These are bigger picture mistakes and focusing on them can make a huge change in your spoken English.

這些都是比較大的錯誤，關注這些錯誤可以讓你的英語口語發生巨大的變化。

To help me make this video, we're bringing in a teacher that I've been working with for almost ten years.

為了幫我製作這個視頻，我們請來了一位和我合作了近十年的老師。

He's an accent coach in Rachel's English academy, and I've heard and seen

他是瑞秋英語學院的口音教練，我聽說過也見過。

the stunning results that students can get by working with him.

學生與他合作可以得到的驚人效果。

You may recognize him, he's definitely been on this youtube channel before, the one and only Tom Kelly.

你可能認識他，他以前肯定上過這個youtube頻道，獨一無二的湯姆-凱利。

Hi! I'm Tom Kelly a Rachel's English teacher with Rachel's English Academy.

嗨！我是湯姆-凱利，瑞秋英語學院的瑞秋英語老師。

And today, I'm gonna share with you five mistakes that you may be making

而今天，我要和大家分享的是你可能正在犯的五個錯誤。

that are getting in the way of you sounding like a native speaker. So let's get started.

妨礙了你像母語人士一樣說話的方式。所以我們開始吧

Mistake number one.

錯誤一：

Not doing the hard work.

不做苦工。

So it may seem like the hard work of speaking American English is learning all the vocabulary,

所以看似美式英語口語的辛苦，其實是在學習所有的詞彙。

working on the rhythm, the intonation, all of that really challenging stuff.

工作的節奏，音調， 所有的真正具有挑戰性的東西。

But in order to even work on that, there's something you may have to do and that is take your face to the gym.

但為了連這一點都能做到，有些事情你可能要做，那就是帶著你的臉去健身房。

All of the muscles and articulators of your face,

臉部所有的肌肉和銜接器。

right now, they move in a way that comes from you being able to speak your native language effortlessly.

現在，他們的動作方式，來自於你能毫不費力地說出你的母語。

And that's exactly what you want to do with American English.

而這正是你想要做的美式英語。

Native speakers are speaking English effortlessly, they're not working hard to make any of these sounds,

以英語為母語的人說起英語來毫不費力，他們並沒有努力去發出這些聲音。

they're not running into issues with the TH sound, or the T sound, or the AW as in Law vowel.

他們沒有遇到TH音、T音或AW的問題，如Law元音。

They're able to say it without even thinking about it.

他們想都沒想就能說出來。

In order to get to that place, you need to open up some more flexibility in the way you use your articulators.

為了達到這個目的，你需要在使用銜接器的方式上打開一些更靈活的空間。

That means kind of loosening up, relaxing them, finding some more options for the way that they move,

這意味著一種放鬆，放鬆他們，找到一些更多的選擇，他們的移動方式。

because right now, you have a strong habit to move them

因為現在，你有一個強烈的習慣，移動他們

in the way that you use them for your native language. That's why you may have an accent.

在你使用它們的方式，對你的母語。這就是為什麼你可能有口音。

And Tom and I want you to know that we think nothing is wrong with an accent.

湯姆和我想讓你知道，我們認為口音沒什麼不好。

We do not think that everyone needs to sound the same. An accent can be a very beautiful part of your identity.

我們不認為每個人的聲音都需要一樣。口音可以是你身份的一個非常美麗的部分。

We do know that some students have problems being understood, and therefore they lack confidence

我們知道，有些學生在被理解方面存在問題，是以他們缺乏信心。

when speaking English.

說英語時。

Other students are very, very good but it's their own personal goal to sound native.

其他同學都非常非常好，但聽起來是自己的個人目標，是本土化的。

So what our goal is to help students meet their own goal, not to eliminate accents altogether.

所以我們的目標是幫助學生達到自己的目標，而不是完全消除口音。

One of the things that I do with my students is I give them drills.

我對學生做的一件事就是給他們做操。

Things that don't sound like English at all, but are actually practicing

聽起來一點也不像英語的東西，但實際上是在練功。

the building blocks of sounding like a native speaker.

聽起來像一個母語人士的構件。

For instance, we'll take the ai as in buy diphthong.

比如，我們就把ai當作買雙音的。

This diphthong requires the tongue to start low in the mouth

這個雙元音要求舌頭在口腔中的起點要低

and then rise in the middle of the tongue as it arches up.

並在舌頭拱起時，在舌頭中間上升。

Ai, ai--

Ai, ai --

the tip of the tongue stays low and forward and relaxed.

