【一起听英语】婴儿学语言

婴儿是从什么时候开始学习语言的呢，有研究表明，婴儿还在子宫里的时候，就开始习得语言了....

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob and this is 6 Minute English and that was a very unusual sound. Do

you know what that sound was? Finn is with me today and I think he can help. Hello

Finn.

Finn: Hello Rob. That was the sound of a baby sucking a dummy¹ – that's the rubber thing

you put in a baby's mouth to stop it crying.

Rob: Very useful! But it sounded strange.

Finn: It did. That's because the dummy was connected to a computer.

Rob: Connecting a dummy to a computer is a strange thing to do?!

Finn: Yes. It is part of a test to understand how unborn babies – called foetuses – learn

language. That is what we are talking about today: What babies learn before they

are born.

Rob: I know we start learning² from when we are very young – but I didn't know it was

from that early on! Shall we find out how much you have learnt in your life Finn by

asking you a question? This is about the English language. According to a survey by

the National Literacy³ Trust, which one of these words was discovered to be the most

common first word for a baby to say – not including Mummy or Daddy?

a) dog

b) eat

c) bus

Finn: I think the answer is a) dog.

Rob: I'll tell you the answer later on. Now Finn, this study we are talking says babies learn

language in the womb – so, inside the Mother before they are born? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

Page 2 of 4

Finn: Yes. When babies are born they can identify – or recognise – familiar sounds and

language patterns. Ten weeks before they are born, they are listening to their

mothers communicate.

Rob: Communicate – so they are listening to their mother talking to other people. And it is

remembering and learning these sounds.

Finn: Yes. And if a baby's mother is bi-lingual – speaking two languages – the baby can

remember sounds from both of these languages. But Rob, you have children, don't

you? Do you think they learnt to recognise your voice before they were born?

Rob: That's difficult to know. After they were born they responded to different sounds but

I don't know if they linked the sounds to a particular person. And now, they don't

listen to me at all!

Finn: I don't believe that! How have they learnt to speak since they were born?

Rob: Through listening and copying people. And now my three-year-old son learns French

at nursery⁴ and I hope that means by the time he starts school he will be very good

at it – or we could say, fluent.

Finn: Très bien!

Rob: Excuse me?

Finn: That's French for very good! Of course, when the baby is in the womb, it is not

learning words, it is learning the rhythm⁵ of the language. These are the patterns of

the sound. It can hear when sounds go up and go down and when they are loud and

soft. That is something I try to do when I learn a new language. I listen to the sound

patterns of the words – the ups and downs. How do you learn Rob?

Rob: Through repetition⁶ – by hearing something again and again and then saying it. But

here is another question: even though we both speak English we sound different.

Finn: Well of course, that is our accent – that is how we say words depending on which

country, region⁷, or social class we come from. I have a soft Scottish accent because I

am from Scotland⁸! One difference is the intonation⁹ – that means the way your

voices rises and falls when you speak.

Rob: But it is also about the way we pronounce our vowel¹⁰ sounds – like a and o.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

Page 3 of 4

Finn: That's true. Some people think we learn our accents before we are born. Here is a

little test. Can you tell if this baby is French or German?

SOUND OF BABY CRYING

Rob: That just sounds like a regular baby crying. Can I hear another one please?

Finn: OK…

SOUND OF BABY CRYING

Rob: Hmm. That sounds different but I couldn't tell you where he was from.

Finn: The first baby was born to German-speaking parents and the second one was born to

French-speaking parents. They picked up the intonation in the voice before they were

born.

Rob: OK, so the French baby's cry goes up – it rises - and the German baby's cry goes

down – or drops - just like the intonation of both languages. Fascinating. Anyway, it's

time to find out how much you have learnt Finn. Earlier I asked, according to a

survey, which one of these words was discovered to be the most common first word

for a baby to say – not including Mummy or Daddy?

a) dog

b) eat

c) bus

Finn: And I thought it would be a) dog

Rob: You are right. Dog is one of ten words that babies in the UK say first. Well, that's all

we have time for today. Please join us again for another 6 Minute English soon.

Both: Bye.

1 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 literacy   

n.识字，有文化，读写能力

参考例句：

• I can't believe that he failed the literacy test.我无法相信他识字测试不及格。
• The literacy rate there is the highest in Central America.那里的识字率居中美洲之首。

4 nursery   

n.托儿所；苗圃

参考例句：

• They have decided to start up a nursery in the factory.他们已决定要在工厂里开办一个托儿所。
• Her company ran its own workplace nursery.她的公司开办了内部的托儿所。

5 rhythm   

n.韵律；节奏

参考例句：

• He has an ear for the rhythm of Irish speech.他对爱尔兰语的节奏很敏感。
• His poem has a pleasing rhythm.他的诗有和谐的韵律。

6 repetition   

n.重复；反复

参考例句：

• The perfomance improved with each repetition.演出每演一场都有改进。
• This degree of repetition is not found in any known language.这种重复程度在任何已知语言中都不曾出现。

7 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。

8 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。

9 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

10 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。