作者序
As an experienced English professor, one of the problems that I often notice in textbooks is that the subjects covered are so—how should I say it—unpractical. I wouldn’t say that they’re useless, no. It’s just that though they work very well in a classroom setting, you can’t really expect to use what you learn in these textbooks elsewhere.
擔任英文教授多年，我常在英文課本中發現一個問題，就是裡面的題材都⋯⋯怎麼講，就是不太實用。不是說課本沒用喔，只是雖然在教室裡上這些題材很OK，但離開教室就不太能把課本上的這一套搬出來用。
Let’s say, for example, that you run into an English native speaker while waiting for the elevator (or waiting for the bus, or waiting in line to buy xiaolongbao, whichever you prefer). Do you tell them about the very touching story you read on your textbook about how someone’s elderly mother supported him through all sorts of hardships? You don’t.
怎麼說呢？舉例來講，如果你在等電梯、等公車、排隊買小籠包等等時遇到一個英文母語人士，你會跟他說你在課本上讀到一個很感人的故事，主角的老媽媽努力工作支持他讀書嗎？不會吧。
And let’s say, for example, that you and said English native speaker eventually become friends. You meet up for brunch. As you both attack your egg benedicts with your forks, do you describe the inspiring article you saw on your textbook about how some really successful business man manages his time? You don’t.
再舉例來講，想像一下你和那個英文母語人士後來變成朋友，一起去吃早午餐。當你們舉起叉子準備要好好吃一頓班尼迪克蛋時，你會跟他說你在課本上看到一篇很有啟發性的文章，關於一個成功的商業鉅子如何進行時間管理嗎？也不會吧。
What I’m saying isn’t that textbooks are not useful. Not at all. Textbooks are really great for learning English. The point I’m trying to make is that no matter in what language, you don’t make friends by talking like a textbook. Therefore, while you do need your textbook to learn English, you also need something else to help with your daily English conversations. And it is my aim to make this book a helpful guide that can serve as that “something else”.
所以啦，我要說的不是「課本不實用」，一點都不是這樣。課本很實用的，對於學英文真的很有幫助。我要講的重點是，無論你是用哪種語言，你都不會用課本上的內容來交朋友。你還是需要一些「別的東西」來幫你搞定日常生活聊天用的會話，而我寫這本書就是希望它能成為這個「別的東西」。
In this book, you will find conversations on only the sort of subjects you talk about between friends (gossip, roommates, relationships, parties, things like that). And the conversations won’t be the stiff kind you find in textbooks—instead, I did my best to make the dialogues flow smoothly and use down-to-earth vocabulary and sentence structures. Because, to be quite honest, you just don’t use complicated English sentence structures while chatting with friends. I also enjoyed making the conversations as “English” as possible, for my goal in mind is to give you all a good idea on what to expect if you make a British friend or happen to travel to the UK. We English have our own unique sense of humour, somewhat different from the Americans. See? We even spell humour differently!
在這本書中，你所學到的會話都是和朋友們會聊的話題（八卦、室友、人際關係、開趴等等），而對話中的句子也不會像課本裡面那樣感覺硬梆梆。我盡力讓這些句子念起來很順、很平易近人、也不會有很難很恐怖的單字和句型，因為說真的，跟朋友聊天的時候，誰會用很難的英文句型啊？我也盡力把這些會話寫得很「英國」，因為我想讓大家感受一下，如果交個英國朋友、或去英國旅行，大概會遇到怎樣的事情。我們英國人的幽默感跟美國人就是有那麼一點點不一樣，就連我們拼「幽默」（humour）的方式都跟他們不一樣喔。
However, I understand that some of you prefer to go the American way, so I very nicely picked out for you the words that are pronounced differently in British English and American English, and provided the correct pronunciation in American English, so that you wouldn’t be too lost when listening to the very authentically British recording in the MP3 that comes with this book. I also made sure to put ample practice sections throughout the book and introduce key vocabulary, idioms, phrases, expressions and word partnerships, so as to make your learning experience not only fun but also fulfilling. You can refer to the following section, “User’s Guide”, for more detailed descriptions on how to use this book and find the things you need efficiently.
不過，我知道你們有些人是美國派，所以我精心挑出了英國腔英文和美國腔英文念起來不一樣的地方，並附上美式英文的正確發音，這樣聽本書附上的純英國腔錄音MP3時，你才不會心慌慌。我也在書中加入不少練習題、還有關鍵單字、慣用語、片語、表達方式和搭配詞，讓你的學習過程不但好玩，而且也很充實。想搞清楚這本書怎麼用最快最有效率也最實在，你可以翻到後面的「使用說明」看個更清楚。
Before I leave you all to wade through my book, I would like you to remember one more important thing: to learn to speak English, you have to, well, speak. Practice is the key to successful learning, and I believe that if you practise one dialogue a day, you’ll soon be amazed at how your English has grown. Your confidence in speaking will be sky-high and when a wild foreigner appears you will have plenty to talk about!
最後，我還要提醒大家一件重要的事：要會講英文，你就得⋯⋯講英文。要多練習才會學得快嘛！我相信，如果你一天練習一段對話，你很快就會發現你的英文能力成長之快速的，連你自己都嚇一跳！如果路上忽然有外國人冒出來，你跟他就有源源不絕的話題可以說，而且你更會擁有滿滿的自信！
Happy speaking!
快去聊吧！
Nick Stirk
2014.10
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