當我說成語時你都能想到什麼？一個美國人學習中國成語的方式?。

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Do you find yourself struggling in vain to memorize long lists of vocabulary words? So do I. So does everybody.

你有沒有發現自己經常會為了背熟很長的辭彙表做盡掙扎但效果甚微呢？事實上，大部分學習外語的人都會遇到這個問題。

Memorization through repetition so often fails because it lacks connections. The new words have nothing to which they can adhere in your brain. They havent been tied to anything meaningful.

死記硬背這種學習方式效率低下的原因就是因為它沒有連接性，也就是說，新單詞在腦子裡找不到一個可以粘附的地方，就不會和你已經有的知識體系產生聯繫。按照這樣的學法，新單詞對學習的人來說就完全失去了特定的意義，而且還很難把單詞固化在長時記憶中。

Making connections is an essential key to learning.

創造連結點是學習的關鍵之一。

When learning new words and concepts, we best remember and understand them when we relate them to something we already know. We say things like this:

學習新單詞或不熟悉的概念的時候，運用已經認識的事情來了解和記住不熟的知識是一個至關重要的方法。

比如我們經常會對自己說這樣的話：

It reminds me of...

這讓我想起…

- It makes me think about...

這讓我想到…

- I remember a song that goes...

我想起一首歌是這樣的…

- I once saw/ heard/ did...

有一次我看到/聽到/做了…

- My Mom/ Dad/ Grandpa used to always say...

我媽/爸/爺爺以前經常這樣說…

- I once saw a movie...

我之前看過一部電影…

And so on and so forth... you get the idea.

等等等等…大家現在理解我想要表達的意思了吧？

Language learning is no exception to the efficacy of making connections. These are not direct translations from one language to another. Rather, it is a method of understanding a meaning in other terms.

創造關聯的學習方式對很多事情都很有效，對學習語言來說更不例外。這不僅僅只是一個單詞被直譯成另外一種語言那麼簡單，還不如說是用自己對詞句的理解來解釋其意思。

Different cultures have varying constructs for expressing the same concept- just imagine, for example, how a Chinese speaker might think of "dotting the eyes on a dragon," while an English speaker might think of "the cherry on top."

其實，表達方式和文化也有著密不可分的關係，假設一下吧，一位中文母語的人想表達「畫龍點睛」，但是在同一情況下說英文的人可能會說 」聖代上的櫻桃」。

Even under a single language system, there are thousands of factors which might influence a persons method of expressing an idea. So, a dictionary does not have the ultimate authority over how an individual understands and defines a term.

就算是在同一種語言體系下，對於不同個體來說，也還是會有成千上萬種不同的表達方式。所以說，字典在個體如何去理解和定義術語上並沒有最終解釋權威的。

I share here my connections to a few Chinese idioms, to serve as my personal examples. As you can see, my way of making connections is deeply rooted in my own library of knowledge and experiences.

在這裡我想分享幾個我自己用聯想記憶方式學習到的成語，之後你將會發現，我的聯想記憶方式也都是運用了紮根在我大腦里的詞庫知識和經驗。

I share them not in order to teach you definitions, but to show how your unique perspective can help you attain an understanding with real meaning, an understanding that will stick with you.

我把它們和你們分享並不是為了教你們如何定義這些詞句，而是為了讓你們知道每個人的獨特視角是可以幫助你剖析新知識的含義並能夠深層理解記憶它們。

當仁不讓

"The buck stops here."

This word has Presidential connotations for two reasons. 1, John F. Kennedys ghostwritten biography, Profiles in Courage, about 8 senators who defied the opinions of their parties and made moral choices at the cost of their personal popularity, was translated into Chinese as 「當仁不讓.」

這個單詞在我這裡其實是和兩位美國總統有關係的：一，別人給約翰·F·肯尼迪代寫的自傳，講述美國歷史上的八位參議員在面對黨內同事和選民壓力時，依然勇敢堅守原則、堅持往他們相信的正確方向繼續走，而英文書名《Profiles in Courage》又被翻譯成《當仁不讓》。

2, U.S. President Truman was known for the plaque on his desk which read, "The buck stops here," an expression encompassing this same idea of steadfastly shouldering responsibilities.

二，美國總統哈里·S·杜魯門辦公室桌子上有塊小牌子很著名，上面寫著 「The Buck Stops Here,」 這句話和「當仁不讓」一樣的代表遇到應該做的事情的時候，應該要主動的努力去把它做完的意思。

無可救藥

"Baby, Im a lost cause."

Music is a great memory device, hence the use of the phrase "stuck in your head" for a song you just cant stop singing. Anyone who knows me probably knows Im a fan of Beck, and years of listening to his music has engraved some lyrics in my mind. When I see 無可救藥，I think of what this sweetly sad song describes as a lost cause, something that is beyond saving.

