学外语佳方法造一个文化孤岛

学外语佳方法造一个文化孤岛

Are you trying to learn a new language in a foreign land You might be better off if you stopped looking at that picture of your family and friends.

你是否正身处异国他乡，正在努力学习一门新的语言？如果你能放下那张家人和亲友的照片不再看它，也许你的学习之旅或许能事半功倍。

When learning a new language， your brain is running a whole new neuropathway， creating new patterns and trying to fix those new pathways permanently in your gray matter. New research from Columbia University found that prompting someone who is learning a new language with images and reminders of their own culture could temporarily wreck everything that the brain was trying to build.

当我们学习一门新语言的时候，我们的大脑里新的神经通路就开始发挥作用，大脑会创造新的认知模式，并使这种新的认知模式与大脑灰质构建永久性的联系。哥伦比亚大学的一项新研究证实，当人们用一个初学者本土文化的意象和物象来刺激他的二语习得时，大脑在二语习得过程中试图架构的模式和联系可能被彻底摧毁。

When native Chinese students were asked to converse with a Caucasian avatar versus a Chinese avatar， their English skills were so different. Simply exposing students to a Chinese person affected their ability to speak English. Subjects who talked with the Chinese version felt more comfortable in their speech， but they produced 11% fewer words per minute. They actually became less fluent speakers.

研究人员让来自中国的学生与一个金发碧眼的网络虚拟形象对话，然后与一个黑发黑眼的中国人的网络虚拟形象对话，结果学生们前后表现出的英语表达技能大不相同。让学生们面对一个中国的对话对象确实会影响他们说英语的水平。与中国人的网络虚拟形象对话时，学生们在对话中感到更加轻松自如，但是他们每分钟使用的语汇少了11%。他们使用英语的流利程度真的降低了。

To make sure it wasnt just the avatar， researchers also showed people random images of China while the participants told a story. When pictures of their homeland appeared， fluency dropped 16% and volunteers were 85% more likely to use a literal translation， for example， calling pistachios happy nuts. Because thats literally what the Chinese word for pistachio means.

为了确证上述实验现象不仅仅出现在学生们与网络虚拟形象对话的过程中，研究者们还请学生们讲述故事，并在此过程中向学生们展示随机选出的中国人图像。当这些祖国同胞们的图像出现的时候，学生们讲述故事的流利程度降低了16%、使用牵强附会的中式英语的几率多了85%。比如，他们会把开心果说成“快乐的坚果”。因为在中文中开心果的意思直译成英语就是这个意思。