Why You Can't Understand Some Native English Speakers | Go Natural English

Hey!

嗨大家好！ 為什麼有些時候可以聽懂英語人士的英文

How's it going?

"Why is it that I can understand some native English speakers and not others?"

但有些英語人士說話你就是聽不懂？

This is a really common question that I've been getting over and over from you, members

在我的頻道Go Natural English我常被會員們問到這個問題

of the Go Natural English community.

And I think it's a really good question to discuss in this episode.

我覺得這是個非常值得探討的有趣問題

Don't you think so?

你也同意吧？所以，到底是為什麼

So, why is it that you can understand some native English speakers, like me.

有時候好像可以完全了解英語人士-比如說我-的英文

I know that a lot of you while I've received many, many, many emails saying, "Oh my Gosh,

很多很多人寫信給我告訴我： 「天哪Gabby這真是太神奇了」

this is so exciting!"

"Gabby, I can understand every single word you're saying."

「你說的每一句話每一個字我都聽得懂」

Or "Wow, I can't believe I understand 70% of what you're saying."

或是「哇，你說的話大約有七成我都可以理解」

"This is amazing.

「這真的是太驚人了，以前從沒有這樣過！」

I've never felt this way before."

"I feel so good when I listen to your English, Gabby."

「聽你說話的時候我覺得我英文超好！」

"But why when I listen to other native English speakers, can't I understand them?"

「但就是很奇怪...為什麼我聽其他英語人士講話的時候就是一知半解很多聽不懂呢？」

So, let's talk about that.

我們就來看看為什麼吧？今天就解決這個問題！

Today, we're going to solve this problem, and I'm going to share resources, suggestions

我接下來會給你一些解決這個問題需要的資源、建議

with you on how to fix this problem.

This is some big deal, because you don't want to feel left out of native English conversation.

這是個很嚴肅的問題，因為你一定不會想要在母語人士聊天時覺得被排擠在外

It feels horrible.

那感覺太糟了，那種鴨子聽雷的感覺

It feels really horrible when you cannot understand some native speakers, but you can understand

有些人說話你聽得懂，有些人說話你聽不懂，這讓你覺得困惑

others, because it makes you wonder is this your problem, is that the native speakers'

到底是你的問題還是那些母語人士的問題？

problem, is there something wrong with them or is there something wrong with you.

感覺有點丟臉對吧，如果在一個英語對話的團體裡

It's embarrassing when you're in a group of native speakers, and maybe you can understand

你只聽得懂其中的某些人，而另一些你就是聽無

some of them, but not others.

Or maybe in the morning, you're watching a Go Natural English video or listening to the

或是可能白天你聽Go Natural English或是廣播都覺得ok

podcast, and then in the afternoon, you go to talk with your native English speaker friend

但到了下午跟說英語的朋友

or your colleges, and you can't understand some of them.

或是同事對話的時候，你卻聽不懂他們的意思

So, in this episode, we're going to solve that.

這一集我們就來解決這個問題

So first of all, natives talk funny.

首先，英語母語人士說話的方式是很隨性的，有不同的方式

Native English speakers have different ways of talking.

我是個英文母語人士

I'm a native English speaker.

I was born and raised in United States of America, and I speak a very standard kind

我在美國土生土長，說的是標準美式口音

of American English.

我出生在明尼蘇達的明尼阿波里斯市

I was born in Minneapolis, so some people who are really, really good at English know

嫻熟英文的人非常仔細聽的話，會發現我有少許、一點點、很輕微的

that sometimes, there's a tiny, tiny, incy-wincy hint of that kind of regional accent in my

屬於這個地區的口音

English.

But not so much.

不過真的很輕微因為我通常保持標準美式口音

I tend to speak standard English, because as I was growing up, I actually moved to different

因為我成長的過程在很多不同的洲住過

states.

十歲之前我住在明尼蘇達州，搬到夏威夷一直到我十三歲

I lived in Minnesota until I was ten, and then Hawaii until I was thirteen, and then

Indiana, until I was fifteen, and then Maine until I was twenty, Massachusetts until recently.

之後在印第安那州直到我十五歲，緬因州到二十歲，然後麻薩諸塞州一直到現在

So anyway, I'm a very good kind of even English.

所以我是非常"平均"的口音，而且我咬字非常清楚

So anyway, my English is really clear, because I also have over ten years of experience teaching

因為我教授英語已經有超過十年的時間

English as a second language, travelling the world and working with English-as-the-second

走遍世界教授外語人士學習英文

language speakers.

