(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Train Your Brain to Think in English
If you live in a place where most people speak the language you are learning, you may use the language for several hours each day.
So, it may become part of your "inner speech." In other words, you start thinking in that language. Your mind stops trying to translate things from your native language into the second language.
But, the majority of the VOA Learning English audience lives in places where English is not the main language.
This may be true for you. You may not have many chances to practice English. You may even be self-taught.
When you speak, your speech might be slower than you would like. This is because your mind is still translating from your first language, which can also sound unnatural. English, like every other language, has its own sentence structure.
The good news is that thinking in English can bring you a huge step closer to fluency! It is not very difficult, but it does take conscious effort and practice.
On today's Education Tips, we will share some mental exercises that can help.
Most experts note that it's best to start small. So, a good first step is to think in individual words.
Look around you. What do you see? In your head, try to name each object in your surroundings.
Charles Thomas has taught English to Union members, children and teenagers for over 10 years. He has also helped open schools in several countries. He currently works for EF International Schools in Washington, D.C.
Thomas tells his students to name the things that they see around them, wherever they are.
"As you continue with this, it becomes more of a habit, so things are going to pop up into your head – computer, telephone, chair, desk. Whatever it is...wherever you are."
Start with nouns and then add in verbs, he suggests.
He says you can also do this at home when you wake up and before you go to sleep.
Teacher Andrew Hinshaw also finds this exercise helpful.
He has been teaching English for 12 years, including in Vietnam for the U.S. Department of State. He currently teaches at the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.
Hinshaw remembers one method some of his Vietnamese students liked.
"I've had students tell me that they label everything in their room or their apartments so that these English words, kind of, stick in their heads."
Another exercise that both Thomas and Hinshaw suggest is describing in your mind objects you don't know the words for.
An example would be if you couldn't think of the word "garage," Thomas says.
"If you're looking at your house and you see your garage, but you can't think of the name in English. You can say, ‘The place inside where I put my car' or you can say, 'It's next to my house. I keep things there.'"
He says you can also use shorter phrases, such as "It's similar to..." or "It's the opposite of..."
Hinshaw says doing this can help learners of any language. As a Spanish learner, he does it himself.
The next exercise is thinking in simple sentences.
For example, if you are sitting in a park, you can tell yourself things like, "It's such a beautiful day" and "People are playing sports with their friends."
Once this becomes easy, you can move on to more difficult sentences.
Hinshaw sometimes uses this exercise to think about what he wants to say to people in Spanish.
"I definitely try to say these sentences in my head or try to put the words together without thinking too much about if it's absolutely correct."
Another exercise experts suggest is to describe your daily activities. There are a few ways to do this.
Thomas asks his beginning-level students to describe their day using the simple present verb form. So, they would think to themselves things like, "I put on my shirt" and "He drives the bus."
Other experts say you can mentally make plans in the morning when you wake up. This would require other verb tenses. So the skill level is a little higher.
For example, you might tell yourself, "When I leave the house, I'm going to get an iced coffee. Then, I'll take the train to class. I'm studying with Paola today. She said she booked a study room at the library for 2 p.m."
Now, let's move to thinking in conversation.
When you do this, you are imagining yourself speaking to someone else. You are asking the questions and thinking of replies.
This is a great way to practice what you might say in a real conversation.
For example, let's say the imaginary person asks you a question like, "What did you think of the award show last night?" How would you answer? Imagine the conversation and practice it in your head.
You can do this out loud or in silence.
For all of these exercises, there will of course be words and phrases that you do not know. So, at some point you will need to use a dictionary.
If your skill level is high enough, you might consider using an English-to-English dictionary.
Hinshaw suggests writing down just five to 10 new words and phrases each day.
Keeping a notebook, he says, helps you remember the situation that you needed that word or phrase for. This makes it easy to recall when you are in such a situation again.
So, how much time should you spend on these exercises?
Thomas says do a little every day.
"So when you're doing it every day, over and over again, little by little, that's the key. Because, when you make things a habit, then it just pops up into your mind without thinking and then, before you know it, really, you're thinking in English."
I'm Alice Bryant.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. in other words 换言之；也就是说；
In other words, we have to build different corporate cultures and ways of working.
换句话说，我们必须建立不同的企业文化和运作方式。
2. pop up 突然出现；弹出式；
These fears will pop up in front of you and within you.
这些恐惧会突然出现在你的面前和你的心底。
3. next to 紧邻；在...旁边；
Someone introduced us and I sat next to him.
有人给我们作了介绍，我挨着他坐下了。
4. over and over again 一次又一次；反复地；
He reiterated his views over and over again.
