You start off by watching this video right here.

你可以從觀看這部影片開始。

Then you stare at this screen.

然後你就盯著這個螢幕。

Then you pick a language you have no business learning.

那你就選一門你根本沒必要學的語言吧。

Do one lesson.

上一課

Forget about it.

算了吧。

Then search up videos about how to learn that language in six weeks, made by a YouTuber who learned it in six years.

然後搜索如何在六週內學會這門語言的影片，影片製作者是一位用六年時間學會這門語言的 YouTuber。

But if you want to actually learn a language, you have to make sure you're not doing it for the wrong reasons.

但是，如果你想真正學習一門語言，就必須確保你不是為了錯誤的原因而學習這門語言。

Sure, if you learned a hard enough language, it would probably impress a lot of strangers, and it would probably get you a lot of views on YouTube.

當然，如果你學會了一門足夠難的語言，可能會給很多陌生人留下深刻印象，也可能會讓你在 YouTube 上獲得大量瀏覽量。

Subscribers too.

訂戶也是。

I think some people even make money from it.

我想有些人甚至從中賺到了錢。

But if you're a beginner, you should really be picking a language that's easy enough for you to actually enjoy learning it.

但如果你是初學者，就應該選擇一門足夠簡單的語言，讓自己真正享受學習的樂趣。

You shouldn't pick a language if you're going to treat it like a chore.

如果你想把一門語言當作一件苦差事，就不應該選擇它。

So, to maximize your chances of success, here's a chart of some popular languages, ranked by how much time it takes for an English speaker to learn them.

為了最大限度地提高您的成功機率，下面是一些流行語言的圖表，按照會說英語的人學習這些語言所需的時間進行排序。

If you're not sure what language you should start learning, I would just pick either Spanish, French, or Portuguese.

如果您不確定應該開始學習哪種語言，我會選擇西班牙語、法語或葡萄牙語。

Not only are they the easiest for English speakers, but many countries speak one of these as an official language.

它們不僅對英語使用者來說最簡單，而且許多國家都將其中一種作為官方語言。

I don't know why, but it's probably just a weird coincidence.

我不知道為什麼，但這可能只是一個奇怪的巧合。

However, if you do want to go for a harder language, it is possible.

不過，如果您確實想學習更難的語言，這也是可能的。

Just remember to ask yourself, do I really have the right motivation?

記得問問自己，我真的有正確的動機嗎？

For example, wanting to understand anime is not going to motivate you to learn Japanese for more than a day.

例如，想了解動漫並不能促使你學習超過一天的日語。

However, my friend speaks Spanish, and I want to understand them, is a pretty good motivator.

不過，我的朋友會說西班牙語，我想聽懂他們的意思，這也是一個很好的動力。

Because that's probably why they made a group chat without you.

因為這可能就是他們不帶你群聊的原因。

Some people have to take a language class for school, but that by itself is not a great motivator, because your finger might slip, and you might accidentally paste all your assignments into DeepL.

有些人在學校裡必須上語言課，但這本身並不是一個很好的動力，因為你的手指可能會打滑，一不小心就會把所有作業都粘貼到 DeepL 上。

However, the British invaded my country, and I need English to survive, is the perfect motivation to start learning English.

然而，英國人入侵了我的國家，我需要英語來生存，這就是開始學習英語的最佳動力。

And so far, it seems to have been a huge success.

到目前為止，它似乎取得了巨大成功。

So now that you've picked your language, it's time for the easy part, which is learning it.

既然你已經選好了語言，那麼接下來就是簡單的部分了，那就是學習語言。

Usually, people on the internet will tell you that the fastest method to learn any language is to get a language partner, or a tutor, or a friend who's willing to sit down with you and talk to you like a baby until you start picking up words and sentences.

通常，互聯網上的人會告訴你，學習任何語言的最快方法是找一個語言夥伴、家教或朋友，他們願意和你坐在一起，像嬰兒一樣和你說話，直到你開始掌握單詞和句子。

And while this is probably the fastest way, it requires human interaction.

雖然這可能是最快的方法，但它需要人與人之間的互動。

So instead, here's a method that you can do all by yourself, at home, to become fluent in a language.

這裡有一個方法，你可以自己在家做，就能流利地掌握一門語言。

The first step is learning the basics.

第一步是學習基礎知識。

This is actually a very easy step, but many people try to skip it by doing one or two Duolingo lessons.

這其實是非常簡單的一步，但很多人試圖跳過這一步，只做一兩節 Duolingo 課程。

Other people get stuck on the language learning side of YouTube, watching 138 videos about how to learn Korean, none of which include a single word of Korean.

還有一些人被困在 YouTube 的語言學習頁面，觀看 138 個關於如何學習韓語的影片，但其中沒有一個韓語單詞。

But the whole time, all you really had to do was find a beginner textbook for that language that has practice exercises for you to do.

