TED演讲:学习新语言的四个理由(6)

 So for example, "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back," a book that I'm sure we all often return to, like "Moby Dick." 例如，《戴帽子的猫回来了》，这本书我相信很多人还经常读，又如《白鲸记》。

One phrase in it is, "Do you know where I found him? 里面有句台词是，“你知道在哪儿找到他的么？

Do you know where he was? He was eating cake in the tub, Yes he was!" 你知道他在哪里么？他在浴缸里吃蛋糕，对，没错！”

Fine. Now, if you learn that in Mandarin¹ Chinese, then you have to master, 现在，在中文中，那么你需要这么说，

"You can know, I did where him find? He was tub inside gorging² cake, No mistake gorging chewing!" “你知道是否你，我哪里他找到？他在浴缸里吃蛋糕，没错误虎咽狼吞！”

That just feels good. Imagine being able to do that for years and years at a time. 感觉棒极了。想象在未来能够做到这样。

Or, have you ever learned any Cambodian? 或者你们学过柬埔寨语吗？

Me either, but if I did, I would get to roll around in my mouth not some baker's dozen of vowels³ like English has 我也没有，不过要是我学过，那么我嘴里发出的元音要远多于英语中的13个元音，

but a good 30 different vowels scooching and oozing⁴ around in the Cambodian mouth like bees in a hive. 而是整整30个不同的元音，在柬埔寨人的嘴里热烈的翻腾着，就像蜂巢里的蜜蜂一样。

That is what a language can get you. 这是语言能够带给你的。

And more to the point, we live in an era when it's never been easier to teach yourself another language. 更进一步，我们现在的时代，要自学一门语言比过去容易很多。

It used to be that you had to go to a classroom, 过去你要学习外语，就需要去上课，

and there would be some diligent⁵ teacher -- some genius teacher in there 或许会遇到勤勉的老师以及一些睿智的老师，

but that person was only in there at certain times and you had to go then, and then was not most times. 但是那个人只在特定的时间出现，你需要去按时上课，除此之外就没有机会了。

You had to go to class. If you didn't have that, you had something called a record. I cut my teeth on those. 你只能去课堂。如果你没法听课，你能拿到录音带。我小时候就是这么学的。

There was only so much data on a record, or a cassette, or even that antique object known as a CD. 录音上就那么多信息，磁带也是这样，或者是已过时的光盘。

Other than that you had books that didn't work, that's just the way it was. 除此之外你有用处不大的书，学外语就是这样。

 

1 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

2 gorging   

v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的现在分词 )；作呕

参考例句：

• They had been gorging fruit in the forest. 他们方才一直在森林里狼吞虎咽地大嚼野果。 来自辞典例句
• He saw roses winding about the rain spout; or mulberries-birds gorging in the mulberry tree. 他会看到玫瑰花绕在水管上，或者是看到在桑树枝头上使劲啄食的小鸟。 来自辞典例句

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 oozing   

v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出

参考例句：

• Blood was oozing out of the wound on his leg. 血正从他腿上的伤口渗出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wound had not healed properly and was oozing pus. 伤口未真正痊瘉，还在流脓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。