202 Useful Exercises for IELTS Side2-08-AudioTrack08

　　Narrator: Exercise 1.8. Lecture 1:
      Can a new language be learnt in six weeks as some courses promise? Learning a language is not an easy task, though the reason why it is so difficult cannot be explained without an understanding of how human language isacquired, and unfortunately, no-one knows exactly how it is done. Linguists¹ have many theories, but it is stilla mystery and one that may never be fully² solved. Since hard and fast facts about first language acquisition³ arein short supply, it is not surprising to find that there are numerous competing theories on how best to learn a secondor third language. One thing is certain, though, it doesn't happen overnight. Or does it?
One theory that has been promoted for some years now is that of subliminal⁴ language learning - taking words intoyour mind while not consciously aware of them. Play a cassette tape of words and phrases you wish to learn whileyou are asleep or perhaps while driving a car. It doesn't matter if you listen to them or not, or even if the wordsare within your normal range of hearing. Your brain will 'hear' the words and store them deep within your mind,ready for easier extraction when you practice certain exercises containing those words and phrases.
The argument goes like this: when you learnt your own language you had been spoken to and were constantlyexposed to words in that language from the day you were born and possibly even before you were born. Yes,babies react to words spoken to them inside the mother's womb. This constant exposure ensured that the wordswere already planted in your mind before you actually learnt them. The subliminal method, then, is based onsimilar principles. Even having the TV or radio on all day in another language serves the same purpose. But bestresults come from playing tapes with specially⁵ selected words and phrases over and over again.
Recent surveys seem to indicate that early success in learning a foreign language requires at least two otherconditions to be met. First of all, the range of vocabulary you need to learn should be restricted. It has been knownfor decades now that most of what one needs to say everyday in the English language can be effectivelycommunicated with a vocabulary of just 760 words. Secondly⁶, the practice you do needs to focus on manipulationsof those very same words. When starting to learn a language, reading the newspaper in that language is largelya waste of time - there are far too many new words to learn. Later, of course, reading all kinds of material inthe new language is essential.
Remember that learning a language is something you have already managed. All of us are constantly, if not alwaysconsciously, engaged in increasing the knowledge of our own language, and the language itself is changing slowlyevery day. Language learning is a part of everyone's daily life. The only real problem with most quick-fix languagelearning solutions is that they do not take into account one vital difference between the learning of one's firstlanguage and the learning of other languages. And that is, people who speak different languages actually thinkin very different ways. No wonder students are suspicious⁷ of six week courses that promise the earth!

1 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 acquisition   

n.取得，学到，养成（习惯），获得的东西

参考例句：

• The children progressed in the acquisition of basic skills.孩子们在掌握基本技术方面取得了进步。
• He devotes his time to the acquisition of knowledge.他把时间都花在求知上。

4 subliminal   

adj.下意识的，潜意识的；太弱或太快以至于难以觉察的

参考例句：

• Maybe they're getting it on a subliminal level.也许他们会在潜意识里这么以为。
• The soft sell approach gets to consumers in a subliminal way.软广告通过潜意识的作用来影响消费者。

5 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

6 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

7 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。