他一再重复自己的观点。
参考译文
训练大脑用英语思考
如果你住在一个地方，那里大多数人所说的是你正在学习的语言，你可以每天有几个小时都使用这种语言。
所以，它可能会成为你“内心语言”的一部分，换句话说，你开始用这种语言思考。你的大脑不再试图把母语翻译成第二语言。
但是，大多数美国之音学习英语的观众生活在英语不是主要语言的地方。
这对你来说可能是实情，你可能没有太多机会练习英语，你甚至可能要自学成才。
你的大脑仍然在从第一个语言进行翻译，这听起来也不太正常。英语和其他语言一样，有自己的句子结构。
好消息是，用英语思考可以让你离流利会话更进一步！这并不难，但需要有意识地去做和实践。
在今天的教育小贴士中，我们将分享一些有帮助的心理练习。
大多数专家指出，最好从小处着手。所以，很好的第一步是用独立的单词思考。
看看你周围，你看到什么了？在你的头脑中，试着说出你周围每个物体的名字。
查尔斯·托马斯给工会成员、儿童和青少年教授英语已经有十多年之久，他还帮助几个国家开办了学校，他目前在华盛顿特区的英孚国际学校工作。
托马斯让他的学生说出他们在周围看到的东西的名字，不管它们在哪里。
“当你持续去做，它就会变成一种习惯，事物会突然出现在你的脑海中——电脑、电话、椅子、桌子。不管是什么，不管你在哪里。”
他建议从名词开始，然后加上动词。
他说，你也可以在家里时，当你醒来以及睡觉之前做这个练习。
安德鲁·辛肖老师也觉得这个练习很有帮助。
他已经教了12年英语，包括在越南为美国国务院工作。他目前在华盛顿特区的卡洛斯·罗萨里奥国际公立特许学校任教。
辛肖记得他的越南学生们喜欢的一种方法。
“有学生告诉我，他们把房间或公寓里的所有东西都贴上标签，这样这些英语单词就好像粘在了他们的脑子里。”
托马斯和辛肖建议的另一个练习，是在你的大脑中描述那些你不知道名字的事物。
托马斯说，举个例子，如果你想不起“车库”这个词。
“如果你看着自己的房子，看着你的车库，但你想不起它们的英文名字。你可以说，‘我把车停放在里面的地方’或者你可以说，‘它就挨着我的房子，我把东西放在那儿。”
他说，你也可以使用较短的短语，例如“它类似于...”或“它与...相反”。
辛肖说，这样做可以帮助任何语言的学习者。作为一个学习西班牙语的人，他自己就是这么做的。
下一个练习是用简单的句子思考。
例如，如果你坐在公园里，你可以告诉自己一些事，比如“今天真是美好的一天”，“人们正在和朋友们一起运动”。
这变得容易后，你就可以尝试更难的句子。
有时，辛肖用这个练习来思考他想对说西班牙的人说些什么。
“我肯定会在脑海中说出这些句子，或者尽量把单词拼凑在一起，而不会过多考虑是否正确。”
专家建议的另一个练习是描述你的日常活动，做法有几种。
托马斯要求初级水平的学生，用一般现在时的动词来描述他们的一天。所以，他们想的会是，“我穿上衬衫”和“他开公共汽车”。
其他专家说，早上醒来时你可以在大脑中制定计划。这要用到其他动词时态，所以需要更高点的语言水平。
例如，你可能会告诉自己，“当我离开家时，我要喝杯冰咖啡。然后，我坐火车去上课。今天，我和保拉一起学习。她说，她下午2点在图书馆订了自习室。”
现在，我们来考虑一下对话。
当你这样做的时候，你在想象自己在和别人说话。你在询问问题并思考答案。
这是一个很好的方法，可以练习你在真实对话中可能要说的话。
例如，假设那个虚构的人物问你了一个问题，“你觉得昨晚的颁奖典礼怎么样？”你会怎么回答？想象一下对话，并在脑海中练习。
你可以大声说出来或默想。
对于所有这些练习，当然会有你不知道的单词和短语。所以，某些时候需要使用字典。
如果你的水平够高，可以考虑使用一本英英词典。
辛肖建议每天只写五到十个新单词和短语。
他说，记笔记有助于你记住需要使用这个词或短语的情况。再碰到这种情况时，你就能很容易回想起来。
那么，你应该花多少时间做这些练习呢？
托马斯说每天做一点就行。
“你每天都这么做，关键是一遍遍，一点点地做。因为，当你养成一种习惯时，它就会不假思索地出现在脑海中。在你意识到之前，你就在用英语思考了。”
爱丽丝·布莱恩特报道。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
