It's a pretty cool thing, quite useful.

这事挺酷的，而且很有用

I can still remember back when I was a toddler, about 2 years old learning my first language, English.

我还能记得当我还是个2岁的小孩时，学我第一门语言——英语

My mom taught me how the order in English is subject verb object,  and help me make flashcards so I could memorize the vocabulary and helped me for hours and hours to get the different verb tenses  right.

for hours and hours  不厌其烦地

我麻麻教给我英语说话的顺序是主谓宾，帮我用速记卡记单词，不厌其烦地纠正我动词时态

Fast forward several years and in college， I came over to Japan on a foreign exchange program where I would learn another language.

时光荏苒，在大学，我通过一个交换项目去了日本，在那里我学到了另外一门语言

About two years after arriving in the country, I took and passed the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

在那里过了两年之后，我参加并顺利通过了日语最高等级测试

To be fair, I did live in the country, but the concepts I'll discuss in this video will be effective if you don't have access to native speakers.

说句公道话/公平起见，我确实在那个国家住过。但是接下来这个视频里我要讨论的观点还是有用的，就算你没机会接触母语使用者的话。

Lately, there are all kinds of great resources and techniques on language learning.

Lately 最近

现在各种学习语言的资源啊技巧啊层出不穷。

In particular, spaced-repetition system based virtual flashcard programs like Anki are  very popular and can be very useful, but...is that the most efficient way to sink the language into our brains, so it can be used on the fly.

be used on the fly 使用自如

特别是基于速记卡的这个鬼系统，比如安卡，特别的流行，有用。但是这个玩意儿真的能让语言渗透进我们的大脑运用自如的最有效的方法吗

After all, how many parents have to give their children a deck of flashcards for review to help their kids reach fluency in their mother tongue.

毕竟，有多少父母扔给他们的孩子一叠速记卡让他们复习，帮助他们提升母语的流畅性呢

Of course, I was kidding earlier about my experience as a toddler and I learned English through magic like every other baby.

当然了，刚才说的那些我儿时的经验是开玩笑的，我和其他小孩一样是通过魔法学习英语的

In this video, I'd like to discuss four not too often discussed points that I think are important when it comes to  language learning.

在这个视频里，我会讨论四个不常被讨论但是我觉得对于学习语言又很重要的点

Acquiring language efficiently through context.

通过语境有效习得语言

Two is maximizing input.

二是尽可能大地增大输入

Three is practicing your listening and pronunciation at the same time.

三是同时练你的发音和听力

And four is to make sure the experience of learning is positive.

四是确保学这个的过程是愉快积极的

First, allow me to take a moment to demonstrate sth, so just listen for now.

首先请允许我花点时间做个示范，听着

If you already speak Japanese, it might be harder to get my point, but hopefully, you'll still  see what I mean.

如果你已经会说日语了，你可能有点难get到我的点，但你还是有戏弄懂我什么意思

So just listening to me, how much Japanese did you learn from this?

Maybe 0%(读zero percent)

What if I repeated it or speak slower, would you learn more Japanese?

用What if 替换how about ,相关知识点（源自百度知道，侵删）：

一、表示假设

what if 用于提出假设时，意思是“假若……”“假若……怎么办”“要是……将会怎么样”，其后句子可用陈述语气（用一般现在时），也可用虚拟语气（用一般过去时或should+动词原形）。如：

What if she finds out that you’ve lost her book? 如果她发现你把她的书丢了怎么办?

But what if somebody decides to break the rules? 但是如果有人决定打破这些规则呢？

What if it rains when we can’t get under shelter? 假若下起雨来，我们又没处避雨可怎么办?

What if I came tomorrow instead of this afternoon? 我今天下午不来，明天来，怎么样?

What if we stayed at home for a change? 我们改变一下做法，这次呆在家里。怎么样?

What if I should fall sick and not be able to work? 万一我生病不能工作的话怎么办？

从句用虚拟语气时，若是针对过去情况，从句则用过去完成时。如：

What if no one had been there? 假如没有人去过那里的话，会怎么样?

