Chapter Four 第四章An Imaginative Learner 一个富有想象力的学习者
Derek learning German, Russian and Finnish 德里克学习了德语,俄语和芬兰语。
Derek was a middle-aged executive who had already been highly successful with German and Russian.
德里克是一位中年人士，在学习德语和俄语上非常成功，
He was also doing very well in his current study of Finnish, 他在最近学习芬兰语中也做得很好。
but as we will see, Finnish turned out to be a very different experience from German or Russian.
但是我们将看到,学习芬兰语是与学习德语和俄语有很大的不同。
Derek’s approach to the task also proved to be quite unlike the approaches of Ann, Bert or Carla.
德里克的目标方法也证明与安、伯特和卡拉的方法是截然不同的。
Throughout the interview Derek spoke deliberately, appearing to think carefully about each answer as he gave it.
在整个面试中，德里克每次回答是都是谨慎和仔细考虑过。
4.1 Imagination in mastering fundamentals 运用想像力的基本原理
To me, the most striking thing about Derek’s approach to languages was his high degree of originality and imagination.
对我来说,德里克学习方法中最引人注目的是他丰富的创意和想象力。
This showed up first in his learning of grammar. 这些在他首次学习语法时显露出来了。
4.1.1 Devising one’s own tables of forms 设计自己的表格
1、 What works with one language may not work with another.
对一种语言有效的学习方法对另一种未必行得通。
2、 Importance of learner accepting responsibility for own progress.
初学者的重要性是对自己的进步负责。（？）
3、 ‘Stockpiling’ grammatical forms. “储存”语法形式。
‘I arrived expecting Finnish to be difficult,’ he began, ‘and I’d say at the end of 4~12 months that the claims were not exaggerated.
“我来到时，期望芬兰语是困难的。（？）”他开始说,“我想说的是,在最后的4 ~ 12个月,这个声称并不夸张。
It’s quite difficult in comparison to German, or even to Russian.’
和德语甚至俄语相比它都是相当的困难。
‘Those were the languages you had studied previously?’ “那些是你以前学过的语言吗?”
‘Yes. And I soon realized I’d have to find some way of handling certain aspects of Finnish grammar. “是的。我很快意识到,我一定要找到学习芬兰语语法方面的某些办法。
I don’t recall such a thought in regard to either German or Russian.
在学习德语或俄语时，我不记得我有这样的想法。
I was able to just take those languages as they were presented.’ 当它们一出现时，我就能掌握它们.
‘You discovered that this time, you’d have to find a way for yourself.’
“你这次发现,你必须为你自己找到一种学习方法!”
‘Yes. For example, I can cite one technique that I don’t recall having used in either German or Russian.
“是的。例如,我可以运用一种技术，我记得以前从没有用于德语，也用于没有俄语。
It was to devise tables which would present to me all of the significant inflections of the nouns and the verbs.’
它就是设计一种表格将所有名词和动词的重大变形全部呈现在我面前。
‘Devise tables?’ I thought. ‘Carla could never have done this! “设计表格?” 我心想，“卡拉永远不会这样做!
And there’s no evidence that Ann or Bert did, either. ’ 也没有证据表明安和伯特也会这样做。”
‘Inflections,’ I repeated. ‘You mean the basic form of a noun or verb with all its endings and combinations of endings.’
“变化”,我重复说，“你的意思是最基本的名词或动词和其所有和组合的词尾. ”
‘That’s right. And these tables let me see on one sheet of paper what was happening in the structure.’
“是的。这些表列在一张纸上让我看到在词的结构里到底发生了什么变化. ”
‘You got a bird’s-eye view,’ I said. “你有了一个鸟瞰的视角,”我说。
‘Yes. And by so doing I was able to isolate what, for my memory process at least, were key distinctive features.’
“是的。通过这样做,至少在我的记忆过程中，我能够隔离出关键的辩音特质”
‘That is, the features that you had to notice if you were going to keep track of what was going on.’
