如果我們能改變我們的口音、詞匯和語法，使自己說英語聽起來就像母語是英語的人，生活就會(huì)簡(jiǎn)單得多。與此同時(shí)，如果你想說英語就像本地人一樣，你必須付出一些努力。但它可能不像你想象的那么難。

有一些實(shí)用的步驟，你可以遵循，它們會(huì)使你說英語聽起來更流利，更像一種母語，從你的發(fā)音到你對(duì)詞匯的用法。

有了這些技巧，再加上耐心和練習(xí)，你很快就會(huì)成為一種語言變色龍。

1. Get Familiar with Different English Accents
1 .熟悉了解不同的英語口音

There are many different accents among native English speakers. Someone from New York sounds different from someone who grew up in Texas.
母語為英語的人有許多不同的口音。來自紐約的人聽起來不同于在德克薩斯州長(zhǎng)大的人。

And of course, you must have heard the Queen’s English (the standard English of Britain). I’ll tell you right now that not everyone there sounds like their queen. Then there are the Scots, Welsh and Irish who speak English with different accents.
當(dāng)然，你一定聽說過女王的英語(英國(guó)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語)。我現(xiàn)在就告訴你，不是所有人都像他們的女王一樣。然后是蘇格蘭人、威爾士人和愛爾蘭人用不同的口音說英語。

Here’s a fun thing to do. Go to YouTube and search for videos of people trying to do different English accents. Not all are good (or correct) but they’ll give you an idea of how many English accents there are. Here’s a good example you can start with.Done with the fun? Now back to business!
這是一件有趣的事情。去YouTube上搜索那些嘗試不同英語口音的人的視頻。不是所有的都好(或正確)，但他們會(huì)告訴你有多少英國(guó)口音。這里有一個(gè)很好的例子。完成了樂趣?現(xiàn)在回到業(yè)務(wù)!

What kind of accent do you want to have? Think about the regions you want to travel to and the cities you’d like to work in. This is pretty important to decide as it will make your study and practice more focused.
你想要什么口音?想想你想去的地區(qū)和你想去的城市。這一點(diǎn)很重要，因?yàn)樗鼤?huì)讓你的學(xué)習(xí)和練習(xí)更加集中。

Do you want to sound like a New Yorker? That’s fine, but when you look for a TV show to watch, pick “Friends” instead of “Twin Peaks.” Stay focused.
你想聽起來像個(gè)紐約人嗎?這很好，但是當(dāng)你在看電視節(jié)目時(shí)，選擇“朋友”而不是“雙峰”?！氨３謱Ｗ?。

考慮到這一點(diǎn)，讓我們繼續(xù)改進(jìn)你的發(fā)音，下面的小貼士:

2. Imitate Native Pronunciation
2.模仿本地發(fā)音

Okay, so now you have a basic idea of different English accents. But how do you go about actually learning native pronunciation?
好了，現(xiàn)在你有了一個(gè)不同的英語口音的基本概念。但是你是如何真正學(xué)習(xí)地道的發(fā)音的呢?

One great place to start is watching and imitating authentic English videos. These will expose you to real English pronunciation and speaking styles. They also give you the chance to study the speakers’ mouth and lip movements so you can imitate them.
一個(gè)好的開始是觀看和模仿真實(shí)的英語視頻。這些會(huì)讓你接觸到真正的英語發(fā)音和說話風(fēng)格。他們也會(huì)給你機(jī)會(huì)研究說話者的嘴和嘴唇的動(dòng)作，這樣你就可以模仿他們。

There are tutorial videos (e.g Rachel’s English) and software (such as Tell Me More) that show you the English lip and tongue positions for every letter of the alphabet and all the combinations.
有一些教程視頻(如瑞秋英語)和軟件(如“告訴我更多”)，向你展示了每個(gè)字母和所有組合的英文嘴唇和舌頭位置。

I know learning them is tedious, but it’ll help you pronounce words correctly, especially the ones with sounds that don’t exist in your native tongue.
我知道學(xué)習(xí)它們是很枯燥的，但它會(huì)幫助你正確發(fā)音，尤其是那些用母語不發(fā)音的單詞。

So learn them and practice in front of the mirror. Do it again and again until it becomes muscle memory. You can even try recording yourself to assess your progress!

Watch how your mouth and lips move and see if you make a mistake or struggle with any particular words. Repeat the difficult words until the movements of your mouth feel natural.

所以，在鏡子前學(xué)習(xí)練習(xí)吧。一次又一次地做，直到它變成肌肉記憶。你甚至可以試著錄下自己的發(fā)音，用它們測(cè)評(píng)你的進(jìn)步!

觀察你的嘴和嘴唇是如何移動(dòng)的，看看你是否犯了錯(cuò)誤或與任何特定的單詞作斗爭(zhēng)。重復(fù)這些困難的單詞，直到你的嘴感覺自然。

3. Learn the Flow of English
3.學(xué)習(xí)英語的連貫性

Pronunciation is crucial, but it’s not everything. You can pronounce every individual word like a native speaker, but still not talk like one. That’s because you also need to have the right flow.
發(fā)音很重要，但并不是全部。你可以像母語人士一樣正確發(fā)音每個(gè)單獨(dú)的詞，但仍然不能像母語者那樣說話。這是因?yàn)槟阋残枰姓_的連貫性。

So, what exactly makes the flow of English?