二、表示邀请或建议

What if…表示邀请或建议时，意思是“如果……怎么样？”“如果……如何？”。如：

What if you join us for lunch? 同我们一起吃午饭怎么样？

What if we moved the sofa over here? Would that look better? 要是我们把沙发挪到这边来会怎么样？看上去会不会好一些？

三、表示不重要

此时通常常与so连用，意为“就算……那又怎样？”如：

So what if we’re a little late? 就算我们迟到一会儿那又怎样？

So what if the colours clashed? 就算颜色不协调那又怎样？

So what if he was late. Who cares? 他就是迟到了那又怎样。谁在乎？

So what if nobody else agrees with me? 就算没有一个人赞成我的意见，那又怎么样？

注：若句意清楚，so what if…有时可省略成so what? 如：

A：I’m afraid it’s too expensive. 恐怕太贵了。

B：So what? We’ve plenty of money. 那有什么关系? 我们有的是钱。

A：Someone will see you doing it. 会有人看见做这事的。

B：So what? 看见又怎样?

Most likely not. 可能也不会吧

Let's try it one more time, but pay attention to the screen.

How about now? Maybe 10%, 20% , or even just one word.

This is the simple difference between acquiring language and not.

What I'm trying to demonstrate is the concept of comprehensible input, as second language acquisition scholar XXX did in this lecture of his.

In my opinion, we all acquire language the same way.

We acquire language in one way when we understand messages, or when we understand what we read.

We call this comprehensible input.

We've tried everything else, we try grammar teaching computer teaching , drills and exercises, computers , but the only thing that seems to count is getting messages you understand, comprehensible input.

the only thing that seems to count  唯一有用的事

So anything that helps make input comprehensible, pictures, knowledge of the world,  realia, etc.，helps language acquisition.

realia 实验教具，教学用品

In the 1970s and 80s, XXX put forward a group of hypotheses about language learning.

put forward 提出  hypotheses 自己读十遍

The difference between acquisition and learning is tricky, but it's  kind of like the difference between getting a joke and having someone explain the precise reasons why that joke should be funny.

For example, a horse walks into a bar and the bartender says..."Hey, why the long face?"

bartender 酒吧男招待

Or a whale walks into a bar and the whale says"woo..woo...wooo"

If you thought this was funny, you didn't have to consciously work out why it was funny.

consciously work out   有意识地弄明白

The processing was done on a subconscious level.

He says "Acquisition of language is a natural, intuitive, and subconscious process of which individual need not be aware."

intuitive  凭直觉获知的

Similarly, you can learn words by having someone tell you "The Japanese word for Persimmon is kaki."

On the other hand, what's necessary for acquisition is sufficient comprehensible input.

something like this  比如说

So even though you might not know any of the words I just said, you could comprehend the pictures I supplied,  and based on that context, you could acquire the meaning of 苹果和吃

When I provide you with another example, you may have deduced sth about Japanese grammar as well.

That's right, the verb comes at the end.

The point is, you have this massive pattern recognition device jammed into your head and when you understand the meaning of the message, your brain will naturally pick out vocabulary and deconstruct grammar patterns based on the context-and this is not something you actively and consciously perform.

This leads me to one of the most helpful things-simply watching TV series without English subtitles with focused attention even though I couldn't understand most of it.

with focused attention 全神贯注做……

And today, I wanna talk about dictionaries.

You can look up the word 'get' in dictionary and you get 8 or 9 different definitions...and you can read that, close the dictionary and you won't remember much of what was there. 

你能在字典里查到get这个单词，还有89种不同的定义。你能读这些玩意儿，合上字典之后你会发现啥也没记住。

Before I went to Vietnam,I got this phrasebook and dictionary.

Vietnam    越南

phrasebook    (供游客到国外旅行时使用的)常用语手册

在我去越南之前，我弄了这个常用语手册和字典

I came away able to use one word Kaman - which means thank you.

我离开时就会说一个词儿kaman，意思是谢谢你

Nothing else stuck, zero. 

其他的啥也没记住

This was essentially useless.

一点儿用也没有

A bit later on, I tried my hand at plenty of books but refrained from looking up every word.

后来，我尝试看书时控制自己，不去查每个单词的意思

A bit later on    后来

try one's hand at    尝试做（从未做过的事），试身手; 小试牛刀;

This is a really simple but important concept, how many new words, phrases and grammar structure can you feed your brain when you're looking up every word as you read a book?

