“Yifu, what is ‘电镀’ in English?”
Well, people like her would usually heckle me with words too obscure to be remembered by my brain, and this question could not have had any other meaning, for we were just walking down a dirt road in the countryside.
It seems that English learners around me are eager to memorize vocabulary; in fact, most of them are undergoing an infatuation with English words.
When my classmates needed assistance with English, they would resort to vocabulary-building: “I am going to recite this whole book [which is as thick as a brick] during the vacation!”, they would say, determined as ever. When my friends wanting to go to college in the US start their preparation for the SAT, the first thing most of them do is to get a vocabulary book, “red (or any other color) treasure book,” as the books are called. When I suggest to my cousins who are in college to read more English books, they will simply reply, “Let me recite this vocabulary book first.”
It seems that vocabulary, mere components of the English language, has been anointed to the degree that every English learner here wants to learn so badly. And that is probably why quizzing me with words is so fun an activity for so many of my friends.
I admit that although I had hardly ever known the word she was asking, I had to pretend that I was thinking hard, preserving my infallible image as a born know-all in this game of do-you-know-this-word.
“I forgot,” I said after moments of ostentatious pondering, but not giving up, “what does it start with?”
“G,” she beamed, sensing my mortality.
“Gal…galvanize?” I said tentatively.
“Oh, come on! Is there a word that you don’t know?”
It’s a funny thing when I think about how I memorized English words. Six years ago when I first stepped into the classroom in Cambridge, MA, my English vocabulary stood at about 500. However, now, an ultraconservative estimate of my vocabulary is 8,000 (some say more than 10,000) , which indicates that I have acquired 7,500 words in 2,200 days. How is that even possible?
To tell the truth, I never used any vocabulary books.
On the contrary, most of those who deem the books as their palladium are foundering in the sea of words. After all, those who vowed to swallow the “brick” still struggle with English; the SAT takers may have conquered the vocabulary questions, but still hit the walls when it comes to reading comprehension; none of my cousins has made huge strides in English over the years.
It seems that the more pious one is to vocabulary learning, the worse one suffers in English learning. But why?
Words themselves are innocent, but learning methods provided by the books are the real albatross.
In a word, the vocabulary obsession nearly guarantees heartbreak. Upon realizing this inconvenient truth, I started to search for remedies…
(To be continued.)
“一夫，电镀在英语里怎么说？”在生活中，有很多人都会像她一样盘问一些晦涩偏僻我很难记住的词汇，而对于正在田间小路散步的我们，这样的问题除了能考察我的单词量以外，就没什么其他特别的意义了。
好像在我身边的这些学英语的人们，都特别热切的想要记住单词，但是他们中的大多数人都只是出于对单词的错误迷恋，以为学好英语的关键就在于背住尽可能多的单词。
我的同学们每每在需要英语上的帮助的时候，采取的方法往往是选择扩展自己的词汇体系，他们总是会说＂我这个假期一定要把这本单词书背完＂而常常是一本单词书厚的跟砖头一般。他们会看着如砖头一般的书鼓励自己决心已下，不达目的誓不罢休。正如我一些想去美国上大学的朋友们，在准备SAT前做的最多的一件事就是背所谓的词汇＂红宝书＂每当我建议我上大学的表兄妹们多读一些英文书籍的时候，他们的回答都一律是轻描淡写的来一句＂等我把单词书背完了再说＂
词汇其实只是英语学习上的一个部分，如果把英语比作一个房子，那么单词无疑只是构建这个房子的砖头，虽然是基础很重要，但不是全部。而往往这些学习英语的人们将其重要性给妖魔化了。以至于变成了一种对English“砖头”的痴迷，于是便在学习英语的道路上迷失了方向，也许这就是为什么我身边这么多朋友会把测试我的词汇量当作一件有趣的事了。
我承认尽管从来没有听说过她讲的这个单词，但我还是假装很努力的在思索着它的存在，为了在这场单词的战役中维护我与生俱来的无所不知的高大形象。
在假装思考了一会儿以后，我说“我忘了”，但是我并没有完全缴械投降，＂是以什么开头来着？＂＂G＂她堆着一脸的坏笑，好像嗅到了我的心虚。我试探性的说：”Gal…galvanize?” ＂哇塞，不是吧，你还有不知道的单词吗？＂
每当回忆起当年我背单词的日子，我的嘴角总是挂着微笑。六年前当我第一次踏进麻省剑桥的教室的时候，我的词汇量不过500而已，但到了现在保守估计我的词汇量应该能达到8000，也有人说应该在10000以上，照此说来我在2200个日子里记住了7500多个单词，这真是一件令人难以置信的事情。
说实话我真的从来没用过一本单词书，但相反的，那些认为单词才是王道的人们仍旧在单词的苦海中沉沦着，甚至沉没了。那些信誓旦旦要＂活吞＂了单词砖块的人们，也依然在英语学习之路上挣扎着。那些备考SAT的同仁们虽然能够征服词汇问题，但是在阅读理解方面还是撞了南墙。在我这些表兄弟中，几年过去了，鲜有人在英语上有什么长足的进步。所以这样看来，越是虔诚地在词汇学习上下功夫的人，就越是在英语学习中受尽折磨的人。但这究竟是为什么呢？
词汇本身是无辜的，但是众多英语学习资料里所提供的方法带来的只能是沉重的负担。
总之，对于词汇就是英语学习的王道这一理念的错误理解和痴迷带来的结果，几乎可以肯定的是无用功或者疲惫不堪。当意识到这个令人悲哀的道理以后，我正在试图寻找可以解救亿万英语学习者脱离苦海的解药。
（未完待续）