You see, you may not know this about me, but English wasn't my first language, it wasn't even my second language, English was my third language.

你們可能不瞭解我，但英語不是我的第一語言，甚至不是我的第二語言，英語是我的第三語言。

And the language you heard me speaking in that video just briefly, when I was young, is called Dijiu.

你們在視頻中聽到的我年輕時簡短說過的語言叫潮州話。

So it's a Chinese dialect that's fairly rare these days.

是以，這是一種如今相當罕見的中國方言。

Or si Dijiu nang, ga sing ang ang.

或 si Dijiu nang, ga sing ang ang。

Silly little thing that people in Dijiu often say, don't know why they say that.

潮州人常說的傻話，不知道為什麼這麼說。

But that was the first language that I learnt.

但這是我學會的第一門語言。

Then, after that, I learnt Vietnamese.

之後，我又學習了越南語。

You see, so again, Vietnamese was the second language I learnt.

你看，越南語又是我學習的第二語言。

By the time I got into school, formally in school, I was about 5 or 6 years old and for the first time at 5 or 6 years old, then I had to learn English because at home we weren't taught English.

當我進入學校，正式上學的時候，我大約 5、6 歲，在 5、6 歲的時候，我第一次必須學習英語，因為在家裡，我們沒有人教我們英語。

I first learnt English at the age of 6 and by that point I'd already understood and was able to speak fluently Dijiu and also Vietnamese.

我第一次學英語是在 6 歲，那時我已經能聽懂並流利地說潮州話和越南語了。

And I tell you all of this because I want to address the problem that many of my students have been asking me.

我告訴你們這些，是因為我想解決很多學生一直在問我的問題。

Over the last year, I've been teaching all the new hires at Microsoft the area of communication skills and many of the new hires, the thousands of new hires that Microsoft bring on every people from all over the world.

在過去的一年裡，我一直在向微軟的所有新員工傳授溝通技巧，而許多新員工，也就是微軟從世界各地招來的成千上萬名新員工，都是我的學生。

And the question kept coming up, Vin, is my accent a problem?

不斷有人問，文，我的口音有問題嗎？

Now, this is my firm belief.

這是我的堅定信念。

Your accent is never a problem.

你的口音從來不是問題。

My goodness, your accent is what makes you unique.

天哪，你的口音讓你與眾不同。

It's what gives you flavor.

它能給你帶來風味。

It's what gives you character.

它賦予你個性。

Accent is never a problem.

口音從來不是問題。

The problem doesn't lie with your accent.

問題不在於你的口音。

The problem lies with your articulation.

問題在於你的表達方式。

If you're someone who has wondered and has thought about, oh, what if my accent is a problem when I communicate, then this video, I hope it will give you some more insight into this.

如果你曾想過，如果我的口音是我交流時的一個問題怎麼辦，那麼這段視頻，我希望它能讓你對此有更多的瞭解。

Let's dive deeper into this topic.

讓我們深入探討這個話題。

When I was young and I was speaking English for the first time, I remember the kids at school used to tease me because I sounded different to them.

當我年輕時第一次說英語時，我記得學校裡的孩子們經常取笑我，因為在他們聽來我的聲音與眾不同。

And they would often say, oh, you sound so fobby.

他們經常會說，哦，你的聲音聽起來太輕浮了。

And the reason I sounded different was because I had learnt two completely different set of mouth movements before I had to learn a third set of mouth movements.

我的聲音之所以與眾不同，是因為我在學習第三套口腔動作之前，已經學會了兩套完全不同的口腔動作。

Let me explain.

讓我來解釋一下。

When I learnt Dijiu, for example, I had to learn a completely different set of mouth movements for that language because Dijiu is very different to Vietnamese.

例如，當我學習地久語時，我必須學習一套完全不同的口腔動作，因為地久語與越南語截然不同。

And then when I learnt Vietnamese, I had to learn another different set of mouth movements.

後來我學越南語時，不得不學習另一套不同的口腔動作。

Now the mistake I made was when I learnt the English language, I brought along the Chinese and the Vietnamese set of mouth movements into the English language, therefore causing me to have a very thick accent.

現在我犯的錯誤是，當我學習英語時，我把中文和越南語的口型動作帶到了英語中，是以導致我有很重的口音。

That accent comes as a result, your accent comes as a result of us taking the set of mouth movements we learnt from our mother tongue into the English language.

