老潘來信之四：3個祕訣送給宅在家擔心英語變“啞”的你掌握英語口語的三大祕訣！
摘要：記住這三大祕訣，並且堅持採用“學會一點就進行大量練習”的方式，你們也會像紀教授一樣，像我在甘肅或四川遇到的那兩位年輕人一樣，或者像我三歲的孫女那樣，能把英語學得很好。挖掘動力，找到方法（通過說英語來提高英語口語水平。
爲了彌補這一短板，近年來，國家開始在升學考試增加英語口試，促使學生更加註重英語的實際運用。不過想要快速地提升口語能力，只靠優化課堂教學，還是遠遠不夠的。
如何克服“啞巴英語”？針對中國學生在英語學習中普遍存在的這一通病，廈門大學美籍教授、新航道“用英語講中國故事”形象大使，以及“用英語講中國故事”活動總決選專家評委潘維廉教授，要給同學們支招了！
基於自身教學經驗，以及家人和朋友的鮮活學習案例，作爲在中國生活了三十餘年，漢英雙語可嫺熟切換的“中國通”，潘維廉教授總結出了“掌握英語口語的三大祕訣”。打磨口語的靈招妙法，都融在了這封熱情洋溢的信裏，即看即學！
3 Secrets to Mastering Spoken English!
Good morning New Channel Family! We hope you are safe and well—and using this time fruitfully to hone your English with many of the online programs New Channel now has. English is important to you, and your career, but it’s also important to help you tell China’s story to the world.
And speaking of English, today I want to tell you 3 No Fail Secrets to Improving Oral English!
First of all—are you motivated to improve your Spoken English? If yes, hold your hand up until I ask the next question. Is your hand up? Now, keep your hand up if you spend at least 20 minutes a day practicing, aloud, your spoken English.
Wow—even from here I can see hands go down! If your hand went down, you are not motivated!
“But I am motivated,” some students complain. “I just have no time or environment.”
Nonsense! If you were motivated, you would find time or create the environment. What exactly is motivation? We cheapen the word to mean “hope” or “desire,” but that is only part of it. Motivation is not just daydreaming. The world is full of daydreamers—like people around the world who talk about ending poverty but do nothing about it. In China, however, a core belief has been that a modestly prosperous Socialist society cannot coexist with poverty—so China has fought poverty since Liberation in 1949; now that is motivation.
So motivation is the internal and external forces that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a goal.
Desire is important, but if you do not persist it is not motivation, just wishing, or daydreaming.
(I’m xiwanging I can improve my English.)
MBA students told me, “We really have no time!” So I encouraged them to speak to each other in only English during the 20 minute walk to the dorm, or during a 20 minute break. “We’ll do it!” they said. But after a few minutes, they were back to using Chinese. “We’re tired,” they said. “We need the rest.”
“I do understand,” I said. “But if you were truly motivated, this would be a priority and you’d make the time daily for it. And not a lot of time! Many people start out with a couple hours a day and quickly burn out. Better to set a smaller, reachable goal that you can stick to. Learn a little but use it a lot.
Marathons teach a lot about motivation. Every year, the day after the Xiamen marathon, many people are out running because they watched the race and want to run it themselves next year. A week later, fewer people are running. After a month, the only ones running each morning are those who run the marathon every year anyway because they have motivation. So, they have persistence.
But I have met some Chinese language learners who did have motivation. In 1988, I met Professor Ji Yuhua, who is now famous even outside China. His English was as good as mine. Well, David Symington at New Channel might say it was better than mine; David is from England and speaks real English; I’m from the US and only speak American.
Professor Ji had never been overseas and he had few foreign friends, but every day he listened to audio tapes and radio and repeated it. He was busy but he practiced his English, aloud, while doing other things—walking, cycling, cooking or cleaning (he was henpecked 妻管嚴, like me). Today, if you see someone talking to themselves, you assume they aren’t crazy; they’re just talking on a phone. Back then, we didn’t have cell phones. We barely even had landline phones. So when people saw Ji walking down the road talking aloud to himself, they probably thought he was crazy—especially when he answered himself!
Ji was very busy but he creatively made time, and made an environment. Today, he has taught on CCTV and has traveled to many countries to tell China’s story in English—even singing Chinese opera in English!
I remember MBA Professors who spoke good English asking me how to get their children to learn English.
I think they just hoped I’d teach them, but I asked them, “Do you speak to your children in English?”
