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W: Good morning, Dr. Harley. Thank you very much for coming on our radio talk. We know that you are an applied linguist specializing in second language acquisition.
女：早上好，哈利博士。非常感谢你来参加我们的电台谈话。我们知道你是一名应用语言学家，专攻二语习得。
M: Right.
男：没错。
W: So, today. We'll look at this issue. Now, first, Dr. Harley. Could you please tell us what is second language acquisition?
女：所以,今天。我们来看看这个问题。首先，哈雷博士，你能告诉我们什么是第二语言习得吗?
M: Well, second language acquisition is happens when a child or adult has already become competent at a language. Then, they attempt to learn another.
男：嗯，第二语言习得是这样的。首先，一个孩子或成年人已经掌握了某种语言。然后，他们还试图学习另一种语言。
W: Ok, most people think, including me, it is difficult to learn another language. What are the reasons? Why is it so?
女：好吧，大多数人，包括我在内，都认为学另一种语言很困难。原因是什么呢？为什么会这样？
M: Well, there are a number of reasons for this. First, there have been research studies.
男：原因有很多。首先，这方面的研究有很多。
M: They have shown that some aspects of language learning especially syntax are more difficult beyond a certain age, say after around 12 years of age.
男：这些研究表明，过了某个年龄，比如12岁，语言学习的某些方面，尤其是句法学习，就变得更加困难。
W: So, age plays an important role in language learning?
女：所以，年龄在语言学习中的作用很重要吗？
M: Yes. But that's not the only reason.
男：是的，但这并不是唯一的原因。
W: Oh, is that so?
女：哦，是这样吗？
M: Yes. For example, time and interest. Old children and adults often have less time and motivation to learn a second language.
男：是的。比如，时间和兴趣，也起着很重要的作用。年长的孩子和成年人学习第二种语言的时间和动力通常比较不足。
W: Mm...
女：嗯。
M: Another is related to the similarities and differences between one's mother tongue and a second language.
男：还有一个原因跟第二语言和母语之间的异同有关。
M: We find that learners will experience difficulty when their mother tongue and the second language they are learning differ.
男：我们发现，母语和第二语言有不同时，学习者会觉得比较困难。
M: In general, the more idiosyncratic a feature is in a particular language relative to other languages, the more difficult it will be to acquire.
男：一般来说，与其他语言相比，一种语言中的特征越少见，就越难习得。
W: Perhaps this is the key issue. Differences between languages cause language learning problems.
女：或许这才是关键所在。语言之间的不同让语言学习困难重重。
M: Well, this may be one of the issues here, but this cannot be the whole story, as not all differences between languages cause difficulty. Let me give you an example.
男：嗯，这可能是一个问题，不过并不是全部，因为并不是所有不同都带来困难。我给你举个例子。
W: OK.
女：好。
M: Research has found that many errors by Czech speakers learning English were made on syntactic constructions in which the two languages do not differ.
男：研究发现许多说捷克语的人，学英语的过程中会犯句法错误，而两种语言在句法结构上并无不同。
W: Oh, really. The picture is more complicated than we've imagined.
女：嗯，真的。事情比我们想象的更复杂。
M: Definitely yes. Each language learning situation is different. So reasons vary a lot from case to case.
男：对。每种语言学习情景都不同，所以每个情境中，原因也非常不同。