你的口音是我們把從母語中學到的口腔動作運用到英語中的結果，你的口音是我們把從母語中學到的口腔動作運用到英語中的結果。

And depending on how much of those mouth movements we take from the original language that we learnt, the first language that we learnt, depending on how much of those mouth movements we take and move across into the English language, that will determine how thick the accent that we actually have is.

根據我們從所學語言（第一種語言）中提取的口腔動作的多少，根據我們從所學語言中提取的口腔動作的多少，並將這些口腔動作遷移到英語中，這將決定我們的口音到底有多重。

And for me, when I was young, I had a very thick Vietnamese accent when I spoke English, which for me at the time was a problem, A, because I got teased.

對我來說，在我年輕的時候，我說英語時有很重的越南口音，這對當時的我來說是個問題，A，因為我會被取笑。

But more than this, I couldn't communicate clearly with those around me.

不僅如此，我還無法與周圍的人進行清晰的交流。

They couldn't really understand what I was saying.

他們聽不懂我在說什麼。

So I quickly learnt in that environment that I needed to learn a completely new set of particular language.

是以，我很快就意識到，我需要學習一套全新的特殊語言。

And without knowing at the time, when I was a kid, when I learnt these new set of mouth movements for the English language, what I did without knowing was I enhanced my articulation.

在我還是個孩子的時候，在不知不覺中，當我學會了這套新的英語口腔動作時，我不知不覺地增強了我的發音能力。

And the way I practiced my articulation wasn't actually the best way to do it, but it was the only way I knew how to do it.

我練習發音的方法實際上並不是最好的方法，但這是我知道的唯一方法。

I started to imitate people that I heard on TV.

我開始模仿從電視上聽到的人物。

So I used to watch The Price is Right in Australia, I used to watch Sesame Street and something and I would actually try to imitate them and practice speaking like they would speak.

是以，我經常看澳洲的《The Price is Right》，我經常看《芝麻街》之類的節目，實際上我會嘗試模仿他們，練習像他們那樣說話。

And that's how I learnt the new set of mouth movements for this new language, English.

就這樣，我學會了英語這門新語言的一套新的口腔動作。

And since then, I've learnt from my now mentors who are speech pathologists, who have taught me more effective ways on how you can improve your articulation.

從那時起，我就開始向我現在的導師學習，他們都是語言病理學家，他們教給了我更多有效的方法來改善發音。

Now one of my mentors taught me that the strategy you can use is every day for five minutes, grab any book you like, open it to a random page and you've got to read it, but exaggerate the mouth movements.

現在，我的一位導師教我說，你可以使用的策略是每天花五分鐘時間，隨手拿起一本書，隨意翻開一頁，然後你必須讀它，但要誇張地做嘴部動作。

So, for example, if I was reading you this quick passage, I'd do it like this.

是以，舉例來說，如果我給你們讀這段快速閱讀的內容，我會這樣做。

For five minutes, you'd do this.

五分鐘內，你要這樣做。

You go, read out loud obviously.

你去大聲朗讀吧。

You may have noticed that it is easier to train forward vibrations if you stay on the same note.

你可能已經注意到，如果你保持同一個音符，就更容易訓練向前振動。

And by doing this, what you're doing is you're training your mouth to learn the new set of mouth movements.

這樣做的目的是訓練你的嘴巴學習新的口腔動作。

Five minutes a day is all it takes and trust me, within three months, two months, if you stick to this and you're consistent, you'll notice your articulation improve dramatically.

每天五分鐘就夠了，相信我，在三個月、兩個月內，如果你堅持這樣做並持之以恆，你會發現自己的發音能力有了顯著提高。

It doesn't matter where you're from, it doesn't matter what accent you have, we all can do with a little more articulation.

不管你來自哪裡，也不管你有什麼口音，我們都可以做得更好一些。

One of my gardeners, I love him, but he's a true blue Aussie and every time he comes to my house, I always slightly struggle to understand him because when he speaks to me, he generally does this.

我的一個園丁，我很喜歡他，但他是個道地的澳大利亞人，每次他來我家，我都要費點勁才能聽懂他的話，因為他跟我說話時，一般都會這樣。

G'day Vin, how are you going, mate?

文，你好嗎？

Good to see you.

