误导读者的英语学习资料

网上有些流传甚广的英语学习资料，内有错误。有些是笔误，有些是注解错误，也有些是语法错误。若是象我这个无名小卒人所写，乱说一通，错误百出 影响不大-因没有人信我，而我也没有叫人去背我的东西。若是某某名校介绍，或是贴者加个“必读” ，“必背” ，而初学者不知是劣品，盲目的去背了，便越学越糟了。
A few of the widely circulated “Learning Materials” on Chinese “Learn English Sites”, Discussion Forums, or Blogs contain considerable amount of mistakes. Some are typographical or careless mistakes, but some are grammatical, stylistic, interpretation or translation mistakes. If these were written by non-professionals in the form of mutual exchange of ideas, the negative effect they pose would be minimal. However, when they are endorsed by “famous” teachers, or posted by reputable or popular websites, and readers blindly follow the advise of “must memorize”, the harm they can do could be considerable.

有些的错处是很显明，不知那些“高手” ，“大师” 不知为何看不到。贴了出来，还有很多人大声赞好。这是说有些人不能辨好坏英语。这些有错的学习资料，对他们来说，无疑是糖衣毒药。
Some of the mistakes are obvious. One wonders why those so call “Top Guns” and “Expert Teachers” failed to notice the flaws. Moreover, there are plenty of people who praise the poster for providing them with such wonderful material. For those who cannot discern good English from bad, this is indeed a case of the blind leading the blind. Committing these lessons to heart, as suggested by the instructions that come with many of them, is indeed like taking sugar coated poison.


为了提高新学者对此些有问题的学习资料的意息，希望他们不会盲目的去“必背” 这是资料。网上有好的，也有坏的学习资料，各位小心。
In order to alert the eager beginners to such perils, I am giving a few examples of these bad learning materials, in the hope that you will avoid “committing them by heart.” There are plenty of good and bad learning materials on the Internet, please exercise caution when using them.

Example I: 例子一
每天一起练口语 (1) 寒暄， (2) 快乐。。。(30) 用Be动词说话。。。(N)
网上很多。不少大型的学习网上都有。不知原出于书本为是笔记。内的中文注解错误甚多。(大约 20%)。几乎每课都有错点。 其中收集的口语，有大约10%与每天真正用的口语无关。 (本人在北美四十五年，对英语也略知一二。) This set of material can be found in many large “Learning English” sites. I do not know if it comes from a book or a set of class notes originally. About 20% of the annotation/interpretation in Chinese are incorrect. Almost every chapter has at least one mistake. Roughly 10% of the collection has no application in real day-to-day conversation. I have lived, studied and taught in North America for 45 years, so I guess I do know enough English to tell the good from the bad.

现在从 [修改/注解]每天一起练口语的中译注解内的错误，第一至三十课 --转贴时拜托请注明转贴,作者及出处。 请不要加上出自你们的论坛之类的字句。 出自 http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=11&id=21413 ) 的贴子上抽几个例子出来给大家参详。

From chapter II:

Tell me, is it a boy? 喂，你是男孩吗？>>修改/注解--> Obviously, this is a question about if someone is a boy or a girl. The most likely scenario is: “Hey George, my wife has just given birth.”” Tell me, is it a boy?” ：“George. 我太太生了孩子。” “是男的吗？(Is it a boy?)”

He swept her off her feet. （俗语）他对她可着迷了。>>修改/注解--> Just the opposite-->她被他迷住了He is the one who swept her off her feet, and not the other way around.

Chapter 5
So I made a mistake, big deal! 我真是错得离谱了。-->修改/注解: No. “big deal” does not mean 真是错得离谱了. “big deal” is an act of defiance. =“So I made a mistake, “what’s the big deal/no big deal!”)

Chapter 7
Sob! I didn't mean to kill it. I'm sorry birdie. 呜呜，我无意要杀死你。对不起，小鸟。-->修改/注解: “it” and “birdie” are two different entities. “I” is talking(apologizing) to ‘birdie” about having killed “it.”
　　
Will it hurt? 不知道会不会受伤？-->修改/注解:”hurt”=”cause you pain, physical, mentally or financially.” -->会不会(痛/受苦)的？

Chapter 9
Have a little wine, punk. 小伙子，喝一点酒吧。（可以缓解一下精神紧张）-->修改/注解: ” punk “ is not 小伙子. You just don’t call any 小伙子 a punk! 小阿飞/流氓 is closer.