One important element is “connected speech.” This refers to the way the end of one word and the beginning of the next word sometimes interact in English.

那么，英語的連貫性究竟是怎樣的呢?

一個(gè)重要的因素是“連讀”。這指的是一個(gè)單詞的結(jié)尾，下一個(gè)單詞的開頭在英語中有時(shí)候會(huì)交叉合并。

Specifically, a native speaker can:
具體地說，母語人士可以:

Join two sounds. When a word ends in a consonant sound, and the following word begins with the same consonant sound, both sounds are pronounced together as one.
連接兩個(gè)發(fā)音。當(dāng)一個(gè)單詞以輔音結(jié)尾的時(shí)候，下面的單詞以同樣的輔音開始，這兩個(gè)發(fā)音可以合二為一。

Example: I’d decide it later.
例子:我以后再?zèng)Q定。

One word begins with a vowel, a native speaker would connect the consonant with the vowel as if they belong to one word.
如果第一個(gè)單詞以輔音結(jié)尾，第二個(gè)單詞以元音開頭，一個(gè)以英語為母語的人會(huì)把輔音和元音連在一起，就好像它們屬于一個(gè)單詞一樣。

Example: I’d like a fried egg.
例子:我想要一個(gè)煎蛋。

Get rid of a sound. When the sounds “t” or “d” occur between two consonant sounds, they’ll often disappear completely from the pronunciation.
擺脫一個(gè)發(fā)音。當(dāng)聲音“t”或“d”出現(xiàn)在兩個(gè)輔音之間，它們通常會(huì)在發(fā)音中完全消失。

Example: See you nex(t) week!
例子:下周見！

Native speakers also almost always use contractions (short words created by combining two separate words) to speak faster. Some examples of common ones:
以英語為母語的人也幾乎總是使用縮寫(由兩個(gè)單獨(dú)的單詞組合而成的縮寫)，以更快的速度說話。一些常見的例子:

I + am = I’m
我是=我是

I + will = I’ll
我將會(huì)=我將會(huì)

do + not = don’t
不是=不是

I + have = I’ve
我已經(jīng)=我已經(jīng)

I + would= I’d
我將要=我將要

You can also listen for stress and rhythm in native English speaking. Native English speakers typically raise their voices and make a longer sound for the word that needs the most attention—in other words, they “stress” the most important words.
你也可以在地道的英語說話中，來聽英語的重音和節(jié)奏。母語為英語的人通常會(huì)提高他們的聲音并且發(fā)出更長(zhǎng)的聲音，來強(qiáng)調(diào)最需要注意的單詞，他們會(huì)“重讀”最重要的單詞。

English rhythm is the musical feature of English—the up and down of the pitch each word in a sentence takes.Now that we know what the flow of English involves, how can we learn it?
英語節(jié)奏是英語的音樂特征，每個(gè)詞的上下音都是在一個(gè)句子里的。既然我們知道了英語的流動(dòng)連貫性，我們?nèi)绾螌W(xué)習(xí)它呢？

The best way to learn the flow of English is to mimic native speakers. It’s really something you need to hear and imitate, over and over. Research indicates that sometimes we imitate others’ behavior subconsciously (without realizing it). So this might be a more natural process than you think.
學(xué)習(xí)英語的最佳方法是模仿母語人士。這是一件你需要反復(fù)去聽和反復(fù)模仿的事情。研究表明，有時(shí)候我們會(huì)下意識(shí)地模仿別人的行為(而自己沒有意識(shí)到)。所以這可能是一個(gè)比你想象的更自然的過程。

For mirroring material, find a famous speech, a TED talk or a song. Rap songs are very good for this purpose. Note down how a speaker stresses different words in a sentence, which in turn leads to the distinct rhythm.
對(duì)于鏡像材料，找一個(gè)著名的演講，一個(gè)TED演講或者一首歌。說唱歌曲非常適合這個(gè)目的。注意說話者如何在句子中重讀不同的單詞，從而導(dǎo)致不同的節(jié)奏。

4.Use Slang When You Speak English
4.說英語時(shí)使用俚語

“Slang” refers to informal (sometimes vulgar) words and phrases. Slang is more common in speech than writing.
俚語指的是非正式的(有時(shí)是粗俗的)詞匯和短語。俚語在口語交際中，比在寫作更常見。

Slang is also usually different in different communities—so the slang in the Southern U.S. is different than the slang in England. (To see how different it can be, check out this hilarious “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” interview with the actor Hugh Laurie.)
俚語在不同地區(qū)也有不同之處，所以美國(guó)南部的俚語和英國(guó)的俚語是不同的。(看看這有多不同，你可以看搞笑的艾倫秀，對(duì)演員休.勞瑞的訪談那一期)

But there are some examples of slang that a wide range of English speakers use, which you can learn. For instance:
但也有一些俚語的例子，很多說英語的人使用，你可以從中學(xué)到。例如

Wanna (Want to)

Hang out (Spend time together)

In an informal setting, a native speaker would say “Do you wanna hang out?” instead of “Do you want to spend some time together?”

