又中又英 | Gold standard | 褚簡寧

　　Readers sometimes email me to ask what the best way is to learn English. It is hard to pin down the best way. There are many ways to use the expression "pin down" but when used this way, it means to explain or understand something exactly. When readers ask me the best way to learn English, I always tell them there isn't a single gold standard. The expression "gold standard" used this way means the best possible example of something and is used as a model to judge other similar things.

　　The gold standard in movie awards is the Academy Awards which award Oscars to winners. I always advise readers that the best way to learn English is a combination of ways. I advise them to read English books or newspapers, watch English TV, listen to English radio such as the BBC, and to speak English as often as possible. Speaking English is the most important way to improve your English fluency. But many Hong Kong people who learn English are too shy to speak English in public or with foreigners.

　　I stumbled across a very useful site to learn English while searching through YouTube for column ideas. To stumble across something or someone is to discover it by chance or to meet someone by chance. The site is Storyline English. It is a free site. Storyline English uses easy to understand English and captions to tell the stories of famous historical people such as Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Plato, and Mother Teresa. I have become a fan of the site to learn about historical figures. I suggest you try it.

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　　讀者們有時會發電郵問我，學英語的最佳方法是甚麼？其實很難說清楚（pin down）哪一種是最好的方法。習語pin down有許多用法，但在這裏是指確切地解釋或明白某事。當讀者們問我學習英語的最佳方法時，我總是告訴他們，學英文沒有單一的gold standard。習語gold standard在這裏是指某事的最佳典範，用來衡量其他事物的黃金標準。

　　電影獎項的黃金標準（gold standard）就是學院獎，亦即奧斯卡金像獎。我常常建議讀者們，學習英語的最佳法門是結合不同的方法。我會提議他們去讀英文書和報紙，看英文電視，聽英文電台例如英國廣播公司BBC，以及盡可能說英語。多講英語是改善你英語流暢度最重要的方法。但許多學英語的香港人太怯於在公眾場合或跟外國人說英語。

　　當我瀏覽YouTube，嘗試搜索寫專欄的靈感時，無意中發現（stumbled across）一個學習英語非常有用的網站。To stumble across something or someone是指偶然發現某事物，又或恰巧碰見某人。那個頻道叫Storyline English。它是個免費的頻道。Storyline English用簡單易明的英語和字幕，去述說歷史名人如拿破崙、林肯、柏拉圖和德蘭修女等的故事。我已經做了那個頻道的粉絲，讓自己對歷史人物知多一點點。我也建議你們試試觀看。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