Speaking is often the hardest of the four language skills. It's one thing listening and understanding, or even reading and writing, but it's another talking to a native speaker and not getting all flustered and experiencing brain shut down. But with the right tricks (and constant diligence), you can get over the learning curve with ease.

　　口语通常是四项语言技巧(听、说、读、写)中最难的一项。它不仅仅包括听和理解，或者阅读和写作，更包括跟一个说母语的人对话时不因为慌乱而大脑短路。但是只要选对了学习口语的方法(并持之以恒地训练)，你就能轻松地提高口语水平。

　　Improving Your English at Home

　　在家提高英语

　　1、Record yourself.

　　When you're by your lonesome, you have no reason to be nervous. You can let your brain flow freely -- so record yourself now! Your English is going to be at its best. Find a book on tape or a clip online that you can mimic. Does your English sound the same?

　　给你自己录音。在你一个人在家的时候，你不会感到紧张。你可以让你的大脑自由地驰骋- 所以这个时候就开始给自己录音吧!你的英语水平会在这个时候达到最好。找一卷朗读书籍的录音带，或者一段网上的剪报录音，然后开始模仿它们朗诵。现在你的发音听起来跟往常一样吗?

　　Or record yourself reading from a book. You'll be able to actually hear yourself (which we surprisingly have trouble with in real time) and be able to pinpoint the quirks in your English and where you slow down and have trouble. Then rerecord it and see how you've improved!

　　你也可以一边朗读书籍一边给自己录音。你可以从而真正地听到自己的发音(令人惊讶的是，这在我们的日常生活中是很难实现的)并且能够发现你的发音中不自然的、或因为遇到困难而停顿的地方。你可以重新录音，然后判断自己是否在这些地方有了进步。

　　2、Read aloud.

　　If your hands are full or you don't have a recording device, simply read aloud -- ideally, every day for at least 15 or 20 minutes. You'll get used to speaking for longer periods of time and forming long sentences won't phase you. And you'll run into words you can add to your vocabulary.

　　大声朗读。如果你非常忙，或者没有录音设备，你可以大声地朗读英语- 理想状态是每天十五到二十分钟。你会习惯更长时间地说英语，并且更熟练地组织长句子。与此同时，你还可以把阅读时遇到的不认识的单词添加到你的小词库里。

　　It's best to choose books with lots of dialogue. The language is generally more real and a bit simpler; after all, dialogue is conversation. Being able to read poetry is great but conversations are a much more practical skill, you know?

　　你最好选择有很多对话的书籍。这些书里的用语会更加简单和贴近生活，毕竟对话是一种日常交流。能够朗读诗歌非常了不起，但日常交流是一种更实用的技巧，对吗?

　　3、Listen to mp3s, podcasts, and the news.

　　We live in such a digital age; even if you think you don't have native speakers at your disposal, you actually do. Scientific American, CBC, BBC and Australia's ABC Radio are great mp3s to get started with, but there's also a million podcasts out there and handfuls of news stations, too. And the best part is that these people generally speak clearly and have pretty generic accents.

　　听MP3，广播，和新闻。我们生活在这样一个电子信息时代，虽然你觉得身边没有说母语的人，但你身边其实有很多。环球科学、加拿大广播公司、英国广播公司和澳大利亚的ABC无线电广播台都可以成为你用来练习口语的MP3，除此之外，还有数以万计的广播和新闻之声供你练习。这个方法最好的一点是，播音员们都口齿清晰，并且拥有非常纯正的口音。

　　Another bonus? You'll have interesting things to talk about in English! You'll be up on all the news - even if you're just repeating what you've heard (not like anyone will know!). You're improving your English by expanding your knowledge. Two birds with one stone, really.

　　另一个福利?你会知道怎样用英语表达最近发生的有趣的事情!你会通晓所有的新闻- 即使你只是在重复你从广播里听到的(没有人会知道)!你会在扩充你的知识面的同时提高英语，这真的是一件一石二鸟的好事。

　　4、Watch TV and movies.

　　An integral part of speaking is hearing or listening. Because of this, the easiest way to involve yourself in a conversation without actually having one is to watch English TV and movies. If you absolutely have to, turn the subtitles on -- but try to resist!

　　看电视剧和电影。口语的核心部分就是“听见”或者“倾听”。正因如此，能让自己最快进入一段英语交流并不需要外人帮助的方法是看英语电视剧和电影。如果你在听音上有绝对的困难，你可以开字幕- 但尝试着尽量避免。

　　Movies are great because you watch them over and over; the more you watch them, the more things you'll pick up. TV is good though, too, because you develop relationships with the characters and you grow accustomed to how they talk and the quirks of their speech.

