过去几年，我在国外旅行和生活。在此期间，我和许多把英语作为外语的人交谈过。在与成千上万这样的人用英语交谈后，我注意到他们做了几件事，损害了他们作为一个语言学习者的进步。下面是常见的7个问题：
1. Don’t Be too Ashamed to Speak1.不要羞于启齿There is only one way to learn how to speak English, and that is to open your mouth and speak English! The only way you will ever get better at speaking is by speaking, and speaking a lot!学习如何说英语只有一种方法，就是张开你的嘴说英语!如果你想在说的方面更好，那一定是通过说，而且要多说!You can make excuses for why you don’t want to speak, like saying that you’re too embarrassed to speak, but these won’t get you any closer to your goal of achieving English fluency. It doesn’t matter if you have no vocabulary, or if your pronunciation isn’t perfect, you need to open your mouth and speak if you want to improve.你可以为你不想说话的原因找借口，比如说你不好意思说话，但这些不会让你的英语更流利。如果你没有词汇，或者你的发音不完美，那也没关系，如果你想提高的话，你需要张开嘴说话。Whatever you do, don’t say that you can’t speak English because this will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By believing that you can’t speak English you close your mind to trying, and never give yourself the opportunity to improve. The only way to improve your English is to practice it, no matter how bad you may or may not be at it.不管你做什么，不要说你不会说英语，因为这将成为一个自我实现的预言。通过相信你不会说英语，你不会再努力尝试，永远不要给自己机会去提高。提高你的英语的唯一方法就是练习，不管你有多糟糕或不好。
2. Don’t Be Afraid of Making Mistakes2.不要害怕犯错误。Another thing you shouldn’t do when speaking English is to be afraid of making mistakes. Part of being human is making mistakes and sooner or later you’re going to have to accept the fact that you’re not perfect and that you will always make mistakes. The only way you can avoid making mistakes is by not trying at all. If you follow this approach you’ll avoid making mistakes, but you’ll never improve either.你说英语时不应该做的另一件事是害怕出错。人的一部分就是犯错误，迟早你必须接受你并不完美的事实，你会犯错误。你唯一能避免犯错的方法就是不去尝试。如果你遵循这种方法，你将避免犯错误，但你也永远不会提高。This may seem counter-intuitive, but you should try making as many mistakes as possible. If you are making mistakes that means you are actually speaking English and improving. If you aren’t making mistakes every day then you aren’t speaking enough. Of course, you shouldn’t intentionally make mistakes, and you should try to be aware of your mistakes so you can learn from them and improve your skills.这似乎有违本能，但你应该尽量犯尽可能多的错误。如果你犯了错误，那就意味着你实际上在说英语，并在进步。如果你每天不犯错误，那你就说的不够了。当然，你不应该故意犯错误，你应该尽量意识到自己的错误，以便从中吸取教训，提高自己的技能。Grammar is the last thing you should be worried about when speaking English. You don’t need to have perfect grammar in order to communicate with someone in English. Native speakers aren’t going to judge you for having bad grammar, they are going to be more focused on understanding your meaning and continuing the conversation.讲英语时你最不应该担心的是语法。你不需要有完美的语法才能和别人用英语交流。母语为英语的人不会因为你的语法不好而评价你，他们会更专注于理解你的意思并继续交谈。As long as you speak clearly and confidently, it doesn’t matter if you use the wrong article, adjective ending or sentence order.So don’t be discouraged by your mistakes. Learn to embrace them and value them for the role they play in your learning.只要你说得清楚自信，用错冠词、形容词结尾或句子顺序都没关系，所以不要因错误而气馁。学会拥抱他们，重视它们在你学习中扮演的角色。
3. Don’t Apologize For Your Level3.不要为你的水平道歉。Something that really annoys me when I’m talking to someone in English is when they apologize for how much English they speak. I’ve never been offended by someone’s level of English, and I don’t get upset when someone makes mistakes.当我和某人用英语交谈时，我真的很恼火的时刻，那就是当他们为说了多少英语而道歉的时候。我从来没有被别人的英语水平所冒犯，当别人犯错时我也不会生气。Most of the people who apologize for their level of English feel like they should speak better than they do. Its fine to think this, but don’t get upset at yourself for not knowing more than you do. Achieving fluency in any language is a process that takes time, and you can’t expect to become fluent overnight. Whether you’ve been studying English for years or only for a few months, you’ve put in a lot of work to get where you are, so don’t underestimate yourself.大多数为自己的英语水平而道歉的人觉得他们应该说得更好。这样想很好，但是不要因为你不知道的多而沮丧。在任何语言中达到流利是一个需要时间的过程，你不能指望一夜之间流利。不管你是学了几年英语还是仅仅学了几个月，你已经投入了大量的工作来达到你现在的目标，所以不要低估你自己。
4. Don’t get frustrated with yourself4.不要对自己感到失望Learning English will come with a certain amount of frustration. At some point you will come to a stage where you won’t be able to fully express yourself like you would be able to in your native language, and there will be times when you won’t be able to find the right word to say.学习英语总会有一定的挫折感。在某个时刻，你将进入一个你不能完全表达自己的阶段，有时你也找不到合适的词来表达。Nearly everyone who learns English goes through this phase; it’s just a natural part of the language learning process. This stage may last only a few weeks if you are completely immersed in English, but it could last years if you only use English twice a week at your language school. The only way to overcome this frustration is by practice, practice, practice.几乎每个学习英语的人都经历了这个阶段，这只是语言学习过程中的一个自然部分。如果你完全沉浸在英语中，这个阶段可能只持续几个星期，但如果你每周在你的语言学校只使用两次英语，那么它可能会持续几年。克服挫折的唯一方法是练习，练习，再练习。Keep in mind that this frustration isn’t because you’re not smart enough, or because the language is too difficult, it is something that many people have to go through. By embracing this frustration and feeling it more intensely through increased exposure you can pass through this stage more rapidly.记住，这种挫折不是因为你不够聪明，或者是因为语言太难，而是许多人必须经历的事情。通过这种挫折感，通过增加曝光，你会更迅速地通过这个阶段。