Other native English speakers don't have the same experience, they're not English teachers.

一般的英語母語人士沒有這樣的經歷，他們不是英文老師

So, in order to communicate with people, they just speak like they would speak with other

他們講英文就是為了溝通，就像跟其他母語人士交談一樣

native English speakers.

I'm speaking to you right now like I would speak to my native English-speaking friends.

我現在對你們說話的方式

與我跟英語母語朋友們說話是一樣的，但那是我刻意的表現

What I mean is I think I'm more aware of speaking clearly, I enunciate my words.

我刻意咬字清晰，就像是廣播員或是電視上的人

People that work on the radio or in broadcasting, or on TV also speak very clearly whether they're

不論是不是英文老師，他們都一字一字說得很清楚

English speakers or not.

Other people that are used to working all day every day with other Americans speak pretty

但其他習慣於以英語進行日常溝通的人

quickly, and they might combine their words more.

可能就會說得很快，可能會把字連在一起

So, for example, I might say, "Don't you know how to understand native English?", and they

比如，我可能會說「你不知道怎麼理解母語英語人士嗎？」

might say, "Don't you know how to understand native English?"

他們則是會說「你不了英語母語人士嗎？」

"Don't you know?"

「不了嗎？」對我這也是一個非常「明尼蘇達」的用法

Which is also very Minnesotan of me to say.

If you do know the difference in regional English, sometimes people make fun of Minnesotans

如果你有些瞭解美國個地區不同的口音特色的話，大家有時都這樣取笑明尼蘇達口音的人

saying, "Ya, don't you know?"

「你不了嗎？」，好言歸正傳

Anyway, back on track.

So, the point here is that some native English speakers talk funny.

重點是，某些英語母語人士說話就是很隨性

But it's not funny to other native English speakers.

但對非母語人士來說就不好玩了

They'll just say, "Okay, they have a strong southern accent or New York accent."

這些有太重的南方口音、紐約口音的人

Or maybe they use a lot of slang, or maybe combine their words a lot, like that example

使用一堆俚語、俗諺或是把字都連在一起說

with "Don't you know."

像剛剛說的「你不了嗎？」或是把「你在做什麼呢？」

Or, for example, "What are you doing?", they might say, "What're you doin' or "Watcha doin?"

說成「你在幹啥？」「你做啥？」「如何？」

"What's up?"

So, we combine our words really often.

我們很常把字連在一起，總地來說母語人士呢

So, natives talk in different ways base on their regional accent, based on where they

根據不同地方的口音跟習慣有不同的說話方式

grew up, based on just their style, whether they talk more casually, more clearly, professionally,

有些說話隨性，有些咬字清晰、專業，也隨著他們有無公開演說的經驗

whether they have experience in public speaking or radio, or broadcasting.

有沒有廣播的經驗而有所不同，總之就是很多不同的說話方式

So, there are a lot of different ways to speak.

Also, if you think about people from different generations.

不同世代也有所不同

Young people will use phrases, like "I can't even!"

年輕一輩的人喜歡說「我甚至不能....!」

And older people don't tend to use phrases like that, that's slang.

年紀大一點的人則不會這樣用，對她們來說這是年輕人的用語

Older people may speak less clearly, because they've got so used to speaking with their

年長一點的人可能咬字沒那麼清楚因為他們已經太習慣原本的說話方式

own way, their own accent, combining words together.

他們的口音、腔調，把字都連在一起的習慣

So, these are some reasons why native can be difficult to understand.

以上這些都是為什麼母語人士說話會難以理解的原因

Now, why is it difficult for you in particular to understand some native speakers?

但是，對「你」來說，又是為什麼會那麼困難呢？

It could be, because you are used to classroom English.

極有可能是因為，你太習慣教室裡的英文了

But English classroom is possibly the most dangerous place for you to spend your time

英文教室可能是學習英文最大的陷阱

if you want to become fluent in real natural English.

如果你追求的是流利的日常對話

Danger!

危險！注意！快點離開英文教室，改成上網學習吧

Danger!

Get out of there!