但在整個學習過程中，你真正需要做的是找到一本有練習題的語言初級教科書。

It might take you a month to finish the whole thing, but the progress you'll make is equal to about two years of Duolingo, or about 12 years of school in America.

你可能需要一個月的時間來完成整個學習過程，但是你所取得的進步相當於學習 Duolingo 課程兩年的時間，或者相當於在美國上學 12 年的時間。

And you can find these books for free just by googling beginner, then the language, textbook PDF.

只要在谷歌上搜索 "初學者"、"語言"、"教科書 PDF"，就能免費找到這些書籍。

And there you go.

這就對了。

You could also just get them from the library, or as they say in France, zee library.

您也可以直接從圖書館或法國人常說的 "zee library"（圖書館）獲取。

Zee library.

Zee 圖書館。

Isn't zee library fun to say?

說 "圖書館 "是不是很有趣？

Imagine if you googled it.

想象一下，如果你用谷歌搜索它。

Once you finish the beginner book, it's time to practice listening.

完成初級讀本後，就是練習聽力的時候了。

You don't even have to worry about speaking right now, because first, you need to learn what the language is actually supposed to sound like.

您現在甚至不用擔心口語問題，因為首先，您需要學習這種語言的實際發音。

The easiest way to do this is by watching YouTube videos in that language.

最簡單的方法就是觀看 YouTube 上的語言影片。

The idea behind this is that you're not going to understand everything, but by looking at the video and using context clues from what you do understand, you can slowly pick up the language without even realizing.

這背後的理念是，你不可能什麼都懂，但通過觀看影片和利用你所理解的上下文線索，你可以在不知不覺中慢慢掌握這門語言。

This works especially well because every language only has a few thousand words that are actually used in regular conversation.

這種方法特別有效，因為每種語言在日常對話中實際使用的單詞只有幾千個。

So over time, you'll start recognizing the same few words and phrases in every video you watch.

隨著時間的推移，你會開始在觀看的每部影片中識別出相同的幾個單詞和短語。

And you can really pick anything to watch, as long as it's interesting and you can understand at least 30% of it.

只要有趣，你至少能看懂其中的 30%，你真的可以選擇任何東西來觀看。

If you put on a video and it sounds like gibberish, it's not your fault.

如果你播放的影片聽起來像胡言亂語，那不是你的錯。

They're just talking too fast.

他們說得太快了。

This is probably because they're trying to gatekeep their language.

這可能是因為他們試圖對自己的語言進行把關。

Do not let them do this.

不要讓他們這樣做。

To fix it, just go to the YouTube search bar and add the magic word easy.

要解決這個問題，只需在 YouTube 搜索欄中添加 "easy "這個神奇的詞。

And just like that, you get served up a bunch of videos that you can understand.

就這樣，你就能看到一堆你能看懂的影片。

Automatic captions also help a lot, because you can rewind and look up the words you don't know.

自動字幕也有很大幫助，因為你可以倒回去查找不認識的單詞。

There are even websites like Reversal Context, where you can look up a word or phrase and actually see it used in a real sentence.

甚至還有像 Reversal Context 這樣的網站，在那裡你可以查找一個單詞或短語，並實際看到它在真實句子中的用法。

But whatever you do, do not turn on English subtitles.

但無論如何，都不要打開英文字幕。

Many people who try to learn Japanese, for example, watch anime.

例如，許多試圖學習日語的人都會看動漫。

This is not a bad way to learn Japanese, but people who turn on English subtitles will just read the subtitles.

這不失為一種學習日語的好方法，但打開英文字幕的人只會看字幕。

And even though they think they're learning Japanese, in five years, all they'll have to show for it is this profile picture and the Discord Nitro subscription.

儘管他們認為自己在學習日語，但五年後，他們能展示的只有這張個人照片和訂閱的 Discord Nitro。

But luckily, you've been using subtitles in the right language, and you can now understand at least 70% of everything you watch.

但幸運的是，你一直在使用正確語言的字幕，現在你至少能看懂 70% 的內容了。

It's time to unleash step three, which is speaking.

是時候啟動第三步了，那就是說話。

To start speaking, just keep watching YouTube.

要開始說話，只需繼續觀看 YouTube。

Except now, you pause after each important sentence and repeat it out loud, or at least whisper it.

只是現在，你會在每一句重要的話之後停頓一下，然後大聲重複，或者至少低聲說出來。

Try to pretend like you're having a real conversation with an actual person, and even think of different possible situations where you could use the sentence.

試著假裝你正在與一個真實的人進行真實的對話，甚至想想你可以在不同的情況下使用這個句子。

Whenever you find a sentence that sounds really useful, write it down in a notebook.

每當你發現一個聽起來非常有用的句子，就把它寫在筆記本上。

You're probably never going to look at that notebook ever again, but it's nice to get some writing practice.

