Name: 為什麼你能聽懂一種語言，但仍然不會說它 (Why you understand a language but still can't speak it)
Uploaded: 2025-08-06T01:19:21.000Z
Duration: 7 min 41 s

咿呀咿呀......我結結巴巴地說。

This is the moment no one warns you about in language learning.

在語言學習中，沒有人會提醒你注意這一點。

When you understand most of everything, but you can't speak to save your life.

當你什麼都懂，卻說不出話來的時候。

I'm Spencer, welcome back to Fluency Formula, and today I'm going to talk to you about how I finally broke down the barrier that got me conversationally fluent in record time.

我是斯賓塞，歡迎回到 "流利公式"，今天我將和大家談談我是如何在創紀錄的時間內打破障礙，讓自己的會話變得流利的。

Oh, and what's more, is I'm going to show you how you can do it too in any language.

哦，更重要的是，我將向你展示如何用任何語言也能做到這一點。

Let me take you back to one of my early language exchanges that exposed the brutal reality.

讓我帶大家回顧一下我早期的一次語言交流，它揭示了殘酷的現實。

I was sitting at my desk about 7 p.m., nervously waiting for my italki call to connect.

晚上 7 點左右，我坐在辦公桌前，緊張地等待著 Italki 電話的接通。

For context, I had been waking up between 1 and 4 a.m. every single day for months.

我幾個月來每天都在凌晨 1 點到 4 點之間醒來。

In my own evaluation, I was beginning to understand a surprising amount of spoken Mandarin.

在我自己的評估中，我開始能聽懂令人驚訝的國語口語。

This is one of my first times speaking Chinese to someone who I wasn't already very familiar and comfortable with.

這是我第一次和一個我還不是很熟悉和熟悉的人說中文。

The call connected and there was Marvin, my language exchange partner, smiling and greeting me with a friendly ni hao.

電話接通後，我的語言交流夥伴馬文（Marvin）微笑著向我打招呼，並親切地叫了一聲 "你好"。

And just like that, my brain completely froze.

就這樣，我的大腦完全凍結了。

All of those hours of input, all that time that I spent absorbing the language, they were suddenly locked in some inaccessible part of my mind.

所有這些小時的輸入，所有我花在吸收語言上的時間，突然都被鎖在了我腦海中某個無法觸及的地方。

The same blankness that hit me when I'd been studying Japanese, check that story out right here, was repeating itself again in Chinese.

在我學習日語的時候，也曾有過同樣的茫然--請看這裡的故事--在中文裡再次重演。

I'd managed to spit out a basic greeting, but when Marvin asked me a simple question about my day, I felt like I was trying to speak through a mouthful of peanut butter.

我勉強吐出了一句基本的問候語，但當馬文問我一個關於我今天的簡單問題時，我感覺自己就像在用滿嘴的花生醬說話。

After the call, just like what happened with Japanese sometime prior, I just sat there feeling deflated.

通話結束後，就像之前和日本人通話一樣，我坐在那裡感到洩氣。

I didn't understand how I could comprehend so much, but express so little.

我不明白自己怎麼能理解那麼多，卻表達得那麼少。

Now, before I share with you how I fixed the problem, let me share something else with you that's pretty funny.

現在，在跟大家分享我是如何解決這個問題的之前，讓我跟大家分享一件非常有趣的事情。

Around this time, I had been keeping my Chinese studies a secret from my girlfriend, but I couldn't resist messing with her a little bit.

大約在這個時候，我一直瞞著我的女朋友學習中文，但還是忍不住跟她鬧了一下。

We'd be making dinner and I'd randomly throw in a Chinese word here and there.

我們做晚飯的時候，我會不經意地在這裡或那裡說上一句中文。

Or I'd point to the water and say shui instead of water.

或者我會指著水說shui，而不是water。

And I'd shrug innocently and say, I said water.

我會無辜地聳聳肩說，我說的是水。

Now, this little game actually served two distinct purposes.

現在，這個小遊戲實際上有兩個不同的目的。

First, it was hilarious to watch her reaction, wondering if maybe she misheard me or was just losing her mind.

首先，看她的反應很搞笑，不知道她是聽錯了還是瘋了。

But second, and more importantly, it revealed something to me that's absolutely crucial about the language learning journey.

其次，更重要的是，它向我揭示了語言學習過程中的一些至關重要的東西。

Despite building a solid mental model of Mandarin in my head, my output abilities were limited to single words or single phrases.

儘管我在頭腦中建立了一個堅實的國語心智模型，但我的輸出能力僅限於單詞或單句。

I had actually been ready to speak much earlier than I thought.

實際上，我準備發言的時間比我想象的要早得多。

And this is the exact problem that so many language learners face.

這正是許多語言學習者所面臨的問題。

You've built an incredible foundation of the language through input, but struggle to activate it through output.

