大家学英文时都会遇到各种问题,不管是语言方面的或是文化方面的。在此我们汇集了一些沪友提出的、对大家都有价值的问题:老英和老美性格上有何不同?英文句子该怎么念?为什么go round the bend是“发疯”的意思?英语里有没有一些缩写的方法?如何选用适合自己的单词?想知道这些问题的答案吗,来看美女外教Alison老师的回答吧!

Q: 我想知道英国人和美国人的性格有什么不同?

A: Great questions--it's one that I think about a lot! They are hard questions to answer though. Have you heard the word 'stereotype'? A stereotype is when you say 'general' things about people from a certain country. For example, Chinese people are really good at economics. :) That's a stereotype. Anyway, British people love to make fun of Americans. They might think that Americans share their feelings and emotions too much, or that they talk too much. Americans, stereotypically, are friendlier, smile more, and are more open. Maybe British people might think they are too friendly. In my experience, British people are more reserved and tend to hide their true feelings and opinions more. In my personal experience, British people are harder to make friends with, but maybe that's because I am American. :)

Alison 老师说这个问题她也思考了很久哈哈!不过这确实是个很难回答的问题。大家知不知道stereotype这个词?当你描述某国人的总体情况时,你所说的就是一个stereotype(模式化见解),比方说中国人在经济上很有造诣(嗯?真的么??),这就是stereotype。总之,英国人很喜欢拿美国人开玩笑,也许他们是觉得美国人表露自己感情表露得太多了,或者觉得美国人讲话讲得太多。从模式化上来说,美国人更亲切、更喜欢微笑,也更加开放。可能英国人觉得美国人太和蔼可亲了。根据Alison老师自己的经历,她认为英国人更加保守,更多地隐藏自己的真实感情和想法,也更难成为朋友。不过Alison老师说了,这说不定是因为自己是美国人的缘故呵呵~

Q: 我对单个单词的发音没什么疑问,但是却不知道该怎么念句子或者段落等等,Alison老师能给我点建议吗?

A: It's tricky, you're right--because pronouncing words is very different from pronouncing sentences. Do you have access to audio books? Reading a book while listening to the audio file is a very good way to learn how to phrase sentences. It's the kind of thing that you cannot learn from a textbook. A textbook cannot tell you how to make your sentences sound natural. You have to hear it and then MIMIC it--copy or imitate it. English movies are good for that too--pick one out, turn the English subtitles on and repeat the lines exactly like the actors say them. :) If you find something that works well, share it with everyone!

没错,念单词和念句子有着很大区别。Alison老师建议大家选择一些有声读物,一边看书一边听音频是学习如何念句子的好方法,你必须先听再模仿哦。另外原版电影也是有效的途径,挑选一部电影打开字幕,跟着影片中演员的发音念台词吧~

Q: 在电影《爱丽丝梦游仙境》中,我听到爱丽丝说"you think I go round the bend",为什么这句话是说“你认为我疯了”?短语里的bend是什么意思?

A: Round the bend - said of someone who is a little mad

The bend here is the curve always placed in the entrance drive of Victorian mental hospitals to differentiate them from the stately homes of the gentry, which usually had straight drives.

"Round the bend"这个词组就是指某人有点疯癫。维多利亚时期,精神病院入口处的车道都有一段曲线型路线,这是为了跟绅士们的豪宅进行区分,绅士们的车道通常是笔直的。词组中的bend正是指这段曲线型路线,这个短语也因此有了“发疯”的含义。

Q: Alison老师,我在做听力的时候没有时间写下单词的完整形式,所以我想知道你有没有一些缩写的方法?

A: Hey, good question! The answer is that everyone makes up their own shorthand, because you are the only one who has to understand it!

Here are some common ones though:
government = gov't
international = int'nat'l
corporation = corp
because = b/c
with = w/
average = avg

Alison老师说每个人都有自己的缩写方式,因为只有你自己能明白到底是什么意思嘛,也就是说没有一套统一的规定滴~不过Alison老师也提供了几个相对比较通用的缩写形式,大家可以记一记哟!

Q: 我想知道如何选用单词?英语中有很多单词所表达的意思都差不多,到底要用哪个呢?比如一些大词和小词什么的。

A: Hey--it's a great question; thanks for asking. There are a lot of words to choose from when you are expressing how you feel or trying to tell a story in a creative way. In English, everyone sort of has their own vocabulary--by that, I mean that everyone has words that they use a lot. For example, when I leave comments for students on Bulo, I tend to use the words "awesome" and "excellent" a lot. They mean the same thing as "great" or "stellar", but I feel like they best express me and my personality. So I use them. Building an English vocabulary for everyday conversation is all about expressing yourself. So my best advice is to read books and watch movies about characters that are similar to you--or the person you want to be. Listen to the words they use. What are their vocabularies like? What do they say a lot? Start making lists of words that you think express your personality well. Long words tend to express intellect, while short words are easy to understand and sometimes friendlier.

在表达情感和叙述故事时总有一堆单词可以用,但是事实上每个人都有自己的词库,也就是说,每个人都有自己用得特别多的单词。比如说Alison老师在给沪友们留言时很喜欢用awesome和excellent,它们和great、stellar的意思是相同的,但是Alison就觉得这两个词能最好地表达她的感情和个性。为日常会话建立词库就是为了展现自己,所以Alison老师建议大家在书籍和电影里找些和自己个性接近的人物,或者你想要成为的人物,注意他们都说些什么,将你认为表达了你个性的单词记录下来。长单词体现的是才华,而短小的单词则更容易被人理解,有时显得更亲切。