Come on-line and watch or listen to more Go Natural English, because in the classroom,

多看一些Go Natural English

you have an English teacher who is used to working with English learners (and that's

理由是英文老師可能太習慣跟學英文的學生交流 （這當然是好事）

a good things), but you're not exposed to real natural English as much as you're out

但你卻沒有接觸到自然流動的對話，像是在真實世界或是線上教學會發生的

in the real word or on-line listening to authentic, real life speed English.

So in the classroom, you're also exposed to a lot of language, such as "Open your book",

相反地，在英文教室裡

你在英文教室裡學了一堆「請打開課本」、「翻到第二十頁」、「有問題嗎？」

"Please read page twenty.", "Do you have any questions?", "Please do your homework.", "Now

「要記得寫回家功課」、「我們現在要學...」

we're going to learn blah, blah, blah".

This is all classroom vocabulary.

以上這些都是英文教室裡的英文，其中當然也有些可以應用在日常生活中

And some of it is common in everyday English life, but some of it is really specific to

但更大部分都是只會在教室裡面使用到聽到的

the classroom.

For example, "You came to class late!

比如「你上課遲到了！」、「為什麼你會遲到？」

Why are you late?"

Or "Open your books."

或是「請打開書」

This is a phrase you're not going to hear very often in everyday English conversation.

這些都是你不會常常在日常生活中聽到用到的

Do you follow me here?

I hope this is making sense.

有道理吧？所以你應該要把自己置放到正確的情境中

So, you need to be in an environment where you're surrounded by the kind of English you

置放到你希望能流利說出英文的情境

want to speak.

So, if you want to be an English teacher, you should spend a lot of time in the English

如果你是想成為一名英文老師，那你就應該花時間

classroom.

學習教室內的英文，但當然也需要加強教室外的英文

You should also spend the time outside of the classroom.

待在英文教室裡只會學到教室內的英文

But being in a classroom will give you classroom English.

If you want to be an English-speaking doctor, well, you should shadow an English-speaking

如果你想要成為一名以英文執業的醫師

你應該要跟著一名說英語的醫師

doctor.

So, you need to make sure that you're listening to and watching, and being part of English

確保你聽的、看的、接觸的英文

word that you plan to spend your time in, the English world that you want to be part

都與你想要進入的情境相關，你將來想要踏入的情境

of.

Does that make sense?

這有道理吧？

I hope it makes sense.

我希望你也認同，讓我舉個例子

So, let me give you an example.

I'm travelling now, I'm in Thailand.

我現在正在旅行，到了泰國，跟我的朋友Sofia一起

And I was with my friend Sofia.

And Sofia works in finance, she's not an English teacher.

Sofia不是英文老師，她是做財經相關的工作

So, it's really funny, because every time Sofia tries to speak to the locals who speak

很好笑，每次Sofia跟聽得懂英文的泰國人說話

English, they don't understand.

那些泰國人都聽不懂，但當我插嘴

And then, when I interrupt and I speak to the locals in a way that I know they learned

我試著用我猜這些泰國人了解的英文跟他們溝通，他們就可以了解

in their English class, they understand.

For example, Sofia said, "Excuse me, should we fill out this form?", but Thai woman didn't

例如：Sofia問他們「不好意思請問我們需要填這表格嗎？」那個泰國小姐聽不懂

understand.

I said, "We write?", and the Thai woman understood.

但是當我說：「寫這個嗎？」那個泰國人就聽得懂了

So, it was very basic English.

用非常基本的英文，好像教室裡學的那樣：

That's the kind of English that you learn in your English class.

我們、寫這個

"We write?"

But it's not even correct, and it's not showing you phrasal verbs, like "fill out" that a

文法甚至不對，沒有使用到常用的詞

絕大部份英語母語人士、美式英語母語人士在這裡會使用的動詞片語「填寫」

native English speaker, an American English, speaker would certainly use more often than

a basic verb like "write".

而不會用「寫」，所以學習動詞片語是很重要的

So, it's really important to learn phrasal verbs and, of course, I have a course and

我有專門探討動詞片語的電子書

I have an audio e-book about phrasal verbs that you can find out more about at GoNaturalEnglish.com.

你可以在GoNaturalEnglish.com找到。 但我們要如何應付這個問題呢？

Now, what do we do about this problem?

We know it may be difficult to understand some native speakers, because maybe it's their

有時候會很難理解英語母語人士，可能是他們的問題

fault, maybe they just don't speak clearly.

他們就是不講清楚，但也可能是你的問題

But maybe it's your fault, because you're relying on your classroom English.

