怎么让发音更美式（如何利用影子跟读法来提升你的发音）

Have you ever watched yourself on video? There certainly is an aspect of curiosity in that—I mean, it's kind of interesting and a little weird to see yourself moving around and saying things. Perhaps, you do that often. I, however, don't. Nor am I asking you to start doing that. Today, I will ask you to do something similar. I will ask you to try to record yourself and to then go back and listen to that recording.

你看过视频中的自己吗？会不会觉得很尬？这么尬的事情，我不想让你去做，但我们可以去做一件相似的事情。录音－回听你自己。

One of the benefits of doing this little class for you is that I get to listen to the way I speak. Initially, it was a little strange listening to my voice, especially since this is kind of a presentation I am doing for all of you. It sometimes feels a bit like a performance, and every recording I do, no matter how hard I try or edit, inevitably has some mistakes or things that I think that I could have improved. The same goes for any teaching I ever do, or ever have done. I can always think back and wonder, “Did I say that right?” or “Did I convey the right feeling or meaning that I should have?”

谁都会在说话的时候犯错，即使是我自己，而且犯错这件事情似乎总是不可避免。甚至有时候，我会怀疑自己说的对吗？

Every time I go back and listen to myself speak I usually notice a thing or two. For example, one of the biggest things I've learned is that “silence is okay.” I've heard it been said before, but I actually started trying it and I saw (or actually “heard”) that my speaking sounded better when I paused. I realized that I didn't need to say so many “umms” and that I could just allow some silence in between my thoughts and sentences.

当我常常回听，我发现了一件重要的事情。“片刻的安静并不是坏事”，甚至适当地停顿让我的语音听起来更好。所以我意识到，我可以用“沉默”代替”嗯…”

So, I want you guys to experience these kinds of things for yourself. Here are few things you can do.

因此，我希望你们也能像我一样去做记录。

(1) Memorize a short section from a recording

记住一段录音的一小部分

It would be fun to just record yourself talking about whatever. You could do that, but that is not what I am suggesting. I recommend that you find something. It could be a podcast, amini-lesson(like the one you are listening to now), or aTED talk.

Choose 30 seconds to 1 minute. You could choose a longer amount of script, but it's not necessary. I find that focusing on a short amount of content is enough.

记录自己的语音是很有趣的，你可以选择任何你喜欢的内容。选择30秒到1分钟的记录时间就足够了。

(2) Compare with a standard recording

影子跟读法的具体步骤

Do a few things:

• listen or watch the recording

  听或者看这个录音

• get the script

  得到文本

• silently read the script while playing the recording at the same time

  边放语音边默读文本

• try repeating the script a few times to memorize it

  重复跟读直到记住

• record yourself reciting the script (at this point you have it memorized)

  录你自己的语音

• play back your recording and listen

  重听你的语音

The idea is that you have a “standard”, or something to compare yourself to—that's the point.

你有一个“标准”来对比你自己，这很重要。

Don't just record yourself reading the script. Memorizingmakes you think more carefully about what you are going to say. Also, it will naturally cause you to stop and pause. This is of particular importance because it is when you stop speaking that you usually start making sounds to try cover silence or find the right word to say. This is something that you need to train yourself to stop doing. Which leads me to my next point.

不要去读，要记住。

(3) Listen for awkward noises

听那些尴尬的声音

See if you make any strange “umms” or “ah” sounds. If you memorized the words then you will inevitably find times when you forget a word or are not totally sure what words come next. It is in these times that your bad habits show themselves.

You might repeat words a few times, say some “umms” or maybe “那个那个”. This is the kind of thing that should try to stop and change.

改变自己说“嗯...”“那个那个”的习惯。

(4) Practice delivery/imitation

练习模仿

After you have memorized the words, you should go back and try to memorize the way the speaker said those words. This will help your intonation and help your English sound more natural, because you are imitating the way a native speaker said it. Pretty cool, huh?

模仿标准的发音，让你自己的语音更像一个local。

Below is a link and a small excerpt from a TEDtalk. I recommend that you use this to practice.

下面是一个Ted上的讲话，推荐大家去练习。（长按复制链接哟~）

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjY1NjM2Njk4OA==.html

This is a tuberculosis ward, and at the time this picture was taken in the late 1800s, one in seven of all people died from tuberculosis.

这是一个肺结核病房， 在十九世纪末，每七个人中就有一个 死于肺结核。

We had no idea what was causing this disease. The hypothesis was actually it was your constitution that made you susceptible.

我们不清楚这个病的起因。 我们猜想可能是我们的体质决定了我们的易感染性。

And it was a highly romanticized disease. It was also called consumption, and it was the disorder of poets and artists and intellectuals.

而且这种病被披上了浪漫滴外衣。它被称为痨病，是诗人， 艺术家，智者得的病。

And some people actually thought it gave you heightened sensitivity and conferred creative genius.

有些人甚至认为这种病让你变得更敏感， 并且赋予你天才的特质。

Give it a shot! Let me know how it goes. BTW, you don't need an awesome microphone to do this. You should be just fine using the microphone and recording app on your phone.

快去试一下吧。期待你们的回复。你不用高级的设备，手机就足够了～

That does it for this week. Until next time…

本期推文主创简介

美化排版 | 药药同学

封面图片 | Demi

审核校对 | 张津

翻译 | 胡晓晓

点击阅读原文，和10,000个小伙伴一起早起练习口语吧！

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