There are basically two types of speaking: spoken production (simply producing words) and spoken interaction (speaking/conversing with other people). Both are important, but this month we're looking at spoken production.

谈话大体上有两种类型：制造口语（简单制造句子）和互相作用的口语（与他人谈话/交谈）。这两种类型都很重要，但是这个月我们只研究制造型口语。

Spoken production is all about producing language. It's about speaking clearly and correctly. It's your ability to pronounce words, use the correct stress and intonation and select words that are appropriate for your purpose.

制造型口语就是制造语言。它是关于清楚并且准确的讲话。读单词，恰当的重读和正确语调并且选择能够很好的表达你的目的单词句子，这也是你的一种能力。

Spoken production activities include reading a written text aloud, speaking from notes, acting in a play, talking about your life, singing a song and telling a story. It may also include giving presentations, expressing arguments in a debate, giving a speech or making a sports commentary.

制造语言的形式包括大声朗一片书面文章，读笔记，话剧表演，探讨你的生活，唱歌还有讲故事。它也可以包括做陈述，辩论会上表达观点，演讲或者是做运动会的实况报告。

First, let's put speaking into perspective. Speaking in any language is difficult... even in your own language. In fact, if you listen to recordings of native English speakers, you'll be surprised at how "badly" many people speak spontaneously: there are examples of hesitation, false starts, mumbling, unclear language and even errors.

首先，让我们以客观角度来讲。讲任何的语言都很难...即是是你的母语。事实上，如果你听那些以英语为母语的人的录音话，你就会不由自主地对许多人说的很糟糕而感到惊讶：比如说口吃，错误的开端，说话不清楚，难以理解的语言还有甚至是错误！

Very few people can speak really well, and those who can, usually spend hours preparing and practicing their speeches. The thing is that speaking "well" depends on a lot of factors: your motivation, your physical and mental state at the time of speaking, who you're speaking to, how well you know the topic, where you are, the time of day, and a hundred other things.

几乎没人能够真正说得很好，即是说得很好的，通常也是花了数小时的准备来联系他们要说的话。那些说的很好的也是取决于许多的因素的：你的动机，在讲话时的你身心状态，你所要谈话的人，你对话题的了解，你所处在的境地，一天的时间，还有很多很多的因素.......

The way to improve your speaking is to practice. You could do some "shadowing". This involves copying native speakers who are speaking on audio or video recordings.

最好的的提高你口语的方法就是多加练习啊。你或许做些“遮掩”。这也包括模仿那些通过录音或者录像说话的本地人

Just get access to an audio file, put on your headphones, press play and start speaking at the same time as the native English speakers. This is a great way to improve your pronunciation.

通过得到一个录音文件，戴上你的耳机，按下播放键并且随着那些说英语的本地人一起说。这是一个很好的方式来改善能提高你的发音。

You could also do the same with songs, by singing along to your favorite songs. Another good technique is to read aloud. This will help you practice saying the words and expressions.

你也可以对于歌曲照做，唱你最喜欢的歌曲。另一个最好的方法就是大声的读。这也会帮你练习单词和表达。

Just get a copy of a text or book that you find interesting, and read parts of it out loud.

拷贝一篇你感兴趣的课文或者一本书，大声把它读出来。

Repetition is also important. Repeat key sentences and expressions over and over again until they become automatic. Do some language fluency drills with your teacher to build up fluency.

重复再重复也很重要啊。一遍又一遍复述关键句子直到他们能够脱口而出。与你的老师做些流利的语言演习吧。

Memorize chunks of language or entire paragraphs. This will really help. A lot of the language we use when speaking consists of set expressions and chunks of language that are repeated.

记忆大块的文章或者段落。这很有帮助啊。我们使用的许多语言包括表达还有大篇幅的我们重复的语言。

Also, practice telling your favorite stories or anecdotes. Write them out first. Then, make notes and practice saying them to yourself... and then in public.

还有，练习将你最喜欢的故事或者轶事。首先写下来。其次，做好笔记练习着讲给自己听...再就是公众场合练习。

The more you practice them, the better you'll get at telling them, and soon you'll be a story-telling expert.

你练习的越多，你就会讲的越好，不久你就会成为一个很好的讲故事的专家。

Speaking well requires practice, and a lot of time and effort. Are you ready?

口语要好就需要练习，大量的时间还有努力。你准备好了吗？

Good luck!

祝你好远！！！

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Last edition, we looked at spoken production (simply producing words). This month, we're looking at spoken interaction (speaking/conversing with other people). Spoken interaction basically refers to any communicative act in which two or more people are exchanging information. It can take many forms: a casual chat, a formal discussion, a debate, an argument, an interview or a negotiation.
     上一期，我们研究了制造口语（简单制造句子）。这个月我们将研究互动口语（与他人谈话/交谈）。互动口语基本上是指在两个或更多的人交换信息时产生的任何交际行为。它可以采取多种形式：随便聊天，正式讨论，辩论，争论，面试或谈判。