您通過輸入打下了堅實的語言基礎，但卻很難通過輸出來激活它。

Let me break down the two major barriers that are likely holding you back right now.

讓我來分析一下現在可能阻礙你前進的兩大障礙。

First, there's what we can call the psychological block.

首先，我們可以稱之為心理障礙。

This is when your brain knows what it wants to say, but there's something stopping you from getting it out.

這時，你的大腦知道自己想說什麼，但有什麼東西阻止你把它說出來。

Remember my past videos where I told you that the first time I spoke Mandarin with my girlfriend was after I had one too many drinks?

還記得我在過去的視頻中說過，我第一次和女朋友說國語是在我喝多酒之後嗎？

The alcohol had lowered my inhibitions, that filter that makes us worried that we're gonna sound stupid or make too many mistakes.

酒精降低了我的抑制力，這種抑制力會讓我們擔心自己的聲音會很蠢，或者犯太多錯誤。

And this was actually before my first call with Marvin, meaning that I did have the ability to speak at some level, it was just locked away in my brain somewhere.

實際上，這是在我第一次與馬文通話之前，也就是說，我在某種程度上確實有說話的能力，只是被鎖在了大腦的某個地方。

Even in your native language, being put on the spot can make you stumble over your words.

即使是用自己的母語，被人當場問話也會讓你語無倫次。

I want you to know that this is something every language learner experiences to some level.

我想讓你們知道，這是每個語言學習者都會在一定程度上遇到的問題。

The second barrier is what we can call the physical circuit.

第二道屏障就是我們所說的物理電路。

Understanding a language and producing a language use somewhat different neural pathways in your brain.

理解語言和創造語言使用的大腦神經通路有些不同。

Think about it like this, you've been building an amazing highway for incoming information, but the outgoing paths are still made of dirt.

想想看，你已經為資訊的輸入建造了一條令人驚歎的高速公路，但輸出的路徑仍然是由泥土構成的。

They exist, but they're not well-traveled yet.

它們是存在的，但還沒有被很好地利用。

And here's the good news, fixing both issues actually follow the same principles that I use to achieve conversational fluency in Mandarin in about six months.

好消息是，解決這兩個問題實際上遵循了我在大約六個月內達到國語會話流利程度的相同原則。

So let's get to the step-by-step system of activating your output abilities.

那麼，讓我們一步步來系統地激活你的輸出能力吧。

Step one is adopting the mindset of an Olympic athlete to training for the Olympics.

第一步是採用奧運選手的心態來進行奧運訓練。

這不僅僅是一種愛好，更是一種訓練。

I don't just do it when I feel like it, I do it every single day.

我不是想做就做，而是每天都做。

Here's what a daily training regime might look like.

I talked to AI language partners to practice specific scenarios without any judgment.

我與人工智能語言夥伴交談，在沒有任何評判的情況下練習特定場景。

I scheduled regular italki sessions with language partners like Marvin.

我定期與像馬文這樣的語言夥伴一起學習 italki。

And even when I had no one to talk to, I just talked to myself.

即使在無人傾訴的時候，我也只是自言自語。

Looking back, I really wish that I had recorded everything so that I could review it later.

現在回想起來，我真希望當時把一切都記錄下來，以便日後回顧。

When you listen to what you've recorded, you're able to catch things that you might not have realized in the moment.

當你聆聽自己錄製的內容時，你能捕捉到一些你當時可能沒有意識到的東西。

Step two is what I call shadow before you speak.

第二步就是我所說的 "未語先影"。

This is one of the powerful techniques that we recommend inside of fluency formula to help improve your accent and your output ability.

這是我們在 "流利公式 "中推薦的強大技巧之一，有助於改善您的口音和輸出能力。

Shadowing is when you repeat what a native speaker says right after the native speaker says it, just like an echo.

所謂 "影子"，就是在母語使用者說完之後，你緊接著重複母語使用者所說的話，就像回聲一樣。

You're mimicking not just the words, but you're mimicking the rhythm, the intonation, and even the emotion of the speaker.

你模仿的不僅是語言，還有節奏、語調，甚至說話者的情緒。

I still shadow before every single output session that I have.

我仍然會在每一次輸出前進行影印。

The magic happens when you do this with content that's slightly above your current level.

當你的內容略高於你目前的水準時，神奇的事情就發生了。

Step three is what I call your output toolbox.

第三步就是我所說的 "輸出工具箱"。

These are phrases, fillers, and transitions that help your language sound a little bit more natural instead of robotic and choppy.

這些短語、填充語和過渡語可以讓你的語言聽起來更自然一些，而不是機械和不流暢。

In every language, there are certain little devices that native speakers will use to buy them some more time to think of their next idea and transition smoothly.

在每種語言中，母語使用者都會使用一些小手段來為自己爭取更多的時間，以便思考下一個想法並順利過渡。

In English, we say things like, you know, um, like, the thing is.

