想講出道地的英文，試試看用「唱」的吧！

在外商銀行工作的Mike，講英文時文法錯誤不多，發音雖然不夠道地，但也還可以，商業英文檢定也拿到高分，但很奇怪的是，同事、老闆，甚至連他自己都覺得他英文不好。問題到底出在哪裡？

他的問題其實出在英文的節奏感。沒有抓到其中的訣竅，英文就總是差一截。講英文其實像在唱歌，只要調整好，道地的英文韻味就會自然地出現。

英文不是一個字一個字講，而是一串一串地說

英語要講出節奏，可先從斷句開始。美國人講英文是一串一串字的說，而不是一個一個字的說。每一組字串以相同速度進行，字串和字串之間停頓稍長，就會產生節奏感。斷句的原則其實用感覺也抓得到，以下原則只是參考，就算同樣講英文母語的人，強調的重點不同，斷句也不會一模一樣：

1.標點符號後停頓一下。
2.較長的主詞講完，停頓一下。The company I work for / have relocated.
3.連接詞之前停頓一下。連接詞指的是and, or, but, however, as, if, though, when等。
4.介係詞前停頓一下。“of” 例外，因為of常跟前後名詞關係非常密切，通常沒有停頓。
6.子句前停頓一下。例如：I heard/ that she would be back.

講英文其實像在唱歌

現在請你讀以下這篇文章，一口氣唸完它，唸出聲音：

A good friend recently asked me why a pause is so important when speaking. His style is usually quite fast and dynamic, and he felt that leaving pauses might disrupt the flow and make his talk seem disjointed.

I first realized the power of the pause in a presentation when I was at a private equity seminar in 2008.

大部份人唸完，腦裡不會有任何印象，因為沒有斷句，不但聽起來沒有英文的節奏感，也無法吸收，現在跟著斷句符號再讀一次，體會一下自己的音流。說的時候，每一組字串以相同的時間講完；這道理你應該很熟的，就像唱歌一樣，你要按節拍唱唱停停，節奏感就在這斷句中自然產生。

A good friend recently asked me / why a pause is so important /when speaking. // His style is usually quite fast / and dynamic, /and he felt /that leaving pauses/ might disrupt the flow /and make his talk seem disjointed. //

I first realized /the power of the pause / in a presentation / when I was at a private equity seminar / in 2008.

開始唱吧！

現在，開始練習，就像練唱一樣：底下的句子你試著一句一句講，每一句都用一拍講完，調整好你的呼吸，注意你的節拍。你可以先一句一句唸，最後把整段串連起來，發掘一下自己的英語韻味吧!

●My short term goal
●My short term goal / is to get placed
●My short term goal / is to get placed / in a reputed company
●My short term goal / is to get placed / in a reputed company / like yours
●My short term goal / is to get placed / in a reputed company / like yours/ which will give me an opportunity
●My short term goal / is to get placed / in a reputed company / like yours/ which will give me an opportunity / to enhance my skills
●My short term goal / is to get placed / in a reputed company / like yours/ which will give me an opportunity / to enhance my skills / and knowledge.

作者簡介_世界公民文化中心