舌尖保持低沉、前傾、放鬆。

The jaw drops down but doesn't necessarily go all the way back up.

下巴往下掉，但不一定會一直往上走。

It stays loose and relaxed, the lips, totally relaxed.

它保持著鬆弛的狀態，嘴脣，完全放鬆。

Ai-ai-ai.

愛-愛-愛。

For many students, this is very challenging.

對於很多學生來說，這是非常具有挑戰性的。

To keep the jaw relaxed while the tongue does more work, while the tongue lifts up in the mouth.

要保持下巴的放鬆，同時舌頭多做一些工作，同時舌頭在口中上提。

Ai-ai.

愛愛

So this is what I'll have my students do.

所以，這就是我讓學生做的事情。

Very slowly, I have them say this diphthong over and over again but not using the jaw at all,

很慢，我讓他們反覆說這個雙音節，但完全不用下巴。

let the jaw be completely relaxed.

讓下巴完全放鬆。

Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai—

愛，愛，愛，愛，愛，愛--

My jaw, totally relaxed, my lips, totally relaxed, my tongue doing all the work.

我的下巴，完全放鬆，我的嘴脣，完全放鬆，我的舌頭在做所有的工作。

Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai—

愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛。

Over time, you'll be able to do it quickly.

久而久之，你就能很快做到。

Let's try that together.

我們一起試試吧。

Saying the ai diphthong, trying to move the jaw, not at all or very little.

說ai雙音，試著動下巴，一點也不動或很少動。

Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, ai—

愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛、愛。

Okay, it's possible, and it really does make me focus in on the tongue movement.

好吧，這是有可能的，它真的讓我專注在舌頭的運動上。

It is this kind of practice that helps you begin

正是這樣的實踐，幫助你開始了

learning to have more flexibility from your articulators, that helps you begin to sound more like a native speaker.

學習從你的發音器中獲得更多的靈活性，這有助於你開始聽起來更像一個母語者。

Another example is working on the Flap T sound.

另一個例子是在研究Flap T的聲音。

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Wow, did you see that?

哇，你看到了嗎？

The tongue was moving and everything else in the face was totally relaxed.

舌頭在動，臉上的其他東西也完全放鬆了。

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Making a very quick d sound. Again, jaw totally relaxed, lips totally relaxed,

發出很快速的d音。同樣，下巴完全放鬆，嘴脣完全放鬆。

just bouncing the tip of the tongue off the roof of the mouth,

只是將舌尖從嘴頂彈起。

anywhere off the roof of the mouth, it doesn't matter where,

嘴邊的任何地方，不管在哪裡。

the Flap T can be made anywhere off the roof of the mouth.

瓣膜T可以在口頂以外的任何地方製作。

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Is that really hard?

這真的很難嗎？

Does your tongue not want to do that?

你的舌頭不想這樣做嗎？

That means you want to build more tongue flexibility, because we use that Flap T all the time, quickly,

這意味著你要建立更多的舌頭靈活性，因為我們一直在使用那個Flap T，很快。

it's a major part of the rhythm of English.

它是英語節奏的主要組成部分。

If I can't say 'I got it' with a Flap T and I have to say: I got it, I got it, that won't sound like American English.

如果我不能說 "我明白了"，用Flap T，我不得不說，"我明白了，我明白了"，那就不像美國英語了。我懂了，我懂了，那就不像美國英語了。

I need that Flap T.

我需要那個翻蓋T。

I got it, I got it.

我知道了，我知道了。

That quick bounce of the tip of the tongue off the roof of the mouth,

舌尖從嘴頂快速彈起的那一瞬間。

that is what helps you sound like a native speaker.

這就是幫助你聽起來像一個母語的人。

So I really recommend getting into relaxing your face, opening up your articulators to more flexibility.

所以我真的建議你去放鬆你的臉，打開你的銜接器，讓你更靈活。

One resource we have with Rachel's English is a series on relaxation that Rachel and I made quite a while ago.

我們瑞秋英語有一個資源是瑞秋和我前不久做的一個關於放鬆的系列。

And I'll make sure that there's a link to that resource here so you can maybe build a warm up for yourself.

我會確保這裡有一個資源的鏈接，這樣你也許可以為自己建立一個熱身。

Use some of those drills on a daily basis to start opening up that flexibility.

每天使用一些這樣的訓練，開始打開這種靈活性。

Over time, with constant practice, you will end up sounding more like a native speaker.

隨著時間的推移，隨著不斷的練習，你最終會聽起來更像一個母語者。

Mistake number two: stop over pronouncing the sounds of American English.

