春节充电:如何在90天内学会一门外语

Becoming bilingual opens up a whole new world—a world of different people, of different cultures, of different emotions.
学会一门外语、拥有双语能力会为你展开一个全新的世界：不同的人，不同的文化，不同的情感。

Learning a second language has many cognitive benefits. For example, learning a new language has been shown to delay Alzheimer’s, boost brainpower, reduce cognitive biases, and even increase concentration and the ability to tune out distractions. Your ability to build better habits will improve by learning a new language.
从认知的角度来说，学一门第二外语有很多益处。比方说，有研究显示学习一门新语言可以延缓老年痴呆症，可以提高大脑能力，可以减少认知偏差，甚至还可以增强注意力避免分心。学会一门新语言，可以培养很多好习惯。

But, more so than cognitive effects, the ability to speak a second language has a ton of social benefits. There’s bliss in having the ability to order food in the waiter’s native language, to eavesdrop on people in an elevator, to impress natives by speaking with and understanding them.
不过学一门新语言的好处可不仅仅是认知效果。学会一门第二语言还有很多的社会效益。在国外的餐厅你可以使用服务员的母语点餐，你可以偷听电梯里人们的外语交谈。和当地人交流时，你会说他们的语言能听懂他们的意思，也会给他们留下深刻的印象。这些想想是不是就觉得很开心？

The coolest thing about learning your second language is that it makes learning a third, fourth, or fifth language much easier. The challenge isn’t in learning a new language, but rather learning how to learn a language. Once you know the techniques, you’ll be able to apply the same grammatical patterns and language techniques in every new language you learn.
我觉得学第二语言最酷的事情是：学会了它会让你学第三、第四甚至第五语言的过程更容易。你所面临的挑战不是学会一门新语言，而是学会如何学语言。一旦你掌握了技巧，你就可以把同样的语法模式和语言技巧应用到你想学的任何一种新语言上。

Why most people are wrong about language learning
大部分人对语言学习的误区

I studied spanish for several years in high school, and even got good grades on national exams. But one day, when I actually tried to speak the language, I suddenly realized. Four years of studying Spanish in school, and I couldn’t even order a burrito.
我在高中的时候学过几年的西班牙语，还在全国性的考试中拿到了挺高的分数，但有一天，当我想说西班牙语的时候，我突然意识到：在学校学了四年西班牙语的我，连点份玉米煎饼都不会。

So what went wrong? According to official standardized tests, I was an expert in Spanish. But I couldn’t even do the most basic of tasks!
到底哪里出问题了？根据官方标准测试的结果，我可是西班牙语的专家呀！但我却无法用西班牙语来进行最基本的交流。

The fact is that we not taught languages in the ideal way. Students study languages in huge groups and think that a few worksheets and grammar exercises will be enough to learn a language. Yet almost no one actually learns to speak.
事实是在学校老师教我们语言的方式并不是理想的学习方法。大部分的学生都是在班级里一大群人一起学语言，我们以为做一些语法练习题，就够我们学会一门语言。其实我们基本没有学习如何去说这门语言。

In actuality, by doing worksheets, we are practicing for just that—for worksheets. But if you want to learn to speak, well, you actually have to practice by speaking.
实际上，做练习题的方法，只是让我们完成练习。但如果你想要学会开口说，你其实需要通过讲话的方式来练习。

So when people try to learn to speak a language out of a book, I try to show them that they won’t achieve their goals that way. If you want to speak, you have to practice speaking. And if you want to speak a language rapidly, well, you have to start speaking. A lot.
所以每次我遇到想通过一本书学会一门语言的人，我通常都会告诉他们：这种方法无法让他们实现语言学习的目标。如果你想要说，你就要通过口语练习。如果你想让自己说得非常流利，那你就要开始做大量的口语练习。