你可能永遠都不會再看那本筆記本了，但能得到一些寫作練習也不錯。

Now, at any point in this entire process, once you feel ready to start speaking, sit down and record yourself talking to a camera and just talk about your day, stuff you did, stuff you're looking forward to, and even ask a couple questions to the imaginary person on the other side.

現在，在整個過程中的任何時候，一旦你覺得準備好開始說話了，就坐下來，對著攝影機錄下自己的談話，談談你的一天、你做了什麼、你期待什麼，甚至向另一邊的假想人提幾個問題。

If you ever forget how to say something, fill it in with English and move on.

如果忘了怎麼說，就用英語補上，然後繼續。

Later, you can watch the recording back and look up whatever you didn't know how to say using DeepL or Reversal Context.

稍後，您可以回看錄音，並使用 DeepL 或 Reversal Context 查找您不知道怎麼說的內容。

To an outsider, this might look like a lonely way to learn language, but if you've ever heard someone say they're self-taught, this is exactly what they were doing.

在外人看來，這可能是一種孤獨的語言學習方式，但如果你曾聽別人說過他們是自學成才，這正是他們正在做的事情。

And that's all there is to it.

僅此而已。

If you keep reading about the language, watching YouTube, and talking to a camera for long enough, you'll become fluent without ever having to talk to an actual person.

如果你不斷閱讀有關這種語言的書籍、觀看 YouTube 和對著攝影機說話，時間長了，你就會變得流利，而無需與真人交談。

Congratulations!

祝賀你

But one day in the future, you'll probably have to travel and you'll eventually have to talk to native speakers.

但將來有一天，你可能不得不去旅行，最終不得不與母語人士交談。

And all you have to do is just learn the culture and keep up with the politics.

你所要做的就是學習文化，瞭解政治。

For example, if you ever visit France, this is what you might expect to see.

例如，如果您去法國旅遊，您可能會看到這樣的景象。

But what you'll actually see is hundreds of French farmers driving their tractors into the capital to form a blockade.

但實際上，你看到的是數百名法國農民開著拖拉機進入首都，形成封鎖。

If you stop a Frenchman on the street to ask what happened, he'll just tell you that this is a normal day in France.

如果你在街上攔住一個法國人問發生了什麼事，他只會告訴你這是法國平常的一天。

French people use creative protest as a way to pass the time and you clearly must have not read about it using Ground News.

法國人用有創意的抗議活動來打發時間，而您顯然沒有在《地面新聞》上看到相關報道。

Hashtag sponsored.

Hashtag 贊助商。

Ground News is an app and a website that feeds you news from multiple sources while also telling you straight up if the sources reporting on an article are biased.

Ground News 是一款應用程序，也是一個網站，它能為您提供來自多個來源的新聞，同時還能直接告訴您報道文章的來源是否有偏見。

For example, when I'm reading that BBC article about how French farmers are protesting getting absolutely shafted by the government, the Ground News browser extension shows that this article is from the center and the left and right seem to be covering it pretty equally.

例如，當我閱讀英國廣播公司（BBC）那篇關於法國農民如何抗議被政府絕對壓榨的文章時，"地面新聞 "瀏覽器擴展程序顯示，這篇文章來自中央，左右兩派似乎對其的報道相當一致。

If you click on full coverage, you'll see that 306 sources are covering this story and there's a summary from each political viewpoint.

如果您點擊全面報道，您會看到有 306 個消息來源報道了這一事件，而且每個政治觀點都有一個摘要。

The bias insights feature tells you how the left, right, and center are reporting on the story differently.

偏見洞察功能告訴你左、右、中三方是如何以不同的方式報道這一事件的。

You can even see tabs showing your bias distribution, the factuality of the sources, and who owns them.

您甚至可以看到標籤，顯示您的偏見分佈、資訊來源的真實性以及資訊來源的所有者。

But what I do most often is compare headlines.

但我最常做的是比較標題。

This article makes the protesters look like angry manure-slinging traffic blockers while this article makes them look like strong revolutionary heroes.

這篇文章讓抗議者看起來像憤怒的撒糞阻塞交通者，而這篇文章則讓他們看起來像堅強的革命英雄。

Very interesting.

非常有趣。

I recommend browsing the international edition so you'll never have to look confused in foreign countries.

我建議您瀏覽國際版，這樣您在國外就不會感到困惑了。

Just go to ground.news slash easyactually or click the link below and you'll get 30% off their unlimited access vantage plan today.

只需訪問 ground.news slash easyactually 或點擊下面的鏈接，您就可以在今天享受其無限訪問 vantage 計劃的七折優惠。

I was also going to ask you to subscribe but the number can't fit in the circle anymore.

我還想請您訂閱，但數字已經放不進圓圈裡了。