“那是,如果你要掌握这些特质的动态，你必须注意到这些特质。”
‘Exactly. I found that taking say, the declensions of the noun, I had to deal with them one at a time.
“说得对。我发现，我不得不在同一时间处理这些名词的词尾变化。
There are so many of them in Finnish - 在芬兰语中他们如此之多
there are so many types of endings depending on what sort of stem you have.
有如此多的类型单词词尾取决与词干
And an additional complication of Finnish is that the whole word can be transformed depending on the ending.
芬兰语中特别复杂的是，整个单词可以转化取决于结束时。
The visual shapes of the inflected forms may bear very little resemblance to the nominative form that you find in the dictionary.’
有词尾变化的视觉外形和你字典中找到的主格形式之间的相似之处很少。
‘That does sound complicated,’ I agreed. 那听起来确实复杂,我同意了。
‘Yes. So at that point, quite early on, I got into drawing up these tables for myself,
“是的。”所以在这一点上,我很早就开始为自己设计这些表格。
which then helped me to isolate the pattern, and to categorize the nouns by families.
它帮助我建立隔离模式，用语族来为他们分类。
And consequently when I came to the practical use of the word, 因而,当我实际使用的单词时,
I was able to recall that it belonged to that family, 我能够回想起它的所属语族。
and once having made that identification, 一旦有了这个识别，
it helped me to get a grip on the whole set of forms.’ 它还帮助我在整个表格中把握关键。
Comments 评论
Ann, Bert and Carla described their own learning styles, and the methods that had worked for them.
安,伯特和卡拉描述了对自己有效的学习方式。
In this opening segment of his interview, Derek says something that represents a quiet breakthrough.
在开放的面试部分，德里克说了一些突破性的话。
Everyone knows that languages are different from one another, and that some are harder than others.
每个人了解的语言各不相同,有些是比别人难学些。
Derek is telling us here that they also differ with regard to the ways in which they are hard.
德里克想告诉我们,他们对关于哪些语言难学些也有不同的意见。
It would not have worked, he says, 它不可能无效（？）,他说,
simply to have applied more vigorously the same techniques of learning that had worked so well in German and Russian.
仅仅有更积极的相同的技术,在学习德语和俄语时就运用的相当好。
So Derek did not say, ‘I did well in two other languages.
所以德里克没有说:“我在两种其它语言学习中做得很好。
Therefore my slower progress in Finnish must be due to shortcomings of the teachers or the textbook.’
因此我进步缓慢,都是怪芬兰的老师或课本不好。
Instead, he decided that, ‘I’ll have to find a way of handling the situation -
他反而说道：“我要找到一种办法来解决这种状态”
away that is suitable for my memory process.’ He accepts primary responsibility.
“适合我的记忆方法。”他选择他的首要任务。
Like Bert, he recognizes that what works for his ‘memory process’ may not be suitable for other learners.
就像伯特一样,他承认他的记忆方法可能并不适用于其他的学习者。
In this segment, Derek is talking about stockpiling not words, but grammatical forms.
在这部分,德里克谈论储存的不是单词，而是语法形式。
Moreover, this way of dealing with Finnish grammar seems to be fundamental to his study, and not just an added optional help.
因此，看上去这种处理芬兰语法的方法是必要的，不是可有可无的帮助。
For Derek, his construction of the tables is one means of building up his mental resources for a very important linguistic task -
德里克,他的表格为实现他最重要的语言任务构筑他的精神资源。
the task of coming up with the right endings at the right times.
这项任务在正确的时间内找到了办法。（？）
Working with the ideas 回答下列建议(?)
1. Where are the worst complications in the language you are studying now, or in one you have studied?
在你正在学习或你已经学过的语言中，哪一部分是最糟糕的？
2. How do you think Ann. Bert and Carla would have reacted to the idea of making charts?
你认为安，伯特和卡拉对做图表的想法有怎样的反应?
How would you feel about undertaking such a project?
你对接受这样一个建议有什么感觉？
[ 此帖被新闻在2010-08-26 23:22重新编辑 ]
