學(xué)英語要多久？
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“how much time does it take to learn English”
“學(xué)英語到底要花多長時間”？
This question bugs people either because they've already invested a lot of time into it or they are not sure if they should start.
這個問題困擾著人們，要么是因為他們已經(jīng)在其中花費了很多時間，要么就是還不確定他們要不要開始。
So in order to answer this questions, I need to address two issues:
所以，為了回答這個問題我需要強(qiáng)調(diào)兩點：
1. how do you define fluency for yourself?
你自己要怎么給自己定義流利度？
2. how much time are you really spending on English?
你真正花在英語上的時間到底有多少
It's a human tendency to analyze and strategize before we do everything,hoping that every minute we put into something will count，Although it certainly makes sense,
人類天性是會在做某事前評估一下，找找策略，以期望我們投入的每一分鐘都值得，這當(dāng)然是可以理解的。
we often get too caught up in thinking too much,so much so that we haven't actually put in as much time as we thought，Because the reality is even though we are avoiding it,we are still thinking about that thing，and end up creating an illusion that we put in a lot of time.
我們經(jīng)常就是想太多而太糾結(jié)，以至于我們實際就沒有投入我們想的那么多時間，因為實際上我們即使是在回避，但腦子里卻還在想那件事，結(jié)果就是造成一種“我們已經(jīng)投入了很多時間進(jìn)去的假象”
For most people, learning a new language is simply a new year resolution:it gets brought up every once in a while,but they still end up regretting not putting in the action for the whole year.
對大多數(shù)人，學(xué)一門新語言就是一個新年目標(biāo)，每隔一段時間都會提起要學(xué)英語這件事情，然而最后他們還是會后悔這整年都投入足夠的行動。
But in their mind, they think they put in a year's work into learning English or two year’s work,And then they ask “how much longer does it take?”
在他們的印象里，他們還是覺得自己已經(jīng)“花了一年或者兩年來學(xué)英語”，然后他們就開始發(fā)問“到底還要花多久？”
when in reality, if you break down exactly how much effort they spent, it doesn’t amount to a lot.When people say that they don’t have enough time, what they really mean is that they don’t prioritize learning English enough.
而你如果把它們拆分算算它們到底要花了多久時間學(xué)習(xí)，實際情況卻是并不是那么樂觀的。當(dāng)人們說他們沒有足夠的時間，他們言下之意是他們沒有把學(xué)英語重視起來列為首要事務(wù)而已。
They’ve got other things to do, other things that are more important than English, which is understandable, we all have a life, we probably all have something else better to do.
他們有可能有其他事情要做，其他事情比英語更重要的事情，這本身可以理解，我們都有生活，我們可能都有其他更值得做的事。
And it’s precisely because of this mindset that we start to get really calculative about our time.
而就正因為這個想法，我們開始對每一次學(xué)習(xí)的時間精打細(xì)算。
For instance, if we don’t see immediate results right after we study English, we would single-handedly decide that that time was well not spent.Over time we want to spend less and less time, and yet we get more and more impatient.
比如，如果我們學(xué)英語以后沒有立竿見影，我們就會自己單方面就判定這個時間白浪費了。隨著時間變化，我們愿意花時間越來越少，卻還越來越?jīng)]有耐心。
And for those of us who are actually patient and disciplined enough to pull it off for a while, it’s tempting to ask, “how much time does it take?”
另外，即使是我們中那些又有足夠耐心，又足夠自律地能堅持一段時間的人，也會忍不住開始問：“還要花多久？”
This is why you must have a clear vision，this is why you must have a long-term goal.
這就是為什么你要有一個清晰的展望，這就是為什么你必須要有一個長期的目標(biāo)。
Too many times I’ve seen people，dive into learning English without knowing their end goals, it’s not only ineffective, but incredibly demotivating.It’s pretty very likely for you to get angry, get frustrated, get lost and bitter.But you won’t completely give up yet, every once in a while you’ll gonna think to yourself:“ this year I’m gonna make a difference.”“This year I’m gonna learn English, but I don’t want to waste any effort.”
我見過很多次很多人都不知道自己的終極目標(biāo)就一頭扎進(jìn)學(xué)英語里。這不僅沒有效率，使人變得非常消極。很有可能還會演變成生氣、失望、迷茫又恨。但是你又不會完全放棄，每隔一段時間你就有開始打算盤了，今年我一定要取得一點成就?！敖衲晡乙獙W(xué)英語，但是我又不想浪費任何一點努力。”
There’s always gonna be back-and-forth monologue.The problem with asking “how much time does it take to learn English” is that you’re not looking at the end results.You’re simply looking at the start, the beginning of the process.
你的腦海里總是有這樣來來回回的獨白。問自己“學(xué)英語要花多久”的問題就在于你沒有著眼于最終結(jié)果，你就看見了個開頭，整個過程的開端。
How fluent do you want to be?