音樂是一種特別好的記憶輔助工具， 所以那些所謂的「洗腦」歌曲總是在腦海中揮之不去。認識我的人應該都知道我喜歡聽美國歌手Beck的歌，好多年聽下來歌詞好像已經深深印入我的腦海了，所以一想到無可救藥這個成語，就會想到Beck的這首甜蜜又惆悵的歌《Lost Cause》，描述的就是一個無可救藥的人。

歪打正著

"The Infinite Monkey Theorem"

If you havent heard of the Infinite Monkey Theorem, you are likely at least familiar with the concept. It goes something like this: if you give an unlimited number of monkeys an unlimited number of typewriters, they will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. There are other variations, but the concept related to probability theory is the same- given an unlimited amount of time, even a monkey on a typewriter will punch out a word or two. Or as my Moms mom used to say, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes." 歪打正著，baby.

可能你沒聽說過「無限猴子定理」，但說不定你對這個概念不陌生，它說的是：如果有無限只猴子用無限的打字機打字，最終會打出莎士比亞的作品。除了莎士比亞的作品之外還有一些在英語里沒那麼眾所周知的例子，不過關於概率論的概念是一樣的——有無限的時間的話，即使是隨機地亂打字的猴子也可以打出一些有意義的單詞，換句話說，我外婆曾喜歡說，「就算是瞎了的松鼠也可以偶爾找到一個松果。」 那就是歪打正著呀，Boom！

奔走相告

"Spread the news like Paul Revere!"

Any child who grew up in U.S. culture is almost assuredly familiar with the legend of Paul Revere. A silversmith in Colonial America, he is best known for his famous midnight ride of 1775, during which he galloped through town alerting the army of the approach of British military forces. His name has become synonymous with spreading news, and has gone down through history in the form of poems (Henry Wadsworth Longfellows is the most well known), stories, books, history lessons, TV shows, movies, and even a 60s rock band (Paul Revere and the Raiders). And if people remember him for one thing, its being able to run and get the word out- fast!

所有在美國文化之下長大的小孩們幾乎都知道保羅·瑞威爾的傳奇故事。他是一位生活在殖民時期的美國銀器匠，又被稱為「午夜騎士」，因為1775年的「午夜狂飆」事件而聞名。據說當時是因為知道英國軍對會對美國發起臨時攻擊的他，快馬加鞭地穿越小鎮把這個消息送達到了美國軍方。保羅·瑞威爾的名字後來也就變成了傳送消息的同義詞，這個名字在各種場合都出現過，詩歌（亨利·韋德斯沃斯·朗費羅寫的是為最大眾所知曉的）、書、歷史課本、電視劇、電影、甚至是六十年代的搖滾樂隊的名字（Paul Revere and the Raiders)中。現在，想到這個名字就會想到擅長奔走相告的那個人。

眾口難調

"Hey, you cant please everyone."

Weve all realized the truth of this sentiment while attempting to make decisions with a group of people. Whether it is described as "suiting the tastes of the masses" or "making everybody happy," the idea is summed up nicely in Rick Nelsons classic "Garden Party" lyrics: "You see, ya cant please everyone, so ya got to please yourself."

經歷過一個小群體一起做「哪裡吃晚餐」決定的朋友們，應該都知道這種感覺吧。不管是按照中文的說法來說「眾口難調」 還是按照英文普通說法來說 「沒辦法讓每個人開心」，表達的都是同一種意思。用五十年代青少年的偶像瑞奇·尼爾森《Garden Party》里的一句經典歌詞就可以概括："You see, ya cant please everyone, so ya got to please yourself." (你看，一人難如千人意，所以不妨讓自己開心吧）。

格格不入

"You cant fit a square peg in a round hole."

Many people know Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, the cosmopolitan-sipping fashionista from Sex and the City. But before she found fame on HBO, she played an awkward high school student in a short-lived 80s sit-com called Square Pegs. The TV shows title was taken from the expression "square peg in a round hole," meaning an unusual individual who just doesnt fit into society the way everyone around them does.

大部分人認識莎拉·傑西卡·帕克是因為她飾演了《慾望都市》裡面的凱莉這一角色，一位喜歡喝大都會雞尾酒的潮流女生。她在這部HBO電視劇紅了之前，也短期的出演過一個八十年代又囧又尷尬的高中女學生，這部美劇叫做 《Square Pegs》，以 「square peg in a round hole" （square peg= 方形的短樁，round hole= 圓形的洞）命名的，在英語里這句話也指代一個獨特的不適合社會的人，就是格格不入的感覺。

我的學習故事說完了，你們有沒有什麼有效又特別的學習方式呢？

歡迎留言說給我聽。

不管中文還是英文，語言只是一種媒介

而我們僅僅只是藉助這樣一種方式來表達

歡迎與我們一起

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