育人遇自己,和女儿一起学英文
英语学习笔记
读原汁原味的书刊,学立刻就能用的英文
我认为小朋友们是不需要“学”(learn)英语的。父母要做的是给他们提供一个语言环境,让他们可以自然的学习和模仿(即"acquire")。在给孩子读英文故事的时候,倒是我们成年人可以刻意学点儿英语,“教学相长”说的就是这么回事吧。
昨天给小鹿(她今天一岁啦!)读了 Roald Dahl 的 The Magic Finger。说是给她读,不如说是我自己想练练英语的朗读。本来有些烦躁的她听到我读英文的时候会安静下来,然后会来抢书,我想这就是我的陪伴吧。
The Magic Finger 全书共 52 页,从中我们成年人可以顺便“学”点儿英文。什么是值得学习的句子呢?你想不到可以这样说、你觉得陌生或别扭的表达都值得学习。如果你有学英语的需求的话,建议谦虚点儿,把下面我从书中抽出来的简单句子熟读,做到脱口而出。
1. The Greggs have two children, both of them boys.
这里的both of them boys中用到了独立结构,这是一个常见的写法,《新概念英语》中就出现过这样的句子:
In the nineteen century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences--most of them wildly improbable.
2. I can’t stand hunting. I just can’t stand it. (stand在这里表示“忍受”,同义词还有bear, stomach)
3. This made me so cross that I started shouting at them.(cross 在这里是形容词,表示“生气”)
4. The boys laughed and made faces at me, and Mr Gregg told me to go home and mind my own P’s and Q’s. (mind one’s P’s and Q’s 表示“注意言行举止”)
5. They are really asking for it this time! (想表达“它是自找到”“自讨苦吃”就可以用 ask for it.)
6. It rained and rained, and the water ran into the nest and they all got as wet as could be.
As…as can be表示强调,例如 I want a cake as big as can be! [=I want the biggest cake possible]. They seemed as happy as can be [=they seemed extremely happy] when I last saw them.
从句式上来说,我们要注意“有些不习惯”的语言现象,例如句子的倒装。倒装可以起到强调方向、动作等的作用,同时可以使句式更多样化,倒装在儿童作品中极其常见的情况。例如在这本书中我们可以见到:
1. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! went the guns.
2. Off you go, all of you, and find them and bring them back here.
3. And off they went.
4. On the ground below them stood the four enormous ducks, as tall as men, and three of them were holding guns in their hands.
最后说一说内容。Roald Dahl 除了是著名的儿童作家外,他还以写恐怖的成人短篇故事而闻名。他的作品中总是有一些黑色幽默、阴暗和暴力,也有和种族主义性、毒品相关的元素。
在 George's Marvelous Medicine 中,Grandma 喝了魔药后一直变小,小到烟消云散,这时爸爸没有伤心难过,而是高喊 Hooray,并且评论道"That's what happens to you if you're grumpy and bad-tempered."
在 James and the Giant Peach 中,一个小孤儿被送去姨母家生活,两位姨母对他欺凌辱骂,让他忍饥挨饿。他遇到一个大桃子,然后把这两位姨母压死了,Roald Dahl 写到:"The peach rolled on. And behind it, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker lay ironed out upon the grass as flat and thin and lifeless as a couple of paper dolls cut out of a picture book."
在 The Magic Finger 中,小女孩让羞辱她的老师长出了胡须和尾巴,她也惩罚了那些爱好打猎的人,用她独特的方式来改变世界。
Roald Dahl 的世界里有黑暗和忧郁,也有善良和情义,我想这就是他的作品的独特之处。孩子们和成人们看待事物的角度不同,童年也不是都是美好的,越长大对童话的解读也不一样,不过对于小朋友来说,好玩有趣就足够了。
向孩子学习,像孩子一样学习,和孩子一同持续成长。小鹿一岁了,我要和她一起享受语言的乐趣。听说读写,说学逗唱,天文地理,大象蚂蚁... have a blast!
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