“Oh, no!” they’d say. “They don’t want to talk in English to their parents!”
They weren’t really motivated, just wishful. But Prof. Ji was so motivated for his 3-year-old daughter to learn English that he only spoke to her in English, even if she cried.
“How cruel!” Chinese neighbors said. “How will she ever learn Chinese?
“Nonsense!” he’d say. “Her mom and grandparents speak Chinese; other children speak Chinese. I’m the only one who only speaks English to her!”
Now that is motivation!
So the first secret to improving spoken English is motivation—which is desire plus persistence. But there is another very important secret!
Many students ask me, “Professor Brown, how can I improve my spoken English?” They’re looking for some trick or secret—so I tell them the secret.
“Do you really want to know the secret?” I asked.
“Yes, I do! Please tell me!”
I lower my voice, look around, and say softly: “The secret to improving your Spoken English is to…SPEAK ENGLISH!”
Chinese, like language students around the world, have two problems. One, they lack motivation to persist long-term. But two, they spend most of their time reading and writing; they don’t speak aloud. If you’d learned Chinese that way, you would not be speaking Chinese today!
Ten hours a day of reading and writing will not improve your spoken English one bit because Spoken English is a physical activity. You have to speak aloud, move your mouth and tongue to get used to the motions. That’s why Prof. Ji’s English was perfect—he listened to English all day, regardless of what he was doing, and repeated everything aloud!
Of course, Prof. Ji is a smart guy—but if you learned a first language, you can learn a second one. But you have to learn the second spoken language the same way you learned your first—by speaking it aloud, unafraid of making mistakes. Do this and you will improve. 100% guaranteed. The best proof is my granddaughter.
When my granddaughter Kate was only 3, she spoke Chinese, English and Spanish because my son Matthew only spoke Chinese to her, his wife, who studied medical Spanish, only spoke Spanish to her, and other children spoke English. Of course, she did mistakes. I remember her using all 3 languages in one sentence: I want to chuan zapatos—I want to wear shoes. But who cares about mistakes? That’s how you learn, and if someone laughs at your mistakes, that’s their problem, not yours.
Mistakes are natural. I remember when Matthew was 3, he asked me, “Dad, how do you say “cai” in Chinese?”
“Matthew, cai is Chinese!”
He said, “ Hum, how do you say it in English?”
When I drove 40,000 km around China in 1994, in remote Gansu and Sichuan, I met two young men who both spoke great English, better than university students, even though neither had finished high school and neither had ever met a foreigner! Their secret?
They dreamed of learning English, even though they never thought they’d be able to use it, so they learned it exactly the same way as Prof. Ji—listening to audio all day and repeating, aloud, what they heard.
I was so impressed by these youth. I think China should scour the countryside for such talented youth and give them opportunities.
In conclusion, those are two Secrets to learning any spoken language. You need motivation—which isn’t just wishing, hoping or xiwanging—and motivation includes persistence. And you need to get your nose out of the books and learn to speak English by SPEAKING English.
But there is one last secret, and this is why New Channel is important. Unless you are extremely disciplined (do you spend at least 20 minutes a day on English?), then you, like most people, need some external accountability.
It is hard to stick to a goal alone, just as it is easier for a marathon runner to finish the race if he has someone with him to encourage him to keep up the pace. In the same way, it is good to have someone who will ask you, “How have you done today? This week?” This can be your New Channel teacher or classmates, or friends and family with whom you’ve shared your goals.
If you really want to consistently improve your English, I dare you to make yourself accountable to someone.
Motivation, method (improve spoken English by speaking English!), and accountability. These three, and being consistent—learn a little and use it a lot—and you too will master English like Prof. Ji, the youth in Gansu or Sichuan, or my 3-year-old granddaughter.
And improving English will not only help you with your career, regardless of what field you pursue, but also help you to better tell China’s story to the world!
Stay healthy and safe.
