What is the most important English skill? What skill must you have to communicate well?
学习英语最重要的技巧是什么? 怎样才能很好地用英语进行沟通?
Obviously, number 1 is Fluency. What is fluency? Fluency is the ability to speak (and understand)
English quickly and easily... WITHOUT translation. Fluency means you can talk easily with
native speakers-- they easily understand you, and you easily understand them. In fact, you
speak and understand instantly.
显然，首当其冲是要流利。流利就是在不翻译的情况下，你能快速地说出英语，并且很容易理解。流利意味着你能够很轻松和外国人进行英语对话，他们能够理解你，你也能够理解他们。事实上，流利就是你可以快速地开口讲英语并领会其意思。
Fluency is your most important English goal.
流利是学习英语的最重要的目标。
The research is clear--there is only ONE way to get fluency. You do not get fluency by reading
textbooks. You do not get fluency by going to English schools. You do not get fluency by
studying grammar rules.
研究表明只有通过一种方法才能达到英语流利的目标。读英语课文、上英语辅导学校、学英语语法都不能够让你的英语口语变流利。
Listening Is The Key 听力是关键
To get English fluency, you must have a lot of understandable repetitive listening. That is the
ONLY way. To be a FANTASTIC English speaker, you must learn English with your ears, not
with your eyes. In other words, you must listen. Your ears are the key to excellent speaking.
为了让自己的英语口语流利，你必须在理解的基础上大量地练习听力。要用你的耳朵而不是眼睛学习英语，这样你才能成为一名优秀的英语演讲者。换句话说，你必须多听英语。
What kind of listening is best? Well, it must be understandable and must be repetitive.
Both of those words are important--Understandable and Repetitive. If you don’t
understand, you learn nothing. You will not improve. That’s why listening to English TV
does not help you. You don’t understand most of it. It is too difficult. It is too fast.
怎样练习听力呢?理解和重复，这两点很重要。如果你不理解，你什么也学不到，也不会有提高。听英语新闻对你没有多大帮助。因为英语新闻太难太快了，大部分内容都很难理解。
It’s obvious right? If you do not understand, you will not improve. So, the best listening material is
EASY. That’s right; you should listen mostly to easy English. Most students listen to English that is much too difficult. They don’t understand enough, and so they learn slowly. Listen to easier English, and your speaking will improve faster!
如果理解不了所听内容，你的英语就不会有所提高。因此，最好的听力材料应该是简单的。大多数学生听难度较大的听力材料，因为他们没有充分理解其内容，所以他们学的很慢。听一些简单的听力，你的口语会提高很快。
Understanding is not enough. You must also have a lot of repetition. If you hear a new word
only once, you will soon forget it. If you hear it 5 times, you will still probably forget it!
只有理解还是不够的，你还必须反复听。如果一个新单词你只听一次，你会很快就把它忘了。如果听五次，你仍有可能忘掉。
You must hear new words and new grammar many times before you will understand them instantly.
你需要很多次地听新词或语法，才能很快地理解它们，记住它们。
How many times is necessary? Most people must hear a new word 30 times to remember it
forever. To know a word and instantly understand it, you probably need to hear it 50-100
times! That’s why I tell my students to listen to all of my lessons many times. I tell them to
listen to the Mini-Stories, the Vocab Lessons, The Point-of-View Stories, and the Audio
articles everyday. I recommend that they listen to each lesson a total of 30 times (for example,
2 times a day for two weeks).
大多数人学习一个新单词需要听30次才能不会忘记。要想认识并理解一个单词，你需要听50-100次。这就是我要求学生要多次听我的课的原因。我告诉他们每天要多听微型小说、词汇课程、观点故事和音频文章。我建议他们每节课要听30次(比如，每天听2次，坚持两周就行)。
So, the two most important points are: listen to easier English and listen to each thing
many times.
因此，听英语最重要的两点是：听简单的英语材料和大量地练习听力。
Suggestions For Powerful Listening and Excellent Speaking
练习听力和口语的建议
1. Practice “Narrow Listening”
1、练习“窄听”
“Narrow listening” means listening to many things about the same topic. This method is more powerful than trying to listen to many different kinds of things. Students who listen to similar things learn faster and speak better than students who listen to different kinds of things.
“窄听”是指多听相同主题的材料。这比听很多不同主题的文章更有意义。听类似文章的学生比听不同种文章的学生会学得更快。
For example, you can choose one speaker and find many things by him. Listen to all of his pod- casts, audio books, and speeches. This is powerful because all speakers have favorite vocabulary and grammar. They naturally repeat these many times. By listening to many things by the same person, you automatically get a lot of vocabulary repetition. You learn faster and deeper!
比如，你可以找一个演讲者，从他身上你可以学到很多。听他所有的播客、有声读物、演讲。这对你学习英语大有益处。因为所有演讲者都有自己最喜爱的词汇和语法。他们会自然地多次重复这些词。通过听同一个人的很多东西，你可以获得大量的词汇。你会学得更快!