　　Chapter 10
I wonder if it's a real diamond. 它可是地道的钻石呀。-->修改/注解:   “I wonder”=I doubt-->我怀疑这是否真的钻石呀。

Chapter 25
There are many more, let me just quote 4 more.
He's a dumb guy. 他是位沉默的老兄。-->修改/注解: NO! Dumb is not 沉默　 Dumb means stupid.
每天一起练口语(26)----年轻朋友的表达
　　Hmm, I'm stoned. 哼，我是个老古板。-->修改/注解: ”stoned”: slang for intoxicated. (by alcohol or drugs)
　　Look, he's high. 瞧，他是个高傲的家伙。-->修改/注解: ”high”, slang for euphoric experience under intoxication by alcohol, drugs or other stimulation.
Chapter 30
I used to be a pilot. Now, I'm a parachutist. 我曾经做过飞行员，如今是伞兵了。-->伞兵 Paratrooper ; 跳伞员 parachutist

The weirdest of all is this one from chapter 30: 最奇怪的的这一条。你每天口语会在那时用到？
This mouse would be delicious. 这只老鼠似乎很是可口。Question 1: If this is a collection of spoken English that one must learn in order to talk to other people fluently, why should we want to say, “This mouse would be delicious?” Are you going to eat a mouse? My guess is this is either copied down wrong, or the original text is wrong. Chances are, the word is “mousse” (pronounce as “mooo-s”) instead of “mouse.” Mousse is a French dessert (from dictionary 一种多泡沫含奶油的甜点). Note: there are some dessert websites in which the word “mouse” is used for “mousse.” I don’t know if that is a careless mistake, a spelling mistake, or that indeed “mouse” is now used for “mousse” (I doubt that.)

(To be continued….)

Example I: 例子二
有个网上非常流传的所谓“必背” 文章。有些论坛上有五，六个相同的贴子(不同标题。) (someone is either selling it or giving it away as a bonus for being their customers : http://www.vooyoo.com/list/22023.shtml)
英语写作必背200句对译小册子这学习资料有二百个句子，其中大约 60% 有大大小小的无病。
这资料的第一句是：
1. According to a recent survey, four million people die each year from diseases linked to smoking.
相信你们很多见过。
标题如：英语写作必背200句； 英语写作绝对有用200句；英语高级写作必背200句；雅思写作必背200句；雅思优秀作文必背200句；经典200句；等等
有些贴子连有惊人之序言，e.g.: “这200句是我们写作教学组6年时间提举出来的国外经典文章中的句子，是精华中的精华。”或是“这些句子是从近百篇雅思优秀作文中摘录下来并经反复推敲提炼而成的。” 或是“英语高级写作必背200句，为经典之作，不仅仅句型完美”

事实呢？事实这些是是骗人之言. 句子是从几篇
稍为修改过多学生作文了摘出来。有小些是学生写作时从记忆中把背过的书本上抄下来的句子.。不知可人把它们反译成中文，便引起别人的幻觉以为这是很地道的英文。
我以前在雨巷英语园地的学习交流板上讨论过第一到一百题。 (101 to 200是别人发表讨论，我只参个意见。) 现摘几条有名显错误的句子了做例子。
以下摘自”试修改 `英语写作绝对有用200句’ 内有错误的句子 . 转载请注明出自雨巷英语园地 “Learning Exchange“板 #1 to 100. http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=11&id=19210

13 . A proper part-time job does not occupy students' too much time. In fact, it is unhealthy for them to spend all of time on their study. As an old saying goes: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
修改为 A proper part-time job would not occupy too much of a student’s time. In fact, it is unhealthy for them to spend all their time on their studies. As an old saying goes: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” (Please note this same quote is repeated in #79)

26. The information I've collected over last few years leads me to believe that this knowledge may be less useful than most people think.
修改为(The information…over the last few years…less useful than what most people think.)

27. Now, it is generally accepted that no college or university can educate its students by the time they graduation. 改为(--> by the time they graduate.)

44. It is commonly (改为 generally) accepted that no college or university can educate its students by the time they graduation (修改 graduate). (This is essentially the same as 27. My suspicion is that 27 and 44 are from the same partially corrected essay, with the second mistake missed.)



