大学英语精读预备1册 lesson 1

（单词翻译）

        Is Learning¹ English Easy or Not   

　　There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world .But only a few of them are very important .English is one of these .Many ,many people use it ,not only in England and the U.S.A. but also in the other parts of the world .About 200000000 speak it as their own language. Many millions are trying to do so.
Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may has different answers .Have you ever noticed ads of this kind in the newspapers or magazines? “Learn English in six weeks. or your money back ...” “Easy and fun ! Our records and tapes help you master your English in a month. From the first day your pronunciation will be excellent. Just send…” of course ,it never happens quite like that.
The only languages that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should remember that we all learned² our own language well when we were children. If we could learn English in the same way ,it would seem not so difficult . Think of what a child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hear. When he wants something ,he has to ask for it . He is using the language, talking in it ,thinking in it all the time. Just imagine how much practice that gets.
So it is hard to say learning English is easy. Because a good command of English depends upon a lot of practice. And practice needs great effort and takes much time. Good teachers ,records ,tapes ,books ,and dictionaries will help .But they cannot do the student’s work for him .