Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher , we talk about how you can improve your vocabulary .
你好！本周的“请教老师”节目中，我们将讨论如何提高词汇量。
Many VOA Learning English fans write to us with this question: What is the best way to improve my vocabulary?
许多美国之音英语学习爱好者写信给我们提出这样的问题：提高词汇量的最佳方法是什么？
This is a good question, VOA fans.
美国之音的粉丝们，这是个好问题。
Many learners think the best way to improve their vocabulary is to learn the definition of many words. But this is not necessarily the best way to improve. The best way is to fully know a word.
许多学习者认为提高词汇量的最佳方法是学习许多单词的定义。但这不一定是最好的改进方法。最好的方法是完全认识一个单词。
To know a word, we must know its form, meaning, and usage. Today let’s talk about the form of a word. In the coming weeks, we will talk about meaning and usage.
要认识一个词，我们必须知道它的形式、含义和用法。今天我们来谈谈单词的形式。在接下来的几周内，我们将讨论含义和用法。
The form of a word can relate to how it sounds, is written and what its parts are. Knowing the sounds of a word includes recognizing it when it is spoken and being able to say it correctly. This includes the individual sounds and also how the sounds may change when people are saying the word quickly. For example,
一个词的形式可能与它的发音、书写方式以及它的组成部分有关。了解单词的发音包括在说出该单词时识别该单词并能够正确地说出该单词。这包括各个声音以及当人们快速说出单词时声音可能如何变化。例如，
It’s nice to meet you .
很高兴认识你。
When some people say this sentence at a natural speed, they might make a /ch/ sound at the end of the word “meet” and the beginning of the word “you” although the words’ spellings do not suggest this.
当有些人以自然速度说这句话时，他们可能会在“meet”一词的末尾和“you”一词的开头发出/ch/声音，尽管单词的拼写并没有暗示这一点。
This sound change does not affect the meaning of the words. But it might cause you trouble when you are trying to understand the sentence.
这种声音变化不会影响单词的含义。但当你试图理解这个句子时，它可能会给你带来麻烦。
In English, stress is important to the sound of a word, and it can even decide whether a word is a noun or a verb.
在英语中，重音对于单词的发音很重要，甚至可以决定一个单词是名词还是动词。
For example, the word spelled r-e-c-o-r-d can be thought of as two words. When we stress the first part of the word, RE-cord , it is a noun. When we stress the second part of the word, re-CORD , it is a verb. What appears to be one word is really two parts of speech. This is part of knowing what form a word takes.
例如，拼写为 r-e-c-o-r-d 的单词可以被视为两个单词。当我们强调这个词的第一部分 RE-cord 时，它是一个名词。当我们强调这个词的第二部分 re-CORD 时，它是一个动词。看似一个词实际上是两个词性。这是了解单词的形式的一部分。
The form of a word also involves its parts. It is important to recognize the root word in addition to prefixes or suffixes . These are added beginnings or endings, which change the meaning of the word’s root.
单词的形式也涉及它的组成部分。除了前缀或后缀之外，识别词根也很重要。这些是添加的开头或结尾，这会改变单词词根的含义。
For example, knowing that the word “addition” includes recognizing the verb “to add” plus the suffix –t-i-o-n, which suggests a state or an action. Knowing the word “untrue” includes recognizing the base word “true” and the prefix -un, which means “not.”
例如，知道“addition”这个词包括识别动词“to add”加上后缀 –t-i-o-n，它表示一种状态或动作。知道“不真实”这个词包括识别基本词“真实”和前缀 -un，意思是“不”。
When we look at English words in this way, we can see that our vocabulary expands by understanding a word’s form.
当我们以这种方式看待英语单词时，我们可以看到，通过理解单词的形式，我们的词汇量得到了扩展。
As we saw in the word “ record, " the same word can work as two parts of speech.
正如我们在“记录”一词中看到的那样，同一个词可以充当两个词性。
VOA fans, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to really “know a word,” its form, meaning, and usage, not just a definition.
美国之音粉丝们，提高词汇量的最佳方法是真正“了解一个单词”，了解它的形式、含义和用法，而不仅仅是定义。
Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com .
您对美式英语有疑问吗？请发送电子邮件至learningenglish@voanews.com。