自从我开放作文批改业务以来,三年间陆陆续续批改了近1000篇文章,包括托福雅思作文、考研英语作文、还有四六级和高考的英语作文。从这么多的文本当中,我大概得出三个咱们中国同学经常犯的问题:1)语法错误;2)中式英语;3)表达啰嗦。
注意,这三个问题的难度是逐一递增的。1)语法错误:这是最基本的问题,如果你还处于语法错误的阶段,证明你的基础比较薄弱,须系统地学习英文写作语法;2)中式英语:这也是绝大多数同学难以攻克的大山,很多句子写出来,语法全对,但就是不地道,换句话说就是“带有浓浓的中国味道”;这个问题须从研究地道英语的语序、积累并使用地道表达开始;3)表达啰嗦:这一层是最难的,可能连一些native speaker都无法做到语言表达的“简洁性”。
下面这段是我最近批改过的一篇托福独立任务的结尾段,大家一起感受一下,里面有没有你的影子。
[题目] Is space exploration a waste of time? (探索太空是不是一种浪费时间?)
[结尾] Though we should admitted that space exploration requires vast investments on time and expense, it is an essential step of future development of mankind. Man always have dreams, reflecting in so many movies and songs to conquer or the outer space, of meeting the alien peoples, of a real glimpse of the sun and the milky way. These dreams, started from the first generation of people, never dies . Our endeavor on any dream cannot be simply judged as a waste of time.
[翻译] 虽然我们应该承认,太空探索确实需要投入大量的时间和金钱,但它是人类未来发展的必要步骤。人类一直怀揣太空梦,这反映在很多电影和歌曲中,我们梦想邂逅外星人,梦想近距离观察太阳和银河系。这些梦想开始于人类的第一代,并永不消亡。我们对任何梦想的努力不能简单地被判断为“浪费时间”。
这段英文陆陆续续犯了上面我提到过的这三个问题,反复出现,以至于严重影响了语言质量。下面我在原文中进行逐一修改:
Though we should admitted that space exploration requires vast investments on time and expense, etc, 表达啰嗦,建议改成 Despite the high cost and long time, it space exploration is an essential step of future development of 中式英语,建议使用地道句型 is of vital importance to mankind's future development. Man Humans always have many dreams about space, reflecting(语法错误,主谓不一致,应该用过去分词,表被动) which are reflected in so many movies and songs to conquer or (搭配错误,只有dream of,没有dream to),such as conquering the outer space, of meeting encountering the aliens peoples, having a closer look at of a real glimpse of the sun and the milky way, etc. These dreams, since the dawn of civilization, have been around(这些梦想,自人类文明曙光开启之时,已经存在) started from the first generation of people, never dies(中式英语) . Our endeavor on any dream Thus, space exploration, as a way of realizing those dreams, cannot be simply judged labeled(“贴上标签”,比judged更准确) as “a waste of time”(加个引号,点题).
最后再把润色后的文字整理一下:
[修改后] Despite the high cost and long time, space exploration is of vital importance to mankind’s future development. Humans always have many dreams about space, which are reflected in so many movies and songs, such as conquering the outer space, encountering aliens, having a closer look at the sun and the milky way, etc. These dreams, since the dawn of civilization, have been around. Thus, space exploration, as a way of realizing those dreams, cannot be simply labeled as “a waste of time”.
[翻译] 尽管成本高,时间久,太空探索对人类未来发展还是具备重要意义的。人类一直拥有许多关于太空的梦想,比如征服外太空、邂逅外星人、近距离观察太阳和银河系等等。这些梦想自从文明发端以来就一直存在。因此,作为实现这些梦想的太空探索,不能被简单地贴上“浪费时间”的标签。
大家可以对比一下这个段落是不是比之前那个原始的段落好很多?地道性上、衔接上都相对比较舒服了。另外,告诉大家一个秘密,这个段落中用到的一个漂亮句型--since the dawn of civilization(自文明发端)是“5月英语大力丸”课程昨天刚刚讲过的句型(??感兴趣的同学可以点击文末左下角“阅读原文”)。
侃哥14年英语专业求学和从教的经验让我深知:英语写作语言质量的提高是个慢活儿,慢工出细活,这里面很需要一种“工匠精神”。我愿意竭尽所能,帮助更多中国同学写出优秀英语作文。