     In spoken interaction there is no clear structure. Just think back to the last conversation you had. How did it go? Smoothly? Badly? Basically, the speakers in an interaction construct the conversation together. They listen, respond, put forward ideas and work together to communicate. A number of factors can determine how well the conversation goes: your motivation, who you're speaking to, where you are and the time of day, your physical and mental state at the time of speaking, and how the other speaker feels. On top of that, paralinguistic elements such as body language, voice pitch and tone of voice can also affect the conversation.
      互动口语没有明确的结构。回想一下你最近的谈话。它进行的怎么样？顺利？不顺利？事实上，互动中的所以发言者促成了这次谈话。他们倾听、回应、提出意见还有一起共同交流。有许多因素决定着谈话进行的好坏：如你的动机、你谈话的对象、谈话的地点和这一天中的时间，在发言时你的身体和精神的状态，以及其他发言者的感受。更重要的是，副语言元素也可以影响谈话（的质量），如身体语言、语调和语气等。

      There are several interesting features of spoken interaction. These include hesitation, silences, over-lapping (when both speakers talk at the same time), repetition, mumbling, non-standard English and even errors. The use of conversational fillers is also common. These include words and expressions such as "er / erm / like / I mean" and "you know", which don't really mean anything, but which are designed to fill space, or allow the speaker to hold the floor while they think about what they're going to say. Finally, in spoken interaction, very few people speak in grammatically-correct and complete sentences. Just look at this example from a transcript of a native-speaker conversation:
      互动口语有几个有趣的特征。这些特征包括犹豫、沉默、重叠（当两个发言者在同时说话时）、重复、喃喃自语、不标准的英文，甚至错误。谈话时使用填充词也很普遍。这包括诸如“呃/恩/像/我的意思是”和“你知道”这类的词或者措辞，他们并没有任何意义，只是为了填补空白，或者为发言者在思考下一步讲什么时保持台面。最后，在互动口语中很少有人用正确的语法和完整的句子说话。看一下这个从录音截取的（英语是母语的人）谈话的例子：

      Harrison: So, the other day, I was, erm, walking, walking down the street.Brooke: Oh, yeah?Harrison: I mean, I was cycling, cycling and there's two people and they're, they're, like, looking at me...Brooke: Looking?Harrison: Yeah, and, like, I, I try to...哈里森：有一天，我走在街上……
      布鲁克：哦，是吗？
      哈里森：我的意思是，我是骑自行车，有两个人他们像在看我……
      布鲁克：看（你）？
      哈里森：是的，我尝试……

      During the interaction, the speakers are using both receptive and productive skills – they're listening and speaking at the same time. The key skill is listening – your ability to understand what is being said. This doesn't mean understanding every word. In fact, in many cases, people won't be speaking very clearly at all. So, the most important thing is to capture the meaning of what the other person is trying to say. In order to do this, you need to know all about the keys to English pronunciation (see previous articles in this series), particularly all about connected speech and word and sentence stress. The most important thing to remember is that English is a stress-timed language and that only the key words are stressed (usually the nouns and verbs). Most of the other words are not pronounced so clearly. So, you need to be able to listen out for these, and then to try to use this information to work out what the speaker is trying to say.
      在交流过程中，发言者要使用用接受和制造技能——他们一边倾听一边发言。关键技巧是倾听——理解正在谈论（的问题）的能力。这并不意味着要理解谈话中每一个字。事实上，在许多情况下人们都不会说得很清楚。所以，最重要的是要捕捉他人想说主要意思。要做到这一点，你需要知道所有有关的英语发音的关键（见本系列前面的文章），尤其是具有连接意义的发言和单词以及句子的语调。应该记住的最重要的是英语是一种（即时强调的）语言，只有关键词被强调（通常是名词和动词）。其他词大多数都如此清晰的发音。所以你需要能够听这些出来，然后尝试使用这些信息来猜出说话者想说的意思。

     When it comes to participating in the conversation, you can actually get by with very little. In conversation, we use a lot of fixed expressions. Some are designed to show that you are following things, "Yeah, right. / Of course. / I know. / Tell me about it! / You're joking?"
     当真正参与到谈话中时，事实上你可以用很少的词带过去（混过去）。在交谈中，我们使用很多固定表达。有些是为了表明你在听，（比如）“是的，不错。/当然可以。/我知道。/告诉我吧！/你是开玩笑吧？”

Others are used as a way of encouraging or supporting the speaker, or as a way of showing sympathy, " know what you mean. / You can say that again. / Really? / I know the feeling. / Why was that? / Who said that?"
     有的用来作为鼓励或支持发言者，或者表示同情，（如）“我知道你想说什么。/你可以再说一遍。/真的吗？/我知道那种感觉。/为什么呢？/谁说的？”

     Participating in spoken interaction is never easy, especially when it involves native speakers. The key is to just try to keep up and follow the conversation as best you can. Then, when you feel comfortable, you can use one of the fixed expressions, or even contribute with a story or comment. Be bold, be brave and, above all, be quick! Have fun! And good luck!
     参与互动口语是件不容易的事，尤其是和（以英语为母语的人）交谈时。关键是要尽量跟上谈话（的进度）。然后，当你感到舒适时，你可以使用固定的表达，甚至说出一个故事或评论。大胆、勇敢，最重要的是速度（灵敏点？）！玩得开心！祝你好运！