因為你靠教室英文想闖天下，但是是誰的錯重要嗎？

Well, it doesn't matter whose fault it is.

It's nobody's fault.

根本沒有人有錯

What we're going to do is we're going to concentrate on how we're can improve your English so that

但我們可以想辦法加強你的英文，你就可以聽得懂更多不再被排擠

you can understand without feeling left out or confused when you want to talk with native

跟母語人士講話也不再容易一頭霧水

English speakers.

So, first of all, forget what you learned in your English classroom.

首先：忘記在教室裡面學到的那些

Really, you have to begin with an open mind if you're going to understand native English

想要了解母語人士的話，先放開心胸

speakers, because it's almost like a different language or a different dialect from what

因為教室英文跟日常英文天差地遠

you learned in your English classroom, especially, if you learned English in your home country.

根本就像兩支不同的語言，特別是，在你的國家學的教室英語

And I've heard from many of the people in the Go Natural English audience that their

我從我頻道的觀眾身上得知

high school English classes were really bad.

他們高中英文老師教得超爛，當然我不是要批評他們

Now, I don't want to judge, I don't want to say anything bad, because I know a lot of

我也不是要說其他英文老師的壞話

great English teachers who are native speakers and non-native speakers of English, but I'm

優秀的英文老師有可能是母語人士也有可能是非母語人士，如果你過去的學習經驗不好，我也只能說遺憾

sorry if you had bad experience in your English class.

但是！都過去了

But you don't have to let your past experience determine your future in English.

你過去的經驗也不會決定你一輩子，都忘了吧

So, forget your bad experience in high school English class.

從現在開始學習真實世界的英文

Now we're going to learn real-world English.

So, of course I would suggest that you would check with Go Natural English course.

第一個建議是多逛逛Go Natural English提供的教學

Now, I'm not just saying this to promote my courses, but I've created my courses especially

我並不是單純要推銷我自己的課程，但這些都是特別為外語人士設計

for you to understand American English speakers.

幫助你更瞭解母語人士， 可以上GoNaturalEnglish.com瞭解更多

So, you can find more at GoNaturalEnglish.com.

Immerse yourself in the English that you want to speak.

把自己放到你希望能加強的情境中

So, I've mentioned before, if you want to be an English-speaking doctor, see if you

如果稍早所說，如果你想成為一名以英文執業的醫師

can go shadow a professional and an English speaking hospital.

想辦法跟著一位說英語的醫師，去以英文溝通的醫院

That's one example.

這是一個例子，如果你想要成為一個傑出的交談者

If you want to be a great conversationalist and make friends who speak English, perhaps

你想要用英文交朋友，你可以去背包旅館

there's a hostel of an international meet up or an international association where you

或是在你住的地方找找會舉辦國際交流的機構

live where you can go and you can listen to how other people talk, and you can even join

你可以去聽聽到母語人士怎麼交談，甚至你可以加入對話

the conversation.

But you have to get out of your English classroom, and you have to get out of your comfort zone,

走出英文教室也走出你的舒適圈

and you have to push yourself, you have to go be in the environment that you want to

想要加強某方面的英文就強迫自己加入那樣的環境裡

be able to speak fluently in.

Also, remember that English listening and English speaking are really different from

記住，英文的聽與說

和英文的寫與讀是完全不同的

English reading and writing.

英文發音根本瘋狂，當你看著紙本上的字彙

English pronunciation is crazy.

And so, what you imagine you're going to hear based on when you read a book is really totally

你腦中想像的發音跟實際的發音是完全不同的

different in really life.

So, I suggest that you train your ear and you try to listen to a lot of English and

我建議你大量地聽，好好訓練你的耳朵

understand what you're hearing as opposed to trying to translate it or trying to use

試著了解你所聽到的而不是一直在腦中翻譯

或是馬上查字典，在一段對話中這樣做很奇怪吧？

dictionary right away.

That's kind of awkward if you're in a conversation, and you pull out your dictionary and say,

說話說到一半突然拿出字典說等等我查個單字

"Oh, I'm sorry.

Just a minute.

I need to look up this word."

And then, a conversation is going to pass you by, you're not going to have time.

然後這段對話就過了

你根本不會有時間，所以試著訓練聽力、去理解

So, try to train your ear to understand what natives are saying.

