礼节美语 Business Etiquette 129 Becoming Fluent in English (1)

　　来自中国的雇员Penny跟同事Robert聊天儿。
Penny Liu: Hey, Robert! I was listening to you speak Chinese at the presentation yesterday! You're fluent!
Robert: Oh, that's kind of you to say, but in reality I'm just able to hold a conversation.
P: You are too modest. Seriously, I was really impressed. I actually wanted to know how you did it because I really want to take my English to the next level.
P: But your English is fantastic.
P: Yeah, it's pretty good. But I'm aiming to become completely fluent. Do you have any tips?
Penny称赞美国同事Robert中文说得流利，fluent，给她留下了深刻印象。I was really impressed. Penny问Robert 学习语言有什么窍门，那么Robert有什么建议呢？
R: Well, I studied at a major university in Taipei before coming to Beijing. And I lived in Hong Kong for over a year as well.
P: So you're saying I'll have to live in an English-speaking country?
R: It certainly doesn't hurt. But there are some things you can do if that is not an option.
P: For example?
R: When I first began studying Chinese, I found that watching Chinese movies was a really big help. Turn off the subtitles¹ and watch and listen closely².
原来，Robert在中文环境中生活过一段时间。可如果没有这种条件，if that is not an option, Robert说，看电影会有很大帮助，并建议关掉字幕，turn off the subtitles, subtitles is spelled s-u-b-t-i-t-l-e-s, subtitles是字幕的意思。
P: But they speak so fast in movies! Will I be able to understand?
R: You could watch a movie you have already seen before...but no subtitles. That way you can pick up the rhythms³ of speech.
P: What about vocabulary? Should I just try to memorize more words?
R: Memorization can't hurt, but it's sometimes hard to learn words that have no context⁴. Many times when I learn a new Chinese word, I don't really understand it until I hear or see how it's used in a sentence.
P: So I need to find a context for the words.
R: Right!
电影对白说话太快，跟不上怎么办。Robert建议Penny选择以前看过的电影，然后关掉字幕。That way you can pick up the rhythms of speech. 这样就能慢慢找到语言的节奏。单词量vocabulary 不够怎么办？Robert说，死记硬背固然没有害处，可有时候少了上下文，单词的意思是很难准确理解和掌握的。Robert对提高英语水平还有哪些好的建议，我们下次继续听。

1 subtitles   

n.说明字幕，印在外国影片上的对白翻译字幕，译文对白字幕；小标题，副标题( subtitle的名词复数 )；（电影的）字幕

参考例句：

• subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing 为耳聋和听力不佳者打出的字幕
• a Polish film with English subtitles 附有英语字幕的波兰影片

2 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

3 rhythms   

节奏( rhythm的名词复数 )； 规则变化； 规律； 节律

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• Stylistically, the term implies loose, rapid painthandling, large rhythms and broken colour. 从风格上来说，这个名称意味着松散而迅速的绘画笔触，奔放的格调，使用强烈配色。

4 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。