5. Don’t take it personally when people don’t understand you5.别人不理解你时，不要把它当回事。You’ll have this problem a lot when talking with people who aren’t used to dealing with foreigners. If they don’t have this experience they will be used to hearing English spoken in a very specific way, and they won’t have any frame of reference when talking to you. Realize that this isn’t a reflection of your language skills, but rather a reflection of this person’s lack of exposure to different people.当你和不习惯与外国人打交道的人交谈时，你会有很多问题。如果他们没有这方面的经验，他们将习惯于用一种非常特别的方式来听英语口语，在和你谈话时他们不会有任何参照。要意识到这不是你语言技能的反映，而是反映了这个人对不同的人缺乏接触。This can also happen when talking to English learners who have a lower level of English than you. They won’t be able to understand everything you say because of your more advanced vocabulary. Try to remember that you were once at their level and not everyone is at the same place on their language journey.这也可以发生在英语学习者比你低英语水平说话的时候。他们不能理解你所说的一切，因为你有更高级的词汇。请记住，你曾经也处在在他们的水平，并不是每个人，在他们学习语言的旅程中都处在相同的水平。
6. Don’t compare yourself to other English Speakers6.不要拿自己和其他讲英语的人比较。No matter what level your English is at, you had to work hard to bring yourself to that level. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished and don’t be too concerned with what other people think about it. They don’t know how many hours you’ve had to work to get to where you are, they don’t know all the struggles you’ve been through to get there.不管你的英语水平如何，你都必须努力工作，使自己达到那个水平。为你所取得的成就感到骄傲，不要太在意别人对你的看法。他们不知道你必须工作多少个小时才能到达你所在的地方，他们不知道你为达到那里所做的所有努力。This also means you shouldn’t go around comparing yourself to other people. Everybody is different; some people learn languages more easily than others and some people have spent more time working to improve their English. Just because your friend who lived in London for 3 years can speak really well doesn’t mean that you’re not on the right path.这也意味着你不应该把自己和别人比较。每个人都是不同的，有些人比其他人更容易学习语言，有些人花更多的时间来提高他们的英语水平。仅仅因为你在伦敦生活了3年的朋友能说得很好并不意味着你走错了路。Some people like to see others fail, and by paying any attention to these people you are just feeding their negativity. Any time you spend worrying about what they think of you is time wasted that could be better spent by working to improve your English.有些人喜欢看到别人失败，通过关注这些人，你只是在为他们的消极情绪而烦恼。任何时候你担心他们对你的看法都是浪费时间，通过努力提高你的英语会更好。
7. If you are fluent, or just think you are, Don’t Get Cocky (arrogant)7.如果你很流利，或者只是认为你是，不要变得傲慢(傲慢)English is not a chip in your brain. It’s a learning process. Maybe this is gonna seem harsh, and definitely a bit paradoxical, but for the rare English Jedi breed, they realize that there’s never really perfect fluency, only the impassioned and ever-approaching journey toward it.英语不是你脑子里的芯片。这是一个学习的过程。也许这看起来很刺耳，当然也有点自相矛盾，但是对于罕见的英国绝地来说，他们意识到从来没有真正完美的流畅性，只有充满激情和接近的旅程。This means that when you finally become fluent, (whatever that really means to you or to the world), you shouldn’t adopt the attitude of somebody who thinks “I already learned English” because there are some fundamental problems and limitations that come from this assumption. Here are just a few:这意味着，当你终于变得流利，(无论对你或世界意味着什么)，你不应该采取的态度，认为“我已经学会英语”的人，因为有一些基本的问题和局限性，从这个假设。这里只有几个类型：You’re living a lie because you never stop learning a language. It is like calling yourself a fully-realized human being. There’s always the next level up, and the current level always needs practice.你生活在谎言中，因为你从未停止学习语言。这就像把自己称为一个完全实现的人。总会有下一个台阶，现在的水平总是需要练习的。The learner tends to get lazy, and it’s a universal fact about any learning process, that if you aren’t growing, you are probably getting worse.学习者往往变得懒惰，这是任何学习过程的普遍事实，如果你不成长，你可能变得更糟。There is a tendency to treat other English learners (or people who are learning their language) in a condescending, totally idiotic way, forgetting what it is like to learn because they themselves are no longer connected to their own learning process.有一种倾向是以一种居高临下的、完全愚蠢的方式对待其他的英语学习者(或正在学习他们的语言的人)，忘记了学习是什么样子，因为他们自己已经不再与自己的学习过程联系在一起了。Cultural Understanding: You can know everything about grammar, but that doesn’t mean you are fluent. You need to be constantly connected to the source of the language (culture) so that it flows from who you really are.文化理解：你可以了解语法的一切，但这并不意味着你很流利。你需要不断地连接到语言(文化)的源头，这样才能从真正的你身上流淌出来。
So there you have it, 7 things not to do when speaking English. Now that you know what not to do, go out there and speak English!所以已经告诉你啦，说英语时七件事不要做。既然你知道不该做什么，就走出去说英语吧!