强大的口语自我训练方法

很久以前就知道有个叫 a. j. hoge 的外教制作了一套 effortless english 听说训练教程，最近试听了几课，发现很有意思。这一套教程的思路是这样的：
每一课构成一个学习单元（a lesson set），要求每天只听一课，反复听至少一个小时，至少听一周。
每一课都是一个类似新概念二中课文那种的长度的小故事（150词左右），其中材料包括：

这个故事的pdf文本；故事朗读一遍的音频；故事中重点词汇的朗读加纯英文解释的音频；对该故事中每句话进行各个角度的自问自答的音频（mini-story）。

学习过程是这样的：

读故事pdf文本，解决生词。听几遍关于本课的词汇音频。听几遍对每句话自问自答的mini-story。反复听本课的故事音频。

然后他还给了一个整体的学习建议：
study one lesson set for a week or more. that’s right, only one set for at least a week. if you get bored, make a game with the mini-story lessons-- try to answer each question faster and faster.every day, listen to all of the lessons in the lesson set. try to listen to each lesson (in the set) at least two times every day.listen at least one hour every day. two hours every day is best. its ok to divide your time during the day. for example, you might listen 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes going to work, 30 minutes during lunch, 30 minutes going home, and 30 minutes before going to sleep. in fact, this is an excellent way to learn.这套课程中最有特色的就是对故事中每句话进行各个角度的自我提问和回答的 mini-story，他还建议大家这样来使用这个环节：
听到每个提问后暂停音频，自己尝试回答；经过几遍后，有点烦了，就逐渐加快自己的反应和回答速读。
我们来实际感受一下其中一课：day of the dead（亡灵节）
课文文本如下（故事本身他都用的一般现在时，因为有的课他会增加point of view story，即换各种时态来重新讲这个故事）：
i arrive in guatemala on the day of the dead, november 1st. i’m curious about this holiday, so i go to the cemetery to see what’s happening. what i find is quite interesting.
the atmosphere is like a party. there are people everywhere. families are sitting around the graves of their dead ancestors. they clean the graves and add fresh flowers. i walk through the cemetery and admire the beauty of all the colorful flowers.
there is also color in the sky, because many kids are flying kites. some families are having a picnic next to the graves. they eat, drink, and chat together. people laugh and smile.
in the unites states, cemeteries are always somber. we certainly never have festivals or parties next to graves. we don’t laugh or play music or fly kites in cemeteries either.
i find that i prefer the guatemalan approach. i like the way they remember and celebrate those who have passed away. i like that they acknowledge death, instead of denying it the way americans do. i like that there is life, as well as death, in their cemeteries.
guatemalans call it “the day of the dead”, but it is also a day to appreciate life.
我们主要看一下 mini-story 是如何进行的（原音频无法上传，请关注文末公众号“简易学学英语”查看原帖）
不难发现，这个自问自答的环节，如果用在自己所接触的每个英语短文上，将产生非常好的效果。
不过我不赞成他后面的 point of view story 方法，因为一个故事的发生本来是过去发生的一次性的事件，他却用一般现在时、现在完成时，现在完成进行时和一般将来时分别讲一遍，其实整个事件的性质都变化了（比如本课，显然应该是过去时，而用现在完成时或现在完成进行时的话，意思上就显得很奇怪，i have been arriving... 这种本身就不符合时态含义，更不能通过这种方式来让学生学习时态）。
口语输出最难的一点，莫过于对时态的正确运用了，漏屋老师在《词霸天下》中有这样的举例：
我们来看一个中国的博士留学生和他的美国同学的对话片段：中:* i buy a car yesterday.美: hmm? you bought a car or just went for a test drive?中: oh, i bought already. *i pick it uptoday.美: great! did you drive it to school this morning?中: oh, i mean i am going to pick up the car this afternoon. can you give me a ride to the dealership?美: i sure can. you know, they will probably pick you up from home if you ask them.中: ok.* i call them first.这种典型的中国同学对话中都会出现的大量时态错误，并不是英语语法知识不够，主要是因为说英语时没有正确使用英语的思考方式，而是使用了汉语的思考方式造成的。而这种 mini-story 式的自问自答，恰好可以让我们高密度地进行各种时态下问句与答语间的灵活切换。比如我们用在新概念第二册第二课的学习上：
it was sunday. i never get up early on sundays. i sometimes stay in bed until lunchtime. last sunday i got up very late. i looked out of the window. it was dark outside. ‘what a day!’ i thought. ‘itm coming to see you. ’
‘but im still

having breakfast, ’ i said.
‘what are you doing?’ she asked.
‘im having breakfast, ’ i repeated.
‘dear me, ’ she said. ‘do you always get up so late? itclock!’
问和答我们都遵循原文的时态。第一句可以可以这样问答：
what day was it? it was sunday.（这里自然会让我们想起对日期的提问：what date was it?）was it sunday? yes. it was sunday.was it monday? no. no. no. it wasnt monday. it was sunday.第二句可以这样问答：
do i get up early on sundays? no. i never get up early on sundays.（这里涉及英语的肯定回答和否定回答的问题：不管问句是什么，只有回答的句子是肯定意思，前面就用yes；反之，则是no。）who never getsup early on sundays? me. i never get up early on sundays.when do i never get up early? on sundays. i never get up early on sundays.do i always get up late on sundays? yes. i always get up late on sundays.毫无疑问，在进行这种自我问答时，我们会遇到一些疑问，比如
i sometimes stay in bed until lunchtime. 这句，提问起床晚到什么程度，该怎么提问呢？

如果不太清楚，或者只知道how late...提法，又不太确定，就要用谷歌进行搜索，会发现有如下提问法：
how long do i sometimes stay in bed on sundays?
untill/ till when do i sometimes stay in bed on sundays?
how late do i sometimes stay in bed on sundays?
一句话都要花费好多时间来提问，还要碰到一些不会的表达，还要查网络，岂不是太麻烦了？
事实上，所花费的时间并不像我们想象的那么长，而且我们可以主要用平时的零碎时间来做这件事，比如散步或跑步时，坐车上班时，躺下睡觉前等等。
另外，对于所学一篇材料任务比较多时，我们可以采取分段学习的策略，即先做一部分，剩下的后面再不断回头来做；这么做的前提是，要先把手头的材料保存起来（以防丢失，后面无法找到），比如存在手机印象笔记里，今天先自我提问了一半的句子，累了，先休息，明天或后天有时间了再回头做剩下的。
至于查网络带来的麻烦，请听听漏屋老师怎么说的吧：