TED演讲:学习新语言的四个理由(5)

 Second reason: it's been shown that if you speak two languages, dementia is less likely to set in, 第二个原因：有研究指出，同时讲两种语言的人更不容易痴呆，

and that you are probably a better multitasker. 而且你可能更加的擅长多线操作。

And these are factors that set in early, 这些都是目前的研究结论

and so that ought to give you some sense of when to give junior or juniorette lessons in another language. 能够给你一些参考，帮助你决定什么时候让孩子们接触新的语言。

Bilingualism is healthy. And then, third -- languages are just an awful lot of fun. 双语教学有益健康。然后，第三点语言本身非常的有意思。

Much more fun than we're often told. 比人们一般认为的要有意思的多。

So for example, Arabic: "kataba," he wrote, "yaktubu," he writes, she writes. "Uktub," write, in the imperative¹. 例如在阿拉伯语中“kataba”表示“他写了”，“yaktubu”表示“他写，她写”。“Uktub”，是祈使句中“写”的意思。

What do those things have in common? 这些有什么共同之处呢？

All those things have in common the consonants² sitting in the middle like pillars. 这几个单词的共同之处在于词里面都有同样的辅音，构成主体。

They stay still, and the vowels³ dance around the consonants. 它们保持不变，元音围绕着辅音变化。

Who wouldn't want to roll that around in their mouths? 谁不想多说这些单词几遍呢？

You can get that from Hebrew, you can get that from Ethiopia's main language, Amharic. That's fun. 你能在希伯来语中找到这些，你能在埃塞俄比亚的主要语言阿姆哈拉语中找到。太有意思了。

Or languages have different word orders. 不同语言的语序使不同的。

Learning how to speak with different word order is like driving on the different side of a street if you go to certain country, 当你学习语序不同的语言时，就像到某些国家，在道路另一侧开车，

or the feeling that you get when you put Witch Hazel around your eyes and you feel the tingle⁴. 又像是把薄荷涂在眼睛周围时，感受到的那种刺激感。

A language can do that to you. 语言也能给你类似的感觉。

 

1 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

2 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

4 tingle   

vi.感到刺痛，感到激动；n.刺痛，激动

参考例句：

• The music made my blood tingle.那音乐使我热血沸腾。
• The cold caused a tingle in my fingers.严寒使我的手指有刺痛感。