这是个很简单但是重要的概念，你读一本书，查了每个单词，但是你又能记住多少新单词、词组、语法结构

You'd take about half an hour to get through one page.

你可能得花半小时看完一页书

For the same amount of time, a television show can blast you with far more words, phrases  and  grammar.

同样的时间内，电视节目可以爆炸性地让你接触到更多的单词，词组和语法

A book can too, if you're not so trigger happy with the dictionary.

书也是可以的，如果你不那么喜欢字典的话。

And, it might not feel like it, but these bits of cloudy information can stick in your head at the subconscious level just waiting for the right context to reveal their meaning.

可能你的感觉不是这样，但是这些细碎朦胧的信息会储存在你大脑的潜意识层次，只待正确的环境出现，去揭示他们真正的含义。

Engineering professor explains here that we have two modes of thinking- the focused mode and diffuse mode.

工程学教授解释说我们有两种思维方式：专注模式和分散模式

The focused mode is where you're racking your brain,  trying to use your focused awareness to figure sth out, weather it be a math problem, or what' s going on in a TV show in a foreign language.

rack one's brain 绞尽脑汁

专注模式是指当你绞尽脑汁，集中注意力努力想把某件事弄明白，不管是一道数学题，还是外语电视节目。

The diffuse mode works in the background where you are relaxed and not straining on one thing, it can see the big picture and make connections.

分散模式就是，当你放松下来不那么拧巴某件事的时候，它就能看到更大的图片，并且建立联系。

This is thought to be why so many people get ideas in the shower, you are relaxed, probably not focused on anything in particular, so your subconscious starts turning its pattern recognition gears to give you insights your conscious mind couldn't see.

这就是为啥那么多人洗澡时能获得灵感，你是放松的，没有特别专注于某件事，所以你的潜意识启动了它的识别模式，给予你你的意识层看不见的东西。

You might not have any luck picking up many words or phrases while watching or reading sth, but when you go off and do sth else,your brain relaxes into the much more flexible diffuse mode  and uses its power of pattern recognition to piece out some meaning from the heaps of language information you were just exposed to.

piece out 拼凑

你可能看电视或读书时学不到很多单词或者词组，但是当你暂时抽身做点别的事时，你的大脑开始放松，进入更加灵活的分散模式，运用模式识别从你刚才获取的一堆语言信息中拼凑出一些有用的意思。

Now I'm not saying that the fastest way to become fluent in a language is to never open a dictionary, but you'll want to invest a majority of your time on inputting a bunch of content into your head from media, books or just paying attention to people around you.

我不是说捋顺一门语言最快的方法就是永远不打开字典，但是你应该把时间多花在把来自媒体、书籍甚至身边的人的信息存入大脑。

Earlier we saw that according to XXX ,acquisition , but not learning can trigger an improvement in a language.

刚才我们提到的，根据x x x的说法，习得，而不是学习，才能促使语言的提升。

But it seems deliberate learning can trigger language acquisition sort of retroractively.

但是似乎刻意学习也能反向促进语言习得

For example, let's say you had seen this scene before"!@#$$

比如说你之前看到的这一幕 

And you know that @ #$ just means my cake, but for the life of you , you couldnt figure out  what @# means.

你知道这个玩意儿是蛋糕的意思，但是要了你的命你也弄不明白234是什么玩意儿

You were guessing it means steal.

你可能会猜是钢铁

Then at some point you learn from a textbook or dictionary that @#$is a very casual way to say eat.

然后可能在某个时刻，你从教科书或者字典当中了解到！@#是吃的通俗表达方式。

Then it all clicks, you realize !@would be the past tense of this verb and you figure %^must be the same as!@

然后你就突然顿悟到， 那个玩意应该是这个动词的过去式，你弄明白了这俩是一个意思

Now you've acquired  a new word and a new colloquialism and put all the pieces together to fully understand what this guy was saying.

现在你已经学会了一个新单词和一个口语表达，把这些片段组合到一起你就能完全搞清楚那个家伙说了什么

This is the "Aha" moment indicative of new language acquisition-similar to a joke  it just happens in at the subconscious level.

这就是新语言学习的顿悟时刻，和笑话相同，它是发生在潜意识层面的

Another key to this is watching television without English subtitles.

