掌握訣竅
別以為把一部電影重復(fù)看十次,英語(yǔ)就能進(jìn)步,你要懂得方法,重點(diǎn)學(xué)習(xí),學(xué)什么呢?學(xué)劇中人的遣詞用字,想想他們?yōu)槭裁催@么說(shuō),看看他們?nèi)绾螌⒄Z(yǔ)言靈活運(yùn)用于情境之中,如果可以的話,最好還要學(xué)學(xué)他們展現(xiàn)在語(yǔ)言上的幽默,這一點(diǎn)最為困難,即使是苦讀英語(yǔ)十年的人也不一定學(xué)得來(lái)。照這么說(shuō)來(lái),利用電影學(xué)英語(yǔ)其實(shí)工程浩大,無(wú)法一蹴可幾,這種自我學(xué)習(xí)是重質(zhì)不重量,只要功夫下的扎實(shí),就算你每次只花十五分鐘或半小時(shí)來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)一小片段,也綽綽有余了。
從影片中記單字詞組
是否很多人都有這種感覺(jué)?英文課本整理的單字或詞組,背的愈多,忘的也不少,單單覆誦那些字母的組合,根本與字義兜不起來(lái),更別提拿出來(lái)用,當(dāng)然會(huì)“今日背,今日忘”。但是看著電影來(lái)學(xué)就不同了,透過(guò)劇情及影像,可以強(qiáng)化這個(gè)字在我們腦子里的印象,而且當(dāng)你隨著劇中人物跟讀(shadowing),還能順便模仿發(fā)音及語(yǔ)氣等等。例如,obnoxious意思是“討人厭的”,在準(zhǔn)備托福留學(xué)考試的字匯書里,這個(gè)字被列為要達(dá)六百分以上的必背單字,由此可知它的難度,別說(shuō)要把它記起來(lái),連要發(fā)音都有點(diǎn)難,可是,如果你透過(guò)莎莉來(lái)學(xué),效果肯定倍增。當(dāng)哈利躲在書店一角偷偷瞄著莎莉,莎莉轉(zhuǎn)頭對(duì)朋友說(shuō)"He's obnoxious.",那種不屑的表情是不是更增添了這個(gè)字的意味?影片中還出現(xiàn)另一個(gè)前綴"ob-"的單字-"obituary",指的是“訃聞”,這個(gè)單字一般會(huì)話不常提及,不太好記,但是看看愛(ài)說(shuō)笑的哈利是怎么說(shuō)的:
"... What's so hard about finding an apartment? What you do is you read the obituary column. You find out who died, go to the building and tip the doorman. What they could do to make it easier is combine the obituaries with the real estate section. Then you have, "Mr. Klein died today, leaving a wife, two children and a spacious three-bedroom apartment with a wood burning fireplace."
哈利說(shuō)朋友都安慰他離婚后至少還保有房子,可是找房子有什么難的,只要翻翻報(bào)紙的訃聞,看誰(shuí)死了,就去接手他的房子甚至家庭,要是報(bào)社把房屋租售的版面跟訃聞擺在一起,那就更方便了。聽(tīng)了哈利這段自嘲的話,是不是對(duì)"obituary"這個(gè)字比較有印象了呢?
看劇中人運(yùn)用情境會(huì)話
“英文學(xué)了這么多年,背也背過(guò)了,考也考過(guò)了,可是一碰到真正要開(kāi)口說(shuō)英語(yǔ)的機(jī)會(huì),總是腦筋一片空白,不曉得那些句型都跑到哪兒去了?”原因無(wú)他,光是背誦課本那種A跟B硬梆梆的對(duì)話,當(dāng)然沒(méi)用嘍!舉例來(lái)說(shuō),一般的會(huì)話課本中,必定會(huì)學(xué)到上館子點(diǎn)菜,課本里的例句似乎永遠(yuǎn)只有"How would you like your steak?" "Well done, please."之類的答案,這種標(biāo)準(zhǔn)對(duì)話在真實(shí)生活中好像不太夠用,萬(wàn)一侍者多問(wèn)你一句,是不是就慌了呢?莎莉可不一樣,從前菜到甜點(diǎn)樣樣講求完美精準(zhǔn),哈利稱她是great orderer,現(xiàn)在就來(lái)學(xué)學(xué)莎莉的“龜毛”點(diǎn)菜法:
Waitress: What can I get you?
Harry: I'll have a number 3.
Sally: I'd like the chef's salad, please, with the oil and vinegar on the side, and the apple pie....
Sally: ... I'd like the pie heated, and I want the ice cream on the side. And I'd like strawberry instead of vanilla, if you have it. If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it's real. If it's out of a can, then nothing.
Waitress: Not even the pie?
Sally: No, just the pie, but then not heated.
請(qǐng)注意這家餐廳不過(guò)是公路旁賣簡(jiǎn)餐的diner,哈利用的是“麥當(dāng)勞式”的點(diǎn)法“3 號(hào)餐”,簡(jiǎn)單了事,而看莎莉點(diǎn)菜簡(jiǎn)直太神奇了,雖然點(diǎn)的是沙拉,可是橄欖油及醋汁要放在旁邊,不能淋上去喔!說(shuō)到甜點(diǎn)更是精采,"à la mode"源自法文,就是在甜點(diǎn)上面加一球冰淇淋,莎莉特別強(qiáng)調(diào)如果有冰淇淋,蘋果派就要加熱,冰淇淋要放在旁邊,而且只要草莓口味,不然就放 whipped cream(鮮奶油)就好,不過(guò)鮮奶油要現(xiàn)打的,罐裝擠出來(lái)的她可不要。哇!原來(lái)點(diǎn)餐也可以這么靈活,習(xí)慣背課本的人要注意了,趕快丟掉那種制式的對(duì)話吧!
留意文化差異
在美國(guó),學(xué)生花錢是能省則省,所以讓人搭便車或共乘是常有的事,不僅車租或油錢可以共同分擔(dān),如果是長(zhǎng)途旅行,還可以輪流換手開(kāi)車。影片中,哈利一上車,一板一眼的莎莉就要跟他討論怎么輪流開(kāi)車:
"I have it all figured out. It's an 18-hour trip which breaks down into 6 shifts of three hours each or alternatively we could break it down by mileage."
"alternatively"用于提出另一種不同的建議選擇或替代方案。莎莉的意思是她都算好了,從芝加哥到紐約要花18 小時(shí),看是要分成六段輪流開(kāi)車(shift是輪班),每次三小時(shí),還是要用哩程數(shù)來(lái)分。