我为什么建议多读英文故事？

我为什么建议多读英文故事？

听故事、读故事、讲故事，是人类的天性。童年时代，几乎每天晚上我们都要缠着父母讲几个故事才肯入睡；为人父母之后，自己又成为了故事高手。无论自己胡编滥造的故事有多么荒诞，孩子却听得津津有味。在不知不觉中，孩子学习了语言，完善了说话的能力。

孩子在听故事时，完全不会在意我们的用词和语法，只是全神贯注、信以为真地投入到故事情节中。当他们稍稍长大一点，会主动要求浏览图画书或观看动画片；再大一点会开始阅读故事和小说。母语为拼音文字的孩子接触阅读，困难比中国孩子要少一些，因为汉字是汉语学习最花时间的部分。英美法德等国的小学生和中学生，阅读和写作量都比较大。

根据我的个人学习经验，阅读与聆听外语新闻，一是学习语言知识，二是吸取有用信息，但很少能触动心灵；而读故事和听故事，除了学习语言知识外，还能够引起情感上的共鸣。一般而言，心灵情感上的投入，可以更有效地吸收知识与信息。

大多数英语学习者共有一个心愿：流利地说英语。要培养说的能力，前提是足量的视听、阅读、模仿、朗诵、背诵。在实际口语练习中，我们是以家长里短的轻松聊天为主，而非慷慨激昂的播音或演讲。因此，建议想练口语的学习者平时应当注意温和地讲话，不必动辄像电视主播一般严肃死板。听听我们周围的学习者讲英语，是不是大多数生硬有余而圆滑不足？练朗诵新闻不如模仿生动的故事。因此，国际语言学泰斗克拉申教授非常推荐“自由自愿阅读(freevoluntary reading)”。

当然，如果你不喜欢故事也没关系，听读自己所喜爱的英文内容，总会有所长进。

Learn English through story-reading

It is human nature to listen to, read and tell stories. When we were young, we begged our parents to tell stories almost every night before we went to sleep; as parents, we have become great storytellers ourselves. No matter how ridiculous the stories we make, our children listen with great interest. Subconsciously, both children and we learn our mother tongue well and perfect the ability to speak.

When listening to stories, children don't care at all about the words or grammar rules in our speech. They just pay attention to the plot development and imagine themselves to be a part of the stories. When a little older, they ask for picture books or watch cartoons on TV; when old enough to read, they might be obsessed with stories and novels. The children using alphabetic languages seem to develop their reading skills earlier than the Chinese children, as Chinese characters are the most time-consuming part of the learning or acquiring the  language. Primary and secondary school students in countries such as the UK, US, France and Germany are involved in more reading and writing than Chinese students.

Based on my personal learning experience, it is necessary to read and listen to the news in English to learn new expressions and obtain useful information. But news rarely touches the heart, whereas reading and listening to stories, in addition to learning the language, can strike a chord in our hearts. Generally speaking, when emotionally engaged, a learner becomes more efficient in absorbing knowledge and information.

Most learners of English share a common wish: to be fluent in speaking English. To develop the ability to speak, the prerequisite is an abundant amount of audio-visual practice, reading, imitation, recitation and memorisation. In practical speaking, we are usually engaged in conversations rather than impassioned broadcasts or speeches. Therefore, it is recommended that learners may learn to speak gently. There is no need to be as serious and rigid as a TV anchor. If you listen to the learners around you, you will find that most of them speak English in a stiff and harsh tone. It would be better off to mimic a thrilling story than imitating the tone of an announcer reading a piece of news.

Professor Krashen, a leading linguist in the world, recommends 'free voluntary reading'. Of course, if you don't like stories, it's okay to listen to your favourite content. Anyhow, you will still improve.