很多留学生刚来到国外的时候,最痛苦的事莫过于上课发言——插不上话。虽然当地学生在侃的有些内容比较浅显或不是什么真知灼见,但他们就是在那里滔滔不绝。有你举手的功夫,或者你在头脑中组织语言的时间,人家已经侃了半天了。
如果你是学文科和社科的专业,这种情况你肯定不陌生:一堂课两三个小时,老师说话的时间不超过半个小时,剩下的时间都是大家在神侃(围绕着阅读材料,理论,案例)。
课堂发言的重要性体现在三方面:
一,课堂发言占期末成绩的一部分;
二,如果上课总是不发言,大家会认为你什么都不懂,不会很看得起你,在课外生活中容易被边缘化;
三,如果上课总是不发言,老师会认为你的学习态度不端正,对这个课不感兴趣或者没有读阅读材料。
有时候若是硬挤进一段对话,你会感觉很唐突,在同学和老师的眼神中你是看得出来的。其实,问题出在中外课堂发言的方式不同。
中国都是老师问一个,学生答一个。学生要举手,所以很有秩序。每次都是老师的讲解贯穿在学生的发言之间,所以学生之间没有对话,学生发言的时候也不需要说些承上启下的话。
而在外国,没什么举手,你有的时候只需要一个手势(抬下手)或者一个声音Ummm,Yeah,Well之类的,把别人的注意力吸引过来即可开讲。一堆同学之间要讲N个回合老师才说话。
这个时候,如果你加入到一个对话,就非常需要承上启下,需要和别人互动,需要总结别人的话,需要明确的表达自己的观点和前面一个或者几个人的观点之间是什么逻辑关系。这种逻辑关系可以是:补充,反对,支持,提问要求澄清,举例,现象升华抽象成规律和理论,开启新话题等。
表达自己意见
I think that...
*最简单的
It seems to me that...
*可以用作表达意见,或者summarize或者confirm对方说的话。
I would argue that...
*这里面用would来弱化语气。
Just to go along with what you said...
*这句话,真的很好用,承上启下。这句话还好在,它使你现在插话看上去legitimate,因为你是为了和前面的那个人go along啊。不赶紧接话,不就along不上了嘛。
Going back to what xxx said...
*同上。不过一般是你已经说了几句,此时想要衔接上别人刚刚提到过或者蜻蜓点水说到的东西。这句话的好处就是,一能表示我的说法和你是有一致之处的, 二能表现他刚才说的东西你还有印象。
同意或者反对
I agree with you.
*最简单的
Building on what XXX has just said, I am with you..., but [main point].
*这里I am with you不一定表示同意也不一定表示反对,它主要的意思是说“你说的我听懂了/我跟上你说的了。”
I follow your logic, but have you thought about/considered this... [mainpoint]...?
*和上面一句话的逻辑是一样的:“你说的我明白了,但是...”
I see what you are saying, but I‘m not sure I would argue that...
*和上面两句话的逻辑一样。
With all due respect, I think...
谦虚的反对
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn‘t [a different topic]...?
I’m not an expert on..., it seems to me that...
I might be wrong, but...
I suspect that I lack some information about this aspect, but here is my twocents.
I am not sure about this..., you might want to check with Professor X... Would you mind letting me know what he/she says?
[别人说了一堆之后] This is oneway to look at it. Another way to look at it might be....
疑惑追问
Just to clarify...
May I ask a follow-up question?
Could you say more (about it)?
*不确定自己是不是听懂了,请别人多解释一些。
Could you elaborate on this?
会议报告、演讲之后提问
That‘s an amazing model/useful concept, but it occurred to me that [this/something]might also play a role....Have you considered...?
Thanks for your talk. I completely agree with your conclusion, but as I’m sure you‘re aware, Dr. XX explains this in a different way, and I was wondering if you could address her theory.
*“but as I’m sure you‘re aware”完全是给对方一个台阶下,可能那个理论他根本没有考虑过。但是如果对方是很senior的,我们也需要客套一下。
需求帮助
I was wondering if I could talk to you about...
*一般都是用过去时,在email里面也是如此。而且,虽然was wondering/hoping这种进行时看起来很怪,但是用法就是这样子的。
I was hoping that if I could talk to you about...
I was wondering if it’d be possible that you...
Sorry to bother you, Professor X....
I realize this is an unusual request...
I realize that you are very busy...
Thanks for your time.
Thanks in advance for your help.
It would be great if you could...
*这个是最常用的,尤其是email里面。
当然,最好的学习方式,不是把这些句子抄下来或者背下来。大家应该在生活中自己再留意一遍,收集一遍,分析一遍,实践一遍。这样,你掌握的不只是一堆句子,而是一套不同场合同样适用的方法。