錯誤二：不要再把美式英語的音讀得太重。

So many of you may have learned to make some of the sounds of American English by

所以，很多人可能已經學會了美式英語的一些發音，由

moving your articulators a lot.

經常移動你的鉸接器。

So for instance, the EE as in she vowel,

所以，比如說她元音中的EE。

maybe you'll learn to make that by pulling your lip corners really far wide.

也許你會學著把你的脣角拉得很寬來做。

Eee-- ee-

Eee --

and maybe that was super helpful to really get a sense for that sound.

也許這對真正瞭解這種聲音是超級有幫助的。

Maybe when you learned the AW as in Law vowel, you really rounded your lips a lot.

也許當你學會了AW如法炮製的元音，你的嘴脣真的圓潤了許多。

Aw-- aw-- and dropped your jaw huge.

啊... ... 啊... ... 和下降你的下巴巨大。

Aw, aw-- in order to find that sound.

啊，啊... ... 為了找到這個聲音，

Great! That was really helpful for you to learn that sound.

太好了！這對你學習這個聲音真的很有幫助。

Maybe when you practice the ay as in say diphthong sound, you pull wide as well: ay, ay, ay.

也許當你練習ay如說雙音時，你也會拉寬：ay，ay，ay，ay。

Maybe that helped you kind of get a sense for that diphthong the first time you practiced it.

也許這能幫助你在第一次練習的時候，對那個雙音節有點感覺。

But all of those sounds, when spoken by native speakers, have a much more relaxed quality to them.

但所有這些聲音，當母語者說出來時，都有一種更輕鬆的感覺。

The more tension you use to create any sound of American English,

越用越有張力，才能創造出任何美式英語的聲音。

the more it will end up sounding just a little bit accented. It won't sound quite as natural,

越是最後聽起來就越是有點重音。它不會聽起來很自然。

and we're looking for that natural flow.

而我們正在尋找這種自然的流動。

To do that, you actually want to do less.

要做到這一點，其實是想少做一點。

You can often simplify the way you're making those sounds.

你可以經常簡化你發出這些聲音的方式。

So let's take a look at the EE as in she vowel.

那麼我們來看看她元音中的EE。

Ee, ee, see, speaker-- my lips are not going wide.

Ee, ee, 看到了嗎, 說話的人 -- 我的嘴脣沒有張開。

Ee, ee.

Ee，ee。

Instead, my tongue position is really helping to make this sound by closing off space in the mouth.

相反，我的舌頭位置確實是在幫助我封閉口腔中的空間來發出這個聲音。

The front and middle part of the tongue are moving up, closing off that space, my lips, relatively relaxed.

舌頭的前半部分和中半部分都在上移，封閉了那個空間，我的嘴脣，相對放鬆。

Ee, ee, see, speaker--

Ee, ee, see, speaker --

Now, the ay as in say diphthong, ay, ay.

現在，阿依如說雙音，阿依，阿依。

My jaw drops down, my tongue does move, but my lips, very relaxed.

我的下巴往下垂，舌頭確實會動，但我的嘴脣，非常放鬆。

Ay, ay, say, later.

哎，哎，說，以後再說。

How about the UH as in Push vowel?

如推元音的UH呢？

For a lot of students, their lips round too much for this vowel sound.

對於很多學生來說，他們的嘴脣太圓了，不適合發這個元音。

Ooh, ooh, and it ends up sounding somewhere between an UH as in Push vowel,

哦，哦，它最終聽起來介於推元音的UH之間。

and an OO as in boo or new vowel sound.

和一個OO，如噓或新元音。

Ooh, uh.

哦，呃。

For the UH as in Push vowel, uh, uh, the lip corners, they round very subtly.

對於UH如推元音，呃，呃，脣角，他們圓的很巧妙。

It's really a simple lip rounding, it's not extreme, it's not ooh but uh. Do you see that very subtle lip rounding?

其實就是一個簡單的脣部圓潤，不是很極端，不是哦，而是呃。你看到那非常微妙的脣部圓潤了嗎？

Uh, uh, push, push, push.

呃，呃，推，推，推。

So let's actually take a look at some native speakers using some of these words

是以，讓我們實際看看一些母語人士使用這些詞的情況。

and see how they use their articulators to make them.

並看看他們是如何使用銜接器來製作的。

And sound coming out of a small speaker like--

聲音從一個小喇叭裡傳出來，就像... ...