在英語中，我們會說，你知道，嗯，事情是這樣的。

While I've been building my Mandarin output skills, I created a specific list of these connector phrases.

在提高國語輸出技能的過程中，我專門列出了這些連接短語。

I put them directly into my flashcard software and practiced them relentlessly until they became automatic.

我把它們直接放入我的閃存卡軟件中，堅持不懈地練習，直到它們成為自動記憶。

Having these ready and in your arsenal gives your brain an extra second to catch up when it's transitioning to a new topic.

準備好這些內容後，當你過渡到一個新話題時，大腦就會多出一秒鐘的時間來跟上。

Step four is what I call creating a no English zone.

第四步，我稱之為創建 "無英語區"。

This is honestly where the real magic can happen.

老實說，這才是真正神奇的地方。

Set a timer for just five minutes at first and commit to speaking nothing other than your target language.

一開始設定一個五分鐘的計時器，並承諾除了目標語言之外不說其他任何語言。

No matter how much you struggle, no matter how many mistakes you make, no switching back to English, no matter what.

無論你如何掙扎，無論你犯了多少錯誤，無論如何都不能換回英語。

Whether that's practicing with AI, practicing with a language partner, or just talking to yourself.

無論是與人工智能練習、與語言夥伴練習，還是自言自語。

Forcing yourself into these language only bubbles, words start flowing out of your mouth that you didn't even know were locked away in your brain.

強迫自己進入這些語言氣泡，你嘴裡就會開始流出一些你甚至不知道被鎖在大腦裡的詞彙。

The final step is something that I mentioned earlier, which is returning to this language athlete mindset.

最後一步就是我之前提到的，回到語言運動員的思維模式。

The biggest mistake that I see otherwise serious language learners make is treating speaking practice like it's optional.

在我看來，認真的語言學習者所犯的最大錯誤就是把口語練習當作可有可無的事情。

While learning Mandarin, even on days where I felt sick so I stayed home from work or I was just generally exhausted, I still did at least some little form of output practice.

在學習國語的過程中，即使是在我感到不舒服而請假在家的日子裡，或者是在我筋疲力盡的時候，我仍然至少進行了一些小形式的輸出練習。

Your speaking ability follows the same rules that playing basketball does.

你的口語能力與打籃球遵循同樣的規則。

It's a physical skillset that takes repetition to build and develop.

這是一種身體技能，需要反覆練習才能形成和發展。

Now let me share with you a quick hack that's helped a lot of students inside of the Fluency Formula community.

現在，讓我與大家分享一個快速黑客工具，它幫助了 "流暢公式 "社區中的許多學生。

This is called the 3-2-1 technique and let me explain to you how it works.

這就是所謂的 "3-2-1 技術"，讓我向你解釋一下它是如何運作的。

Choose a topic that you want to discuss in your target language.

選擇一個您想用目標語言討論的話題。

First, spend three minutes just writing down some topics that you want to talk about within that overarching topic in your native language.

首先，花三分鐘時間用母語寫下你想在這個總主題下談論的一些話題。

Then, spend two minutes jotting down some notes of how you might express these ideas in your target language.

然後，用兩分鐘時間記下如何用目標語言表達這些想法。

只寫要點，不要寫完整的句子。

Finally, speak for one full minute in your target language, making sure to record yourself.

最後，用你的目標語言說上整整一分鐘，一定要錄音。

The beauty of this technique is it gradually removes your safety net, all while giving your brain enough structure to prevent panic.

這種技巧的妙處在於，它能逐漸消除你的安全網，同時讓你的大腦有足夠的結構來防止恐慌。

I tell you this in just about every video now, but look, this isn't about being perfect.

我現在幾乎在每個視頻中都會告訴你這一點，但聽著，這並不是要你做到完美。

It's about gradually sucking less and less each day.

And if you want the step-by-step plan so you can check this stuff out for yourself, take a look at the link in the description.

如果你想了解分步計劃，以便親自查看這些內容，請查看說明中的鏈接。

Bridging the gap between input and output can be a challenge, but like I told you, it's something that we can get over if we strategically work to do so.

縮小投入和產出之間的差距可能是一項挑戰，但正如我告訴過你們的那樣，只要我們有策略地去努力，就能克服這一困難。

Now, in the meantime, if while you're specifically training your output ability, you want to make sure that you're continuing to make lightning-fast progress towards acquiring a language to conversational fluency in general, make sure you check out this video because this is the one that YouTube, a super powerful algorithm, thinks that you need to watch.

與此同時，如果你在專門訓練輸出能力的同時，還想確保自己在語言學習上繼續取得閃電般的進步，達到一般會話的流利程度，請務必查看這段視頻，因為這是 YouTube 這個超級強大的算法認為你需要觀看的視頻。