By the end of those few short minutes, she would become the most infamous woman in Spain.

在這短短的幾分鐘裡，她成為了西班牙最臭名昭著的女人。

For days, she was the subject of every television show and major newspaper in Spain, and the response to her words was so vicious that she was even put on a list created by Time magazine that included corrupt officials, rapists and drug dealers.

一連幾天，她成了西班牙所有電視節目和主要報紙的話題人物，人們對她的言論反響十分惡毒，甚至將她列入了《時代》雜誌編制的一份名單，其中包括貪官、強姦犯和毒販。

So, what was her crime?

那麼，她犯了什麼罪？

What line had she crossed in Spanish society to deserve the total destruction of her image?

她在西班牙社會中到底越過了哪條底線，才會讓自己的形象受到如此徹底的摧殘？

Her crime was that she had spoken English with a Spanish and some offensive vocabulary error, or produced speech that was completely unintelligible to the audience.

她的罪過是在說英語時出現了西班牙語和一些令人不快的詞彙錯誤，或者說出了聽眾完全聽不懂的話。

But that wasn't the case.

但事實並非如此。

She spoke clearly and with emotion, and nobody except the Spanish saw any problem.

她的發言清晰而富有感情，除了西班牙人之外，沒有人看出任何問題。

Understanding what happened to Ana Boteja is important for anyone who is learning English, because it contains themes of identity, bravery and self-sabotage, and it's a reminder that the barrier to fluency is often constructed inside us, and we need to fight the enemy within if we want to succeed at learning English.

瞭解發生在安娜-博特哈身上的事情對任何學習英語的人來說都很重要，因為它包含了身份、勇敢和自我毀滅的主題，它提醒我們，流利英語的障礙往往是在我們內心構建的，如果我們想成功學習英語，就必須與內心的敵人作鬥爭。

In Italian culture, the self-image is described as a figure, and it has two faces that you can present to the world.

在意大利文化中，自我形象被描述為一個人物，它有兩張面孔，可以展現給世人。

The bella figura is the confident, organised, intelligent person dressed in black that we are proud of when we look in the mirror.

Bella figura 是我們照鏡子時引以為豪的自信、有條理、聰明的黑衣人。

This is the person we upload to Instagram.

這就是我們上傳到 Instagram 的人。

The bruta figura is the person in pyjamas without make-up on a We want the world to see our bella figura, and we hide our bruta figura away, and we bury it deep inside us.

bruta figura 是指穿著睡衣、不化妝的人。我們希望世界看到我們的 bella figura，而我們卻把 bruta figura 隱藏起來，深埋在內心深處。

This is natural human behaviour.

這是人類的自然行為。

The problem is when we apply this behaviour to others.

問題在於，當我們把這種行為用於他人時。

Instead of admitting that all of us have a bruta figura inside, we deny it, and when it appears in ourselves or others, we try to destroy it.

我們不承認我們每個人的內心都有一個野蠻的形象，而是否認它，當它出現在自己或他人身上時，我們試圖摧毀它。

Instead of supporting each other, when we see imperfection, we attack, afraid that one day it might be us that shows our weaknesses to the world.

當我們看到不完美的地方時，我們不是相互支持，而是攻擊，害怕有一天向世界展示我們弱點的會是我們自己。

We hope that if our imperfections never see light, they will disappear.

我們希望，如果我們的不完美從未見過光，它們就會消失。

How naive we are.

我們多麼天真

Instead of dying in the shadows, our weaknesses gain strength, and they become a monster that slowly makes our light smaller until one day our bruta figura, made of hate and judgement, is the only figure we have left.

我們的弱點非但不會在陰影中消亡，反而會變得更加強大，它們會變成一個怪物，慢慢地讓我們的光芒變得越來越小，直到有一天，我們那由仇恨和評判組成的殘暴形象，會成為我們僅存的形象。

But what does this have to do with learning a language?

但這與學習語言有什麼關係呢？

Because learning a language is a process of making mistakes.

因為學習語言就是一個不斷犯錯的過程。

It requires you to be wrong.

它要求你犯錯。

It requires you to be slow.

這需要你慢慢來。

It requires you to embarrass yourself.

它要求你讓自己難堪。

It requires you to be different.

它要求你與眾不同。

It requires you to show your bruta figura to the world.

它要求你向世界展示你的野蠻形象。

But more than anything, it requires authenticity, for you to show all parts of yourself and deny none.

但更重要的是，它需要真實，需要你展示自己的所有部分，不否認任何部分。

The Spanish people were upset with Ana Boteja because she wasn't willing to hide the fact that she was Spanish and that her English wasn't perfect.

西班牙人對安娜-博特哈感到不滿，因為她不願意隱瞞自己是西班牙人的事實，而且她的英語並不完美。

And that requires bravery, especially when the consequences can be so severe.

這需要勇氣，尤其是在後果可能如此嚴重的情況下。

But how can you be brave when you are so afraid of those consequences?

但是，當你如此害怕這些後果時，你怎麼能勇敢起來呢？

Well, it's actually the only time you can be brave.

其實，這是你唯一可以勇敢的時候。

It doesn't take any courage to decide that you are never going to use your English or that your accent is bad.

決定永遠不用英語或口音不好並不需要任何勇氣。

It doesn't take any courage to hide who you really are.

隱藏真實的自己並不需要任何勇氣。

I invite you to show your imperfections and to applaud them when you see them in others.

我邀請你們展示自己的不完美，並在看到他人的不完美時為其喝彩。

Because when you judge others who are just like you, you're really judging yourself.

因為當你評判和你一樣的人時，其實也是在評判自己。

And when you look into the mirror, I want you to treat yourself kindly.

當你照鏡子時，我希望你能善待自己。

I hear from students every day who tell me that they don't have a safe place to practice their English.

每天都有學生告訴我，他們沒有安全的地方練習英語。

And that's why I created the and I am so proud to finally invite you to join.

這就是為什麼我創建了這個組織，而且我非常自豪地邀請你們加入。

In the Academy, there are more than 100 hours of live classes every month with me and other incredible teachers in an immersion environment.

在學院裡，每個月都有 100 多個小時的現場課程，我和其他優秀教師將在沉浸式環境中授課。

Plus, there are daily speaking challenges, writing challenges, a film club, a book club, and many more games and activities that will keep you motivated and accountable.

此外，還有每日演講挑戰、寫作挑戰、電影俱樂部、讀書俱樂部以及更多的遊戲和活動，這些都會讓你充滿動力和責任感。

Plus, when you join the Academy, you will have unlimited access to hundreds of videos and courses with exclusive materials that will teach you how people use everyday English in the real world, not in textbooks.

此外，加入學院後，您還可以無限制地訪問數百個視頻和課程，這些獨家資料將教您如何在現實世界而非教科書中使用日常英語。

The Academy is not for everybody, but if you're someone who has always wanted to use English instead of studying it, but you didn't know how, then come and join us.

學院並不適合所有人，但如果你一直想使用英語而不是學習英語，但又不知道如何使用，那就來加入我們吧。

If you want to know more, please visit the link below.

如果您想了解更多資訊，請訪問下面的鏈接。

I'm looking forward to seeing you in class.

我期待著在課堂上見到你。

Learn English for free www.engvid.com

免費學習英語 www.engvid.com