LanguageLearning阅读原文
LanguageLearning 视频原文
I love learning foreign languages. In fact, I love it so much that I like to learn a new language every two years, currently working on my eighth one. When people find that out about me, they always ask me, How do you do that? Whats your secret? And to be honest, for many years, my answer would be, I dont know. I simply love learning languages. But people were never happy with that answer. They wanted to know why they are spending years trying to learn even one language, never achieving fluency, and here I come, learning one language after another. They wanted to know the secret of polyglots, people who speak a lot of languages. And that made me wonder, too, how do actually other polyglots do it? What do we have in common? And what is it that enables us to learn languages so much faster than other people? I decided to meet other people like me and find that out.
The best place to meet a lot of polyglots is an event where hundreds of language lovers meet in one place to practice their languages. There are several such polyglot events organized all around the world, and so I decided to go there and ask polyglots about the methods that they use.
And so I met Benny from Ireland, who told me that his method is to start speaking from day one. He learns a few phrases from a travel phrasebook and goes to meet native speakers and starts having conversations with them right away. He doesnt mind making even 200 mistakes a day, because thats how he learns, based on the feedback. And the best thing is, he doesnt even need to travel a lot today, because you can easily have conversations with native speakers from the comfort of your living room, using websites.
I also met Lucas from Brazil who had a really interesting method to learn Russian. He simply added a hundred random Russian speakers on Skype as friends, and then he opened a chat window with one of them and wrote Hi in Russian. And the person replied, Hi, how are you? Lucas copied this and put it into a text window with another person, and the person replied, Im fine, thank you, and how are you? Lucas copied this back to the first person, and in this way, he had two strangers have a conversation with each other without knowing about it.(Laughter)
And soon he would start typing himself, because he had so many of these conversations that he figured out how the Russian conversation usually starts. What an ingenious method, right?
And then I met polyglots who always start by imitating sounds of the language, and others who always learn the 500 most frequent words of the language, and yet others who always start by reading about the grammar. If I asked a hundred different polyglots, I heard a hundred different approaches to learning languages. Everybody seems to have a unique way they learn a language, and yet we all come to the same result of speaking several languages fluently.And as I was listening to these polyglots telling me about their methods, it suddenly dawned on me: the one thing we all have in common is that we simply found ways to enjoy the language-learning process. All of these polyglots were talking about language learning as if it was great fun. You should have seen their faces when they were showing me their colorful grammar charts and their carefully handmade flash cards, and their statistics about learning vocabulary using apps, or even how they love to cook based on recipes in a foreign language. All of them use different methods, but they always make sure its something that they personally enjoy.
I realized that this is actually how I learn languages myself. When I was learning Spanish, I was bored with the text in the textbook. I mean, who wants to read about Jose asking about the directions to the train station. Right? I wanted to read Harry Potter instead, because that was my favorite book as a child, and I have read it many times. So I got the Spanish translation of Harry Potter and started reading, and sure enough, I didnt understand almost anything at the beginning, but I kept on reading because I loved the book, and by the end of the book, I was able to follow it almost without any problems. And the same thing happened when I was learning German. I decided to watch Friends, my favorite sitcom, in German, and again, at the beginning it was all just gibberish. I didnt know where one word finished and another one started, but I kept on watching every day because its Friends. I can watch it in any language. I love it so much. And after the second or third season, seriously, the dialogue started to make sense.
I only realized this after meeting other polyglots. We are no geniuses and we have no shortcut to learning languages. We simply found ways how to enjoy the process, how to turn language learning from a boring school subject into a pleasant activity which you dont mind doing every day. If you dont like writing words down on paper, you can always type them in an app. If you dont like listening to boring textbook material, find interesting content on YouTube or in podcasts for any language. If youre a more introverted person and you cant imagine speaking to native speakers right away, you can apply the method of self-talk. You can talk to yourself in the comfort of your room, describing your plans for the weekend, how your day has been, or even take a random picture from your phone and describe the picture to your imaginary friend. This is how polyglots learn languages, and the best news is, its available to anyone who is willing to take the learning into their own hands.
So meeting other polyglots helped me realize that it is really crucial to find enjoyment in the process of learning languages, but also that joy in itself is not enough. If you want to achieve fluency in a foreign language, youll also need to apply three more principles.First of all, youll need effective methods. If you try to memorize a list of words for a test tomorrow, the words will be stored in your short-term memory and youll forget them after a few days. If you, however, want to keep words long term, you need to revise them in the course of a few days repeatedly using the so-called space repetition. You can use apps which are based on this system such as Anki or Memrise, or you can write lists of word in a notebook using the Goldlist method, which is also very popular with many polyglots. If youre not sure which methods are effective and what is available out there, just check out polyglots YouTube channels and websites and get inspiration from them. If it works for them, it will most probably work for you too.
