Robert正在向中国来的同事Penny介绍理解和掌握单词的经验。
R: You could buy an English-language magazine about news or fashion. Read through the articles and underline and look up the words you don’t know. Then read the article or sentence again after you know what the words mean.
P: So the sentence will help my brain remember the word?
R: Yes, I think it does.
P: I sometimes have a hard time with grammar. I just can’t remember all the verb tenses and other little rules.
Robert建议Penny看英文杂志，把不认识的单词划出来，查字典，underline and look up the words you don’t know. 知道意思以后再回过头来重读一遍。Penny说有时觉得语法很难。
R: You know something? I’d say forget about grammar in the beginning. Focus on understanding and communicating. To tell you the truth, I’m still fuzzy on quite a few English grammar rules myself.
P: But eventually my grammar will improve, right?
R: Certainly. Through reading and speaking you will sort of pick it up automatically. And you know something else?
Making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn, grammar included.
P: Ah…but it’s so embarrassing!
R: Exactly! Getting embarrassed helps us remember things!
Robert让Penny上来先不要管语法，通过阅读和交流，语法自然会慢慢掌握。You will pick it up automatically. Robert两次说到，You know something? 意思是，告诉你吧。他觉得，出错是学习的最佳途径之一，Making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn. Penny说，那多丢人啊。It’s so embarrassing. Robert居然说，这样以后才不会忘。
R: And one more thing: some people try to translate from their mother tongue while speaking. I’ve found this is a bad idea. It slows you down. Languages are usually quite different from each other so it’s not really a help.
P: So I should just say it. Even if it comes out wrong, right?
R: Yep. You can also keep a notebook and when you hear or see something you don’t quite understand, write it down and look it up later.
P: Ah, I already have a great dictionary in my cell phone! I use it everyday.
Robert反对说英语的时候从母语，mother tongue，直接翻译过来，因为这样做只会，slow you down，放慢你的速度。Robert还建议Penny随身带个笔记本，把听到看到的生字记下来回去查。Penny说她手机里就有字典，而且每天都在用。