外語學習福利來啦：夢裏也能記單詞

A “good night’s sleep” seems to be the solution to many things. What if I told you that “sleeping on it” could be a new strategy for language learning? Sounds like a dream, right?
睡個好覺是解決很多煩心事的好辦法。那如果我告訴你睡覺也能學外語，你信嗎？聽起來是不是像在做夢？

Maybe not. Researchers in Switzerland dug a little deeper into the “learn while sleep” myth, and the results were quite surprising. In the study, native German speaking participants were introduced to a series of Dutch-German word pairs late at night. The participants were then divided into two groups: one group stayed awake and listened to a recording of the word pairs (along with some new word pairs not previously introduced), while the other group listened to the playback as they caught some zzz’s.
也許是真的哦。瑞士的研究專家對於“睡眠學習”神話做了深入的研究，結果讓人吃驚。研究中，安排母語是德語的參與者在夜間聽一系列荷蘭語詞組，同時附有德語翻譯。然後他們被分成兩個組：一個組的成員保持清醒並聽一些詞組的錄音（其中還夾雜着一些他們之前沒有聽過的詞組），另一組的成員則在睡眠中聽錄音。

After four hours, once the latter group woke from their slumber, researchers administered a test of the Dutch vocabulary to all participants. Here’s where the surprise comes in: the participants who “slept on it” performed considerably better than their counterparts who stayed awake.
四小時後，當第二組參與者從睡眠中醒來，研究人員對所有參與者進行了荷蘭語詞彙的記憶測試。讓人驚訝的事情來了：睡着聽單詞的參與者比醒着聽的參與者表現得要好很多。

Brilliant, right? Just pop in some tapes while you sleep and you’ll be fluent in no time! Actually… it doesn’t quite work like that. The study highlights an importantprecursor for success—this act of “verbal cueing” only works when learners have actively studied the words beforehand:“Re-exposure to Dutch words during sleep improved later memory for the German translation of the cued words when compared with uncued words.”
超讚，有木有？只要在睡覺的時候聽些磁帶，然後很快就能說一口流利的外語！事實上，並沒有這麼簡單。研究強調了此方法成功的一個重要前提——這種“詞彙暗示”僅僅對學習者在睡聽之前就已經主動學習過的單詞纔有用：“與沒有學過的單詞相比，睡夢中再次重現這些已經學習過的荷蘭語詞彙有助於學習者加深德語翻譯記憶。”

Essentially, new foreign words won’t magically appear in your vocabulary after hearing them in your sleep. You actually have to put in the effort in your conscious state first. The only thing better than a good night’s sleep? Improving your language skills while you do it.
實質上，新外語單詞並不會在睡聽後就奇蹟般地出現在你的語言中，你必須先在意識狀態方面花點功夫。有什麼是唯一比睡個好覺更好的？那就是，你還可以同時提升你的語言技巧。

Have you tried listening to another language in your sleep? Have you found it helpful?Just try it！
你是否試過睡覺時聽外語呢？是否真的有用？試試吧！