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.
口語通常是四項語言技巧(聽、說、讀、寫)中最難的一項。它不僅僅包括聽和理解，或者閱讀和寫作，更包括跟一個說母語的人對話時不因為慌亂而大腦短路。但是只要選對了學習口語的方法(并持之以恒地訓練)，你就能輕松地提高口語水平。
Improving Your English at Home
在家提高英語
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?
給你自己錄音。在你一個人在家的時候，你不會感到緊張。你可以讓你的大腦自由地馳騁- 所以這個時候就開始給自己錄音吧!你的英語水平會在這個時候達到最好。找一卷朗讀書籍的錄音帶，或者一段網上的剪報錄音，然后開始模仿它們朗誦。現在你的發音聽起來跟往常一樣嗎?
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!
你也可以一邊朗讀書籍一邊給自己錄音。你可以從而真正地聽到自己的發音(令人驚訝的是，這在我們的日常生活中是很難實現的)并且能夠發現你的發音中不自然的、或因為遇到困難而停頓的地方。你可以重新錄音，然后判斷自己是否在這些地方有了進步。
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.
大聲朗讀。如果你非常忙，或者沒有錄音設備，你可以大聲地朗讀英語- 理想狀態是每天十五到二十分鐘。你會習慣更長時間地說英語，并且更熟練地組織長句子。與此同時，你還可以把閱讀時遇到的不認識的單詞添加到你的小詞庫里。
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?
你最好選擇有很多對話的書籍。這些書里的用語會更加簡單和貼近生活，畢竟對話是一種日常交流。能夠朗讀詩歌非常了不起，但日常交流是一種更實用的技巧，對嗎?
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.
聽MP3，廣播，和新聞。我們生活在這樣一個電子信息時代，雖然你覺得身邊沒有說母語的人，但你身邊其實有很多。環球科學、加拿大廣播公司、英國廣播公司和澳大利亞的ABC無線電廣播臺都可以成為你用來練習口語的MP3，除此之外，還有數以萬計的廣播和新聞之聲供你練習。這個方法最好的一點是，播音員們都口齒清晰，并且擁有非常純正的口音。
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.
另一個福利?你會知道怎樣用英語表達最近發生的有趣的事情!你會通曉所有的新聞- 即使你只是在重復你從廣播里聽到的(沒有人會知道)!你會在擴充你的知識面的同時提高英語，這真的是一件一石二鳥的好事。
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!
看電視劇和電影。口語的核心部分就是“聽見”或者“傾聽”。正因如此，能讓自己最快進入一段英語交流并不需要外人幫助的方法是看英語電視劇和電影。如果你在聽音上有絕對的困難，你可以開字幕- 但嘗試著盡量避免。
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.
看電影是很有效的練習口語的方法，因為你會一遍又一遍地看它;你看一部電影看得越多，你就會從中獲取更多的信息。看電視也是一種很好的方法，因為你會和劇中的人建立更親密的關系，從而熟悉他們的說話方式，和每個人口語表達中的特點。
Improving Your English with Others
在他人的幫助下提高英語
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?
模仿發音的韻律。每一種語言都有自己的音樂性。如果你擁有完美的語法，但沒有英語發音的韻律的話，你并不能擁有純正的口音。所以無論你是跟英語母語者對話，還是看英語電視劇，你都需要找準他們的重音、語調，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!
每個句子中都有更長、更響的部分，這些需要用更高的音調來發音。在“rock and roll”這個短語中，如果強調“and”則會讓它聽起來很奇怪。但“rockin roll”聽上去就自然得多。韻律是英語這塊蛋糕上錦上添花的糖衣。
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!
觀察英語母語者的口型。就像每種語言都有自己的音樂性一樣，它也有特定的口型。理論上你可以發出正確的發音，但如果你的嘴型是錯誤的，你的發音不會非常純正。這是你的嘴唇和舌頭對發音的記錄。
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!
你不能在別人說話的時候打斷他們，然后問他們現在舌頭的位置。但在你說母語的時候，你會意識到自己的口型。如果你聽到某個人說了一個單詞，但你不能模仿得非常像，你可以做個小實驗!或許你只需要把你的舌頭往后或往上推一點點。正確的發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!
隨身攜帶一本筆記本和口袋詞典。無論何時，只要你聽到別人說了一個你不理解的單詞，把它寫下來，然后查一查它是什么意思(你應該有拼寫單詞的技能吧?)和在晚上自己絞盡腦汁地想這個單詞的意思相反，你可以直截了當地問說話的人：“老哥，那個詞是啥意思來著?”這樣你就可以翻開你的筆記本，記下這個單詞。耶，學到了!
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.
把單詞記下來，然后查出它的意思就夠了嗎?不，你需要記住在交流的時候使用這個單詞(不然你會很快忘記它)。所以那天晚上或者第二天，你要在對話中用到這個單詞，把這個單詞真正變成你的。
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.
在網上找其他人鍛煉口語。如果沒有人主動來敲你的門，你該這么做呢?當然是去聊天室啦!(請去那些安全的聊天室)很多人跟你一樣，也在找人聊天。如果你找到一個網友，你也可以跟他/她視頻或者語言聊天。