The third principle to follow is to create a system in your learning. Were all very busy and no one really has time to learn a language today. But we can create that time if we just plan a bit ahead. Can you wake up 15 minutes earlier than you normally do? That would be the perfect time to revise some vocabulary. Can you listen to a podcast on your way to work while driving? Well, that would be great to get some listening experience. There are so many things we can do without even planning that extra time, such as listening to podcasts on our way to work or doing our household chores. The important thing is to create a plan in the learning. I will practice speaking every Tuesday and Thursday with a friend for 20 minutes. I will listen to a YouTube video while having breakfast. If you create a system in your learning, you dont need to find that extra time, because it will become a part of your everyday life.
And finally, if you want to learn a language fluently, you need also a bit of patience. Its not possible to learn a language within two months, but its definitely possible to make a visible improvement in two months, if you learn in small chunks every day in a way that you enjoy. And there is nothing that motivates us more than our own success.
I vividly remember the moment when I understood the first joke in German when watching Friends. I was so happy and motivated that I just kept on watching that day two more episodes, and as I kept watching, I had more and more of those moments of understanding, these little victories, and step by step, I got to a level where I could use the language freely and fluently to express anything. This is a wonderful feeling. I cant get enough of that feeling, and thats why I learn a language every two years.
So this is the whole polyglot secret. Find effective methods which you can use systematically over the period of some time in a way which you enjoy, and this is how polyglots learn languages within months, not years.Now, some of you may be thinking, Thats all very nice to enjoy language learning, but isnt the real secret that you polyglots are just super talented and most of us arent?
Well, theres one thing I havent told you about Benny and Lucas. Benny had 11 years of Irish Gaelic and five years of German at school. He couldnt speak them at all when graduating. Up to the age of 21, he thought he didnt have the language gene and he could not speak another language. Then he started to look for his way of learning languages, which was speaking to native speakers and getting feedback from them, and today Benny can easily have a conversation in 10 languages. Lucas tried to learn English at school for 10 years. He was one of the worst students in class. His friends even made fun of him and gave him a Russian textbook as a joke because they thought he would never learn that language, or any language. And then Lucas started to experiment with methods, looking for his own way to learn, for example, by having Skype chat conversations with strangers. And after just 10 years, Lucas is able to speak 11 languages fluently.Does that sound like a miracle? Well, I see such miracles every single day. As a language mentor, I help people learn languages by themselves, and I see this every day. People struggle with language learning for five, 10, even 20 years, and then they suddenly take their learning into their own hands, start using materials which they enjoy, more effective methods, or they start tracking their learning so that they can appreciate their own progress, and thats when suddenly they magically find the language talent that they were missing all their lives.