想要(想要)在一個(gè)非正式的環(huán)境中閑逛(花時(shí)間在一起)，一個(gè)說母語的人會(huì)說：“你想出去玩兒?jiǎn)?”而不是，“你想和我待一會(huì)兒?jiǎn)?？?/div>

If you do hang out, the next day your friend might say, “We had a blast yesterday.” That means that he/she had a really fun time. But if he/she tells others that “you drove him/her up the wall,” that means he/she was irritated by you.
如果你真的出去玩，第二天你的朋友可能會(huì)說：“昨天我們玩得很開心?！边@意味著他/她玩得很開心。但是如果他/她告訴別人“你把他/她逼上了墻”，那就意味著他/她被你激怒了。

By mastering this type of slang, you’ll instantly sound more fluent and native-level.
掌握這種類型的俚語，你的發(fā)音會(huì)更加流利和自然。

Don’t try to find slang on the news or in formal speeches. Watch current TV shows or search for vlogs (video blogs) on YouTube. Because slang is regional, you should search for shows/videos set in the region whose English accent you want to speak.
不要試圖在新聞或正式演講中找到俚語?？茨壳暗碾娨暪?jié)目或搜索視頻（YouTube上的視頻博客）。因?yàn)橘嫡Z是區(qū)域性的，你應(yīng)該在你想說的英語口音的區(qū)域里找一些節(jié)目/視頻。

As you start incorporating slang into your own communication, use Urban Dictionary or ask a native speaker to make sure you’re using it correctly.The best way to learn slang words is to use them but remember the context. They should be used in informal settings only.
當(dāng)你開始把俚語融入到你自己的交際中時(shí)，使用城市詞典或者問母語者確保你正確使用它。學(xué)習(xí)俚語的最好方法是使用它們，但要記住上下文。他們應(yīng)該只在非正式場(chǎng)合使用。

5. Learn English Idioms
5.學(xué)習(xí)英語習(xí)語

English idioms are phrases whose meanings aren’t obvious from looking at the individual words.
英語習(xí)語是指從單個(gè)詞來看意義不明顯的短語。

The use of idioms might not be as common as slang in informal speech. However, native speakers can use idioms at times and mystify you.
習(xí)語的使用可能不像俚語中的俚語那樣常見。然而，母語說話者有時(shí)會(huì)使用母語習(xí)語并且使你困惑。

For example, if you’re in a meeting and your colleague says, “you can’t see the forest for the trees,” you might be confused. Your conversation has nothing to do with trees or a forest!
例如，如果你在開會(huì)，你的同事說，“你看不見森林里的樹木”，你可能會(huì)感到困惑。你的談話與樹木或森林無關(guān)！

That’s because she’s using a common idiom. “You can’t see the forest for the trees” means you’re too involved in the details of a problem to understand the situation as a whole. Perhaps you pay too much attention to the logistic matters while not enough on the bigger issues like budget or deadlines.
那是因?yàn)樗褂昧艘粋€(gè)常用的習(xí)語?！澳憧床灰娚种械臉淠尽保馑际悄闾珜Ｗ⒂谀硞€(gè)問題的細(xì)節(jié)來理解整個(gè)情況。也許你過于關(guān)注后勤問題，而不是在預(yù)算或截止日期等更大的問題上。

It’s also helpful to keep a diary of idioms you learn and their (possible) equivalents in your language. This can make them more memorable. You can also look up idioms in your diary if you hear one, but forget what it means.
用你學(xué)習(xí)到的習(xí)語和你母語中可能意思相同的替換習(xí)語寫日記是很有幫助的。這可以讓它們記憶更深刻。你也可以在聽到一個(gè)習(xí)語時(shí)，在日記中找到它，但可能忘了它的意思。

Finally, don’t be afraid to use them! You might not have them perfectly nailed the first time but a kind native speaker might help you with the correct usage, and you’ll remember.
最后，不要害怕使用它們！你可能第一次沒有對(duì)它們完全掌握，但是一個(gè)母語為英語的人可能會(huì)幫助你正確使用它們，你會(huì)記住的。

It’s not easy to learn English like a native speaker. In fact, it’s very hard.
把英語學(xué)得像一個(gè)母語為英語的人。事實(shí)上，這是非常困難的。

However, you can start today by perfecting your pronunciation and practicing to obtain a natural flow of speech.
然而，你可以從今天開始，通過完善你的發(fā)音和練習(xí)來獲得自然流暢的講話。

Don’t let slang and idioms hinder your progress. Plunge in.
不要讓俚語和習(xí)語阻礙你進(jìn)步。全身心投入。

Learn the spoken speech, and you’ll speak like a native speaker when you least expect it.
學(xué)習(xí)口語講話，你會(huì)像說母語的人一樣說話，當(dāng)你對(duì)它給予最少的期待時(shí)。