1Unit1TextAHowDifficultIsEnglish?英语有多难LikethenationalpushforAsianliteracy(n.有文化,有教养,有读写能力)inAustralia,therehasbeenforeignlanguagesfervorinChina,withEnglishontopofthelist.就如澳大利亚在全国推行学亚洲语言一样,中国也掀起一股外语热,在这股热潮中,英语高居榜首。Englishisnotonlytaughtatschools,collegesanduniversities,butalsoateveningclasses,onradioandTV.不仅各级学校教英语,夜校、电台、电视台也都设有英语课程。Parentshireprivatetutorsfortheirschoolchildren;adultEnglishlearnerswouldsacrificetheweekendatanEnglishcornerinapublicparkpracticingtheirspokenEnglishwithpeop1eofthesameinterestanddetermination.父母为学龄的孩子聘请英语家教,成年英语学习者会牺牲周末休息日,到公园参加英语角,与志趣相投的英语学习者练习口语。IsEnglishsuchadifficultlanguagethatitreallydemandspeopletoinvestalargeamountoftimeandenergybeforeitismastered?英语真的有这么难,需要人们投入大量的时间和精力才能掌握吗?Theanswer,ifIamaskedtooffer,isundoubtedly,yes.如果我被问及这个问题,那么毫无疑问,我的答案是:是的。Frommypersonalexperience,IthinklearningEnglishmeansfarmorethanlearningitspronunciation,itsgrammaticalrules,itswords,etc.从我个人的经验来看,英语学习不仅仅是学习英语发音、语法规则、词汇等,Itinvolveslearningeverythingaboutthecountrieswhereitisusedandthepeoplewhouseit.它包括学习与使用该语言的国家和民族有关的所有内容。Withoutsuchacompleteunderstandingofthelanguage,theEnglishaforeignerspeakswillinevitablysoundstrangeorevenunintelligiblethoughthereisnotanythingwrongwithhispronunciation,sentencestructureandthewordsheuses.对英语没有这样全面的理解,即使发音、句子结构、措辞毫无错误,一个外国人所讲的英语也难免听起来稀奇古怪甚至难以理解。ThesocialcustomsandhabitsoftheEnglish-speakingpeoplecontributealottothedifficultyaforeignerhasinlearningit.讲英语民族者的社会风俗习惯增加了外国人学习英语的难度。TaketheChineseEnglishlearnersforexample.以学英语的中国人为例,HelloandGoodmorningmaysoundalittlebitsimpletoChinesepeople.你好和早上好是非常简单的。2ItistotallybeyondtheunderstandingofaChineseEnglishlearnerthatnativeEnglishspeakerswouldbeannoyedwhenthey'readdressedWhereareyougoing?,whichisacommonlyusedaddressingamongtheChinese.你去哪儿?是中国人常用的问候语,若英语母语者被问及你去哪儿?,他们会因此感到不悦,这一点让中国的英语学习者大为不解。IsthereanythingwrongwiththeEnglishsentencestructure?Ofcoursenot.这个英语句子结构不对吗?当然不是。IttakesquitesometimeforaChineseEnglishlearnertounderstandthewesternconceptofprivacybeingviolatedinthisaddress.学英语的中国人得费点儿时间才能理解这一问候语侵犯了西方人的隐私。Bythesametoken,Haveyoueaten?(whichisanotheraddressingtermtheChinesepeopleusuallyuse)willsoundtonativeEnglishspeakersthattheChinesearesohospitablethattheyinvitepeopletomealsoff-handedly.同样,英语母语者听到你吃了吗?(中国人常用的另外一个问候语),会觉得中国人非常好客,会在事先毫无准备的情况下请人吃饭。Meanwhile,theChinesewouldbeshockedtohear,Oh,it'sveryniceofyou.When?,iftheaddresseehappenstohaveacravingforChinesecookingandhasnothadhisdinneryet.如果听话者此刻正希望品尝一下中国美食,又碰巧没有吃饭,他会回答太好了,什么时候?,中国人为此也会大吃一惊。