學外語的人在和老外交流時總是害怕會犯錯誤而導致誤解，害怕聽不懂對方而導致交流無法進行。其實聽不懂也不必如此擔心，下面就為您支幾招應對策略。
For those of you still worried about making mistakes, you should just remember countries like Britain, America, Australia and Canada are all very multicultural countries. Multicultural means lots of different cultures. In London alone there are people living here from all over the world. Most of them speak English but there are many different accents. Not everyone speaks perfectly and people do make mistakes.
你們很多人擔心犯錯，你們應該記住，像英國、美國、澳大利亞和加拿大這樣的國家是多文化融合的國家。多文化融合指的是有很多不同的文化。單說倫敦，就有世界各地的人住在那裡。大部分人說英語但有很多不同的口音。不是每個人都說標準的英語，而且，人們會犯錯。
But as English speakers, we don't worry about it. We are really used to (familiar with) hearing non-native speakers of English speak English. We don't care at all if they make mistakes as long as we can understand them. So as non-native speakers of English, you shouldn't worry about making mistakes. Small mistakes are fine. But even if you make big mistakes and people can't understand you, they will try to understand - or they will tell you if they don't understand. This gives you a chance to say again in different language what you want to say.
不過作為一個說英語的'人，我們不需要擔心這個問題。我們已經很熟悉非英語母語的人說英語了。只要我們明白他們的意思，我們根本不在乎他們是不是犯了錯。所以，作為非英語母語的人，你不需要擔心犯錯。小錯誤無傷大雅，即使你犯了比較大的錯誤別人不懂你的意思，他們也會努力去弄清楚——或者會直接告訴你他們不明白。這給了你一個機會可以用不同語言再次表達你想說的話的機會。
There will be times of course that people maybe won't understand you but you won't know that if you don't try to communicate. Just try your best and really DON'T WORRY. Your English is probably better than you think.
當然人們不懂的時候會有很多次，但是如果你不去交流你就永遠不知道。盡你所能的去試吧，別擔心。你的英語可能比你想象的要好。
Someone talked about not understanding people when they speak English, so I thought today I would discuss what you can say when you don't understand someone.
一些人說當人們說英語的時候他聽不懂，所以我想今天我來說說如果你聽不懂別人說話的時候你可以說些什麼：
If someone is speaking really quickly, don't be afraid to ask them to speak more slowly.如果對方說話太快，可以大膽的請他們慢點說。
I'm sorry, but can you speak a little slower please?
That was a little bit to fast for me. Could you speak a bit slower please?
And don't be afraid to tell someone you don't understand.
如果你聽不懂，就直接說聽不懂：
I'm sorry I don't understand.
I'm sorry I didn't catch that. (I didn't understand)
You could just ask them to say the same thing again.
你可以讓他們重複一遍：
I'm sorry, could you repeat that please?
Would you mind repeating that sentence again - I didn't get what you said? (I didn't understand).
There is nothing bad about asking someone to repeat or speak slower. It's better to ask than to pretend you understand (make someone think you understand when you don't). It will really help you to communicate with English speakers. Sometimes they don't realise they are speaking so fast or using difficult words, so it's good for you to tell them.
讓人們重複或者慢點說沒什麼不好的，請教比裝懂好得多。這對你和說英語的人交流有很大幫助。有時他們意識不到他們說話很快或者用了很難的詞，所以你告訴他們是對的。
I do understand the problems a lot of you are talking about. I studied French and German at university (a long time ago!) and I didn't have many French or German people to talk to. I made sure I listened to a lot of native speakers on the TV or radio or on cassettes from my teachers. I spoke to myself. I spoke to my classmates and I read a lot. Reading aloud (reading and speaking the words as you read) is also a good thing to do to practise speaking. Fortunately I did have a chance to visit those countries as they are not so far away as Britain or America is from China - but a lot of the time it was up to me to try to improve as best as I could without being able to speak to French of German people.
對你們說的問題我有很深的體會。我在大學裡學過法語和德語（很久以前了！），我沒有機會和很多法國人或者德國人聊天。我儘量從電視、廣播和老師的磁帶中聽以我學習的外語為母語的人說話。我和自己說，我和我的同學說，我大量閱讀。大聲朗讀也是練習口語的好方法。幸運的是，這些國家離我並不像英國、美國離中國這麼遠，我曾有個機會去這些國家——但是很多時候在不能和法國、德國人聊天的時候，是不是盡我所能提高我的外語水平是完全取決於我自己的。
That is what you should all do with your English. I wish you LOTS of luck with your studies and I hope the advice helps.
這就是你們學習英語應該做的事。祝你們學業順利，希望這些建議能有用處。