So if youve also tried to learn a language and you gave up, thinking its too difficult or you dont have the language talent, give it another try. Maybe youre also just one enjoyable method away from learning that language fluently. Maybe youre just one method away from becoming a polyglot.Thank you.(Applause)
红楼梦 第一回 一 原文 阅读辅助
第一回甄士隐梦幻识通灵 贾雨村风尘怀闺秀
（第一部分）
【原文】
此开卷第一回也。作者自云：因曾历过一番梦幻之后，故将真事隐去，而借“通灵”之说，撰此《石头记》一书也。故曰“甄士隐”云云。但书中所记何事何人？自又云：“今风尘碌碌，一事无成，忽念及当日所有之女子，一一细考较去，觉其行止见识皆出于我之上。何我堂堂须眉，诚不若彼裙钗哉？实愧则有馀，悔又无益之大无可如何之日也（1）！当此，则自欲将已往所赖天恩祖德，锦衣纨袴之时，饫甘餍肥之日（2），背父兄教育之恩，负师友规训之德，以至今日一技无成，半生潦倒之罪，编述一集，以告天下人：我之罪固不免，然闺阁中本自历历有人，万不可因我之不肖（3），自护己短，一并使其泯灭也。虽今日之茅椽蓬牖（4），瓦灶绳床，其晨夕风露，阶柳庭花，亦未有妨我之襟怀笔墨者（5）。虽我未学，下笔无文，又何妨用假语村言，敷演出一段故事来，亦可使闺阁昭传，复可悦世之目，破人愁闷，不亦宜乎？”故曰“贾雨村云云。
此回中凡用“梦”用“幻”等字，是提醒阅者眼目，亦是此书立意本旨。
列位看官：你道此书从何而来？说起根由虽近荒唐，细按则深有趣味。待在下将此来历注明，方使阅者了然不惑。
原来女娲氏炼石补天之时，于大荒山无稽崖（6）炼成高经十二丈，方经二十四丈顽石三万六千五百零一块。娲皇氏只用了三万六千五百块，只单单剩了一块未用，便弃在此山青埂峰（7）下。谁知此石自经煅炼之后，灵性已通，因见众石俱得补天，独自己无材不堪入选，遂自怨自叹，日夜悲号惭愧。
一日，正当嗟悼（8）之际，俄见（9）一僧一道远远而来，生得骨格不凡，丰神迥异，说说笑笑来至峰下，坐于石边高谈快论。先是说些云山雾海神仙玄幻之事，后便说到红尘中荣华富贵；此石听了，不觉打动凡心，也想要到人间去享一享这荣华富贵，但自恨粗蠢，不得已，便口吐人言，向那僧道说道：“大师，弟子蠢物，不能见礼了。适闻二位谈那人世间荣耀繁华，心切慕之。弟子质虽粗蠢，性却稍通；况见二师仙形道体，定非凡品，必有补天济世之材，利物济人之德。如蒙发一点慈心，携带弟子得入红尘，在那富贵场中，温柔乡里受享几年，自当永佩洪恩，万劫不忘也。”二仙师听毕，齐憨笑道：“善哉，善哉！那红尘中有却有些乐事，但不能永远依恃（10），况又有‘美中不足，好事多魔’八个字紧相连属，瞬息间则又乐极悲生，人非物换，究竟是到头一梦，万境归空，倒不如不去的好。
这石凡心已炽，那里听得进这话去，乃复苦求再四。二仙知不可强制，乃叹道：“此亦静极思动，无中生有之数也。既如此，我们便携你去受享受享，只是到不得意时，切莫后悔。”石道：“自然，自然。”那僧又道：“若说你性灵，却又如此质蠢，并更无奇贵之处。如此也只好踮脚（11）而已。也罢，我如今大施佛法助你助，待劫终之日，复还本质，以了此案。你道好否？”石头听了，感谢不尽。那僧便念咒书符，大展幻术，将一块大石登时变成一块鲜明莹洁的美玉，且又缩成扇坠大小的可佩可拿。那僧托于掌上，笑道：“形体倒也是个宝物了！还只没有实在的好处，须得再镌上数字（12），使人一见便知是奇物方妙。然后携你到那昌明隆盛之邦，诗礼簪缨之族，花柳繁华地，温柔富贵乡去安身乐业。”石头听了，喜不能禁，乃问：“不知赐了弟子那几件奇处，又不知携了弟子到何地方？望乞明示，使弟子不惑。”那僧笑道：“你且莫问，日后自然明白的。”说着，便袖了这石，同那道人飘然而去，竟不知投奔何方何舍。
【阅读辅助】
（1）【原文】
实愧则有馀，悔又无益之大无可如何之日也！
【释义】
馀（yú）：同“余”，都可表示剩余或多余。古文中“余”有人称代词的作用，是“我”的意思。“馀”，本义是“吃剩的食物”，专门表示剩余的意思。用“余”意义可能混淆时，就用“馀”来表示。
之：古文中是“到”的意思。
大：很，非常。
无可如何之日：没有办法的时候、无可奈何的时候。
【完整释义】
真是羞愧有余，后悔也没有什么用，已经到了毫无办法的时候了。
（2）【原文】
锦衣纨袴之时，饫甘餍肥之日
【释义】
纨袴（wán kù）：袴，以丝帛缠裹双腿，以便跨马骑背。本义：绑腿布。同“裤”。
纨绔，绔同“裤”，又可写为“袴”，用于“纨绔”。指富贵人家子弟穿的细绢做成的裤子，泛指有钱人家子弟的华美衣着，借指富贵人家的子弟。
饫（yù）甘餍（yàn）肥：饫：饱食；餍：吃饱。 饱食肥美的食品。形容生活优裕、奢侈。
【完整释义】
锦衣华美，佳肴丰盛，优越富足的日子。
与日后，作者全家赊粥之困的“大无可如何之日”作为对比。
（3）【释义】
不肖： 谦辞。 不才，不贤。
（4）【释义】
茅椽蓬牖（máo chuán péng yǒu）：茅：指盖屋的草。椽：架在屋顶檩木上的木条。牖：窗户。蓬牖：用蓬草编成的窗户。
屋顶、窗子都是用茅草、蓬蒿搭盖。形容居住条件简陋，生活贫困。
（5）【原文】
亦未有妨我之襟怀笔墨者
【释义】
亦未：也没有，也没能。
有妨：妨碍，阻止。
之：的。
襟怀笔墨：创作的情怀，表达的意愿。
【引申释义】
生活的清苦，日子的平淡，也没能阻止我创作的想法。
（6）【释义】
无稽（jī）崖：无稽是没有根据，指无可查考之初，告诉读者不必追究。
（7）【释义】
青埂（gěng）峰：《红楼梦》中虚拟的山峰名称。“青埂”谐音“情根”。脂砚斋批云:“妙，自谓落堕情根，故无补天之用。”（甲戌本）可见此词自有含义。
（8）【释义】
嗟悼（ jiē dào）：哀伤悲叹。
（9）【释义】
俄见：忽然看见。俄：短时间。
（10）【释义】
依恃（yī shì）：倚仗；依赖。
（11）【释义】
踮脚（diǎn jiǎo）：〈方〉跛足人走路脚尖点地的样子。
（12）【释义】
镌（juān）上数字：雕刻上几个字。镌：指用凹线、凹面或点雕刻。
微信阅读原文的链接怎么设置
登录成功进入自己的微信公众号页面后，点击右侧工具栏中的素材管理进行设置。编辑好需要跳转到的文章，编辑好之后，把文章发给自己，手机打开刚才发给自己的文章，点击进去内容页，然后点击右上角下的“复制文章链接”选项即可。
|LanguageLearning阅读原文
LanguageLearning阅读原文 原文 微信阅读原文的链接怎么设置 第一回 红楼梦 阅读辅助