練口語(yǔ)的時(shí)候,常去英語(yǔ)(論壇)角,而在那里,除了用到前面所提到的一些技巧(包括引用電影臺(tái)詞和復(fù)述改述相關(guān)材料)之外,最常規(guī)的聊天方式就是問(wèn)與答(以下稱Q&A),而今天要介紹的就是如何利用這樣的方法和原則來(lái)最大程度的提升口語(yǔ)練習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)。
原則一:準(zhǔn)備一些問(wèn)題
有的放矢的去英語(yǔ)角,這點(diǎn)已經(jīng)毋庸置疑了,除了準(zhǔn)備一些材料之外,還要懂得準(zhǔn)備問(wèn)題,因?yàn)楫吘共皇撬腥硕紝?duì)我們準(zhǔn)備的材料感興趣,或者從另一個(gè)角度說(shuō),如果通過(guò)提問(wèn)將話題引到我們準(zhǔn)備的材料上,給人感覺(jué)非常自然,即使他不是很感興趣,也會(huì)在早期比較配合我們的對(duì)話,也就給了我們鍛煉的機(jī)會(huì)。否則的話,就會(huì)出現(xiàn)以下的情況:
A: Hi, nice to meet you.
B: Nice to see you too.
A: What shall we talk about?
B: I don’t know. It’s up to you.
A: I can talk about everything.
B: Me too.
A: So what shall we talk about?
B: Whatever you like. So what do you like to talk about?
A:…
兩人無(wú)言,只有淚千行。但是如果我們有所準(zhǔn)備或者考慮,情況可能就完全不一樣。比如,我們所熟悉的材料是關(guān)于廣告的,那么要設(shè)計(jì)一些廣告方面的問(wèn)題,一般三個(gè)就足夠了,具體的對(duì)話可以是這樣的:、
A: Hi, nice to meet you.
B: Nice to see you too.
A: What shall we talk about?
B: Well, I would like to ask you a few questions if I may.
A: Sure, go ahead.
B: Have you ever been annoyed by those commercials between TV series when you are desperate to know about what’s going on next?
A: Yes. It spoils the whole evening sometimes.
B: Have you ever been bothered by those junk commercial messages during midnight when you are just about to have a sweet dream?
A: Well, yes.
B: Have you ever been confused by those booming advertisements or commercials so that you can hardly decide which one to follow and which product to buy?
A: I agree.
B: Then it is high time that we should prohibit commercials during golden hours…. (然后加入自己所準(zhǔn)備的話題和內(nèi)容)
原則二:給出多句話的回答
這個(gè)原則主要是針對(duì)那些回答問(wèn)題慣用一兩句話或者一兩個(gè)字的人,但凡這樣的情況出現(xiàn),這個(gè)Q&A的過(guò)程就會(huì)變成一個(gè)審問(wèn)的過(guò)程。使得提問(wèn)人和答問(wèn)人都會(huì)顯得非常郁悶。比如:
A: What’s you name?
B: York.
A: How old are you?
B: 27.
A: Where do you come from?
B: Chengdu
A: Do you like the English Corner here?
B: No.
A: Why?
B: Because I see you.
這種乒乓球式的一來(lái)一回,最后都不會(huì)有什么好的結(jié)果。練習(xí)口語(yǔ)是我們的目的,所以一定要利用別人提問(wèn)的機(jī)會(huì)多說(shuō)一些,這樣才會(huì)對(duì)所說(shuō)的話題更加熟悉,同時(shí)還可以兼顧到語(yǔ)音語(yǔ)調(diào)以及詞匯句型的升級(jí),也讓聽(tīng)者覺(jué)得你是有表達(dá)欲望和交流欲望的。比如:
A: What’s your name?
B: Feel free to call me York. This is a name easy to remember as it never fails to remind people of the names of a state and a city in the United States—the New York State and the New York City. Actually it was given by my first English teacher in middle school and it is my personal favorite English name and I have used it since then.
后面的任何問(wèn)題都可以如法炮制,只要回答者能夠用多句話來(lái)回答問(wèn)題,交流的感覺(jué)會(huì)變得更加好。平時(shí)要有意識(shí)的訓(xùn)練自己用5句話回答任何問(wèn)題,這樣的話就可以在面對(duì)任何問(wèn)題的時(shí)候都不會(huì)沒(méi)有話說(shuō)(當(dāng)然,這個(gè)訓(xùn)練的目的是為了大家抓住鍛煉口語(yǔ)多說(shuō),不意味著任何問(wèn)題從實(shí)質(zhì)上講都需要說(shuō)5句話,5是個(gè)虛數(shù)也是個(gè)實(shí)數(shù)),包括那些你不知道答案的問(wèn)題,比如:
A: Do you know how many stars are there in the sky? (口頭逼到可以不太講究語(yǔ)序)
B: This is a question too complicated for me to answer. As far as I know, the number of stars is uncertain since science and technology are developing everyday and we can not be so sure about the number of stars we have discovered, not to mention those unknown to us. The fact of matter is we need to see beyond those numbers, which means what those number means to us matters much more than the number itself. That is basically how I look at this question.
