又中又英 | Gold standard | 褚简宁

　　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.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

　　读者们有时会发电邮问我，学英语的最佳方法是甚么？其实很难说清楚（pin down）哪一种是最好的方法。习语pin down有许多用法，但在这里是指确切地解释或明白某事。当读者们问我学习英语的最佳方法时，我总是告诉他们，学英文没有单一的gold standard。习语gold standard在这里是指某事的最佳典范，用来衡量其他事物的黄金标准。

　　电影奖项的黄金标准（gold standard）就是学院奖，亦即奥斯卡金像奖。我常常建议读者们，学习英语的最佳法门是结合不同的方法。我会提议他们去读英文书和报纸，看英文电视，听英文电台例如英国广播公司BBC，以及尽可能说英语。多讲英语是改善你英语流畅度最重要的方法。但许多学英语的香港人太怯于在公众场合或跟外国人说英语。

　　当我浏览YouTube，尝试搜索写专栏的灵感时，无意中发现（stumbled across）一个学习英语非常有用的网站。To stumble across something or someone是指偶然发现某事物，又或恰巧碰见某人。那个频道叫Storyline English。它是个免费的频道。Storyline English用简单易明的英语和字幕，去述说历史名人如拿破仑、林肯、柏拉图和德兰修女等的故事。我已经做了那个频道的粉丝，让自己对历史人物知多一点点。我也建议你们试试观看。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