32. Although many people claim that, along with the rapidly economic development, the number of people who use bicycle are decreasing and bicycle is bound to die out. The information I've collected over the recent years leads me to believe that bicycle will continue to play extremely important roles in modern society.

the rapidly economic development-->修改: the rapid economic development; bicycle is bound to-->修改: the bicycle is/bicycles are; that bicycle will continue-->修改: the bicycle will/bicycles will.


76. It is hard to imagine a student focusing their energy on textbook while other children are playing. 修改: ( a student …his…textbook)(students…their…textbooks)

So you see, these are far from being 经典之作, and 句型完美.

Example III: 范文。
范文有好有坏。若是象我这个无名小卒人所写，乱说一通，错误百出 影响不大-因没有人信我，而我也没有叫人去背我的东西。若是某某名校介绍，或是贴者加个“必读” ，“必背” ，而初学者不知是劣品，盲目的去背了，便越学越糟了。
先举个例：四六级作文写作模版 (网上很多。以下的是出自“江财人论坛 → 江财版面 → 阅览室 → 英语角 → 四六级作文写作模版，献给即将考试的人” http://www.jiangcairen.com/fourm/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=937&page=1 )
未修改过的原文
Generation gap between parents and children
Nowadays , there are more and more misunderstanding between parents and
children which is so- called generation gap . It is estimated that (75 percentages of parents often complain their children's unreasonable behavior while children usually think their parents too old fashioned).
Why have there been so much misunderstanding between parents and children?
Maybe the reasons can be listed as follows . The first one is that ( the two generations, having grown up at different times, have different likes and dislikes ,thus the disagreement often rises between them) . Besides(due to having little in common to talk about , they are not willing to sit face to face ) . The third reason is (with the
pace of modern life becoming faster and faster , both of them are so busy with their
work or study that they don't spare enough time to exchange ideas ).To sum up ,the main cause of XX is due to ( lake of communication and understanding each other) .
It is high time that something were done upon it. For one thing (children should respect their parents ).On the other hand ,( parents also should show solicitue for their children). All these measures will certainly bridge the generation gap .
修改。出自第5楼 江财人论坛 英语角 http://www.jiangcairen.com/fourm/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=937&page=1
这个写作模版没有注名是谁写的？错的这么多，不会是你写的吧。
75 percentages/ 75 percent
of parents often complain their children's /complain about their
while children usually think their parents too old
fashioned /while the children usually think of their parent as too
old fashioned/usually think their parents are too old fashioned).
Why have there/why has there…
to ( lake of communication and understanding each other)./due to a/the lack of
It is high time that something were done upon it /something is done about it
show solicitue/solicitude
will certainly bridge the/help to bridge

Here is a second example:
I tried copying that here, but I keep on losing the highlighted words and the corrections got mixed up with the text. I am leaving you the link; you can go look at it for yourself.

From 先改了错，才好叫人去背诵 http://www.kaoyansky.cn/viewthread.php?tid=70068&highlight=%B1%B3%CB%D0
Correction to（背诵第一篇）http://www.kaoyansky.cn/index.php?fromuid=36620 共享天下考研论坛



错这么多，怎能来做模版？我不是说我会比他写得好。但我不会把这么多错的作品来做模版。更不会叫人去背它。
==
There are many others who have minor flaws in them. These flaws may not be critical, but students who are asked to memorize them do indeed inherit those mistakes. Thus we see students starting to write “can not” instead of “cannot”(footnote 1), “the nature” instead of “nature”, “our/their life” instead of “lives”, and “oil” instead of gasoline/petrol. (The above mistakes can be found in various 范文s associated with big names in China’s tutorial education scene or with certain large commercial English tutorial school chains.)

I don’t need to say more. Those poor beginners who need these most are the very people who cannot tell good stuff from bad. They are the ones who are affected the most. It is a catch-22 situation. Students need to discern the good from the bad so they can choose only the good stuff to learn from. But in order to be able to do that, they must know enough English to be able to tell the difference. But if they know enough, then they won’t need these beginning level materials.

(1) “Cannot is one word” http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=11&id=17484
(2) [更正/加 注]每天一起练口语的中译注解
http://www.rainlane.com/post.asp?action=re&BoardID=11&ID=21413&star=1&page=1    
(3) 江财人论坛 英语角四六级作文写作模版 http://www.jiangcairen.com/fourm/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=937&page=1
(4) 先改了错，才好叫人去背诵 http://www.kaoyansky.cn/viewthread.php?tid=70068&highlight=%B1%B3%CB%D0