Another example is to choose one topic to focus on. For example, you could read an easy book, listen to the same audio book, listen to a podcast about the book, and watch the movie.
另一个例子是把注意力集中到一个主题上。例如，你读一本简单的书，只听它的音频，听它的播客，看关于它的电影。
I did this with my class in San Francisco. We read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Then we listened to the audio book. Then we watched (and listened to) the movie. Then we listened to interviews with actors in the movie. My students learned a lot of vocabulary in a short time, and their speaking improved very quickly.
我的学生们都是这样练习英语的。我们读《查理和巧克力工厂》。然后我们听它的音频文章，看关于它的电影。之后我们听演员们的访问。我的学生们从中学到了很多词汇，并且他们的口语有了很大的提高。
2. Divide Your Listening Time
2、划分听力时间
Which is better: to listen for two hours without a break, or to divide that time during the day?
Well, dividing your listening time is best.
连续听两个小时听力好呢?还是分时间段听好呢?当然，后者效果更好。
By dividing your time throughout the day, you remember more and learn faster. So it’s much better to listen 30 minutes in the morning, then 30 minutes in the car or train, then 30 minutes coming home from work, then 30 minutes before sleep. In fact, this is the exact schedule I recommend to my students!
分时间段练习听力有助于记忆。早上起床后听30分钟，坐车时听30分钟，下班回家路上听30分钟，睡觉前听30分钟。事实上，这是我推荐给学生的时间表!
3. Use an iPod or MP3 Player
3、利用iPod 或MP3播放器
iPods are fantastic. You can put a big listening library on one. Then you can carry your English lessons everywhere. You can learn English while walking, while shopping, in the car, in a train, while cooking,...
你可以往播放器里下载很多的听力材料。这样，不管你走到哪你都可以学习英语。当你走路时 ，购物时，坐车时，做饭时······
With an iPod or MP3 player, you don’t have to worry about CDs. Also, you can find a lot of
English listening on the internet. You can find lessons, stories, podcasts, TV shows, interviews, and audio books. Simply download the audio, put it on your iPod. and learn English anywhere!
CD也可以放到播放器里。在网上你可以找到很多关于英语听力的课程、故事、音频等。把他们下载到你的播放器里，你就可以随时学习英语了!
4. Listen To Movies
4、听电影
Movies are great for learning English BUT you must use them correctly. Don’t watch all of an English movie. You will not understand it, and therefore you will not learn anything.
电影对英语学习者也很有帮助。但是，你必须正确的运用它。不要学习一整部电影，你理解不了，也不会学到东西。
Only watch one scene or segment per week (maybe 2-3 minutes).
每周只看电影的一个片段(或许2-3分钟)
Follow this method:
a) First, watch the scene with subtitles in your language. This will help you understand the general meaning.
a)第一遍看母语字幕，这样帮助你了解大意。
b) Second, watch the scene with English subtitles. Pause. Use a dictionary to find new words you don’t understand. Write the new sentences in a notebook.
b)第二遍看英语字幕。遇到新单词时暂停下来，查字典。把这个新句子写到笔记本上。
c) Listen to the scene a few times, with English subtitles. Do not pause.
c)反复听这个片段，并带英语字幕，不要停下来。
d) Listen to the scene a few times, without subtitles.
d)反复听，不带字幕。
e) Repeat a) - d) everyday for one week.
e)每天重复a)-d)，并坚持一个星期。
On the second week, go to the next scene/segment and repeat again. It will take you a long time to finish a movie. That’s OK, because you will improve your listening and speaking VERY FAST. This method is powerful-- use it!
第二周，进行下一个片段。这样，要想看完一部电影需要很长时间，但是它会很快提高你的听力和口语。
5. Read and Listen at the Same Time
5、同时进行听和读
Listening and Reading together are very powerful. While you listen to something, also read it.
This will improve your pronunciation.
一边听材料一边跟着读会提高你的发音。
Reading while listening also helps you understand more difficult material. Read and listen to learn faster. After you do this a few times, put away the text and just listen. You will understand a lot more and you will improve faster. Always try to find both audio and text materials.
边听边读也会帮你理解一些较难的材料。听和读同时进行会学的很快。这样练习几次后，就把材料收起来，只进行听，你会有意想不到的收获。
You only need 6 months--6 months and you will speak easily to native speakers.6 months and you will speak quickly and naturally. 6 months and you feel relaxed when you speak English. You have tried the old ways. You tried textbooks. You tried schools. You tried grammar study. It is time to try something new!
只需6个月你就能够和外国人轻松地进行交流。你可能尝试了一些老方法：读课文，上辅导学校，学习语法等。何不尝试一些其他的新方法呢!
Good luck. I wish you success with your English learning!
