Especially in business you've got to be able to learn how to articulate your message.

尤其在商場上，你更要懂得如何清楚表達自己的意見。

(The Art Of Oration) (The secrets of Accent Reduction)

(演講的藝術、減輕口音的訣竅)

There are three points that are crucial to reducing your accent if you want to be presenting in English, and the first one kind of blows people out of the water.

如果你要用英文表達，對於減輕你的口音有三大要點，而第一點可能會讓大家有點意想不到。

They've been told for years, "Could you please speak more slowly because I can't understand your accent."

多年來有人告訴他們：「請問你能講慢一點嗎？因為我聽不懂你的腔調。」

And then I come along and I say, "But guess what people, your accent isn't your problem."

而我前來說道：「你們猜怎麼著？你的口音不會是問題所在。」

Let's take Jackie Chan.

拿成龍為例吧！

As soon as that man opens his mouth, you hear his mother tongue, and yet we understand him all the time and he makes tons of money performing in American movies.

一旦他開口時，你會聽到他的母語口音，但我們都能聽懂他講什麼，而他也在美國電影的演出中賺進大把鈔票。

Which takes us to the second point, the whole thing in accent reduction is to hear the music in the language because it isn't your accent that's the problem.

再來是第二點，減輕口音最重要的就是要聽語言中的韻律，因為你的口音並不是問題所在。

It's that you're trying to speak my language in the rhythm pattern of your language, and I can't understand you.

是因為你試著用你母語的節奏形式，來說我的母語，導致我聽不太懂。

English is a beat-driven language.

英文是節奏驅使的語言。

Everything we say can be drummed out.

我們說的任何字句都能用節奏區分。

You've got to train your ear to hear the different musical notes as well as how the beats the rhythms.

你必須訓練耳朵聽出字句的節奏像是分辨聲音高低一樣。

Practice this way and in no time you'll be speaking in the same kind of melody as does Jackie Chan.

保持練習，很快你就能說出跟成龍一樣韻律的句子。

The third point, particularly in English, and particularly in North American English, we do not speak one…word… at… a…time.

第三點，特別是在英文，特別是北美英語我們說話不會一…次…一…個…字。

No. We speak in sound units.

不會，我們會把聲音連成一個個單位。

Where's Bob? Bob is on the phone.

"WHEREZBob" (Bob在哪裡？) "BOBIZON thephone" (Bob 在講電話)

We don't ever speak word by word so I always say to accent reduction clients...

我們並不會一個字一個字說，所以我都告訴想減輕口音的客戶：

"Everything that you have learned so far about the English language you have learned with your eyes through textbooks, but when you're learning to speak the language, get rid of all of that because you don't want to see, you don't want to read, you want to hear.

「到目前為止，你學英文的任何方式都是用眼睛去看課本。但你要學習說英文時，忘了這些吧！你不應該用看的，而是要用聽的。

Because you see and read one word at a time,, but we don't speak that way.

因為你一次只看或只讀一個字，但我們說話可不是這麼一回事。」

(Homework)

(作業練習)

The only way you can develop an ear is to listen to the way in which native speakers of any language are speaking and begin to imitate.

訓練你耳朵的唯一途徑就是去聽任何母語人士說話的方式，並且開始模仿他們。

One thing that people can do right now is stop and start this video as you're listening to it and imitate everything I'm saying.

你現在就能做的一件事，就是一邊暫停一邊播放這支影片，並模仿任何你聽到我說的東西。

Because I'm speaking in standard North American rhythm patterns.

因為我說的是標準的北美英語的節奏形式。

Practice the music and when you feel you've mastered that go on to the next little phrase.

練習語言的韻律，等到你覺得能夠掌握時，再繼續往下一個小段落練習。

When you imitate me, exaggerate it.

你模仿我時，盡量誇張一點。

Make the sounds big because you want to train the..the..organs of articulation we call them.

大聲說出口，因為你想訓練你的發音部位。

You want to train the tongue, the cheeks, the lips, the whole mouth how to help you make these sound units.

訓練你的舌頭、臉頰、嘴唇，能幫助你發出這些聲音單位的整個嘴型。

So exaggerate.

所以誇張一點。

Tongue twisters.

繞口令。

You can find tongue twisters everywhere on the Internet.

你可以在網路上找到許多繞口令。

And when you say these tongue twisters, say them as if they mean something.

唸些有意義的句子。

Say, "She sells sea shells by the sea shore."

像是：”She sells sea shells by the sea shore.”(她在海岸賣貝殼)

And say it with rhythm.

唸出它的律動。

It's more important that you have the up and down of the language than it is saying it quickly.

說出語言中語調的高低起伏，比說得快還來得重要。

The most important thing is just keep practicing.

最重要的是要持續練習。

That's how we learned our mother tongues.

我們學母語時就是如此。

Our mother held us, we heard her.

我們的母親抱著我們時，我們聽她說話。

And as we got old enough, and after we had heard her, and after we had developed the organs of articulation we began to imitate our mother.

等到我們長得夠大，已經聽過她說話，發音部位也發展好時，我們開始模仿我們的母親說話。

So there's no shortcut.

所以，學語言沒有速成班。

There's no "speak like a native speaker in 28 days," and if someone tries to sell you that package it won't work.

沒有「28 天說得像母語人士」這回事，如果有人推銷這種產品給你，不會有成效的。

But mark my words: as soon as you start to practice these rhythms, you will begin to notice your accent is diminishing.

但記住我說的，一旦你開始練習字句中的律動，你會慢慢發現你的口音正逐漸減輕。