愛拼纔會贏！
掌握英語口語的三大祕訣！
早上好，新航道的同仁們！希望此刻大家是安全健康的，同時，也希望大家在這期間通過新航道豐富的線上教學卓有成效地提高了自身的英語水平。英語對你們來說非常重要，不僅在今後的事業方面，對於你們向世界講述中國故事也是大有幫助。
01、學習英語的動力
說到英語，今天我想跟大家分享三大屢試不爽的提升英語口語水平的祕訣！
首先，你有動力提高你的英語口語嗎？如果有，請舉手，然後我會繼續下一個問題。大家都舉手了嗎？現在，每天至少花了20分鐘大聲練習英語口語的請舉手。
哇，這個環節，舉手的同學就變少了！如果沒有舉手，就說明你沒有動力！
“我很有動力呀，只是沒有時間和練習環境罷了。”一些學生抱怨到。
這完全沒道理！如果你有動力，你就會擠出時間或創造環境。
動力到底是什麼？我們習慣把它等同於 “希望”或“渴望”，但後兩者僅是它的一部分。它也不是白日夢。
世界到處都有做着白日夢的人，例如世界上那些只在紙上談兵要求消除貧困對此卻毫無作爲的人。不像在中國，人們之所以堅持消除貧困，就是將之作爲建設社會主義小康社會的重要前提的核心信仰，所以自1949年解放以來就一直與貧困作鬥爭。而這就是動力！
動力是源自內部或外部的可激發人們追求目標的熱情和毅力的力量。
渴望很重要，但沒有堅持就不叫動力，那只是願望，或者是白日夢。
我MBA的一些學生告訴我，他們真的很忙！所以，我鼓勵他們在步行回宿舍的那20分鐘，或者在一段20分鐘的休息時間裏，只用英語交談。他們對此信誓旦旦。但沒過幾分鐘，他們又切換回了漢語。他們的理由是，累了需要休息。
我說：“我當然明白，但真正有動力的人定會把它放在心上，每天騰出時間練習。但不建議花太多時間！不少人起初鬥志高昂，每天都練上幾小時，但如此以來倦怠感也來得很快。最好是設定一個你能堅持且易實現的小目標。學到一點，就大量進行練習。
對比馬拉松賽事，我們對動力能有更深刻的認識。
每年廈門馬拉松比賽結束後的第二天，會湧現出許多跑步的人。他們因爲觀看了比賽，便萌生了來年參賽的想法。但一週後，跑步的人就減少了。等到一個月後，每天晨跑的只剩下那些年年都參賽的人。這是因爲心中有動力，所以行動能堅持。
但我在中國確實也遇到了真正有動力的英語學習者，如我在1988年認識的紀教授。他現已享譽海外，而那時他的英語就和我的一樣好。嗯，新航道的大衛·斯明誠老師可能會說紀教授的英語比我講得更好；大衛來自英國，講的是真正的英語，而我來自美國，只說美國話。
紀教授儘管從未去過海外，也鮮有外國朋友，但他每天堅持播放錄音磁帶、收聽收音機，並進行跟讀。工作雖然繁忙，但他會利用散步、騎自行車、做飯或打掃衛生等空閒時間大聲練習英語（他和我一樣是個妻管嚴）。今天，你如果看到有人在自言自語，你不會認爲他們是瘋子，而是知道他們在打電話。但我們那時，不僅手機沒有問世，就連座機也是稀缺物。所以那時紀教授走在路上大聲自言自語，可能會有人認爲他瘋了，尤其是聽到他自問自答的時候！
不以忙作爲藉口，反而創造性地騰出時間，給自己製造適宜的練習環境。因此，現在他不僅在央視開過講，還到過許多國家用英語講述中國故事，甚至還能用英語演唱中國的戲劇！
我的一些MBA的同仁能說着一口流利英語，記得他們曾問我如何讓他們的孩子願意學習英語。
我想他們只是希望我給出答案，但我卻提出了問題：“你們會用英語和孩子說話嗎？”
他們往往會說：“哦，不會！因爲他們不願和父母用英語交流！”
其實，他們這不算具備真正動力，只是在一廂情願罷了。但說到紀教授對於他3歲女兒的英語學習，可以說是有着很高積極性了，即使小女孩爲此哭鬧不願配合，他仍舊堅持只用英語和她交流。
我的一些中國鄰居說：“真殘酷！這樣她怎麼會願意學習漢語呢？
他反駁道：“這完全沒道理！她的媽媽和祖父母都同她說漢語，其他孩子對她也如此。我是唯一一個只跟她說英語的人！”
那就是動力！
