某種意義上講，我可能給不出最好的建議，因為在我學(xué)語言的時候，聽力一直是我的弱項。我只能說，根據(jù)我作為一名教師的經(jīng)驗，聽力對于男生來說尤其具有挑戰(zhàn)性。
In some ways I am not the best person to give advice here, because whenever I have studied a language, listening has always been my weakest area. I have to say, my experience as a teacher is that listening is a challenge for male learners in particular.
大多數(shù)同學(xué)都趨向于看重語法和詞匯，而把聽力和口語放在其次。但如果你想和本土人士進(jìn)行溝通的話，隨時隨地的聽力練習(xí)還是必不可少的。
Most students tend to prioritise grammar and vocabulary over listening and speaking, but if you ever plan to communicate with native speakers, it is essential to practise listening whenever you can.
看電影是一個很好的提高聽力的方法。在此，我要強調(diào)一下重復(fù)的重要性。比如，你看了一部帶中文字幕的英文電影，過一周或更久，要再看一遍。第二次看的時候要把字幕遮起來，因為這次你已經(jīng)大概知道劇中角色想要表達(dá)的意思，這樣做有助于大腦在語義和單詞之間產(chǎn)生關(guān)聯(lián)。當(dāng)然，如果有一些實在難以理解，你也可以暫停和回放。
Watching movies is a good way to improve your listening. I would stress the usefulness of repetition. So watch a DVD of an English-language film with Chinese subtitles. Then, a week or so later, watch the film again with the subtitles covered up. This time, you will know broadly what the characters are trying to say, which will help your brain link the English words with their meanings. Of course, you can pause and rewind the film if there are certain bits that really mystify you.
接下來，就該想辦法拋開電影畫面聽其原聲帶（或原聲錄音）了。你現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該已經(jīng)非常熟悉劇中的場景和故事情節(jié)了，所以拋開畫面，這樣有助于你的大腦更加專注于劇中的對白。
The next step would be to find a way to listen to the soundtrack of the film without watching it. You should know the scenes and the story well by now so by removing the pictures your brain will really focus on the language spoken.
但是，在做這些之前，你要考慮好用什么樣的電影來練習(xí)你的聽力。假如你想學(xué)美語，那就一定要選一部以美國為背景的電影。如果你選了一部備受贊譽的電影（比如一部獲得多項奧斯卡獎的電影），你還有可能買到該電影的劇本，那將會對你非常有用的。最后，你要選一部你百看不厭的影片，別看不了兩三遍就不想再看了。
Before you do any of this, think carefully about what film you want to use to practise your listening. If you want to learn American English, be sure to watch a film set in the USA. If you choose a really well-regarded film (one that has one lots of Academy Awards, for example) you will probably be able to buy the screenplay of the film, which will be very useful to you. Lastly, choose a film that you are not going to get tired of if you watch it three times!
使用這種方法練習(xí)聽力非常地愜意，你也確實能從中感覺到自己的進(jìn)步。
This is a very satisfying way to practise your listening. You will really feel that you are improving.
我還特別向推薦大家一下BBC網(wǎng)站。你會發(fā)現(xiàn)上面有很多音頻節(jié)目，你可以下載到你的電腦或MP3里。最棒的是，我們還為這些音頻都配上文字稿，供你在學(xué)習(xí)中對照參考。同樣地，我建議你在忙著多聽幾個節(jié)目之前，最好每個先聽上三個回合。（譯者注：進(jìn)入BBC網(wǎng)站http://www.bbc.co.uk/，點擊最下面“Explore the BBC”中的“Learning English”進(jìn)入學(xué)英語欄目）
I would also really recommend going to the BBC website. You will find lots of audio programmes to download to your computer or mp3 player. The best thing is that we always make the scripts available so you can double-check everything. Again, I suggest that instead of listening to three different programmes, you listen to one programme three times over!
一般來講，聽的時候不要期望太多。就算是我們英語本土人士在看英語電影的時候也會漏掉一些東西。所以，不要指望100%地全部聽懂。
Generally speaking, don't expect too much when it comes to listening. Even native speakers miss some things when they watch movies. You should not expect to ever understand everything 100%.
記住，好的聽力不是指要聽懂每個單詞的含義，而是指要搞明白正發(fā)生著什么，搞明白人們的意思。大概也就30%的詞匯理解加上70%的猜測吧。
Remember that good listening comprehension does not mean understanding what every word means. Good listening comprehension means understanding what is happening, understanding what people mean. So think of it as being 30% vocabulary understanding and 70% guesswork.
我曾經(jīng)在一所學(xué)校教書，學(xué)校有個會話室，學(xué)生在那里可以與其他學(xué)生和英語本土人士結(jié)組進(jìn)行英語會話練習(xí)。所練習(xí)的水平也是相當(dāng)?shù)馗?，一般可以達(dá)到中級以上甚至高級水平。有一年，一個新生開始在會話室練習(xí)。其中兩個月，她差不多每天都來，一練就是好幾個小時。那時正是她上大學(xué)的假期期間。
I once taught in a school which had a conversation lounge, where students could come and just practise English conversation with other students and one native speaker. The level was usually quite high – upper intermediate or advanced. But one year a beginner student started to come to the conversation lounge. She came almost every day for several hours, for about two months. It was something she did during her university holiday.
她的口語進(jìn)步不多，但令人驚訝的是她的聽力。那個夏天快要結(jié)束的時候，她基本上能聽懂任何人講話了，就算說話人所用的詞匯和語法遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了她的水平。
Her speaking improved a little, but what was really astonishing was her listening comprehension. By the end of the summer she could understand what everybody was saying, even if the vocabulary and grammar were far above her ability.
她只不過是變得善于猜測而已。這，對我來說，便是聽力的秘訣。
She had simply become very very good at guesswork. This, to me, is the secret of listening comprehension.
你可以通過收聽英語廣播練習(xí)猜測能力。不要試圖理解你所聽到的所有東西，只要去猜測人們想要說得基本意思就行了。
You can practise your guessing skills by listening to English language radio. Don’t try to understand everything you hear, just try to guess the general meaning of what people are saying.
就算你不去試著理解其中的意思，收聽英語廣播或聽英語歌曲都會增加你對英語聲音的熟悉程度。我就知道有些同學(xué)聽著英語演講入睡，相信通過長期的熏陶會提高他們的聽力能力。
Even when you are not trying to understand the meaning, listening to radio or music in English will improve your familiarity with English sounds. I know some students who listen to English speech as they go to sleep, confident that in the long term it will improve their understanding.
