利用英英釋義 掌握地道英語(yǔ)

在日常教學(xué)中，我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，語(yǔ)文功底較好的學(xué)生也能較快地提升英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言運(yùn)用能力。究其原因，英語(yǔ)及語(yǔ)言內(nèi)含文化所要傳遞的信息往往要先經(jīng)過我們母語(yǔ)文化的過濾，我們?cè)趯W(xué)習(xí)一門外語(yǔ)時(shí)首先要用“中文思維”，繼而再轉(zhuǎn)換成“英文思維”。在學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的初期，把母語(yǔ)作為輔助手段是十分必要的，以母語(yǔ)為基礎(chǔ)的翻譯教學(xué)法則雖然傳統(tǒng)但也有效，它能夠利用學(xué)生的理解力保證了學(xué)生快速理解英語(yǔ)詞匯和句子的含義。

但是，當(dāng)學(xué)生進(jìn)入到語(yǔ)篇學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣的“字面翻譯”反而成為了一種障礙。例如：

One sunny afternoon， a seven-year-old girl went for a walk. She crossed a large area of grassland into the woods before she realized that she was lost.

…

When she opened her eyes and saw her dog standing beside her，the girl said，“you rescued me，Laddy，”and she kissed him several times. Seeing their daughter and dog coming back， the parents breathed a sigh of . That night Laddy had a hero’s supper： a huge meal of steak

A. pain B. shock C. relief D. sorrow

我教的兩個(gè)班的學(xué)生中，在做這道完形填空題時(shí)超過一半的學(xué)生選擇了B. shock，他們的理由大多數(shù)是“走失的女兒由一條狗帶回來了，不應(yīng)該是震驚嗎？”從中文翻譯出來的字面意思來看，不能說他們的理解完全錯(cuò)了。這不禁讓人開始思考，為什么他們認(rèn)為“震驚”是對(duì)的，而事實(shí)上shock是錯(cuò)的呢？我想，當(dāng)中最主要的區(qū)別在于，中文的“震驚”表示因受到意外刺激而感到緊張、害怕或興奮，跟英語(yǔ)的shock所表達(dá)的情感含義不盡相同。當(dāng)我引導(dǎo)他們放棄中文解釋，從英文解釋去入手時(shí)，他們馬上就明白了當(dāng)中的差別了。

shock—If you have a shock，something suddenly happens which is unpleasant， upsetting， or very disappointing.

relief—If you feel a sense of relief，you feel happy because something unpleasant has not happened or is no longer happening.

有的同學(xué)很多時(shí)候在做完形填空時(shí)對(duì)情感把握有偏差；寫作文時(shí)詞不達(dá)意、表述不清，通篇Chinglish。有的同學(xué)把高考要求的3600單詞背得滾瓜爛熟，但是寫作文時(shí)用對(duì)用好的詞不多。我想很大程度上是因?yàn)樗麄円呀?jīng)習(xí)慣了“翻譯”，連課本的單詞表都是一個(gè)單詞對(duì)應(yīng)一個(gè)中文意思?？墒牵瑑煞N語(yǔ)言之間的轉(zhuǎn)換是不可能有這樣的“字對(duì)字”翻譯的，有一些英語(yǔ)單詞甚至不可能在中文里找到一個(gè)固定的詞意來解釋，它們會(huì)被翻譯成不同的中文意思來配合語(yǔ)境的傳達(dá)，available 就是一個(gè)很好的例子。

1.有新音樂專輯發(fā)售時(shí)，我們可以看到“Available Now”（正在熱售）的宣傳廣告。

2. 聽新聞可以經(jīng)常聽到“No comment available”（無可奉告）。

3. 訂酒店的時(shí)候可能被告知“This is the only room available”（這是唯一可用的房間）。

4. 邀請(qǐng)別人時(shí)可能遭到拒絕“I am not available tonight”（我今晚沒空）。

5. 遇到特大事故時(shí)新聞會(huì)報(bào)道“Every available doctor was called to the scene”（所有能找到的醫(yī)生都被召集到了現(xiàn)場(chǎng)）。

因此，筆者認(rèn)為，對(duì)于已經(jīng)積累了一定英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言基礎(chǔ)、將要面對(duì)高考的高中生來說，逐步放棄“中英對(duì)譯”，轉(zhuǎn)而學(xué)習(xí)利用“英英釋義”，是“中文思維”向“英語(yǔ)思維”的轉(zhuǎn)換，真正掌握地道英語(yǔ)的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵。

以下是幾組高考高頻詞匯，現(xiàn)用英英釋義將其比較：

1. study（研究，課題）—a careful examination or analysis of a phenomenon，development，or question

research（研究， 調(diào)查）a careful study of sth. in order to discover new facts or imformation about it

2. realize （了解，意識(shí)到） —If you realize that something is true，you become aware of that fact or understand it.

recognize（認(rèn)出，承認(rèn)）—If you recognize someone or something，you know who that person is or what that thing is.

