don’t Worry About Your Active1 Vocabulary 不要擔心活躍詞匯不足

苗淑華

Many advanced English learners have a large “passive2 vocabulary”， but they worry about the size of their “active vocabulary”. They can understand many difficult English words when reading or listening， but they dont use most of them when speaking or writing in English. They feel this is a problem. They would like to use all the difficult words that they know.

許多高水平英語學習者都有大量的“不活躍詞匯”，但他們擔心自己的“活躍詞匯”量。他們在閱讀或聽英語時可以理解許多有難度的英語單詞，但在講英語或寫英語時卻不會使用其中的大多數。他們認為這是一個問題。他們想使用所知道的所有有難度的單詞。

If you are a learner who worries about his active vocabulary， this article may convince3 you to stop worrying.

如果你是一個擔心自己的活躍詞匯量的學習者，這篇文章可能會說服你別擔心。

People understand many more words than they use in their own conversations. Ones passive vocabulary is much larger than ones active vocabulary. The total number of words actively used in ones whole life is much smaller than the total number of words understood in ones whole life.

人們理解的單詞比他們在對話中使用的單詞更多。一個人的不活躍詞匯量比活躍詞匯量大得多。人一生中主動使用的單詞總數遠小于理解的單詞總數。

It has nothing to do with foreign languages. It is about how people use their native language.

這與外語無關，與人們如何使用母語有關。

We think that in your native language， there are thousands of words that you dont use （but you understand them all）. There are literary4 words， formal5 words， scientific terms， slang6 phrases， etc. which you understand， but you dont use. If you open a book written in your native language， you will see many such words.

我們認為，你的母語中有成千上萬個很少使用的詞（但你都能理解）。它們是你可以理解但不使用的詞，包括文學用語、正式用語、科學術語、俚語等。如果你打開用母語寫的書，會看到很多這樣的詞。

So your own active vocabulary in your native language is much smaller than your passive vocabulary. And we guess that you dont mind it. We guess that you are not worried about the difference between your active and passive vocabulary in your native language.

因此，你自己母語的活躍詞匯比不活躍詞匯要少得多，而且我們認為你并不介意這一點。我們猜你并不擔心母語中活躍和不活躍詞匯之間的差異。

But youre learning English as a foreign language. And you notice all the words that you understand but never use. Your perspective7 as a learner makes you regret8 this fact.

但是你正在學習英語這門外語，會注意到所有理解但從未使用過的詞，作為學習者你會為此而后悔。

You dont need to worry about using“too few” English words. You will learn to use some number of English words and they will be enough for you！At some point， your English active vocabulary will simply let you express anything you want. Just like your active vocabulary in your native language.

你無需擔心使用“太少”的英語單詞。你將學會使用一些英語單詞，它們已經足夠了！在某些時候，你英語的活躍詞匯量可以讓你表達任何想表達的事，就像母語的活躍詞匯一樣。 The next time you see a difficult English word， you dont need to worry “Will I be able to use this word in conversation？”. If you can say anything you want with your active vocabulary， you should be happy with your English. And you dont need to worry about those thousands of words which you will never use.

下次看到一個難懂的英語單詞時，你不必擔心“我可以在對話中使用這個單詞嗎？”。如果你可以用自己的活躍詞匯說出任何想說的話，那么你應該對自己的英語水平感到滿意，無需擔心永遠不會使用的那數千個單詞。