The most powerful speaker in American history--

美國曆史上最強大的演講者--

Learn how to be a speaker--

學習如何成為一名演講者--------。

Do you notice how none of them pull really far wide?

你注意到他們都沒有拉得很開嗎？

In those examples of the word 'speaker', spoken by those native speakers, you didn't see the lips pull wide.

在那些本族語者說的 "說話人 "一詞的例子中，你沒有看到嘴脣拉得很大。

They were able to make that vowel sound with a lot less effort.

他們能夠用更少的努力發出那個元音。

How can I push myself--

我怎麼才能推動自己--

People will push back against that--

人們會反擊的 --

There's tremendous pushback from the community--

有巨大的推力從社會 --

Notice for that word 'push', push, the speakers are not pushing their lips super far forward.

注意，對於那個 "推 "字，推，說話人不是把嘴脣超前推。

Instead, it's a lot more relaxed, it's more subtle.

反而輕鬆了許多，更加含蓄了。

Again, more relaxed quality.

再次，更輕鬆的品質。

It's premature for us to say there's a clear path forward.

我們說有一條明確的前進道路還為時過早。

I would say that from an economic standpoint--

我想說的是，從經濟的角度來看... ...

And they would come to 'em and say...

他們會來找他們說... ...

For the ay diphthong in say, say, notice, they are using the tongue movement, not the lips.

對於say，say中的ay雙音，注意，他們是用舌頭運動，而不是嘴脣。

There's not a huge amount of effort going into this sound from the articulators.

銜接器在這個聲音上並沒有下很大的功夫。

So don't over pronounce the sounds of American English.

所以美式英語的音不要發得過高。

If there is a sound that you feel like you need tension to make,

如果有一種聲音，你覺得你需要張力來製造。

that you need to make this big movement from your articulators,

你需要從你的銜接器做這個大動作。

chances are you're probably over pronouncing it.

機會是你可能過度發音。

See if you can relax it.

看看你能不能放鬆它。

See if you can do less.

看看你能不能少做一點。

Simplify the way you're making these sounds.

簡化你發出這些聲音的方式。

It will make you sound more like a native speaker.

這將使你聽起來更像一個母語人士。

Mistake number three: not being flexible with the sounds of American English.

錯誤之三：對美式英語的發音不靈活。

So yes, we don't want to over pronounce and we want to be drilling relaxation

所以是的，我們不想過度發音，我們要鑽研放鬆的問題

and finding more flexibility from our articulators.

並從我們的銜接器中找到更多的靈活性。

But now, I'm talking about flexibility once you know the vowel and diphthong sounds,

但現在，我說的是在你知道元音和雙音之後的靈活運用。

once you have a strong sense of these sounds.

一旦你對這些聲音有了強烈的感覺。

Some of my students want to be able to always pronounce those sounds exactly the same way.

我的一些學生希望能夠始終以完全相同的方式發出這些聲音。

That way they can have tons of confidence that they're doing it right.

這樣他們就可以有大量的信心，認為自己做得很對。

But what that ends up taking away from you is your ability to express yourself with the language.

但這最終奪走的是你的語言表達能力。

With the music of American English, we use the vowels and diphthongs

隨著美式英語的音樂，我們使用元音和雙元音。

in different ways depending on what we're trying to express.

根據我們想要表達的內容，用不同的方式。

Sometimes English teachers talk about short vowels and long vowels.

有時英語老師會講到短元音和長元音。

I tend to think this is kind of unhelpful when it comes to speaking like a native speaker,

我傾向於認為，當說到像母語人士一樣說話時，這有點無濟於事。

because we play with the length of all vowel sounds in order to express ourselves in different ways.

因為我們玩弄所有元音的長短，以便用不同的方式來表達自己。

Let's take an example.

我們舉個例子。

The ih as in sit vowel.

ih如坐元音。

Often this is thought of as a very short vowel sound.

通常這被認為是一個很短的元音。

But let's think about an example where we might want to lengthen it, to kind of hold it out.

但讓我們想想一個例子，我們可能想把它拉長，把它撐開。

Let's say I'm very frustrated with my child and they will not sit down,

比方說我對孩子很失望，他們不願意坐下來。

it's and they're just, they're running all around and I need them to sit down, and I need to really let them know

這是，他們只是，他們跑來跑去 我需要他們坐下來， 我需要真正讓他們知道，

how serious I am.

我是多麼認真。

I might say: sit down.

我可能會說：坐吧。

Right? I might lengthen that ih as in sit vowel. Sit down.

對吧？我可以把 "ih "拉長，就像 "sit vowel "一樣。坐下來。

Okay, I'll sit down.

