考研英語(yǔ)時(shí)文賞讀（83）：為什么孩子更容易學(xué)會(huì)一門(mén)語(yǔ)言？

　　摘要：考研英語(yǔ)作為一門(mén)考研公共課，雖然大家都學(xué)了英語(yǔ)十幾年，卻仍經(jīng)常有總分過(guò)線(xiàn)掛在英語(yǔ)上的情況，因此英語(yǔ)復(fù)習(xí)不單單是單詞、做題。閱讀作為考研英語(yǔ)的大頭，僅僅做考研真題或許沒(méi)法滿(mǎn)足你的閱讀量，因此幫幫之后會(huì)不定時(shí)推出一篇英文美文，這些文章都與考研英語(yǔ)閱讀同源，多讀必有好處。

　　Why kids learn languages more easily than you do

　　為什么孩子比大人更容易學(xué)會(huì)一門(mén)語(yǔ)言

　　Learning a second language is tricky at any age (and it only gets tougher the longer you wait to crack open that dusty French book). Now, in a new study, scientists have pinpointed the exact age at which your chances of reaching fluency in a second language seem to plummet: 10.

　　二語(yǔ)習(xí)得對(duì)任何年齡段的人來(lái)說(shuō)都不容易（而且，你在打開(kāi)那本已經(jīng)積滿(mǎn)灰塵的法語(yǔ)書(shū)上拖延的時(shí)間越長(zhǎng)越困難）?，F(xiàn)在，科學(xué)家們?cè)谝豁?xiàng)新的研究中精確地指出了二語(yǔ)習(xí)得時(shí)，你有機(jī)會(huì)達(dá)到流利水平的確切年齡分水嶺：10歲。

　　The study, published in the journal Cognition, found that it's "nearly impossible" for language learners to reach native-level fluency if they start learning a second tongue after 10. But that doesn't seem to be because language skills go downhill.

　　這篇發(fā)表在《認(rèn)知》上的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者從10歲以后才開(kāi)始學(xué)，那他想要達(dá)到母語(yǔ)水平的流利程度“幾乎是不可能的”。盡管這似乎并不是因?yàn)檫^(guò)了這個(gè)年齡語(yǔ)言技能就會(huì)下降造成的。

　　It turns out you're still learning fast," says study co-author Joshua Hartshorne, an assistant professor of psychology at Boston College. "It's just that you run out of time, because your ability to learn starts dropping at around 17 or 18 years old."

　　該研究報(bào)告的聯(lián)名作者、波士頓學(xué)院心理學(xué)助理教授喬舒亞·哈特肖恩說(shuō)：“事實(shí)上，你還是能學(xué)得很快，問(wèn)題在于這時(shí)候你的時(shí)間已經(jīng)不多了，因?yàn)榈搅?7~18歲左右，人的學(xué)習(xí)能力就會(huì)開(kāi)始下降。”

　　People who start a few years after age 10 may still become quite good at a language, the authors say, but they are unlikely to become fluent. Kids may be better than adults at learning new languages for many reasons.

　　論文指出，雖然那些剛過(guò)10歲不久就開(kāi)始學(xué)的孩子還是可能掌握地很好，但已經(jīng)不太可能達(dá)到完全流利的水平了。孩子比成年人更容易掌握新的語(yǔ)言，這背后可能有諸多原因。

　　Children’s brains are more plastic than those of adults, meaning they’re better able to adapt and respond to new information. “All learning involves the brain changing,” Hartshorne says, “and children’s brains seem to be a lot more adept at changing.”

　　孩子的大腦有著比成年人的大腦更強(qiáng)的可塑性，也就是說(shuō)，他們適應(yīng)新信息并做出反饋的能力更強(qiáng)。哈特肖恩說(shuō)：“所有學(xué)習(xí)都跟大腦的改變有關(guān)，而孩子的大腦對(duì)改變的適應(yīng)能力似乎比成年人強(qiáng)得多。”

　　Kids may also be more willing to try new things (and to potentially look foolish in the process) than adults are. Their comparatively new grasp on their native tongue may also be advantageous.

　　孩子嘗試新事物的意愿（在具體過(guò)程中可能會(huì)表現(xiàn)得比較傻）也比成年人更強(qiáng)。因?yàn)榫嚯x習(xí)得母語(yǔ)的時(shí)間相對(duì)較短，因此在這方面或許也有一定的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

　　Unlike adults, who tend to default to the rules and patterns of their first language, kids may be able to approach a new one with a blank slate. These indings may seem discouraging, but it was heartening for scientists to learn that the critical period for fluent language acquisition might be longer than they previously thought.

