没有语言环境的人如何提升英文写作能力?

By 梅菲斯特 at 2019-10-19

最近一直在Reddit等地方潜水,看NBA和HK相关的新闻,偶尔想打几个字去和别人交流,但却发现自己完全想不出话来,或者想说什么却没办法用英文流畅地表达自己的意思。感觉自己不借助Google Translate都不能好好说话了…… 阅读方面我倒是没太大障碍,以前大学时也能看英文的专业书,就是不会写作。 所以说大家的英文表达都是怎么练习的呢? 还是说我干脆去考个托福,GRE什么的……

语言, 环境, , 英文, 能力


既然你阅读没问题了,那就突破障碍,逼自己写出来。可能会发现,其实你的写作水平比你想象的高。 我托福写作24/30分。考前没有连习过,只熟悉了题型,算半裸考。以前的”写作”经验也只限于少数网上留言。 不建议为了学英语而考托福之类。事实上,你英文好了,自然就可以高分;而反过来,你考高分,未必英文好。

winblwrck at 2019-10-19
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忘了说最重要的:我怎么学的。我从来没有”学”,纯粹把自己的网上活动全部变成英文的。在发现品葱,2049前,看中文内容的时间10%都没有。现在品葱失望了,可能也不再看了。

winblwrck at 2019-10-19
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@winblwrck 1

Because of my laziness, I can’t stop myself from using translation software in communications. So I think taking a course may be useful. :( At least I will have a extenal motivation to leave the comfort zone.

梅菲斯特 at 2019-10-19
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@winblwrck 2 external… okay

梅菲斯特 at 2019-10-19
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天神九頭鳥 at 2019-10-19
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@梅菲斯特 4 some minor mistakes, but not bad, good enough for online communication. not everyone in those English sites is a native English speaker, and no one cares that u speak imperfect English (mine isn’t that good either). you should start doing it.

winblwrck at 2019-10-19
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There is indeed a silent phase in language learning where you need enough input (reading and listening) before obtaining the ability to output (writing and speaking). However, if you have already been able to read in-depth articles in English, but still find it hard to form sentences on your own, it is possible that you have not really learned the language the natural way. What language do you think in? Is there a process of translation when you “use” English? Don’t EVER translate. That’s cheat. Build your language skills from scratch.

懦夫斯基 at 2019-10-19
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@懦夫斯基 7 Good point. he mentioned he had no problem reading ‘专业书’, that doesn’t mean knowing ‘real English’ - how real people speak. That’s another reason not to use toefl/gre to learn english. Go speak with real people online instead.

winblwrck at 2019-10-19
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@天神九頭鳥 5

because I hate zhihu more than pincong. @winblwrck 6

OK it makes me feel strange, but i’ll try to make some eng posts every day. in fact, i’m not afraid of making mistakes during daily communication, but it’s hard for me to logically present those complex topics, such as explaining a specific phenomenon in China, which really bothers me.

@懦夫斯基 7 You’re right. Because my school major is about some abstract things, so when i read those ENG books i don’t really have to think in that way. All I need to do is translating some professional nouns within my mind.

梅菲斯特 at 2019-10-19
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@winblwrck 8 I might withhold my opinion on learning English online. Anyone that uses “lol” in RL always gives me a chill. Without an off-line environment for calibration, one wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between internet slang, cultural slang, and proper daily use of language. If I may recommend a less conventional way, the film “King’s Speech” could be a great source of inspiration. Think of oneself as an actor, a performer. Read a screenplay of one’s favorite films and act it out. It might just provide the detachment needed to discard one’s instinctive lean on their native language and translation.

懦夫斯基 at 2019-10-19
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@懦夫斯基 10 By ‘online’, I didn’t mean only chatrooms/comment sections, there are tons of English resources online - youtube, wikipedia, news sites, tv shows, movies, etc. I recommend online resources because @梅菲斯特 says he doesn’t live in an English environment, which means talking to real English speakers may not be an option, so the internet is the next best option.

winblwrck at 2019-10-19
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@winblwrck 11 I see. I probably got the wrong assumption from OP’s mentioning of Reddit… Now we’re on the same page and I absolutely agree with you.

懦夫斯基 at 2019-10-19
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@懦夫斯基 12 @winblwrck 11

Thx :D

梅菲斯特 at 2019-10-19
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我发现很多人会不会不自觉的把句子弄得自我复杂了? 比方说下面这个例子,我觉得尝试用短句子表达同个意思可以improve your writing immensely. 中式学英文,把句子弄得花俏是外行的做法。

Because my school major is about some abstract things, so when i read those ENG books i don’t really have to think in that way. All I need to do is translating some professional nouns within my mind.

-——->

I majored in something abstract. As a result, I translated the terminnology without of thinking of it in the language when I read an English book.

-——–»

I didn’t have many chances to think as a native English speaker in college due to a science major.

漢娜怎麼說 at 2019-10-19
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@漢娜怎麼說 #14

感谢指正

梅菲斯特 at 2019-10-19
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@梅菲斯特 #15

Np, the power of simple English. ;)

漢娜怎麼說 at 2019-10-19
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倒。。。竟然在说英语的帖子拼错单词,*terminology 掩面抛开。。。。

漢娜怎麼說 at 2019-10-19
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今天听楼主这么一说,才突然意识到原来学习语言的困难之处就在于咱这种“只会读不会说”的情况。回想每次考试的英语作文和简单的和外国人的一些交流,无一例外是先酝酿好中文再翻译过去的,跟直接以英文思考说出去的文字似乎蛮不一样的,似乎这就是语感上的地道差异?看来还是得在纯英文的环境里多待一些时间,边听边说才能真正学好英语……

simpler at 2019-10-19
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顺便问一下各位怎么提高阅读速度,以达到略读的境界。我现在能够做到最快的阅读只能比得上我最快的语速,属于默读在脑海中回声的低级阶段。读的时候脑海中倒是不会浮现出中文含义。

simpler at 2019-10-19
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@simpler #19 我感觉提高英语阅读速度和提高中文阅读速度是一回事。你对要读的话题涉及的内容越熟悉,就阅读得越快……

梅菲斯特 at 2019-10-19
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Depending on your target audience, writing can be concise, but may not precise (e.g., online forum), or tedious, but unequivocal (e.g., scientific paper).

If you were taking about academic writing, then always start with “The Elements of Style”.

dingling3 at 2019-10-20
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@simpler #18 建议试试有声书/audiobook,一边听一般看书。 一些获取有声书的渠道: 【正版】 Audible 【版权失效/公共领域】 librivox.org 【盗版】 youtube.比如 1984:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMzBETLocSA

winblwrck at 2019-10-20
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@winblwrck #22

我非常同意有聲書是非常好的媒介! 另外New Yorker這種每篇文章都長到看不到盡頭的雜誌很多文章也會有有聲版。非常方便!

漢娜怎麼說 at 2019-10-20
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花钱买培训

分支太多 at 2019-10-20
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要尽量在阅读的时候避免翻译的过程,尝试用英文来思考。 因为英文中文的思考模式是不一样的,对我个人来讲,把中文转换成英文来表达是很困难的。 阅读是把另一种语言转换成母语,是有助于理解的,而表达要把母语转换成另一种语言,难度加倍,所以最好一开始就直接在脑海里培养英语表达的系统,不要翻译和切换。 最简单直接地方法还是背,熟练背诵一些美剧生活场景的对话/简单的童话故事/rap歌词都是对提升英文思维很有效的。慢慢熟悉习惯英文的思维逻辑,写作口语自然越来越流畅地道。

earthling2048 at 2019-12-11
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