好吧，我坐下來。

Right? Now that's very different than if a friend comes over and I want to invite them to have a seat,

對不對？現在，這是非常不同的 如果一個朋友過來，我想邀請他們有一個座位。

I might say: you want to sit down?

我可能會說：你要不要坐下來？

You want to sit down?

你要不要坐下來？

Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit.

坐，坐，坐，坐，坐。

Totally different, the way I'm handling that vowel sound.

完全不同，我處理那個元音的方式。

That play that you want to be able to have with the vowels and diphthongs of American English

你想用美式英語的元音和雙元音來玩的遊戲

is really important to practice. And so often when you're practicing,

是真的很重要的練習。所以經常在練功的時候。

you're just practicing the vowel or diphthong in one way.

你只是在練習元音或雙元音的一種方式。

I would say, if you're practicing vocabulary, practice saying the word in different kinds of sentences,

我想說的是，如果你在練習詞彙的話，可以練習用不同類型的句子說這個詞。

in different situations in your mind.

在你心中的不同情況下。

Talk to that child who won't sit down.

和那個不肯坐下的孩子談談。

Talk to the friend who you want to offer a seat.

和你想提供座位的朋友談談。

Try the words out in different situations,

在不同的情境中試一試這句話。

and see if you can be a little bit more playful with the vowels and diphthongs, with the music of your English.

並看看你能不能在元音和雙元音，以及你的英語音樂上多玩一點。

How about another example?

再舉個例子如何？

How about the EE as in she vowel?

那她元音的EE呢？

Often thought of as a bit of a longer vowel sound.

常常被認為是有點長的元音。

Ee, ee.

Ee，ee。

But maybe if you're completely shocked and you just learned some news and you're kind of quiet,

但如果你完全被震驚了，你剛剛得知一些消息，你又有點安靜的話。

and you're saying: I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Believe, believe.

而你卻說我不能相信它。我不能相信它。相信，相信。

There the EE as in she vowel happening very quickly, but I'm expressing this disbelief.

有EE如she元音發生的非常快，但我表示這種不相信。

I can't believe it. I can't believe it.

我不敢相信，我不敢相信 I can't believe it.我不能相信它。

However, if I am just super excited about something, and: I just can't believe it! I cannot believe that happened.

然而，如果我只是超級興奮的東西，和。我只是不能相信它！我無法相信這一切的發生。

Right? There, I'm using it to be very long, I'm expressing myself in an entirely different way.

對不對？在那裡，我用的是非常長的時間，我在用一種完全不同的方式來表達自己。

Okay, let's stop and think about this.

好吧，讓我們停下來想一想。

Think about a phrase in your own native language that can be used various ways,

想一想，用自己的母語說一句話，可以用各種方式。

it could just be a translation of 'sit down' for example.

比如說，它可能只是 "坐下 "的翻譯。

Now think about the extremely different situations in which you might use this.

現在想一想，你可能會在哪些極其不同的情況下使用它。

Say that phrase out loud.

把這句話大聲說出來。

Think about how much the quality of your voice changes depending on what you're trying to convey.

想一想，根據你想表達的內容，你的聲音品質有多大的變化。

So tom's point is if you try to make everything the same and just learn one version of every sound,

所以湯姆的觀點是，如果你試圖讓所有的東西都一樣，只是學習每個聲音的一個版本。

one way of speaking English,

一種說英語的方式。

then you're probably going to miss some chances for expression that don't have to do with language itself.

那麼你可能會錯過一些與語言本身無關的表達機會。

So don't be afraid to play a little bit with emotion and language, volume, pitch, length, these kinds of things.

所以不要怕玩一點感情和語言，音量、音調、長度這些東西。

So I highly recommend practicing different situations when you're practicing your vocabulary.

所以我強烈建議大家在練習詞彙的時候，要練習不同的情況。

Try it in different sentences.

用不同的句子試試。

See if you can play with the language a bit more.

看看能不能再玩一下語言。

Because the more you do that the more you're gonna sound super natural, like a native speaker.

因為你越是這樣做，你就越是會聽起來超級自然，就像一個母語者。

I think play is something that's really underrated in practice.

我覺得玩的東西，在實踐中真的被低估了。

It can help you find more freedom in speaking

它可以幫助你找到更多的自由說話

and that can loosen up your articulators, which is something that tom's already talked about.

這可以讓你的發音器鬆弛下來 這一點湯姆已經說過了。

Mistake number four: not listening like a native speaker.