另一个关键点是看电视时不带字幕

A study from Barcelona looking at Spanish speakers trying to learn English found that the worst way to learn is was by putting Spanish subtitles on an English movie.

巴塞罗那的一个研究调查了想要学习英语的说西班牙语的人，发现最差的学习方式是在英文电影里加西班牙语字幕

This resulted in 0% improvement in their English ability.

这导致他们的英文能力毫无提升

Watching with no subtitles provided a 7% improvement, but watching the show in English, with English subtitles provided a 17% improvement.

看没字幕的会带来7的提升，但是观看英语字幕会带来17的提升

Now you might be thinking how are you ever going to learn anything if you do all this input without any speaking practice?

现在你可能在想，这些输入你都做了，但是不练口语的话你能学到些什么呢？

This is where another part of XX theory comes in.

这是XX理论的另一部分用武之地

And this may come as a bit of a surprise for to some of you.

这对于你们中的一些人来说可能有点意外

Certainly came as a surprise to me.

当然对我来说也很意外

Talking is not practicing.

说话不是练习

It means if you want to improve your Spanish ,it will not help you to speak Spanish outloud in the car as you drive to work in the morning.

这意味着如果你想要提升你的西班牙语，开车去工作途中大声朗读西班牙语是没有用的。

I used to think those things help, now I think they don't.

我曾经认为这会有所裨益，但是我现在不这么认为。

You don't technically have to open your mouse to acquire a language.

你不一定非要张开嘴才能习得一门语言

This was demonstrated in 1962 when E described the case of a boy who could not speak due to congenital dysarthria. 先天性构音障碍

congenital 先天的

dysarthria 构音障碍

这在1962年E描述的案例当中得以证实，一名男孩因先天性构音障碍无法说话

With that said, you should open your mouth at some point.

话是这么说，你应该在某个时刻张开嘴

But pronunciation is hard.

但是发音很难

You'll notice some noises in the language you just can't make because you never have before.

你会发现有些音你就是发不出来，因为你之前从来没有发过

That's not tool bro

那很不好哦兄弟

This brings me to a technique called shadowing： What you do is basically  listen to some audios of a native speaker talking and you just mimic their pronunciation and intonation.

当你在听一些视频或者当地人谈话，你会注意到他们的语音语调

Not every word though-depending on your level, it could be two syllables at a time, three at a time or two words at a time and so on.

不是每个单词都这样，取决于你的水平，可能一次两个音节，一次三个，或者一次两个单词等等。

Shadowing is generally thought of as advanced technique you should use to master intonation and polish up your accent.

polish up 提高，改善

影子跟读被认为是一项你用来掌握语调和改善发音的高级技能。

But even from day 1 it can be a super efficient way for improving your pronunciation and at the same time your ability to recognize phonemes in natural language.

即便是从第一天开始，这也是个提升你的发音超级有用的方法，同时你识别自然语言中的音位的能力也会提升

That is to hear natural language.

那就是听自然语言

And being able to hear natural language is important.

能够听自然语言这一点非常重要

Because when people speak naturally ,there are certain phrases where their speech gets run together.

因为当人门非常自然地说话时，有一些短语会连续。

Watch how in this scene,XXX turns !@#into !@#

注意看这一幕中，XXX把！@#说成了@#

A 2015 study from Japan looking at two groups of English learners found that indeed, shadowing made a statistically significant improvement in phoneme perception for both groups.

2015年日本的一项研究调查了两组英语学习者，发现影子跟读确实对两组实验人员在音位识别方面都有数据上的显著提升

Look in the description for some tips on shadowing so you can get more out of it without  frustrating yourself into hating the language.

你可以在描述部分学习到一些影子跟读的技巧，

So that's it-three main things.

Focus on learning from context, load up on input and get plenty of content in the target language and you can use the same audio source to practice your listening to natural speech and pronunciation.

从语境中进行学习，增大输入量，从目标语言中获取大量内容，你可以运用同一段材料练习你的听力和发音。

I realize this leaves many questions regarding language learning and that there're tons of useful techniques and approaches for learning a language that I haven't addressed here.

我知道我还遗留了许多关于语言学习的问题，还有很多有用的语言学习技巧和方法，但是我这里没有提到。

So please leave a comment if you have any questions and check the description for more information.

如果你有任何问题的话请评论，然后查看描述获取更多信息。