提高口語能力的小技巧

內容簡介

一位聽眾想知道一些提高英語口語的小技巧。“Em（嗯）”…… “Actually（其實）” 這是個很常見的問題。在口語學習中，我們除瞭可以使用 “fillers（填充詞）” 來幫助我們調節語速，還可以嘗試通過一些練習來幫助我們在口語交流過程中更加自信。聽本期 “你問我答” 節目，學習幾個提高口語能力的小技巧。

文字稿

（關於臺詞的備註: 請註意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。）

Buli
大傢好，歡迎收聽 AYYBLOG 英語教學的 “你問我答” 節目。I’m Buli.

Georgie
And I’m Georgie. We’ve got a question from one of our listeners.

Question
Why can I understand some daily English conversations, but when it comes to communicating with others, I find it hard to talk naturally? Are there any tips to improve my English speaking?

Buli
這位聽眾想知道：雖然能夠聽懂日常英語對話，但真的到瞭需要張口說英語的時候總是感覺不夠自然，是否有能夠提高英語口語的方法呢？

Georgie
This is a great question and I’m sure many of our listeners can relate to it! Let me start by saying that this is very normal – a lot of people feel that they can understand more of a language than they can speak. I certainly felt that way when I was learning Spanish!

Buli
其實我對這個問題也頗有同感。隻是在非母語的語言學習上，除瞭像學習開車或者炒菜做飯一樣多多練習，也並沒有什麼捷徑。俗話說得好：勤能補拙。瞭解自己的不足之處並且多多練習才能夠不斷進步。

Georgie
That’s right, Buli. But, between the two of us, we’ve definitely got some useful tips for how to improve your speaking fluency. Now, the first one I have is about getting used to how speaking feels and sounds in your mouth.

Buli
沒錯，本期節目中我和 Georgie 會從自己的經驗出發，給大傢介紹一些練習口語時的方法和技巧，希望對你有所幫助。不過 Georgie，你的第一個建議好像還是有點抽象，能不能詳細說說怎麼能習慣說英語時口腔發音的感覺呢？

Georgie
Of course! This you can do at home without a speaking partner. Ask yourself questions. For example, how was my day? What happened? How did I feel? Who did I see? What was the weather like? Respond to the questions aloud. Now, there are a few variants to this activity. How would you do it, Buli?

Buli
自問自答確實是練習口語的好方法。像是我就嘗試過問自己一些簡單的問題，並且有時還會給自己錄音。雖然剛開始在錄音裡聽到自己的聲音會有些不好意思，自己的聲音聽上去也不太熟悉，但嘗試幾次以後我發現這個方法不但能糾正一些平時不容易發現的錯誤，也能讓自己在說英語時更加自信。

Georgie
That’s a good idea. If you don’t feel very confident, a first step could be to write some notes about what you want to say, so you feel prepared to speak. Now, I make this suggestion of practising by yourself first, because I know that speaking in front of others can be nerve-wracking if you’re scared of making mistakes.

Buli
是的。之所以向大傢推薦自主練習，一方面是因為這種方法簡單易行，另一方面也是考慮到直接和他人對話時大傢都會擔心出現語言上的錯誤，以致太過緊張達不到練習的效果。那麼，我們該如何克服對犯錯的焦慮，自信地參與到日常對話中呢？

Georgie
Well, you could first try having a conversation via voice messages on your phone, or even a phone call. Voice messages are a good middle ground because you are having a real interaction with someone, but you still have time to think about what you want to say, and you can re-record your message if you aren’t happy.

Buli
原來如此！通過發送語音消息的方式交流就可以反復斟酌自己的用詞，積累自信。從我的經驗來講，使用語音輸入等工具也可以達到類似的效果，並且可以直觀地看到句子結構是否完整，單詞發音是不是準確等問題。可是即使如此，在面對面交流時怎麼做能幫助自己組織語言呢？

Georgie
Um, well, my tip here is to learn some fillers. So, basically, fillers are very common in everyday English conversations, and they’re useful for our listeners because, well, they can slow down the conversation a bit and, you know, give you more time to think about what you want to say. Buli, I used some there, didn’t I?

Buli
Yes! You said “um”, “well”, “so”, “basically” and “you know”. 在英語口語中，我們可以通過 “fillers（填充詞）” 來給自己提供思考和組織語言的時間。比如，Georgie 剛剛用到的 “um（嗯）”、“well（其實）”、“basically（大體上，基本上來說）” 或 “you know（你知道的）” 等等。這些詞通常不在句子中構成主要的語法成分，因此不會影響句意的表達。你也可以通過重復他人的問題等方式給自己留出思考的時間。來聽下面的兩個例子。

Examples
What did I do at the weekend? Good question! Well, um, it was quite sunny, so I went to the farmer’s market and then, let me see… Oh, yeah! I saw my older brother, and, basically, I had a really relaxing weekend. So, yeah. How about you?
（我周末幹什麼瞭？這是個好問題！嗯……周末陽光很好，所以我去瞭農貿市場，然後嘛，讓我想想……對瞭！我還去看瞭我的哥哥，所以，大體上我的周末過得非常放松。大概就這樣。你過得怎麼樣？）

How are my studies going, you ask? Hmm. Well, to be honest, the term started badly as I missed a few lectures because of illness. But, you know, I caught up on the work I’d missed and, well, actually, I’m now top of the class. So, basically, I’m doing OK, I guess.
（你問我學習上近況如何？嗯……說實話，這學期剛開始並不好，我因為生病落下瞭幾節課。不過你知道的，我把落下的課程都補回來瞭，而且，其實吧，我現在在班裡可是第一名呢。所以，我基本上學得還不錯。）

Georgie
So, basically, don’t be afraid of fillers! Fillers are your friend. They not only give you more time to think, but they help you sound more natural.

Buli
Exactly! 上面的例子中使用瞭不少的填充詞，但並沒有給人說話拖沓或意思不清楚的感覺，這是因為實際上這些詞就經常被使用在英語對話中。所以，在練習時我們也可以積極嘗試使用填充詞，讓自己的口語聽上去更加自然。最後，還想鼓勵大傢在學英語時不要害怕犯錯誤。學會在口語中發現錯誤，改正錯誤，會讓你的語言學習更加高效。

Georgie
I totally agree, Buli. Remember, if you have a question about the English language you’d like to ask us, please send us an email. Our email address is: questions.