3. possible（可能的）—If it is possible to do something，it can be done or achieved.

probable（可能的，大概的）—If you say that something is probable，you mean that it is likely to be true or likely to happen.

4. gradually（逐步地，漸漸地）—If something changes or is done gradually，it changes or is done in small stages over a long period of time， rather than suddenly.

slowly（緩慢地）—something that is slow moves，happens，or is done without much speed

5. principle（原則，準(zhǔn)則）—a basic truth， law，or assumption；a general belief that you have about the way you should behave，which influences your behaviour

theory（理論，原理）—a formal idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain something

6. single （單一的，適于一人的）—consisting of one in number；used to emphasize that you are referring to one particular person or thing on its own

individual （個(gè)人的，個(gè)別的）—considered separately rather than as part of a group；typical of one particular person or thing in a way that is different from others

7. sight（視野，景象）—field of vision； something that you see

scene（場(chǎng)面，現(xiàn)場(chǎng)）—the place where something happen，especially something unpleasant；an incident

8. real（真實(shí)的，現(xiàn)實(shí)的）—something that is real actually exists and is not imagined，invented，or theoretical；A material or object that is real is natural or functioning，and not artificial or an imitation.

true（真實(shí)的，正確的）—connected with facts； consistent with fact or reality； not 1

9. persuade（說服，勸服）—to make someone agree to do something by giving them good reasons for doing it

convince （說服，使相信） —to make someone believe that something is true

10. price （價(jià)格，價(jià)值） —the amount of money that you have to pay in order to buy it

cost（價(jià)錢，費(fèi)用）—the total spent for goods or services including money and time and labor

charge（要價(jià)，收費(fèi)）—the amount of money you are asked to pay for suing something or for a service

11. normal（正常的，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的）— used to describe something that is what you would expect and is the same as others of the same type

usual（普通的，平常的）— used to describe what happens or what is done most often in a particular situation

ordinary（普通的，平凡的）—used to describe something that is not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree

12. act（行動(dòng)，行為）—a single thing that someone does

action（行動(dòng)，手段）—something that you do on a particular occasion or for a particular purpose

deed（行為，行動(dòng)）—something that is done， especially something that is very good or very bad

performance（表現(xiàn)，性能）—the act or process of performing a task

13. obvious（明顯的）—easy to see or understand without prove or explanation

evident（明顯的）—You use evident to show that you are certain about a situation or fact and your interpretation of it.

14. fortune（財(cái)富，命運(yùn)）—a large amount of money；chance or luck， especially in the way it affects people’s lives

treasure （寶藏，珍寶）—a collection of valuable things such as gold， silver and jewellery

15. cause （原因，動(dòng)機(jī)）—the person or thing that makes something happen

reason（原因，理由）—an explanation for something that has happened or that someone has done.

英語(yǔ)教學(xué)及翻譯專家吳炳鐘教授曾經(jīng)在一次訪談中提到：“在上大學(xué)以前由于不懂得如何直接用英語(yǔ)思考，不明白英語(yǔ)思維和漢語(yǔ)思維的差異，覺得英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)非常艱辛?！倍诒逼降妮o仁大學(xué)念大一的時(shí)候，英語(yǔ)老師強(qiáng)烈告誡他們“不用英英詞典就學(xué)不好英文”。他的英文思維也就是在堅(jiān)持英英詞典當(dāng)中慢慢培養(yǎng)起來了。所以他認(rèn)為，要學(xué)好英語(yǔ)，“那就要早些使用英英詞典，并且，養(yǎng)成每天查英英詞典的習(xí)慣”。我非常贊同吳炳鐘老師的這一觀點(diǎn)。我認(rèn)為，不管是老師在課堂上的講解、還是課后學(xué)生自主學(xué)習(xí)，強(qiáng)化英英釋義在很大程度上都可以幫助學(xué)生鞏固、擴(kuò)大詞匯和提高英語(yǔ)表達(dá)能力。英語(yǔ)表達(dá)能力要建立在理解基礎(chǔ)上，在通過英英釋義對(duì)詞、詞組準(zhǔn)確到位的理解，以及大量接觸英語(yǔ)原文注釋和例句的過程中，學(xué)生實(shí)際上已處于一個(gè)潛移默化的小環(huán)境中。長(zhǎng)期堅(jiān)持，相信可以掌握地道的英語(yǔ)，擺脫Chinglish。

（作者單位：順德區(qū)容山中學(xué)）

責(zé)任編校 蔣小青