Wecansaywearegoingtohavechickenfordinner.Whycan'twesaypig,bullorsheepfordinnerinsteadofpork,beeformutton?ChineseEnglishlearnersmayraisesuchquestions.中国的英语学习者可能会这样问:我们可以说吃鸡,为什么不能说吃猪、吃牛、吃羊,而要说吃猪肉、牛肉、羊肉呢?FiguringoutthereasonsforthepeculiarEnglishvocabularyisnoeasytaskforChineseEnglishlearners.对学习英语的中国人来说,为这些特殊的英语词汇找出理由并非易事。ButtheproblemisthatmemorizingEnglishwordsmechanicallywouldbedevastatingandinefficientiftheydidnotknowwhathadhappenedinBritishhistory.问题在于如果不懂英国历史,死记硬背英语单词毫无效率。ThuslearningEnglish(andotherlanguagesaswell)involveslearningthehistoryofthecountrieswhereitisspoken.所以说,学英语(其他语言亦如此)还包括学习使用该语言国家的历史知识。AtaskofthiskindismoredifficultforChineseEnglishlearnersthanforpeoplewhospeakawesternlanguageotherthanEnglishbecauseChinesehasnothingincommonwiththealphabeticEnglishandChinahadlittlecontactwiththeWesternworldinmodernhistory.3学习英语的中国人要做到这一点比其他非英语国家的西方人要困难得多,因为汉字和英语这种拼音文字毫无共同之处,并且中国和西方世界在近代史上很少接触。Consequently,thebackgroundknowledgeofEnglishfascinateslargenumbersofinterestedanddeterminedEnglishlearnersinChinabutatthesametimedisheartensquiteafew.所以,在中国,英语背景知识既吸引了大量英语爱好者,也使许多人丧失信心。TheWesternandOrientalvaluesarefoundtobeinconfrontationinlearningEnglish.英语学习中,东西方的价值观念是相互冲突的。NativeEnglishspeakersmaycomplainaboutChineseconfusionwhenusingheandshe,forthetwowordssoundthesame,though,differentinwrittenformsinChinese.英语母语的人会混淆汉语中他她的用法,因为这两个字尽管字形不同,读音却相同,他们因此常常抱怨。Asaresult,somenativeEnglishspeakersconcludethattheChineseareunabletotellthedifferencebetweenthetwosexes.结果有些英语母语的人得出结论,认为中国人不区分两种性别。ButnativeEnglishspeakersaremoregenderblindthantheChinesewhentheymentiontheircousins.但是在涉及表亲的时候,英语母语的人更是混淆性别。TheconfusioncausedbytheconfrontationofWesternandChinesevalues,toacertainextent,affectstheChineseEnglishlearner'scomprehensionofwhathe/shereadsandhears.东西方价值观的冲突造成的语言上的混淆,在一定程度上影响学习英语的中国人对自己所读或所听到的内容的理解。Onlybydevelopinganunderstandingandtolerance(忍受)ofdifferentculturalvaluescanaChineseEnglishlearnerreachthegoalofcommunicatingwithnativeEnglishspeakers.学习英语的中国人只有增加不同文化价值观之间的理解和宽容,才能达到与英语母语者交流的目标。AChineseEnglishlearnercouldnothaveagoodcommandofEng1ishunlessheovercomestheculturalbarriers(notall,ofcourse!)inlearningEnglish.学习英语的中国人,只有在学习英语的过程中克服文化障碍才能很好地掌握英语。(当然不可能是克服全部文化障碍!)ManyChinesetranslatewhattheythinkaboutinChineseintoEnglishwhentheytalkorwrite.很多中国人说话或写作的时候,将自己汉语思维的内容翻译成英语,ThiskindofEnglishinevitablyaffectsthefluencyandflowofspeech,theamountofinformationconveyed,and,aboveall,thequalityofcommunication.这势必会影响英语表达的流畅、传达的信息量,最重要的是,影响交流的质量。Theaboveis,notwholly,howdifficultEnglishis.尽管不完全,以上就是学习英语的困难。So