1548; ask
say
Train yourself (or find a teacher who will train you) in these four skills and you will become fluent.
说外语时，我们主要应做到四件事：
——理解
——回答
——提问
——口头表达
你只要自我训练这四项基本技能(或找一位可以训练你的老师)，就会说一口流利的英语。
20. What should we do with the mistakes we make when speaking English?
我们该如何对待说英语时所犯的错误?
You should differentiate between an oral drill where accuracy is absolutely necessary and‘speaking for communication’where being understood is absolutely necessary. When speaking for communication, ignore most of your mistakes. The important thing is to communicate with confidence (which isn’t easy!). If you are really communicating, it doesn’t matter if you make mistakes, so long as these mistakes don’t interfere with communication. Try to correct only those mistakes which prevent other people from understanding what you say or write.
你应该区别讲求准确性的口头训练与讲求“被理解”的口头交流之间的区别。如果你为交流而说英语，那么你犯的错误大都可以忽视。重要的是信心十足地去交流(那可不是容易的!)。如果你确实是在交流，那么即使你犯错误也没有关系，只要这些错误不干扰你的交流。你只要纠正在你口头表达或写作时会妨碍别人理解你的错误就可以了。
21. Along with listening to the radio, I always read some books about listening comprehension. I have got little progress in my listening comprehension. How can I improve it?
在听收音机的同时，我还读一些有关如何提高听力的书。但仍然进步缓慢。我该如何提高呢?
The way to train listening comprehension in a language course is through the technique of ‘active listening’, not ‘passive listening’. If a teacher introduces a text with a short commentary and sets a question, students will listen actively. For example, the teacher says: ‘Today I’m going to read you a story about an accident. After I have finished reading, I will ask you how the accident happened.’ This will encourage students to listen actively in order to find out the answer. If, however, the teacher introduces a story by saying: ‘Listen to this story’, the students will have no listening focus. They will listen (perhaps) with their eyes open, but with their minds shut. Here are a few tips to improve your listening skills:
Listen for particular information; don’t worry about the meanings of individual words.
If you have recordings of texts (the listening comprehension books you mention), first listen to the recordings, trying to pick up as much as you can at first hearing. Then listen again, while reading silently at the same time. Then listen to the text a third time (without reading)
Try sharing a listening activity with a friend or with friends, so you can ‘pool’ your listening experience with others.
练习语言听力的方法是要采取积极主动而非被动的方式。如果老师在介绍一篇课文时稍加一个短评，并且提出一个问题，学生们就会积极主动地聆听。例如，老师说：“今天我准备给你们读一则讲述一个意外事件的故事。读完之后，我要问你们这件事是如何发生的。”这会鼓励学生们积极认真地听，以求找到问题的答案。如果老师只是说：“请听这个故事”，学生们则没有聆听的重点。他们的双眼可能是睁着的，但头脑确是封闭的。在此，我给你提供一些建议，供参考：
为汲取特定的信息而听；不要担心个别词的意思。
如果你所说的听力课本中的课文有录音，首先听录音，尽量在第一次听时多听懂些，然后再听一遍，同时你可以默读。之后，你可以再听第三遍(可以不读课文了)。
可以试着与一个朋友或几个朋友一起进行听力训练，这样你们可以集思广益，互相借鉴。
22. During my listening, I can understand most of the words, but I can’t get the idea of the whole article. Why?
在练习听力过程中，大多数词我都理解，但我却抓不到全文的大意，这是为什么呢?
Because you are listening to words and not to meaning. I remember a visit to Beijing I made back in 1981. My interpreter constantly complained of this problem. She used to say‘I can’t keep up with the words you are using’and frequently her attempts to interpret broke down completely. My advice to her is the same as my advice to you: Don’t listen to individual words trying to translate into Chinese as you go, but listen to whole meanings. Listen to the English, without thinking about the Chinese. This is exactly what interpreters do: they get the sense of a piece of language, then interpret it in another language so that the listener gets the meaning of what is being said.
这是因为你把精力放在听单词上，而不是理解意思上。这使我想起我的1981年的北京之行。当时陪同我的译员不停地抱怨这个问题。她常说“我跟不上你说的话”，经常就完全译不下去了。我当时给她的建议与现在给你的建议一样：不要听单个的单词，然后就试图把它们译成汉语，应该听懂全文的意思。听英语时，要排除汉语干扰。这正是优秀译员所要具备的：他们先要弄懂一段语言的意思，然后把它译成另一种语言，以便听者可以听懂说话的大意。
23. When I speak English, I always speak off and on. Could you please tell me how to develop oral skills of making connected speech?
我说英语时经常时断时续。您能否告诉我如何练习能连贯表达的口语技巧?
I assume you mean you speak in bursts, when you say you‘speak off and on’. The first thing to be aware of is that most speaking is the product of interaction with another person, or with other people. We rarely give speeches. This means we have to train ourselves to understand what others are saying and then to reply to what we have heard. There are different kinds of conversation, which require different skills. For example:
Exchange of information. This is one of the most common kinds of everyday interaction. Your friend tells you about things he/she enjoys doing in his/her spare time. You listen carefully, then you tell him/her what you enjoy doing in your spare time. You answer like with like. The chances are that you will use the simple present tense a great deal in this kind of exchange.
Narration. Your friend tells you about an experience in the past tense (how he/she missed the bus, was late for work, what the boss said, etc.). You listen carefully, then tell a story of your own. The chances are you will use the simple past and past progressive tenses a great deal in this kind of exchange. It’s always easier to tell a story in chronological order: begin at the beginning, go on to the main event, then conclude the story.
Exchanging views and opinions. Your friend tells you what he/she thinks about something, first by describing a situation, then saying what his/her opinion of it is and giving reasons. You listen carefully, then reply in the same way. You are likely to state facts (something you read in the paper), give an example or examples, and then say what you think of it. You are likely to use phrases like‘In my opinion...’, ‘I think ...’, ‘I agree with what you say, but ...’, ‘I’m
