Listen And Repeat — How High-Quality Sound Will Make Your Language Journey Easier?

　　听和重复——高质量的听力怎样使得你学习语言更加容易?

　　How should you best listen to new material and make yourself heard? Some sound advice about language learning on the go.

　　怎样才能最好地听新的材料，并使别人听懂你的发音?下面借来看看关于语言学习的听力建议。

　　What it boils down to is this: If you listen to quality audio samples and learn to mimic these well, then your brain will do the rest for you. If this sounds weird at first, remember that this is how kids learn a language. Everyone has gone through the process of listening and mimicking at least once in their lives before. There’s no reason why you can’t do it again.

　　归结起来可以这样说：如果你听音频样本，然后学着模仿，你的大脑就会为你完成剩下的事情。如果这个一开始听起来很奇怪，记住这就是孩子们学习语言的方式。每个人在之前至少都经历过先听然后模仿的过程。你没有理由不能再做一次。

　　Good sound on the way into your ears equals good sound on the way out of your mouth — easy-peasy! So how do you go about it?

　　好的听力在进入你的耳朵和进入你的嘴巴是一样的——小菜一碟!所以你该怎么行动起来呢?

　　1. The Portable Sound Studio

　　便携式音响设备

　　We use our smartphones for most things — including language learning. Having high-quality sound on your device, listening with headphones in a quiet corner and really concentrating on every little aspect of the sound will go a long way to improving your skills. We have to be able to hear every last nuance of a word or conversation to be able to mimic it properly ourselves, so make sure you can hear everything perfectly.

　　我们可以使用智能手机做许多事情——包括学习语言。拥有高质量音响装备，在安静的角落使用耳机，集中注意力关注听力的每个部分，要想用这些办法提高你的听力真是任重而道远。我们要听出每个单词或对话的细微差别，从而能够正确地模仿，所以要确保你听清楚所有的内容。

　　I supplement this with my own playlists of extra material such as individual words, some short phrases or even whole conversations that I’ve picked up from books, magazines, emails and even billboards, including recordings of my friends and colleagues: Every time I discover a new phrase when I’m speaking to a friend, I ask them to repeat it into my phone, and — voilà! — I have some new material to listen to the next day. This keeps life very interesting and motivates me to learn even more.

　　我会用自己一些其他材料的列表作为补充，例如单个词汇、一些短语或者整个对话，这些都是我从书籍、杂志、邮件甚至广告牌，包括我的朋友和同事们的记录收集来的。和朋友交谈时，每次发现新的短语，我会让他们对着我的手机重复一次，瞧!第二天我就有了新的材料可以听。这会使得生活格外有趣，并且激励我学得更多。

　　2. Say All The Things

　　说出一切

　　I have a very simple rule about sound: If I hear a sound, I repeat the sound. Easy.

　　对于听力我有一个很简单的规则：当我听到一个音，就将它重复一遍。简单吧。

　　Now this might appear to be a very obvious thing to do, but you’d be surprised how effective constant repetition of quality material can be. This is especially true if the piece of language is spoken clearly and in a natural way. Some learners simply read the material they are studying without pronouncing it or quietly whisper the sentences as they hear them. Don’t do that. Always use a nice, loud voice and try to exactly mimic the sound you can hear every single time. With gusto.

　　现在这也许已经成为一件显而易见的事，但你会对怎样才能有效的反复重复材料感到惊奇。如果语言被清晰自然地说出来，就能够实现。一些学习者仅仅是看看学习材料，而不读出来，或者边听边小声说出来。不要这样做。你要经常用洪亮悦耳的声音，试着将你每次听到的准确地模仿出来，并且充满热情。

　　Adhering to my rule of repeating every sound out loud when I hear it, I occasionally get a few funny looks from people as I ask about my hotel reservation, order alcoholic drinks and introduce myself at random intervals on a crowded train or in a waiting room — but hey, if it works, it works!

　　按我的方法每次听时，将每个音都重复一次，每次当我在拥挤的火车或休息室询问旅馆预定、购买酒精饮料、介绍自己时，我偶尔会从人们那看到一些有趣的表情。但是，既然现实如此，那就是事实!

　　3. Some Sonic Practicalities

　　一些听力实践

　　So, which materials can you listen to in order to practice your pronunciation? All the sources can be a little overwhelming, but fear not — help is literally at hand.

　　所以，为了练习发音，可以听那些材料呢?练习所有的资源会有点受不了，但别怕，有帮助的法子。

　　A good place to start is with the professionals: Language courses. The advantage of using material that has been specifically designed for language learners is that you know which level you are working with and can be assured that the words and sentences presented are all perfect. In the best case, these courses are accompanied by great sound samples which will really make a difference to your comprehension skills. Other sources for material could include newspapers and magazines, which provide new words to explore in detail — and that includes finding out how each word sounds using an online dictionary. No matter where you get your inspiration to learn, the most important this is to have fun!

　　有专业人员的地方是开始的好地方：语言课程。使用专门为语言学习者设计的材料，其优点就是你知道你的水平，从而能够确保词语和句子都完美无缺。在最佳情况下，这些课程都配置了好的音频样本，这些样本会对你的理解技巧产生影响。别的材料资源包括报纸、杂志，它们可以提供新的词语来使我们仔细探索——这也包括使用电子词典找出每个单词的发音。不管你是在哪里获得学习的动力，最重要的是享受乐趣!

　　Great sound samples can easily be found in the internet. Your go-to sourcescould include online dictionaries, which usually have a play button for individual words. These sounds are usually very clear and the sites may also provide information about alternative accents or regional variations. Other online sources such as tutorials, music clips and short documentaries can also provide some great new material for advanced learners.

　　好的音频样本在网上很容易找。首选包括电子词典，它通常对每个词都有播放按钮。这些发音通常都很清晰，网站也会提供关于其他发音或区域差异的信息。其他网络资源例如教程、音乐段落和短纪录片也可以为高级别的学习者提供一些好的材料。

　　A language is made up of ideas, rules and sounds, and learning new stuff can sometimes be a bit tricky. If you always base your learning routine on great sound material, you’ll make your life a lot easier. Create your own portable sound center, and regularly treat your ears with good quality samples such as words and phrases, and your speaking voice will automatically sound much better. Good acoustics are really important. And remember: repeat everything you hear as best you can. There are many great sources for sound at your fingertips, so don’t be afraid to use them often.

　　语言是由想法、规则和发音组成，学习新的东西有时候会显得有点棘手。如果你将好的音频材料作为自己的学习计划的基础，你将会使自己的生活更加简单。创建你自己的便携式听力中心，有规律地听一些高质量的样本，例如词语和短语，你的发音就会自动地有所改善。好的音质确实很重要。记住：尽可能重复你听到的所有内容。只要动动手指，你可以找到很多好的资源，所以不要担心会经常使用它们。

　　Plunge into the wonderful world of sound and you’ll be speaking like a pro in no time!

　　投入精彩的声音世界吧，你很快就能像一位专业人士那样说话啦!

（编辑：何莹莹）