(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
In Language Learning, Mistakes Are Not Bad
English learners should not think that mistakes, or errors, are bad.
One American language expert advises that language learners should instead see errors as signs of progress. Alex Poole is a professor of English and interim department head of modern languages at Western Kentucky University.
One common problem is that English learners think too much about errors instead of communication. "The goal is to be able to communicate in practical terms. If you have an error, the only time you should worry about it is if it causes communication breakdown," Poole said.
Poole has some useful ideas about ways English learners can use errors. When you are speaking with a native English speaker, there are two kinds of things you can do to look for errors, Poole said.
The first is to look for misunderstanding or other signs of confusion. For example, perhaps a person gives an unusual response to something you said. You can then ask them directly what the problem is.
The second works if you know a native speaker well. You can ask them about the kinds of things that you say that could cause communication problems with other native speakers.
When it comes to writing, Poole recommends thinking about errors in a different way. He suggests keeping a list of common errors. These might include mistakes with subject-verb agreement, prepositions or articles.
When English learners write something, Poole recommends that they think about the main ideas first. Then, he recommends thinking about how to put those ideas in order. Instead of thinking about grammar, he suggests you should think about the big picture of what you are writing about. After you write something, you can go back and use your list to look for errors.
One of the big ideas that came from Poole was the importance of being realistic. If you find out what is realistic, Poole said, you can create your own "philosophy of errors." In other words, you can decide how errors will play a part in your own learning process.
Poole described his philosophy of errors:
"My philosophy as a language learner has always been look... I'm going to monitor my errors and mistakes, but I know that I'm never going to be perfect, and so that shouldn't bother me. But I should look for things which cause communication problems, and I just have to live with that. I can't say, "Ok, if I don't make it to this level, it's going to be a failure" ...There will be people who will react negatively – and this is one thing that learners have to be aware of. There are many native speakers of a language who you will be in touch with who will not be very nice, who, no matter what, will say "I can't understand you".... But you can't let them be your guide."
You can read more about errors in Poole's new book. It is called Learning a Foreign Language - Understanding the Fundamentals of Linguistics. In the book, he also writes about long-term plans, progress and other issues in language learning.
I'm John Russell.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. instead of 替代；取代；
We did the logo in lower-case letters instead of capitals.
我们的徽标用了小写字母，没用大写。
2. look for 找寻；查找；
Look for software that's flexible enough for a range of abilities.
寻找功能多、适用性强的软件。
3. in other words 换言之；也就是说；
In other words, the system broke.
换句话说，系统瘫痪了。
4. live with 容忍；接受；
Learned to live with your limitations.
学会容忍你的不足。
参考译文
在语言学习中，犯错并不是坏事
英语学习者不应该认为犯错是坏事。
一位美国语言专家建议，语言学习者应该把错误看作进步的标志。亚历克斯·普尔是西肯塔基大学英语教授兼现代语言系临时系主任。
一个常见的问题是英语学习者太多地考虑错误而不是交流。“我们的目标是能够以实际的方式进行交流。如果你犯了一个错误，只有在它会导致交流中断时才需要担忧。
普尔对英语学习者利用错误的方法有一些实用的想法。普尔说，当你和一个以英语为母语的人交谈时，有两种方法可以用来查找错误。
首先是寻找误解或其他造成混淆的迹象。例如，也许一个人对你说的话做出了不同寻常的反应，你就可以直接问他们问题出在哪里。
如果你很了解一个以英语为母语的人，第二种方法很有效。你可以问他们你所说的话，可能导致与其他母语者进行交流时出现问题的事情。
谈到写作，普尔建议用不同的方式思考错误。他建议保留一份常见错误的清单，可能包括主谓一致、介词或冠词的错误。
当英语学习者写东西时，普尔建议他们首先考虑主要思想。然后，他建议思考如何将这些想法理顺。不要考虑语法问题，而应该考虑你所写内容的大局。在书写完之后，可以返回去，用错误清单来查错。
普尔提出的一个重要想法是实事求是。普尔说，如果你发现什么是现实的，就能创造出自己的“错误体系”。换句话说，你可以决定错误在自己的学习过程中如何发挥作用。
普尔描述了他的错误体系：
“作为一个语言学习者，我的体系一直是留心查看，我要监控自己的各种错误，但我知道我永远不会是完美的，所以这不应该困扰我。但我应该寻找那些会导致沟通问题的东西，我不得不接受这些。我不能说，“好吧，如果我不能达到这个水平，那就失败了”……会有人做出消极的反应，这是学习者必须意识到的一件事。有许多母语是某种语言的人，你在接触他们后感到他们不很友好，不管你怎么做，他们都会说“我不明白你的意思” ……但你不能让他们给你作指导。”
你可以在普尔的新书中读到更多关于犯错的信息，这本书叫做《学习外语——了解语言学的基本原理》。在这本书中，他还写了语言学习的长期计划、进展和其他问题。
约翰·拉塞尔报道。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
