【1】Every day I see advertisements in the newspapers and on the buses claiming that it is easy to learn English. 我每天都会在报纸上、公共汽车上看到各种广告，声称轻轻松松就能学好英语。According to these advertisements, with very little effort on the student's part, he will be able to speak the language fluently in three months or even ten days. 这些广告称，学生不必费什么力气，要说一口流利的英语只需短短3个月，甚至10天就行。There is often a reference to William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens to encourage him even more. 广告还常常提到威廉.莎士比亚和查尔斯.狄更斯等英语文学大师的名号来增强吸引力。When I see advertisements like this, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. 每当看到诸如此类的广告时，我真是哭笑不得：If it were as easy to learn English as they say, I would have to look for another job, because very few qualified teachers would be needed. 如果学英语真像这些广告所说的那么轻松，我恐怕得另谋出路了，因为不需要那么多合格的英语教师了。But a large number of people must believe these ridiculous claims, or else the advertisements would not appear. 但是肯定有许多人相信这些可笑的噱头，不然的话这些广告也不可能出现。
【2】It is natural for students to be attracted to methods that will teach them as quickly and efficiently and cheaply as possible, but it is difficult for anyone to explain in simple language why one method is better than another, and it is no use pretending that anyone has discovered a perfect way of teaching English in every possible situation. 学生们喜欢实惠的速成学习方法也在情理之中，但要用浅显易懂的语言去解释为什么某一方法比另一方法更有效并不是一件简单的事，而且也无需装模作样地声称有什么人已经找到了一个万能的适合所有学习环境的教学方法。Some experts even argue that there are as many good methods of teaching a language as there are good teachers, because every teacher is an individual with his own personality. 一些专家甚至认为，有多少个好老师就有多少种好的教学方法，因为每一个老师都有其自身的特点。No doubt this is true to a certain extant,but it is not very helpful to students. 这种说法无疑是有几分道理的，但对学生来说不是很有帮助。
【3】For a long time people believe that the only way to learn a language was to spend a great deals of time in a country where it was spoken. 有很长一段时间，人们认为要学好一门语言，只有去使用那种语言的国家呆上一段时间。Of course it is clear that students who go to England, America, or Australia to learn English have a great advantage over others, but a large number of students cannot afford to do so. 当然去英国、美国或者澳大利亚等国家学英语的学生肯定比那些不能去的学生有很大优势，但是很多学生支付不起那笔费用。Some students go to the opposite extreme and think they can teach themselves at home with dictionaries, but it is wrong to assume that each word in English has a precise equivalent in another language and vice versa, and it is impossible for any translation method to provide students with the natural forms of a language in speech, let alone produce good pronunciation and intonation. 有些学生走向另一极端：他们认为可以借助词典在家自学。如果你认为英语中的每一个词在另一语言中都有完全对等的词，或者反之亦然，那就错了。通过翻译法来给学生讲解口语的自然形式是不可能的，更不要说做到语音、语调地道了。
【4】 A great deal of teaching is still based on behaviourist psychology. 现在大量的教学活动还是建立在行为主义心理学的基础之上。Behaviourists are fond of making students repeat phrases and making them do exercises where they continually have to change one word in a sentence. 行为主义者热衷于让学生复述短语，不断做一些只需更换句中某个词的练习。If we were parrots or chimpanzees, these methods might be successful. 假如我们是鹦鹉或黑猩猩，那这些方法或许能奏效。A large number of theorists seem to think it is a pity we aren't, because it would make it easier to use their methods. 可惜我们不是鹦鹉或者猩猩，这似乎让很多理论家引以为憾，否则他们提出的那些方法用起来就会容易多了。
【5】 In my opinion, no one can ever learn to speak English or any other language unless he is interested in it. 我个人认为，假如没有兴趣，任何人都不可能学好英语或其他任何语言。Human beings, unlike parrots or chimpanzees, do not like making noises unless they understand what the noise mean and can relate them to their lives. 与鹦鹉或黑猩猩不同，人类不会无缘无故地发出噪音，除非他们明白这些声音是什么意思，并且能将其与自己的生活联系起来。It is worth remembering that language is a means of communication. 值得牢记的是：语言是一种交际手段。What people want to say and write in another language is probably very similar to what they want to say and write in their own. 人们在母语中怎么说怎么写，用另一种语言表达时也大同小异。What they listen to and read cannot be a formula. 人们所听所读的不应该是程式化的东西。It must be real. 听的读的材料必须真实自然。
【6】 There is another relevant point worth mentioning here. 还有一个相关的问题值得一提：We need other people to talk to and listen to when we communicate. 在交际时我们需要有交谈或倾听的对象。If what we are learning is strange to us, it will be helpful if there are other students around us who can work with us and practice the unfamiliar forms with us in real situations, talking to each other about real life in real language. 在学习较生疏的内容时，如果有其他学生和我们一起学习来练习那些陌生的语言形式，并用真实的语言去谈论真实的生活，那一定会受益匪浅。
