成这样，那么你学习5天这些原则然后应用它们，5天后，你可以画成这样。Now I know this is true because that was my first drawing and after five days of applying these principles that was what I was able to do.我知道这是真的，因为那是我第一次画的，5天后我应用了这些原则，我可以做到这样。And I looked at this and I went wow,' so that's how I look like when I'm concentrating so intensely that my brain is exploding.当我看着这个，我“哇”了一声，那就是我非常强烈的，专注到我大脑快要爆炸的样子呀！So, anybody can learn to draw in five days and in the same way, with the same logic, anybody can learn a second language in six months.因此，任何人都能够用5天时间学会画画，同样地，用同样的方式和逻辑，任何人都可以在6个月内学会一门外语。How: there are five principles and seven actions.怎么做呢？ 有5个原则和7个行动可以跟随。There may be a few more but these are absolutely core.可能有更多，但这些绝对是核心部分。And before I get into those I just want to talk about two myths, dispel two myths.进入这些点之前我想先说说两个神话并消除它们。The first is that you need talent.第一个是你需要有天赋。Let me tell you about Zoe.让我跟你们说说关于佐伊的事情。Zoe came from Australia, went to Holland, was trying to learn Dutch, struggling a great deal and finally people were saying: you're completely useless,' you're not talented,' give up,' you're a waste of time' and she was very, very depressed.佐伊是澳大利亚人，她去到荷兰并尝试学习荷兰语。她非常挣扎，最后人们跟她说， “没用的， ”“你没有天赋， ”“还是放弃吧， ”“你根本就是在浪费时间。 ”她对此感到非常沮丧。And then she came across these five principles, she moved to Brazil and she applied them and within six months she was fluent in Portuguese, so talent doesn't matter.后来，她无意中发现了这5个原则，去了巴西，并把这些原则应用到她学习葡萄牙语中，6个月内，她可以说流利的葡萄牙语了。因此，天赋不重要。People also think that immersion in a new country is the way to learn a language.人们还认为学会一门外语最好的方式就是到说该门语言的国家去。But look around Hong Kong, look at all the westerners who've been .here for ten years, who don't speak a word of Chinese.但是看看在香港已经呆了10年的西方人，还是一句中文也不会说。Look at all the Chinese living in America, Britain, Australia, Canada who have been there ten, twenty years and they don't speak any English.看看那些居住在美国、英国、澳大利亚、加拿大10年、20年的中国人，还是不会一句英文。Immersion per se doesn't not work, why?只呆在一个新的国家本身是没有用的。为什么？Because a drowning man cannot learn to swim.因为溺水的人是学不会游泳的。When you don't speak a language you're like a baby and if you drop yourself into a context which is all adults talking about stuff over your head, you won't learn.当你不能说那种语言，你就像一个婴儿，如果你进入一个环境，那里全部都是成年人在叽叽呱呱的说一些你完全听不明白的话，你还是学不会。So, what are the five principles that you need to pay attention to;那么，你需要注意的那5个原则是什么呢？first: there are four words, attention, meaning, relevance and memory, and these interconnect in very important ways. Especially when you're talking about learning.首先，有四个词，注意力、含义、关联和记忆， 而这些在很多非常重要的方面是相互连接的，特别在你谈论学习的时候。Come with me on a journey through a forest.请跟随我来一趟森林之旅。You go on a walk through a forest and you see something like this.你穿越森林，然后你看到一个像这样的东西。Little marks on a tree, maybe you pay attention, maybe you don't.你可能注意到了树上的这些小标记，可能你没有注意它们。You go another fifty metres and you see this.然后你继续向前走50米，你看到了这个。You should be paying attention.你应该要注意了。Another fifty metres, if you haven't been paying attention, you see this.再50米，如果你还没注意的话，你会看到这个。And at this point, you're paying attention.当看到这个的时候，你就会注意了。And you've just learned that this is important, it's relevant because it means this, and anything that is related, any information related to your survival is stuff that you're going to pay attention to and therefore you're going to remember it.你刚刚学习到了这个是重要的，它与你有重要关系，因为它代表这个。任何有关联的东西，任何有关你生存的信息都是值得你注意的，而你给注意力的就会记住的。If it's related to your personal goals then you're going to pay attention to it, if it's relevant you're going to remember it.如果它关于你个人目标的，那么你就会注意到它，如果它与你是有关联的，你就会记住它。So, the first rule, the first principle for learning a language is focus on language content that is relevant to you.因此，学习一门语言的第一个原则就是注意那些与你息息相关的语言内容上。Which brings us to tools.这就让我们谈到工具。We master tools by using tools and we learn tools the fastest when they are relevant to us.我们通过使用工具来掌握工具，而当这些工具与我们息息相关的时候，我们就可以学得很快。So let me share a story.先让我分享一个故事。A keyboard is a tool.键盘是一个工具。Typing Chinese a certain way, there are methods for this. That's a tool.有不同方法打中文字。这些方法属于工具的一种。I had a colleague many years ago who went to night school;多年前，我有一位同事，她上夜校学习中文打字。Tuesday night, Thursday night, two hours each night, practicing at home, she spent nine months, and she did not learn to type Chinese.每周二、周四晚上，她都用2个小时上课，然后也在家练习，她花了9个月的时间，仍然没学会打中文字。And one night we had a crisis.一天晚上，我们有一件紧急的事情。We had forty eight hours to deliver a training manual in Chinese.我们有48个小时来准备用中文发表一本训练手册。And she got the job, and I can guarantee you in forty eight hours, she learned to type Chinese because it was relevant, it was important, it was meaningful, she was using a tool to create value.她获得了这个任务 ，并且我可以像你保证，在48个小时内，她学会了用中文打字。因为这是相关的、重要的、有意义的，她在使用一种工具来创造价值。So the second tool for learning a language is to use your language as .a tool to communicate right from day one. As a kid does.因此，学习一门语言的第二个工具是从第一天开始，用你的语言作为一种工具来沟通，像一个孩子那样做。When I first arrived in China I didn't speak a word of Chinese, and on my second week I got to take a train ride overnight.当我初次来到中国，我一句中文都不会说。第二个星期我乘坐火车过夜。I spent eight hours sitting in the dining car talking to one of the guards on the train. He took an interest in me for some reason, and we just chatted all night in Chinese and he was drawing pictures and making movements with his hands and facial expressions and piece by piece by piece I understood more and more.我花了8个小时，坐在餐车，跟一位乘警聊。因为某种原因，他对我很感兴趣。我们在那用中文聊了整夜，随着他画画、比划双手并动用他的面部表情，我逐渐地明白越来越多。But what was really cool, was two weeks later, when people were talking Chinese around me, I was understanding some of this and I hadn't even made any effort to learn that.但是真正有趣的是，两个星期后，当人们在我周围说中文的时候，我可以明白一些而且我并没有为之付出任何努力。What had happened?发生了什么？I'd absorbed it that night on the train, which brings us to the third principle When you first understand the message, then you will acquire the language unconsciously.在火车的那晚我已经吸收了中文也是我们要说的第三个原则。当你已经理解沟通的信息含义，接下来你将不知不觉下意识的获得该语言。And this is really, really well documented now, it's something called comprehensible input and there's twenty or thirty years of research on this. Stephen Krashen, a leader in the field has published all sorts of these different studies and this is just from one of them.而且这是有充足的证据证明的，我们把它称之为“可明白输入” ，而这个概念被研究了了研究二三十年。此领域的佼佼者史蒂夫·克拉申发布了各类不同的学术研究成果，而这些数据来自他的一个报告。