這些老外到底在說什麼，同樣的意思有很多不同說法

And there's a lot of different ways to say the same thing, like I mentioned with my example

就像我剛剛舉的我朋友Sofia的例子

before with my friend Sofia.

She said "fill out", and I said "write" which are not exactly the same, but they are very,

她說「填寫」而我說「寫」，意思並不全相同但非常接近

very similar.

So, studying phrasal verbs can help you a lot with your understanding native English.

所以在動詞片語下功夫對於了解母語人士有極大幫助

And understanding pronunciation of American English, how we combine words together, and

了解美式英文的發音規則

什麼樣的字會被連在一起，誰跟誰連在一起發音會改變

sometimes that changes the sound.

Like the examples I shared.

比如我稍早的例子 （我是說啥？）

What did I say?

"What are you doing", "Watcha doin?" or "Don't you know?", "Dontcha know?"

「你在做什麼？」、「你幹啥？」、「你知道嗎？」、「你了嗎？」

And also being familiar with some of the advanced grammar, like "Don't you know" is kind of

也花時間去了解進階的文法規則，例如

反問語氣「你不知道嗎？」，或是附加問句：「你知道，對吧？」

negative question or "You do know, don't you?"

I was playing around with some of my English learning friends in Indonesia (earlier this

今年稍早我旅行到印尼的時候就和我一些在學習英文的印尼朋友玩一個遊戲

year, I visited Indonesia), and I said, "Okay, are they really fluent?"

我說：「你們真的說得很流利嗎？讓我考考你們」

I said, "Okay, let's play a game.

I'm going to challenge you with the hardest English that you've ever had to respond to."

我要用一些很困難的文法來考驗你們

And so I asked them a lot of different questions, like "You do know, do you?", "Don't you know?",

我問了一些很難的問題例如「你知道吧？不是嗎？」、「你不知道？」

"Do you know?"

「你知道嗎？」

And so, being comfortable with those different ways that native speakers will ask questions

盡量熟悉這些母語人士常常使用的問問題方式也是非常重要的

is really important too.

So, I don't usually say that you should focus on grammar, but in this case, some advanced

通常我不太會強調文法的重要性

但不諱言在日常英文中一些進階文法有很大幫助

grammar can help.

Just don't become obsessed with the grammar, don't worry about being perfect all the time,

但不要走火入魔，整天擔心文法不對

because you can fall into perfection paralysis which means that you wait to talk until you

因為你會因為太過吹毛求疵而動彈不得

你想等到在腦中把句子安排到百分之百正確才開口，那是不可能的

are 100% sure that you have the perfect sentence or phrase in mind.

But become more and more familiar with grammar, with phrasal verbs and with how native speakers

只要熟悉基本文法還有常用動詞片語以及母語人士說話的習慣與發音

pronounce phrases, not just individual words, but words together in phrases and how they

而且是整句的發音而不是單一字彙的發音

sound when the words are next to each other.

留意句子中詞與詞如何連接

All right.

So, those are some things that you can do to improve your situation so that you never

這些就是改善的方法，幫助你在英文對話中不再被排擠

feel like you're totally left out of a conversation, so you don't feel like "What the heck?

讓你不要再想著 什麼鬼啊

I've been studying English for ten years, and I still can't understand a native speaker?"

我已經學英文超過十年了還聽不懂母語人士說啥？

I know how you feel.

我了解你的感覺，可以不用這樣的，而且也不需要用上十年的時間

It doesn't have to be that way.

And it doesn't have to take ten years.

只要給你自己幾個月的時間，試著從英文教室外學習

Give yourself a few month to really focusing on learning native English outside of the

我相信成果會很令你開心的

classroom, and I think that you'll be really happy with your results.

You can come to GoNaturalEnglish.com/7steps to learn more about the Go Natural method

你可以上GoNaturalEnglish.com/7steps

瞭解更多自然且流利說英文的方法

of learning English fluently.

So, that's 7, the number 7, S, T, E, P, S. So, I hope to see you there, and I hope to

7 s、t、e、p、s

talk to you again soon.

希望很快再見！

Remember to subscribe and share this video if you found it helpful.

如果你覺得有幫助，歡迎訂閱我的頻道

Thank you so much.

I love you, guys.

祝你有個愉快的一天

Have a wonderful day and keep up with your English speaking skills and studying, and

繼續努力加強英文口說技巧

fluency.

And that is all.

以上，祝你有個愉快的一天！

Have a wonderful day.

Bye.