很高興見到你

Bloody, you let your garden go too far.

血腥，你讓你的花園太過分了。

There's bloody weeds everywhere, mate.

到處都是該死的雜草，夥計。

You've got to take care of it.

你得照顧好它。

You've got to get me out more often.

你得讓我多出來走走。

And when he does this, sometimes I'm like, oh my goodness, I barely understood you.

他這樣做的時候，有時我會想，天哪，我幾乎沒聽懂你在說什麼。

And again, he's got an Australian accent and I love the Aussie accent, but to him, he doesn't articulate.

再說一遍，他有澳洲口音，我喜歡澳洲口音，但對他來說，他不善於表達。

He doesn't articulate very well.

他不善於表達。

He doesn't move his mouth enough for the articulation to come through.

他的嘴動得不夠多，無法實現銜接。

So it doesn't matter what accent you have.

所以，口音並不重要。

If you don't have good articulation, it's very difficult for people to understand you.

如果發音不標準，別人就很難聽懂你的意思。

What I want to quickly mention here as well is the way you currently speak, it's just the set of mouth movements.

在這裡我還想快速提到的是，你現在說話的方式，也就是嘴部的一系列動作。

Don't be so attached to those behaviors.

不要太執著於這些行為。

Often when I get my students to change their mouth movements, to explore new behaviors, I find that they're fairly attached to the way they currently sound.

通常情況下，當我讓學生改變他們的口腔動作，探索新的行為時，我發現他們對目前的發音方式相當依戀。

They're attached to a series of behaviors.

它們附著在一系列行為上。

And I say to them, don't be so attached to those set of mouth movements that you don't give the future version of you a chance.

我對他們說，不要太執著於那些嘴上的動作，而不給未來的自己一個機會。

Again, don't be so attached to who you are right now that you don't give the future version of you a chance.

還是那句話，不要太執著於現在的自己，而不給未來的自己一個機會。

You know, I create these videos every week because I hope to inspire you to go on the journey to improve your communication skills.

你知道，我每週都會製作這些視頻，因為我希望能激勵你踏上提高溝通技巧的旅程。

And let me tell you why.

讓我告訴你為什麼。

I believe that the most impactful moments that you've had in your life so far involve some kind of effective communication.

我相信，迄今為止，你人生中最有影響力的時刻都與某種有效的溝通有關。

Whether it's a speech that your best man or your bridesmaids gave you, that's a form of communication.

無論是伴郎還是伴娘的致辭，都是一種交流。

The words they said, the way they said it was a form of communication.

他們說的話、說的方式都是一種交流。

Whether it be a conversation you had with your parents, whether it be a YouTube video you watched online that inspired you, a speech you saw at a conference, a TEDx talk, all of these moments involve effective communication.

無論是你與父母的一次談話，還是你在網上觀看的一個給你帶來靈感的 YouTube 視頻，抑或是你在一次會議上看到的演講、TEDx 演講，所有這些時刻都涉及到有效溝通。

And you use communication in every single area of your life.

在你生活的每一個領域，你都在使用溝通。

When you talk to the kids, when you talk to your partner, when you talk to your colleagues, when you talk to your boss, when you talk to people online, it all involves communication skills.

當你與孩子交談時，當你與伴侶交談時，當你與同事交談時，當你與老闆交談時，當你在網上與人交談時，這一切都涉及到溝通技巧。

It's why I say that when you improve this skill, it's the tide that lifts all boats.

這就是為什麼我說，當你提高了這項技能，就會像潮水一樣推動所有船隻前進。

And I hope this video has inspired you to improve your articulation and to start the journey of improving and enhancing your ability to communicate.

我希望這段視頻能激勵你改善自己的發音，開始改善和提高溝通能力的旅程。

And as always, thanks for joining me for this video.

和往常一樣，感謝您和我一起觀看這段視頻。

If you've got any questions about communication, public speaking, presentation skills, please do leave them in the comment section below.

如果你有任何關於溝通、公眾演講和演講技巧的問題，請在下面的評論區留言。

Looking forward to seeing you in the video next week.

期待在下週的視頻中看到你。

Bye.

再見。

So sign up for my free 45-minute communication masterclass.

是以，報名參加我的 45 分鐘免費溝通大師班吧。

See you in the next video.

下期視頻再見。