Today I’d like to talk about a very common phenomenon in China, which is the value of English native speakers as educational resources. Many English students only want to study with native speakers. Schools that have “native speakers” can charge much higher tuition. But are native speakers really more valuable?
今日主要想跟大家聊聊中国的一个普遍现象。在中国，从学习英语的角度来讲，母语人士（外教）价值很高。很多英语学生只想找外国人学英语。有“外教”的学校收费要比其他学校高得多。但是外教真的有那么大价值吗?
First of all, just because someone is a native speaker doesn’t mean they are very good at English. Also, because English is such a common language, many native speakers can only speak English. They don’t understand how to learn a language, and so they might not be able to answer the questions you may have.
首先，只因为一个人母语是英语，并不能代表他们英语水平很高。并且，因为英语是如此常见的一门语言，很多英语母语人士都只会说英语。他们并不知道如何学习一门语言，所以他们并不能回答你所遇到的问题。
Next, because English is spoken all around the world, there is no one kind of “native speaker.” There have been many times when I’ve had to “translate” for an American who didn’t understand a strong British accent. A South African could be a “native speaker,” and even I have no idea what they’re saying!
其次，因为英语是世界通用语言，所以并不存在一种严格意义上的“母语人士”。经常有时候我会需要给美国朋友做翻译，因为他们听不懂口音太浓的英式英语。一位南非的朋友也可以称得上是“母语人士”，但是我却完全听不懂他们在说什么！
So what should you do? Well, you should expose yourself to as many English speakers from different places as possible. If they’ve taken the time to learn English, then they must know a great deal about it. They can help you to understand a wide range of English, which is a very valuable skill.
那大家应该怎么办呢？首先你应该将自己置身于尽可能多样化的英语环境（他们都来自世界不同地方）。如果他们也曾经花过时间学英语，那他们一定知道学习的方法！这样就可以帮你扩大你理解的英语范围，这是一项非常有用的技能。
If you can watch “Modern Family” and understand the American accent, that’s great. But at the end of the day, that’s not going to help you when you’re talking to someone from India or Africa on the phone.
如果你通过看《摩登家庭》来学习美式口音，那很好。但是，如果你有来自印度或非洲的朋友打电话给你说英语，你可能还是理解不了。
Native speakers are a very valuable resource. But just remember they are not the only resource for learning English!
母语人士可能是很有价值的资源，但要记住的是，他们不是唯一的资源。
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