所以，提高英語口語水平的第一大祕訣就是找到動力——既渴望又能堅持。但這還只是其一！
02、英語要大聲說出來
不少學生問我：“潘教授，怎樣才能提高自身的英語口語水平呢？”他們這是在找竅門、找祕訣，所以我如實相告。
“你真想知道嗎？”我問。
“是的，我想知道！請告訴我！”
我壓低聲音，環顧四周，輕聲說道：“提高英語口語水平的祕訣就是……開口說英語！”
和世界上其他國家一樣，中國的語言學習者也有兩大問題：第一，缺乏長期堅持的動力。第二，大部分時間都用於讀寫，缺乏大聲練習。如果你用的是這種方式學習漢語，那麼現在你的漢語口語肯定也是不行的！
每天讀寫10小時卻不見英語口語水平有丁點提高，這是因爲英語口語是一項體力活，你必須大聲練習，讓嘴和舌頭適應這些發音動作。這也是紀教授能講一口流利的英語的原因——不管在做什麼，他都堅持天天聽英語，並且會大聲重複聽到的一切！
當然，這和紀教授天資聰穎也不無關係。但如果你學會了第一語言，你就可以學習一門第二語言。並且，學習第二種口語時就該像學第一種口語那樣，大聲地說出來，不要害怕犯錯誤。這樣，你就會得到進步。這種方法絕對是有效的。我孫女凱特就是個很好的例子。
她在3歲時就會說漢語、英語和西班牙語，這是因爲我兒子馬修只跟她說漢語，我那學習醫用西班牙語的媳婦只跟她說西班牙語，而別的小孩同她說的又是英語。當然，她會犯錯誤。我記得她曾在“我想穿(chuan)鞋 (zapatos) ”就使用了三種語言。（譯者注：chuan是漢語“穿”的拼音，zapatos是西班牙語的“鞋”。）但誰會在乎這些呢？這就是學習方式。如果有人爲此嘲笑你，那是他們的問題，而不是你的。
犯錯誤很正常。我記得馬修3歲的時候，他問我：“爸爸，用漢語怎麼說“cai”？
“馬修，cai就是漢語！”
馬修又問道：“哦，那用英語怎麼說呢？”
1994年時，我驅車4萬公里環遊中國，到達處於內陸的甘肅和四川時，我遇到了兩位英語說得很棒的年輕人，他們的英語水平甚至高過許多大學生，但事實上，他們連高中都沒有上完，也沒見過外國人！那麼他們的祕訣是什麼呢？
儘管他們未曾想過能夠用上英語，但他們懷揣着學好英語的夢想。於是，他們採用了和紀教授的相同的方式學習英語——整天聽錄音，並且大聲跟讀。
這些年輕人給我留下了深刻的印象。我認爲中國應該在農村地區挖掘這類優秀人才，並且給他們提供施展才能的機會。
總之，這兩大祕訣放之四海而皆準。你需要找到自身動力，瞭解到這不僅僅是願望或是希望，還需要堅持。別隻顧埋頭書本，大聲開口練習吧！
03、找到英語學習的夥伴
接下就講到最後一個祕訣了，這也是新航道扮演着重要角色的原因。除非有着強大的自制力（看看自己能堅持每天至少花20分鐘學習英語了嗎？），否則你就和大多數人一樣，需要外部督促。
獨自一人堅持目標並不容易，這就像馬拉松運動員有人在身旁給他鼓勵時，他們能相對更容易完成比賽。同樣，如果有人關注你每天、每週的學習狀況，對你也是有利的。而這些關注你的人，可能是你在新航道的老師或同學，也可能是與你有共同目標的朋友和家人。
如果真想不斷提高英語水平，就問問自己敢不敢接受外部督促。
挖掘動力，找到方法（通過說英語來提高英語口語水平！），接受外部督促。記住這三大祕訣，並且堅持採用“學會一點就進行大量練習”的方式，你們也會像紀教授一樣，像我在甘肅或四川遇到的那兩位年輕人一樣，或者像我三歲的孫女那樣，能把英語學得很好。
無論你夢想的領域是什麼，良好的英語水平不僅會促進你事業的發展，還能幫助你更好地向世界講述中國故事！
多多保重！
愛拼纔會贏！
潘維廉
廈門大學管理學院OneMBA學術主任
新航道“用英語講中國故事”形象大使
看完了老潘的祕訣，大家是不是得到了一些啓發呢？這位熱愛中國的“老內”有着很高的“出鏡率”，剛纔大家看到的這篇“祕訣”，已經是他的第四封來信了。結合他之前情真意切的來信，老潘在我們心中的形象更加豐滿立體了！