如何在三個月內學會一門外語？

Benny Lewis speaks six languages fluently.
本尼·劉易斯能流利地說六種語言。

"French and Spanish, English, German, and Brazilian Portuguese..." he ticks them off for me. "And Esperanto."
他向我列舉了這六種語言：“法語、西班牙語、英語、德語、巴西葡萄牙語……”，“世界語”。

That last one is a made-up language, or a "constructed international auxiliary language," meaning it was designed to help people from different nations without a comMon tongue communicate.
最後一個世界語是一種虛構語言，或者說是“構造出來的國際輔助語言”，意思是這種語言的設計旨在幫助來自不同民族無法說同一種語言的人交流。

Lewis is the author of the new book "Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World." The title pretty much says it all. He believes — strongly — that with the correct approach and enough practice, anyone can master a foreign language in as little as three months.
劉易斯出版的新書《3個月流利說一門外語：在世界各地任何人無論多大如何學會說任何一門語言》，標題說明了一切。他堅信：方法正確、多加練習，任何人都可以在短短三個月的時間掌握一門外語。

"There's almost an epidemic of people thinking they don't have a language gene," he says. "So many people end up learning a second language but never speaking it."
“很多人覺得自己沒有語言基因，這種觀點非常流行” 他說。“因此，很多人到最後雖然學了第二語言但從來不開口說。”

Here are some of his best tips for learning a language in three months:
這裏是他分享的三個月學習語言的一些最好技巧：

Speak the language out loud from day one
從學習語言的第一天就大聲說出來

Beginners shouldn't be afraid of mispronouncing things or sounding unpolished, Lewis says. It's most important that they start practicing — aloud — right away.
劉易斯說，初學者不要擔心讀錯或發音不夠標準。最重要的是開始練習口語，立刻大聲說出來。

Learn practical phrases first
首先學習實用短語

New language learners should aim for phrases like "bathroom where?" that will help them communicate about basic needs. "That's not very eloquent, but it's totally understandable," Lewis notes.
初學者應該瞄準像“bathroom where?” 這類的短語口語練習，這將有助於他們對於基本需求進行溝通。“這樣的表達並非很有說服力，但是大家完全可以理解你要表達的意思，” 劉易斯說。

Forget about learning strict grammar
不要絕對死學語法規則

As part of getting basic vocabulary and phrases down, Lewis says people shouldn't worry too much initially about learning the rules of grammar. Those can be filled in later.
劉易斯說，記住基本的詞彙和短語，在初學語法規則上大家不應該太擔心這點。這些是可以後補的。

Practice by Skyping with a native speaker
和說母語的人視頻聊天進行口語練習

One of today's best language learning tools, Lewis says, is the Internet — specifically video chats like Skype. Using these free services, an English speaker in New York can easily get free or cheap conversational lessons from a native speaker of another language elsewhere in the world.
劉易斯說，現如今學習語言最好的工具是互聯網，特別是像Skype 這類網絡視頻聊天工具。使用這些免費服務，可以很容易地和紐約人或世界其他地方的人免費或非常廉價地進行會話課程口語練習。Listen to local radio stations
收聽當地廣播

Another option for immersing yourself in a foreign language is to stream radio from a country that speaks it. To do this, Lewis recommends Checking out TuneIn, an online repository of radio stations from around the world.
把自己沉浸在外語環境中的另一個選擇就是收聽該國家廣播。對此劉易斯建議查看TuneIn，這是收藏世界各地在線廣播的資源庫。

Practice a one-minute introduction to yourself
做個一分鐘介紹自己的口語練習

One of Lewis's favorite tricks for beginners is to have them write out a short introduction to themselves, and then work on translating it with a native speaker. This relatively quick activity teaches plenty about basic vocabulary and phrases.
劉易斯最喜歡介紹給初學者的技巧，就是讓他們寫一段簡短的自我介紹，然後找說外語母語的人翻譯。這種方法能相對比較快地教你學習很多基本的詞彙和短語。

Check out free language-learning tools online
選擇免費在線語言學習工具

Duolingo is one of Lewis's favorites, as well as italiki, an online site that connects you with native speakers for personal language lessons.
Duolingo是劉易斯最喜歡的在線語言學習工具之一，還有在線學習站點italiki，你可以聯繫母語者進行個人語言課程學習。

Be prepared to put in a lot of time and practice
準備投入大量時間進行練習

Lewis believes that people who are willing to study a foreign language full-time could reach a B2 level in just a few months. On the other hand, he thinks the same level could be achieved in a year or two with one to two hours of practice each day.
劉易斯認爲，願意投入一切時間學習一門外語的人，在短短几個月的時間語言水平就能達到B2等級（歐洲語言水平參考標準）。每天練習一到兩個小時的話，他認爲在一兩年的時間語言水平也能達到該水平。

Don't aim for perfection
不要追求完美

The problem that most beginners run into, Lewis argues, is that they become so focused on reaching a perfect end-stage that they get discouraged and never get past the early stages. The best way to deal with this? Get comfortable with mistakes, and don't try to be perfect.
劉易斯認爲，大多數初學者遇到的問題是大家過於專注學習結果達到完美的程度，他們氣餒，永遠也跨越不出初學階段。處理這個問題的最好方法是什麼呢？允許自己出錯，不要追求完美。