　　不同于大人，大人通常會(huì)沿用母語(yǔ)的規(guī)則和模式，孩子則可能以空白的姿態(tài)采用全新的方式學(xué)習(xí)新的語(yǔ)言。盡管看似有些讓人泄氣，但讓人欣慰的是，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，語(yǔ)言習(xí)得的關(guān)鍵時(shí)期可能比他們之前認(rèn)為的要長(zhǎng)。

　　Some scientists believed that the brief window closes shortly after birth, while others stretched it only to early adolescence. Compared to those estimates, 17 or 18 — when language learning ability starts to drop off — seems relatively old.

　　一些科學(xué)家認(rèn)為短暫的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)窗口在出生后不久就會(huì)關(guān)閉，另一些科學(xué)家則認(rèn)為這一窗口能持續(xù)到青春期早期。與那些估計(jì)相比，17，18歲——也就是語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)能力開(kāi)始下降的時(shí)候——似乎已經(jīng)是很大的年齡了。

　　For the study, the researchers created an online quiz promising to guess people's native language, dialect and home country based on their responses to English grammar questions.

　　在這項(xiàng)研究中，研究人員設(shè)計(jì)了一個(gè)根據(jù)大家對(duì)英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)法問(wèn)題的回答，來(lái)猜測(cè)大家的母語(yǔ)、方言和母國(guó)的在線(xiàn)測(cè)試。

　　At the end of the quiz, people entered their actual native language, if and when they had learned any others and where they had lived. The quiz went viral: almost 670,000 people took it, giving the researchers huge amounts of data from English speakers of many ages and backgrounds.

　　測(cè)試時(shí)，大家需在測(cè)試末尾輸入他們實(shí)際的母語(yǔ)，是否學(xué)過(guò)、何時(shí)學(xué)過(guò)其他語(yǔ)言以及他們?cè)谀男┑胤骄幼∵^(guò)。后來(lái)，這項(xiàng)測(cè)試迅速傳開(kāi)：近67萬(wàn)人都參加了測(cè)試，為研究人員提供了不同年齡，不同背景的英語(yǔ)使用者的海量數(shù)據(jù)。

　　Analyzing the responses and grammar mistakes allowed them to draw unusually precise conclusions about language learning. The findings also offer insights for adults hoping to pick up a new tongue. People fared better when they learned by immersion, rather than simply in a classroom.

　　通過(guò)分析大家的回答及其中的語(yǔ)法錯(cuò)誤，研究者們得出了異常精確的有關(guān)語(yǔ)言習(xí)得的結(jié)論。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)也為那些希望學(xué)習(xí)新語(yǔ)言的成年人提供了很多真知灼見(jiàn)。浸入式學(xué)習(xí)的效果比僅僅在教室里學(xué)習(xí)的效果更好。

　　And moving to a place where your desired language is spoken is the best way to learn as an adult, says Hartshorne.

　　成年人學(xué)外語(yǔ)的時(shí)候，最好的學(xué)習(xí)方法就是搬到使用你想學(xué)的語(yǔ)言的地方去，哈特肖恩說(shuō)道。

　　If that's not an option, you can mimic an immersive environment by finding ways to have conversations with native speakers in their own communities, Hartshorne says. By doing so, it's possible to become conversationally proficient—even without the advantage of a child's brain.

　　如果這點(diǎn)不在選擇范圍之內(nèi)的話(huà)，也可以通過(guò)想辦法在自己所在的地方和該語(yǔ)言的母語(yǔ)人士交流模擬一個(gè)浸入式的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境，哈特肖恩說(shuō)道。這樣一來(lái)，即便沒(méi)有兒童大腦的優(yōu)勢(shì)，也能達(dá)到熟練對(duì)話(huà)的水平。

　　(全文共542個(gè)詞，時(shí)代周刊)

　　?重難點(diǎn)詞匯：

　　tricky  adj. 狡猾的；機(jī)警的；棘手的

　　pinpoint  vt. 查明；精確地找到；準(zhǔn)確描述 adj. 精確的；詳盡的 n. 針尖；精確位置；極小之物

　　plummet  n. 鉛錘，墜子 vi. 垂直落下；（價(jià)格、水平等）驟然下跌

　　tongue  n. 舌頭；語(yǔ)言 vt. 舔；斥責(zé)；用舌吹 vi. 說(shuō)話(huà)；吹管樂(lè)器

　　adept  adj. 熟練的；擅長(zhǎng)…的 n. 內(nèi)行；能手

　　discourage  vt. 阻止；使氣餒

　　dialect  n. 方言，土話(huà)；同源語(yǔ)；行話(huà)；個(gè)人用語(yǔ)特征 adj. 方言的

　　immersion  n. 沉浸；陷入；專(zhuān)心

　　mimic  vt. 模仿，摹擬 n. 效顰者，模仿者；仿制品；小丑 adj. 模仿的，模擬的；假裝的

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