　　看电影是很有效的练习口语的方法，因为你会一遍又一遍地看它;你看一部电影看得越多，你就会从中获取更多的信息。看电视也是一种很好的方法，因为你会和剧中的人建立更亲密的关系，从而熟悉他们的说话方式，和每个人口语表达中的特点。

　　Improving Your English with Others

　　在他人的帮助下提高英语

　　1、Mimic the rhythm.

　　Every language has a musicality about it. You can have absolutely perfect grammar and if you don't have the rhythm down, you won't have that native sound. So whether you're talking to English speakers or you're watching on TV, look for emphasis, intonation, and emotion. How well can you mimic it?

　　模仿发音的韵律。每一种语言都有自己的音乐性。如果你拥有完美的语法，但没有英语发音的韵律的话，你并不能拥有纯正的口音。所以无论你是跟英语母语者对话，还是看英语电视剧，你都需要找准他们的重音、语调，和情感。你可以模仿得有多像呢?

　　In every sentence, there are parts that are longer, louder, and said at a higher pitch. In the phrase "rock and roll," saying "rock AND roll" sounds very strange. But "rockin roll" sounds a lot more natural. This is the icing on the English cake!

　　每个句子中都有更长、更响的部分，这些需要用更高的音调来发音。在“rock and roll”这个短语中，如果强调“and”则会让它听起来很奇怪。但“rockin roll”听上去就自然得多。韵律是英语这块蛋糕上锦上添花的糖衣。

　　2、Observe their mouth movements, too.

　　Just as every language has a musicality, it has a tendency to use certain mouth movements as well. You could be making the right sound, technically, but if your mouth is in the wrong place, it won't come out correctly. That's your lips and your tongue for the record!

　　观察英语母语者的口型。就像每种语言都有自己的音乐性一样，它也有特定的口型。理论上你可以发出正确的发音，但如果你的嘴型是错误的，你的发音不会非常纯正。这是你的嘴唇和舌头对发音的记录。

　　You can't exactly stop someone and ask them about the current position of their tongue. But it is something you can be conscious of in your own language. If you hear someone say a word and you can't mimic it perfectly, experiment! Maybe it just needs to be a bit further back or higher in your mouth. It's in their somewhere!

　　你不能在别人说话的时候打断他们，然后问他们现在舌头的位置。但在你说母语的时候，你会意识到自己的口型。如果你听到某个人说了一个单词，但你不能模仿得非常像，你可以做个小实验!或许你只需要把你的舌头往后或往上推一点点。正确的发音就藏在你的口型中!

　　3、Keep a notebook and pocket dictionary with you.

　　Whenever you're speaking to someone or hear others speaking and you catch a word you don't fully understand, write it down and look it up (you have the spelling skills, right?). Instead of thinking to yourself later that night, "Man, what was that word again?" you'll be able to flip to your notebook and remember. Boom. Learning!

　　随身携带一本笔记本和口袋词典。无论何时，只要你听到别人说了一个你不理解的单词，把它写下来，然后查一查它是什么意思(你应该有拼写单词的技能吧?)和在晚上自己绞尽脑汁地想这个单词的意思相反，你可以直截了当地问说话的人：“老哥，那个词是啥意思来着?”这样你就可以翻开你的笔记本，记下这个单词。耶，学到了!

　　It's good enough to write it down and look it up, though. Oh no, no, no. You gotta make it a point to use that word you just learned! (Or you'll forget it.) So later that night or the next day, work it into your speech. Make it part of your own.

　　把单词记下来，然后查出它的意思就够了吗?不，你需要记住在交流的时候使用这个单词(不然你会很快忘记它)。所以那天晚上或者第二天，你要在对话中用到这个单词，把这个单词真正变成你的。

　　4、Find others online.

　　But when the tourists aren't knocking down your door, what do you do? Get on chat rooms, of course! (The safe ones, please.) So many people are just looking to talk. And if you find a friend, you can do video or voice chats, too.

　　在网上找其他人锻炼口语。如果没有人主动来敲你的门，你该这么做呢?当然是去聊天室啦!(请去那些安全的聊天室)很多人跟你一样，也在找人聊天。如果你找到一个网友，你也可以跟他/她视频或者语言聊天。

（编辑：何莹莹）