至于英语，仅是交流工具而已，但一直以来，我们却把它当作一门知识来学，以至于学了十几年，却不能开口交流。个人认为，对于英语，只要掌握以下六大技能，即可把握英语的核心——

　　第一，用英文界定事物的技能。界定事物是交流过程中最重要的环节，而我们传统的英语口语教学却没有强调过这一点。我们的英语课本经常有这样的问题：this is a glass? where is the book? 而很少出现这样的问题，如：what is a book?  what is a glass﹖其实，当中国人说英语卡壳的时候，大多数情况是你想告诉别人这是什么但却不知道怎么来界定它。谁都可以轻易地做出描述：where is the book?  it's on the table . it's on the desk.等。但不是所有人都能界定“书是什么”，所以学英文时要有意识地多问自己“是什么”，然后想方设法回答。

　　第二，用英文进行解释的技能，也就是能够用不同方式表达同一意思。我们用母语可以自如地交流，原因是当我们说一件事卡壳的时候，我们总能找到另一种方式来表达。而用英文交流时，如果对方对我们所说的不太清楚时，我们就没办法换种方式再说了。其实，只要表达同一意思，使用哪些单词或句法没有太大关系。这就引出一个背单词的问题。许多人只是照着单词表很机械地背单词的拼写和中文意思，并没有把单词学活并用起来。其实记单词应该是这样的，记一个单词，还要能同时说出一到两个它的同义词、近义词、反义词等，这才叫记住了。

　　第三，用英文描述事物的技能。描述事物大致可以分为按时间顺序描述和按空间顺序描述。从时间上来说，美国人习惯“开门见山”：从自我出发，描述时总是把他认为最重要的东西先点出来，然后是次重要的，他不考虑这个东西在时间上按什么顺序发生。而中国人则习惯“按部就班”地描述事物，强调压轴，把最重要的放在最后。这样一来，按中国人的事件发生的先后顺序给美国人描述东西，美国人很快就失去兴趣了，因为他难以确定这一描述中的重点。从空间上来说，美国人总是由我及外，由里及表的，而中国人通常是远远地走来，一步步贴近自我。理解了这些差异，对于英文语法结构的组织就能够游刃有余了，说起来也才像美国式的英文。

　　第四，自如使用习惯用语的技能。习语是一种语言具备某一国家或地区风格的重要因素。通俗地说，就是每个单词你都认识，但把它们组合在一起，你就不知道是什么意思了。通过学习美式英文中的习语，可以深入了解美国文化；而如果能在适当的场合加以运用的话，能让你的口语听起来十分地道。因此，积累相当数量的有效的习语是非常重要的。习语可以通过看美国电影来习得。

　　第五，英文猜测能力，即与对方交流时能够根据上下文推测对方的意思的能力。在英语听、说、读、写、译中，大家一致反映听、说最难。因为这时候的内容一现即逝，无法慢慢推敲研究。所以猜测能力就尤为重要了。培养良好的猜测能力，需要不断地磨练。比如，可以每天选一段带有一些生词的阅读材料，快速浏览，迅速得出其大体的意思。

　　第六，养成良好的汉语、英语的双语转换习惯。常常听到这样的说法：用英文交流时要远离汉语思维。个人认为这种说法是错误的，一个人的母语是怎么也无法忘记的。语言都是有其共性的，比如汉语和英语的主谓结构就是一致的，不同的是定语、状语的位置，汉语的定语都在所要修饰的词之前，英语则将最重要的定语放在所要修饰的词前，其余的都在该词后。

　　因此，学英语时不要认为自己是在学一个从未接触过的东西而产生无力感，也不要总认为自己的英文程度没有达到能表达现有的汉语水平的程度而不敢开口。其实，大多数英语学习者所掌握的英语词汇都足以表达目前的生活和思想了，关键在于，不要一开始就想对应的英文怎么说，而是降低自己的汉语水平：先拆解汉语，直到拆解成最小单位，这样，在每个词的意思都确定以后，然后才想英语中对应的东西。事实上，把汉语拆成最小单位的时候，英语已经在那儿等着了。比如，把“我们不是近亲结婚”翻译成英语，看起来似乎很难。现在不管英语怎么说，先拆解汉语。“我们”到底指什么？如果说话的主体是女性的话，她一定会说“my husband and i”。如果是男性的话，他一定会说“my wife and i”。当把“我们”拆解成“my husband and i”或“my wife and i”时，你会发现“结婚”这个概念也表达出来了，因为你不可能称任何一个陌生的男人为“husband”，也不会叫一个陌生的女人为“wife”。接下来“不是近亲”可译为“are not something”，而“亲属”为“relatives”，“近”为“close”，这样整句话变成地道的美语原来就是“my husband and i are not close relatives”

以下是我个人的翻译，以供大家交流学习.

                                                                           ---master zhou

english is just a tool for communication,but for a long time,we learn it as knowledge, after years of learning, we still can not express ourselves freely.here are six techniques for learning english.

first,to give definition to something.defination is a very important part during communication,but during our traditional english learning, we never emphasize this point. in our text book,we often see sentences like: where is the book? and the answer will be like:it’s on the table.it’s on the desk. the biggest problem during our communication with foreigners is to give something a clear definition like: “what is a dog?”.so when you learn english ask yourself what is something,and respond to it.

second,to explain something in different ways(reach the same goal by different routes殊途同归).when we use our mother tongue to communicate,we can express same points in many ways,but it’s not easy for us when it comes to english.so when we learn a word,we should also know its synonym and antonym.

third,to describe something in english.to describe something have two methods,which by importance order and by space order.first by importance order,foreigners prefer the way “come straight to the point”,they like to say the most important thing at the very beginning,but we chinese on the other hand,we prefer each next to and put the most important thing at last.it’s like when you come to forbidden city, before you come to emperor main building,you need to go through many gates.in the states you can directly see white house.second by space order,english expression is like put on clothes,first underwear,then shirt maybe,last maybe overcoat.chinese is like put off clothes,first take off overcoat,then shirt,then you know.

fourth,the ability to use idioms.use some idioms in proper situations can make your english sounds native and genuine,idom is also a good way of learning foreign countries cultural background,where can we learn some idioms:movies,novels,newspaper,but movie is the cheapest and quickest way.

fifth,the guessing ability.that is the skill to guess the meaning of some unknown words.in the five parts of english learning :“listening,speaking,reading,writing and translating.” which one do you think is difficult compare to others.some people think listening and speaking are the most difficult of all.because listening and speaking the information cannot be repeated again and again.so guess some words meaning through the conversation is very important.

sixth,form the habit of switch between chinese and english.the common saying is when you speak english forget about chinese,that is impossible,because how can a native speaker forget his mother tongue,and language have commons,like the simple structure of a sentence: “subject +predicate+object.

so when you’re learning english,don’t think that is a complete unknown thing,don’t wait until your english level is as same as your chinese to begin to talk,last but not least,english doesn’t belong to some few so called linguistics,its belongs to everyone. 

我们不是近亲结婚。

my wife and i are not close relatives.