As part of our series on relaxation and placement, this video talks about the soft palate.
作为我们放松和位置系列的一部分，这段视频探讨的是软腭。
An overall nasal sound can be caused either by tension in the throat, or by a lowered soft palate.
整体的鼻音可能是由喉咙紧张引起的，也可能是由软腭下降引起的。
When the soft palate is lowered, it allows some air to come through here, into the nasal cavity.
当软腭下降时，气流就可以从这里进入鼻腔。
That makes the voice live more in the face than in the body.
这使声音听起来更像是从脸部发出来的，而不是从身体内部发出来的。
Luckily there is a very easy way to tell if this is a problem for you.
幸好有一个非常简单的方法来判断这对你来说是不是一个问题。
If you put your fingers on the bridge of your nose,
把你的手指放在鼻梁上，
you will feel it vibrate if your soft palate is lowered. Try it. Put your fingers here and say NN-AH.
当你的软腭下降时，你会感觉到鼻梁在颤动。试试看。把你的手指放在这里，然后说NN-AH。
I feel a vibration for the N, which has a lowered soft palate,
我在发出N音时，会感觉到鼻梁在振动，这说明软腭下降了，
but not for the AH, which has a raised soft palate.
但是当我发AH音时，没有感觉到振动，这说明软腭抬起来了。
There are only three sounds in English that are nasal, with a lowered soft palate.
英语中只有三个发音是鼻音，发音时软腭是下降的。
They are N, M, and NG. Many other languages have nasal vowels, where the soft palate is down,
它们是N、M和NG。许多其他语言都有鼻音，发音时软腭也是下降的，
including Mandarin, Polish, Hindi, French, and Portuguese.
包括普通话、波兰语、印地语、法语和葡萄牙语。
If your native language has nasal vowels, you’ll really want to pay attention to this.
如果你的母语有鼻元音，你需要非常注意这一点。
First, test yourself. Let’s take the word ON.
首先，测试一下自己。让我们以ON这个单词为例来测试一下吧。
It has the AH as in FATHER vowel and the N consonant.
它有和FATHER这个单词一样的AH元音以及一个N辅音。
Say it slowly, holding your nose. ON. Were you able to make the vowel with no vibration?
摸着鼻子慢慢说。ON。你能在没有振动的情况下发出这个元音吗？
Another word, SONG, has the AW as in LAW vowel followed by the NG consonant, song.
另一个词，SONG，它有一个和LAW这个单词一样的AW元音，后面跟着一个NG辅音。Song。
Were you able to make the vowel with no vibration?
你能在没有振动的情况下发出这个元音吗？
A lot of my students get concerned with the idea of raising and lowering the soft palate.
我的很多学生都很想知道抬起和降低软腭的方法。
It’s sort of hard to feel, and hard to see. So I’ve told them just to focus on keeping it lifted.
这其实有点难，也很难看清楚。所以我就只是告诉他们要集中精力把软腭抬起来。
Somehow this does not interfere with the nasal consonants.
无论如何这不都会干扰鼻辅音。
I’ve never had a student fix their overall sound by keeping the soft palate raised,
我的所有学生在通过保持软腭抬高来纠正整体发音的时候，
but then mess up their nasal consonants. So just focus on keeping it lifted.
都不会混淆鼻辅音。所以只要集中精力把软腭抬起来就行了。
How do you lift it. There are a few ways to get used to the feeling and the idea.
你是怎样把软腭抬起来的呢？有几种方法可以让你适应这种感觉和想法。
One way to get used to feeling your soft palate is to suck through a straw.
用吸管吸吮是可以让你适应感觉你的软腭的一种方法。
When you suck through a straw,
当你用吸管吸食时，
your soft palate automatically closes to prevent the liquid from going up into your nasal cavity.
你的软腭会自动闭合，以防止液体进入你的鼻腔。
So, see if you can feel it close.
所以，看看你能不能感觉到软腭闭合。
And if you can’t then try sucking up through the straw and holding it there.
如果你不能感觉到软腭闭合，那么试着用吸管将液体吸起来，然后把液体存在那里。
If you hold it, that might make you more aware of the feeling here, especially when you let go.
当你把液体存在那里的时候，你可能会对这里的感觉更加清晰，特别是当你放开液体的时候。
See if you feel anything release. So go ahead, open a can of soda,
看看你有没有一种释放的感觉。所以，去吧，打开一罐汽水，
treat yourself to that, and practice feeling your soft palate.
款待一下自己，练习你对软腭的感觉。
Another method that may help you lift your soft palate
另一种可能会帮助你抬起软腭的方法
is to just think of creating more space back here.
是只想着在这里创造更多的空间。
If you’re creating more space, you may automatically lift your soft palate to accommodate that.
如果你正在这里创造更多的空间，你可能会自动抬起你的软腭来适应它。
So you can focus on creating space in the back of your mouth or throat as you talk.
这样你就可以在说话时集中精力在嘴巴或喉咙后面创造空间。
Another way to feel your soft palate is to watch yourself raising and lowering it.
另一种感觉你软腭的方法是看着你自己抬起和降低软腭。
Switch back and forth between AH and NG.
AH和NG两个发音来回切换。
When you make the NG, of course, you’re lowering your palate.
当然，当你发出NG音的时候，你是在降低你的软腭。
So switch back and forth between the two, and try to keep your tongue in the same position.
来回切换这两个音，并尽量将舌头保持在同一位置。
That means it’s your soft palate that has to move. Watch yourself in a mirror.
这个意思就是说你的软腭必须移动。看着镜子里的自己。

I’ll demonstrate now, so you should see what that looks like.
我现在要演示一下，让你们看看应该是什么样子。
So, the soft palate: it’s hard to see and hard to feel,
所以，你很难看到或者感觉到软腭，
but it does play an important role in the placement of the voice in American English.
但它在美式英语中的语音位置上确实起着重要的作用。
Play around with these exercises, especially the last one,
体验一下这些练习，特别是最后一个练习，
and see if you can get used to the idea
看看你是否能适应
of keeping your soft palate raised in all vowel sounds and most consonant sounds in American English.
在美式英语中所有元音和大多数辅音发音时都保持软腭抬高的方法。
This video is part of a series on relaxation and placement.
这个视频是放松和位置系列的一部分。
If you liked the video, check out the previous one on the relaxation of the throat.
如果你喜欢这段视频，可以看看上一段关于喉咙放松的视频。
Please put any questions you have in the comments section.
如果你有任何问题，都可以在评论区留言。
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
今天的视频就到这里，非常感谢你使用瑞秋英语。