婴儿如何学习说话 ⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

Six Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的六分钟英语。

Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

大家好，这里是 BBC 英语教学的六分钟英语。

I'm Phil.

我是 Phil。

And I'm Georgie.

我是 Georgie。

For most parents, their baby's first word is a special moment. 表達脈絡

对于大多数父母来说，宝宝开口说第一句话是一个特殊的时刻。

This happens after an early stage of language development called babble, 用詞

这发生在一个被称为“咿呀学语”的语言发育早期阶段之后，

when babies start making simple sounds like ga or ma.

那时婴儿开始发出类似 ga 或 ma 这样简单的声音。

Babies have to learn to use their mouth muscles to make specific sounds. 語法

婴儿必须学会运用他们的口腔肌肉来发出特定的声音。

They experiment with different sounds and mouth shapes. 短語搭配

他们会尝试发出不同的声音和做出不同的口型。

So, what exactly is happening when babies start learning to speak? 表達脈絡

那么，当婴儿开始学习说话时，到底发生了什么呢？

What do you think, Georgie?

你觉得呢，Georgie？

Well, Phil, I'm no expert, 語氣意圖

嗯，Phil，我不是专家，

but I imagine they watch the adults around them

但我想他们会观察周围的大人，

and kind of copy and imitate what they do. 語氣意圖

然后某种程度上模仿和学习大人的做法。

What do you think?

你认为呢？

But I definitely think that's what my children did when they were learning to speak.

我敢肯定，我的孩子们在学说话时就是这么做的。

Um well, let's compare our ideas with those of an expert. 表達脈絡

嗯，让我们把我们的想法和专家的看法比较一下。

Professor Julian Pine from Liverpool University,

来自利物浦大学的 Julian Pine 教授，

speaking here on BBC Radio 4, 語法

在 BBC 广播 4 台接受采访时，

and he lists the skills that babies develop in order to speak. 語法

列出了婴儿为了说话而发展的几项技能。

Well, one of the first things the child's got to do is

嗯，孩子们首先要做的事情之一就是，

they've got to break down the speech stream into words. 講解

他们必须把语流拆解成一个个的单词。

Then they've got to link the words to the things that they refer to in the environment. 短語搭配

然后他们必须把这些词和环境中它们所指代的事物联系起来。

So, they've got to learn what the words mean. 語法

也就是说，他们必须明白这些词的意思。

Right.

没错。

In this program, we'll discover how babies learn to speak, 表達脈絡

在本期节目中，我们将探索婴儿是如何学会说话的，

and as usual, we'll learn some useful new vocabulary.

像往常一样，我们还会学习一些有用的新词汇。

And on the subject of words, 表達脈絡

说到词汇，

remember, you can find a list of this program's vocabulary on our website,

别忘了，你可以在我们的网站上找到本期节目的词汇表，

bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com。

Some people find it helpful to study the vocabulary before listening. 語法

有些人觉得在听之前学习一下词汇会有帮助。

And another thing to do before listening is ask my question. 表達脈絡

而在听之前要做的另一件事就是回答我的问题。

Georgie, we've mentioned the babbling noises that babies make when learning to speak,

Georgie，我们提到了婴儿在学说话时发出的咿呀声，

but at what age does this usually start? 語法

但这种现象通常从多大年纪开始？

Is it A, around 6 months old?

是 A，大约 6 个月大？

B, around 9 months old?

B，大约 9 个月大？

Or C, around 1 year old?

还是 C，大约 1 岁？

Okay, I think my best guess would be A, around 6 months old. 語氣意圖

好的，我猜最有可能的是 A，大约 6 个月大。

Okay, well, we'll find out a little bit later on in the program. 短語動詞

好的，我们稍后在节目中会揭晓答案。

Let's return to Professor Pine's list. 表達脈絡

让我们回到 Pine 教授的列表上。

The first thing babies do is recognize where individual words start and end.

婴儿做的第一件事就是识别单个单词从哪里开始，在哪里结束。

For this, it helps to know that in English, at least, 表達脈絡

为了做到这一点，了解以下情况会有帮助：至少在英语中，

words often begin with a stressed syllable. 用詞

单词通常以重读音节开头。

The sound in a word which is emphasized by being spoken longer or louder. 語法

也就是通过拉长或加重声音来强调单词中的某个发音。

Learning this takes time, 語法

学习这些需要时间，

and here Professor Pine and Michael Rosen,

在这里，Pine 教授和 Michael Rosen，

presenter of BBC Radio 4's program Word of Mouth,

也就是 BBC 广播 4 台《Word of Mouth》节目的主持人，

discuss children who haven't quite discovered it yet. 語法

讨论了还没有完全掌握这一点的孩子们。

And we can see this in the kind of errors that children make because 短語搭配

我们可以从孩子们犯的这种错误中看出来，因为

little kids will often call a giraffe a raffe 語法

小孩子经常把 giraffe（长颈鹿）叫做 raffe，

by leaving off the unstressed syllable because that's not typical English. 短語動詞

省略了非重读音节，因为那不是典型的英语发音规律。

Oh, and I've got an example of this.

哦，我这儿也有一个例子。

Um my son used to call a machine a sminge 語法

呃，我儿子以前经常把 machine（机器）叫做 sminge。

He just hit the stress. 用詞

他只是读准了重音。

He didn't bother with the ma bit. 短語搭配

他没管 ma 的部分。

Yeah.