你想有多流利？
Because the answer is different for everyone.
每個人的答案都是不同的。
I can tell you exactly how much time I spent on English, but it doesn’t mean that you want to be as fluent as me, or you might put in more time than I did. So, in that sense, I empathize with people.
我可以告訴你我在英語上到底花了多少時間，但是你有可能也不想追求像我這樣的流利度，也或者你想比我花的時間還多。
So, in that sense, I empathize with people. Because how do you start something，when you don’t know what exactly it is that you want?On the other hand, if we do know what we want, we often fall into the fallacy thinking that we are spending a lot of time on English when we’re really not.
所以這種情況下，我能感受到你們的心境。因為，你自己都不知道自己到底要什么，怎么開始做這件事情呢？另一方面，如果我們知道自己想要什么，我們又會陷入一種“自己花了很多時間在英語上的誤解，但實際上我們并沒有花那么多時間“的思考誤區(qū)。
When people say, I’ve spent a year, or two years on English already, what exactly does he or she mean?Does that mean that they’ve been going to classes for a year? Are they going to classes every single day? Or they go to one class every week, and then they’ve complained about not being fluent for a year.
當(dāng)人們說，我已經(jīng)花了一年、兩年在英語上了，Ta實際表達(dá)的是什么呢？是不是意味著他們?nèi)ド狭艘荒暾n程？他們是每天都去上課嗎？還是一周就去一次課，然后就抱怨自己一年了還不流利。
Let’s do the math together.If you go to classes every single day from Monday to Friday every single week, throughout the year you’d have 260 hours of study. But the reality is when people say they’ve studied English for a year, they probably aren’t going to classes every single day.And even that, it’s not enough.Especially if want to start speaking and communicating. Fluently, or somewhat fluently.
我們一起來算一算，如果你每天，每周從周一到周五你都去上課，那么一年下來就是260個小時的學(xué)習(xí)時間。但是現(xiàn)實是，當(dāng)人們說他們學(xué)了一年英語，他們可能不是每天都去上課。即使是那樣，也是不夠的。尤其是你想開始說話、交流。而且是流利地，或者相對流利地。
And it’s not just about the amount of time or intensity.It’s more about the frequency.If you have 7 hours to spend,it’s better to spend one hour on English everyday for the week, than to spend 7 hours on English, on day one, and then not study for the rest of the week.With frequency comes a sense of progress, with frequency comes a sense of achievement, and therefore we create “momentum”, which keeps you going,
它其實不僅僅和時間總數(shù)，強(qiáng)度相關(guān)，它更和頻率相關(guān)。如果你有7小時可支配，那么最好是每周每天都花上一小時，而不是第一天花上7小時，然后這周其余的時間就不學(xué)習(xí)了。有了頻率，你就會感受到進(jìn)步，有了頻率你就會有成就感，這樣我們就會產(chǎn)生“自然推動力”，讓我們繼續(xù)走下去，
even when you’re feeling lazy, even when people think that you’re suffering.You actually start to enjoy the process,you actually forget that time is passing.This is perhaps the best, and the only way to “hack” time：which is to actually start finding things that you enjoy about learning English,
即使是你想要犯懶，即使是人們覺得你在受折磨。因為其實你已經(jīng)開始享受這個過程了，并且忘記時間在流逝。這可能是最好的也是唯一的辦法來“攻克”時間，就是真的開始尋找你學(xué)英語過程中使你感興趣的東西。
Because if you think about it,you don’t realize how much time has passed when you’re good at something, when you’re actually enjoying it, and making progress.
因為你想想看，當(dāng)你很擅長一件事情的時候你意識不到時間過了多久，你很享受它，在取得成就。
So next time you ask yourself, “how much time does it take? ”change the question to: “how much time am I really spending on English?”
所以下次你問自己，這要花多長時間？換一種問法，我在英語上真正花了多少時間？
Actually take out a piece of paper, and put down the time you’re spending on English, then you’ll see the problem, then you’ll see just how long the road still is ahead of you.Remember, we often overestimated what we can do in one day, and underestimated what we can do in a longer period of time.
實實在在地拿出一張紙，寫下你在英語上花的時間，然后你就能看見問題，你會看見，前方還有多遠(yuǎn)的路。記住，我們總是會高估我們在一天之內(nèi)能做的事情，卻低估在長時間內(nèi)能成就的事情。
I want you to think of learning English as a marathon, not as a sprint,So start thinking long term, start thinking putting in the action, start thinking strategies, and forget about time.
我希望你們們能把學(xué)英語當(dāng)作一場馬拉松，而不是短跑沖刺，開始學(xué)著長期思考，開始行動起來，開始想策略， 不要糾結(jié)于時間。