相信大家可以看出來(lái)了,即使不能對(duì)問(wèn)題的答案有一個(gè)確定的答復(fù),也可以就提問(wèn)者的動(dòng)機(jī)或者問(wèn)題答案對(duì)我們的意義著手進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步的陳述,最關(guān)鍵的是把自己的觀點(diǎn)說(shuō)出來(lái),這樣不論是英語(yǔ)口頭表達(dá)和個(gè)人的自信心,都會(huì)得到相應(yīng)的提高。
原則三:有鋪墊的提問(wèn)
大家都知道在英語(yǔ)角要做一個(gè)多說(shuō)多練的人,但是如果遇到一個(gè)人喜歡主導(dǎo)談話,不給別人機(jī)會(huì)發(fā)表觀點(diǎn),我們的策略師有機(jī)會(huì)的時(shí)候利用機(jī)會(huì),沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)的時(shí)候創(chuàng)造機(jī)會(huì)然后再利用機(jī)會(huì)。一般喜歡占據(jù)主導(dǎo)的說(shuō)話者通常也會(huì)喜歡被別人提問(wèn),這樣很有當(dāng)明星的感覺(jué),每次去英語(yǔ)角和開(kāi)記者招待會(huì)一樣,虛榮心可以得到極大的滿足。最關(guān)鍵的是每次提問(wèn)的人只會(huì)怯生生地說(shuō)出一句話,而回答的人可以說(shuō)出長(zhǎng)篇大論的東西,所以最后的結(jié)果就是提問(wèn)者練聽(tīng)力,說(shuō)話者練口語(yǔ)。遇到這樣的情況,突破口就在提問(wèn)的環(huán)節(jié),只要我們提問(wèn)的時(shí)候用N句話,這樣就很容易鍛煉到我們自己的表達(dá)。同時(shí),如果有鋪墊的提問(wèn)也會(huì)給回答者一些時(shí)間思考答案,他本能不會(huì)排斥,畢竟貿(mào)然打斷提問(wèn)是一種特別不禮貌的舉動(dòng)。具體的操作方法是首先說(shuō)出問(wèn)題的范圍,讓他有心理準(zhǔn)備,然后再呈現(xiàn)出自己對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題感興趣的原因,讓他明白提問(wèn)者的動(dòng)機(jī),再慢慢的提出這個(gè)問(wèn)題。最起碼一個(gè)問(wèn)題也可以用五句話來(lái)提,比如how old are you?一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單問(wèn)年齡的問(wèn)題,也可以有很多形式的鋪墊,比如 I would like to ask a question about your age if I may. (當(dāng)然,如果對(duì)方直接說(shuō)no, you may not 或者 sorry, it is not a polite question to ask. 那可以作罷,換下一個(gè)問(wèn)題。)然后接著說(shuō)出自己對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題感興趣的原因,I don’t mean to intrude in your privacy but as is indicated in lots of cases, people at different age tend to speak and behave in different ways even though their personality and value system have not changed much. That is to say, it is generally possible to tell how old the person is or how he looks at some question or topic by studying his speaking and behaviors. I happened to notice that you do have a special perspective upon the issue or topic we just talked about and it is kind of rare for people at your age to think in this way if I am right about your age. So would you please tell me how old you are? Or are you between 25 and 30? 這樣的提問(wèn)效果顯而易見(jiàn)。
原則四:就回答提問(wèn)
在Q&A的過(guò)程中,很多時(shí)候大家會(huì)覺(jué)得問(wèn)了一個(gè)問(wèn)題后就無(wú)話可說(shuō)了,于是會(huì)出現(xiàn)冷場(chǎng)的局面,然后一拍兩散,去尋找新的搭檔,重演舊的悲劇。其實(shí),如果兩個(gè)人只要都稍微經(jīng)過(guò)練習(xí),就能做到一直談下去,特別是在英語(yǔ)角這個(gè)地方,除非他累了。具體的方法就是,與其去想幾十個(gè)問(wèn)題,還不如先想好一個(gè)問(wèn)題,然后在對(duì)方回答的過(guò)程中,順著對(duì)方的思路去開(kāi)發(fā)新的問(wèn)題,這樣一來(lái)向?qū)Ψ絺鬟_(dá)出你對(duì)他回答的興趣,又給他不斷表達(dá)的機(jī)會(huì),然后用上面一個(gè)原則表達(dá)自己的觀點(diǎn),效果也是很好的。比如:
A: What’s your name?
B: York.
A: Very special name, isn’t it? Do you like it?
B: Sure. It was given by my first English teacher in middle school and it became my personal favorite English name.
A: Interesting. It seems that he influenced you a great deal. What’s he like?
B: Actually I don’t remember much about him but what impressed me most was his easygoing personality and he is a kind guy too.
A: Well, middle school student generally hate teachers, don’t they?
B: Yes, because we were too active and hated being controlled and disciplined. But I would like to say that he is an exception because he was ready to help any student in need and he seemed to understand us better, sometimes much better than our parents did.
A: Is there any specific example that you would like to share with me? I’m really interested in it.
為了讓大家看得清楚這個(gè)原則的應(yīng)用,這里的問(wèn)答就沒(méi)有采用多句的原則,效果自然不言自明。最有默契的搭檔是這樣做的:A鋪墊提問(wèn),B陳述回答+提問(wèn),A陳述回答+提問(wèn),循環(huán)往復(fù),以至無(wú)窮。
大家在掌握了這個(gè)額技巧以后,更重要的還是要明白說(shuō)話的語(yǔ)言質(zhì)量,內(nèi)容以及邏輯性,這也是以后的文章會(huì)不斷提到的。其實(shí)英語(yǔ)交流和中文交流一樣,如果大家遇到了什么問(wèn)題,首先考慮在中文交流過(guò)程中怎么解決的,很大程度上可以類推到英語(yǔ)中的。