是的。

Exactly.

完全正确。

Or he may have thought it was my sminge, of course. 語法

当然，或者他可能以为那是 my sminge（我的机器）。

That's the other thing.

那是另一回事了。

Yes.

对。

And the classic example, of course,

当然还有那个经典的例子，

is nana instead of banana.

也就是把 banana（香蕉）叫做 nana。

Yes.

是的。

I think I call them that.

我想我以前也是这么叫的。

One error or mistake infants make is calling a giraffe a raffe

幼儿犯的一个错误是把 giraffe 叫做 raffe，

because they cut off the first syllable gi

因为他们把第一个音节 gi 砍掉了，

because it's not stressed.

因为它没有重读。

The classic example of this is when children say nana instead of banana. 短語搭配

这方面的一个经典例子是孩子们说 nana 而不是 banana。

A classic example of something means the best example of it, 用詞

某个事物的经典例子（classic example）是指它最好的例子，

one containing all the features you expect such a thing to have.

包含了你所期望的这种事物应具备的所有特征。

For example, ants are a classic example of animals working together.

例如，蚂蚁就是动物协同合作的经典例子。

The second skill babies develop as they learn to speak

婴儿在学说话时发展的第二项技能是

is correctly linking a word to the object it refers to.

将单词与它所指代的物体正确地联系起来。

In other words, knowing what the word means. 表達脈絡

换句话说，就是知道这个词的意思。

As adults, we do this without thinking, 短語搭配

作为成年人，我们不假思索地就能做到这一点，

but it's actually much harder than it sounds, 習語

但这实际上比听起来要难得多，

as Professor Julian Pine explains to BBC Radio 4 program Word of Mouth.

正如 Julian Pine 教授在 BBC 广播 4 台《Word of Mouth》节目中解释的那样。

Well, we take for granted the fact that it's kind of obvious 習語

嗯，我们理所当然地认为，

what words refer to in the environment,

单词在环境中指代什么很明显，

but actually, if you look at it from the child's point of view, 表達脈絡

但实际上，如果你从孩子的角度来看，

it's really difficult to work out what a word refers to 短語動詞

想要弄清楚一个词指的是什么是很困难的，

because there's so many things it could refer to.

因为它可能指代的东西太多了。

So, you know, the speech signal is very ambiguous. 用詞

所以，你知道，语音信号是非常模糊的。

How does the child know that you're talking about the cup in front of you

孩子怎么知道你谈论的是你面前的杯子，

or the pen in front of you

还是你面前的笔呢，

when you say pen or cup.

当你说笔或杯子的时候。

As adults, we take it for granted that when a friend says apple,

作为成年人，我们理所当然地认为，当朋友说 apple（苹果）时，

they mean that round red thing on the table.

他们指的是桌子上那个又圆又红的东西。

To take it for granted means to assume something without question.

理所当然地认为（take it for granted）意思是指毫无疑问地假定某事。

But for a baby,

但是对于一个婴儿来说，

the link between the word apple and the object is not obvious. 短語搭配

apple 这个词和物体之间的联系并不明显。

It's ambiguous, meaning it has more than one possible meaning. 用詞

它是含糊不清的（ambiguous），这意味着它有不止一种可能的含义。

Wow, who knew so much was going on inside babies' sponge-like brains 講解

哇，谁能想到婴儿海绵般的大脑里，

as they soak up the sounds they hear. 習語

在吸收他们听到的声音时，会进行这么复杂的活动。

Right, Phil, isn't it time to reveal the answer to your question? 語氣意圖

好了，Phil，是不是该揭晓你问题的答案了？

Um it is indeed.

嗯，确实是的。

The question was, at what age do babies start to make babbling noises?

我的问题是，婴儿大概在多大时开始发出咿呀声？

And I said it was around 6 months.

我说是大约 6 个月大的时候。

And that is the correct answer.

回答正确。

Yay!

耶！

Babies start to do this when they're about 6 months old.

婴儿在大约 6 个月大时开始这样做。

Okay, let's recap the vocabulary that we've learned, 表達脈絡

好了，让我们回顾一下学过的词汇，

starting with babble,

从 babble 开始，

the meaningless noises babies make as they're learning to speak.

指的是婴儿在学说话时发出的无意义的咿呀声。

The stressed syllable in a word

单词中的重读音节（stressed syllable）

is the sound which is emphasized by being longer, louder, or higher.

是通过拖长、加重或提高音调来强调的发音。

An error is a mistake. 用詞

error 的意思是错误（mistake）。

The classic example of something is the most typical example of it,

某物的经典例子（classic example）是它最典型的代表，

containing its most important features.

包含了它最重要的特征。

If you take something for granted,

如果你认为某事理所当然（take something for granted），

you accept or assume it without question.

就是你毫无疑问地接受或假定它。

And finally,

最后，

the adjective ambiguous means having more than one possible meaning.

形容词含糊不清的（ambiguous）意思是有不止一种可能的含义。

Once again, our 6 minutes are up, 表達脈絡

再一次，我们的六分钟时间到了，

but if you're ready for more, 語法

但如果你还想了解更多内容，

you'll find the worksheet with a quiz and a transcript for this program on our website.

你可以在我们的网站上找到本期节目的测验和文字稿。

See you there soon.

下次见。

Bye.

拜拜。

Bye.

再见。

Six Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的六分钟英语。