when I was learning to read?

我的大腦在做什麼呢？

Hey guys. Julia here for DNews

大家好，我是DNews的Julia。

According to a study by the Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy

根據教育部和國家文獻局的研究，

32 million American adults can’t read. More than most developed nations, so what’s going on?

3千2百萬的美國成年人有閱讀障礙，比大部分已開發國家還要多，發生什麼事了？

Is our education system failing us? Or is it our language?

是我們的教育系統失敗？抑或是我們的語言？

Here in the states most students begin to learn to read in kindergarten, learning the

在美國，很多學生在幼稚園開始學習閱讀，學習認字母，

alphabet, turning those letters into sounds and then working their way up to whole words.

練習發音，並且逐步的說出完整的單字。

But learning to read is a very long complicated process.

但學習閱讀是一段非常漫長複雜的過程。

One of the keys to being able to read is Automatic word processing. It’s basically how the

其中一個閱讀訣竅是自動文字處理，根據大腦如何

brain decides a group of symbols is actually a word within milliseconds.

在毫秒內判定一群符號其實是一個字。

One study published in the journal Developmental Science found that this process happens around

一項研究在發展科學期刊上發表，發現這個過程

fourth and fifth grade. But for some the process is much longer.

在四跟五年級出現，但大部分的進程卻漫長許多。

Researchers had participants look at a list of words, fake words that looked like real words,

研究員底下有一群參與者，看著一張單字表、一些"偽"字看起來像實際的字，

and strings of random symbols. They found that for most people, no matter their

以及一行隨機的符號。他們發現，對於大部分的人，不管他們的年齡如何，

age knew the difference between real words and not. But after placing an electrode cap

都能分辨出這些字是否為真，但放上一頂電極帽

on participants heads, the researchers learned how people subconsciously react to words and symbols.

在參與者頭上後，研究員了解人是如何在潛意識中反應文字和符號。

They found that college kids could instantly tell the difference but surprisingly

他們發現大學學生可以瞬間告訴你之間的差別，但驚訝的是，

elementary school students still respond to random symbols as words even as late as 5th grade.

小學學童仍然回答符號是文字，即便已經五年級了。

So this experiment was designed to test Automatic word processing. So your brain reads these symbols as words,

所以這項實驗就是被設計來測試自動文字處理的能力，你的大腦判讀符號為文字，

which it reads not based on its individual parts or letters,

也就是它並不是根據單一字母來判讀，

but based on how it looks as a whole. You’ve seen that mean going around, that if all the letters are

而是根據整體來看。你曾經看過一個爆紅的圖片瘋狂被轉貼，上面每個文字的字母

mixed up in a word you can still read it. While most of that post is just Internet baloney,

都被重新編排，但你仍能讀得出來。即便大部分的貼文只是網路上的謬論，

it does have some truth to it. Your brain can read words as a single object

還是有某些是真實的，你的大腦可以將文字視為單一物件，

rather than a string of letters put together.

而不是一連串的字母被放在一起。

A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that there’s a small area of the brain,

神經科學期刊上刊登一個研究，發現大腦有一個小區塊，

on the left side of the visual cortex, that can “read” words. Basically

在視覺皮層的左邊，可以"閱讀"文字。基本上，

this part of the brain sits right next to the part that recognizes faces. So one area of the

此區就坐落在大腦中可以辨認臉孔的區塊旁邊，所以一部分的視覺皮層可以

visual cortex can quickly identify a face, another can quickly read a word.

迅速的辨別臉孔，另一部分則是可以快速讀字。

But when is the best time to learn to read? Well there’s a crucial window between kindergarten and third grade.

但什麼時候才是最適合學習閱讀的時期？ 其實在幼稚園到三年級之間有一個決定性的關鍵。

Research published in the journal Psychological Science found that

一則研究在心理科學期刊說到，

the amount of white matter growth in the temporoparietal region during that window strongly predicted

在這段期間(幼稚園到三年級)，大量的白質在顳區發展，強大的預測

how well that kid would learn to read. It didn’t matter so much as to what their home life

小孩學習閱讀的能力有多好，這不關乎家庭生活

was like or their genetic predisposition was. This area of the brain is super important

或基因素質如何，此區塊的大腦對音系學發展、

for things like phonological processing, speech, and reading. One of the lead researchers,

講話和閱讀非常重要。一個首席研究員

Fumiko Hoeft, thinks that if the growth in this part of the brain doesn’t happen at the right time,

Fumiko Hoeft認為，這部分的大腦發展如果在不適當的時間下發展，

the kid could have problems with reading.

小孩可能會有閱讀障礙。

But the problem with our literacy rate might have more to do with our language than with

但我們識字率的問題比較多和我們的語言有相關性，

our educational system or our brains. English is one of the most irregular languages. Words

而不是教育體制或大腦。英文是一門最不規則的語言之一，

more often break rules than conform. So learning to read and write becomes a matter of memorizing

文字經常打破規則，所以學習閱讀和寫作變成需要記憶單字，

words which can take years and years. Other languages it can only take a year, because

這得花好幾年的時間去完成。其他語言可以只花一年，因為

they have a written language that follows rules. So if a person comes across a new word

他們的寫作用詞是遵守規則的，所以當一個人碰到一個

they haven’t heard before, they can pretty much figure out how to spell it.

他從來沒聽過的單字，他也可以推敲出意思並拼出來。

In English, "read" and "read" mean two different things but are spelled the exact same way.

在英文裡，"讀"和"讀過"是兩種不同的意思，但它們是一樣的字。

COME ON ENGLISH WHY. Apparently I am not the only one who questions this, from

煩耶！英文幹嘛這麼難搞？！ 很明顯的，我不是唯一一個問這個問題的人，

Benjamin Franklin’s phonetic alphabet to an entirely new system called Unspell which

從班傑明●富蘭克林的音標法，到整個新的系統"Unspell"，

looks like squiggly lines to me, there’s been plenty of attempts to reform the written language

在我看來很像潦草的線條。在這些年來，已經有很多人嘗試改良書寫語言。

over the years. Will it happen anytime soon? Probably not.

這項改革近期會被實施嗎？我想不會。

Speaking of reading, while it may be one of the best pastimes around, it’s sometimes

說到閱讀，當我們認為這是一項很好的娛樂活動，但有時候

considered one of the most dangerous. In Nazi Germany, thousands of books were burned in

卻是最危險的。在德國納粹時期，上千本的書都被焚燒，

an attempt to control the minds of their people. To find out about a touching memorial to all

藉此試著控制人民的思想。如果想知道這些遺失書籍的動人紀念，

the lost books, check out this great episode from our sister show Seeker.

請到我們的姊妹頻道Seeker收看。

So what do you think? Is English due for an overhaul? What was it like for you when you

你有什麼想法呢？英文是否該被徹底檢修？你第一次開始學習閱讀

first learned how to read? Tell us about it down at the comments below. Don't forget to hit those likes and subscribe buttons and keep coming back to DNews. We've got a new episode everyday of the week.

是什麼情況？在下面留言告訴我們吧！不要忘記點擊喜歡及訂閱頻道，多光顧DNews，我們每週都會更新影片。