纪录片《为何讲话》 第2期：孩子轻而易举掌握语言（在线收听）

For most of us it just happens.

对于大多数人 说话是自然而然的事

It's such a sophisticated skill

这是一项精妙复杂的技能

and yet children learn it so easily with minimal effort at all.

而孩子们却能够轻而易举地掌握

That's Mummy.

那是妈妈

And when you start thinking about it,

当我们仔细回味时就觉得

it is quite miraculous how the brain does it.

大脑做到这一切的方式多么不可思议

But despite decades of research,

尽管经过了数十年的研究

how we learn to talk remains a mystery.

我们如何学会讲话依旧是个未解之谜

How did this ability evolve?

这种能力是如何进化的

Why is it uniquely human?

为什么这是人类所特有的

And is it something we are born with

它是我们与生俱来的

or something that we learn?

还是后天习得的

It strikes me it's surprising and odd that

这让我觉得很惊奇

we know an enormous amount about, for example,

我们知道很多东西 比如说

the first fractions of a second in the history of the universe,

宇宙历史开始时那零点几秒的故事

but we really know very little at all

但对于什么东西使我们成之为人类

about what makes us human and where language comes from.

以及语言来自何处 我们几乎一无所知