学习语言的最佳方法
BBC双语阅读劳伦·拉扎维（Lauren Razavi）(2023年12月11日)
直到普罗尚特·查德哈瑞（Prashant Choudhary）辞去德里一家保险公司的办公室工作、成为一名司机以后，他的英语才开始流利起来。
查德哈瑞之所以离开保险业，是因为他想自己当老板，掌握自己的职业生涯——但是他的新事业现在有了意想不到的好处。
作为一名Uber司机，查德哈瑞每天都要使用这款英语手机APP。他发现这让他的英语能力有了很大的进步。“我喜欢说英语，常常用英语和乘客交流。做Uber司机让我增强了说英语的自信。”他说，“我和来自很多不同国家的乘客打交道，开车带他们到很多地方，与不同的乘客交流，让我的英语有了进步。”
在印度的德里、加尔各答和孟买等城市，像查德哈瑞这样在所谓的共享经济平台上工作的人已为数不少，Uber、Airbnb、自由职业市场应用Fiverr和服装租赁平台Rent the Runway等等都是这样的共享经济平台。这种商业模式让个人能够借用或使用他人提供的资产或服务。由于这些基于移动应用APP的工作以英语为主要语言，印度人在每天工作的同时，顺便还能提高英语水平。
类似Uber这样的共享经济平台正在颠覆传统的商业模式－－并为人们提高语言技能提供了新的途径。（图片来源：Thinkstock）
查德哈瑞不仅用英语和乘客聊天，听英语广播，还主动使用Uber移动应用的英语版，因为这样他就可以根据英文的路线指引去往下一个乘客的所在地。像他这样在工作时抓住一切机会学习语言的印度人还有很多。
聪明学习的核心就是学习日常情景中需要用到的英语。
同样的现象也发生在Airbnb上，在这个网站上，用户可以短期出租房子，主要工作语言也是英语。目前，在印度有9000个以上的房子通过这个平台出租。“对Airbnb的很多用户来说，人与人的互动和文化交流是一种重要的激励，”该公司的发言人艾莉森·伍德（Alison Wood）说，“比如，一些人去旅行时特意选择用airbnb，因为这样他们的孩子可以与其他小孩进行互动，接触其他语言。”
拉姆·基达姆比（Ram Kidambi）把他位于印度南部海得拉巴市中心（Central Hyderabad）的三居室放在Airbnb上出租。虽然他的英语已经说得很好了，但是他说，和英语母语者对话有助于他学会新的短语和掌握英国和美国俚语的用法。“作为一个房东，对我来说最大的收获就是在非正式场合近距离接触不同的文化和语言，”他说。
创业公司PlateCulture是一个家庭餐馆网站。本地人可以通过该网站招待客人享用午餐或晚餐。越来越多的用户也借机学习新的语言（图片来源：Thinkstock）
PlateCulture是一家家庭餐馆网站创业公司。本地人可以通过该网站招待客人享用午餐或晚餐，它已经在包括印度在内的亚洲的10个国家和地区落地，用户群体也出现了上述类似现象。该网站目前只能使用英语。“我们鼓励和支持厨师和客人进行任何文化知识交流，语言交流肯定也包括在内，”该公司的创始人里达·斯塔勒（Reda Stare）说，“尽管（这不是我们最初的商业计划的一部分），我们非常高兴看到用户通过网站进行这类分享和学习。”
语言教师对这一潮流毫不奇怪，他们认为，在印度这样技术变得日益触手可及的国家， 这是一种自然的趋势。“在发展中国家，只有少数人能够把可支配收入投资在语言课程这样的自我提升方面。但是，互联网的普及为展开自我主导的学习和利用丰富的英语语言资源创造了机会，” 全球语言学校The Language Gallery的学业主管利·艾利特（Lea Aylett）说。
“聪明学习的核心就是学习日常情景中可能需用用到的英语。现学现用能让人立刻获得成就感，从而极大地调动人的积极性，” 艾利特补充道。
（责编：友义）
The best new way to learn a language?
By Lauren Razavi,11 December 2024
It wasn’t until Prashant Choudhary quit his desk job at a Delhi insurance firm to work as a driver that he began to speak English with some fluency.
Choudhary left insurance because he wanted to be his own boss and have more control over his working life — but there has been an unexpected upside to his new career.
As an Uber driver, Choudhary has to use an English-language app day in, day out, and he has found it has significantly improved his language skills. “I enjoy speaking English and often speak in English with my clients. Being an Uber driver has increased my confidence [in speaking],” he said. “I meet clients from many different countries, and doing so many trips and meeting different passengers has definitely helped me improve my English.”
Choudhary’s just one of the many Indians in cities like Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai now working for so-called shared economy platforms – business models that allow individuals to borrow or make use of assets or services offered by somebody else – such as Uber, Airbnb, freelance marketplace Fiverr and clothing hire platform Rent the Runway. Since these app-based businesses work primarily in English, Indians who work with them every day are improving their language skills as a side-effect.
As well as chatting with his passengers in English and tuning in to English radio, Choudhary made an active decision to use the English-language version of the Uber app, so he follows directions to his next passenger’s destination in English. He’s just one of many Indians choosing to engage with language learning opportunities throughout their working day.
The same phenomenon is mirrored at Airbnb, a website that allows users to arrange short-term lets, where the primary working language is also English. There are currently over 9,000 homes offered through the platform in India. “Human interaction and culture exchange is a big incentive for many [of the people] who use Airbnb,” said company spokeswoman Alison Wood. “For example, some people deliberately choose to travel with Airbnb because it means their children can interact with other children and have exposure to other languages.”
Smart learning is all about learning the English you need to deal with day-to-day situations
Ram Kidambi uses Airbnb to let out rooms in his three-bedroom home in Central Hyderabad in southern India. Although he already speaks English well, he says meeting native speakers has been helpful for picking up new phrases and mastering the art of both British and American slang. “Exposure to different cultures and languages in close quarters and an informal setting has been the single most rewarding experience as a host,” he said.
Start-up PlateCulture, a home restaurant website which lets locals host guests for lunch or dinner, has seen a similar trend across its 10 Asian locations, including India. The site is currently only available in English. “We encourage and support any kind of cultural knowledge exchange between chefs and guests, and language is definitely one of them,” said founder Reda Stare. “Even though [it was not part of our initial business plan], we are very happy to see this new dimension of sharing and learning through the website.”
Language teachers aren’t surprised by the trend, and see it as a natural progression given improved access to technology in countries like India. “In a developing country many people don’t have the disposable income to invest in self-improvement with things like language lessons. But access to the internet creates opportunities for self-directed study and to learn from the wealth of English language [content] available,” said Lea Aylett, academic director at global language school, The Language Gallery.
“Smart learning is all about learning the English you need to deal with day-to-day situations that you may encounter. The instant gratification of learning something and being able to apply it in a meaningful way is a huge motivator,” Aylett added.