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Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Guillermo in Argentina about how to spell words in English.
你好！本周《名师答疑》，我们回答来自阿根廷的吉列尔莫提出的一个关于拼写英语单词的问题。（注：阿根廷用西班牙语，西班牙语根据发音可以完全知道单词如何拼写。）
Dear Teacher, when I hear some new words in English, I can find their meaning, but for me, the spelling is always difficult.
亲爱的老师，当我听到一些英语新词时，我可以找到它们的意思，但对我来说，拼写总是很难。
Can you please give me [some] advice?
你可以给我一些建议吗？
Thank you, Guillermo.
谢谢，吉列尔莫。
I’m happy to answer this question, Guillermo.
我很高兴回答这个问题，吉列尔莫。
English spelling can be difficult for several reasons.
英语拼写可能会因多种原因而变得困难。
For many letters in the English alphabet, a letter can represent several sounds.
对于英语字母表中的许多字母，一个字母可以代表好几个发音。
Let’s listen to the sound the letter “A” makes in each of the following six words:
让我们听一听字母A在以下六个单词中的发音：
cat, day, father, ball, many, attack.
猫、天、父亲、球、许多、攻击。
Can you hear the difference between the two letters “A” of the last word?
你能听出最后一个单词的两个字母A之间的发音区别吗？
Let’s listen again.
让我们再听一遍。
Attack.
进攻。
The first syllable made the quick schwa sound “/?/”.
第一个音节是快速的非重度元音/?/。
Because an English letter can make different sounds, words that have similar spellings can sound different from each other, as in these examples:
因为一个英文字母可以有不同发音，所以拼写相似的单词听起来可能会有所不同，例如：
lemon and demon, daughter and laughter, war and far.
柠檬和魔鬼，女儿和笑声，战争和遥远的。
In addition, words that have different spellings can sound the same.
此外，拼写不同的单词听起来可能相同。
These are called homophones, as in these examples:
这些被称为同音异形词，例如：
pause and paws, rode and road, deer and dear.
暂停和爪子，骑和路，鹿和亲爱的。
But that’s not all.
但这还不是全部。
In many words, some letters are silent—they are not pronounced at all, like the letter “b” at the end of the word “climb”.
在许多单词中，有些字母是不发音的——它们根本不发音，比如单词“攀爬”末尾的字母b。
You can see from all of the above examples that you cannot only use the sounds of words to know how to spell them.
你可以从上述所有例子中看出，你不能仅仅根据单词的发音来知道如何拼写。
So, what should you do?
那么，你应该怎么做呢？
Fortunately, English does have some general rules for spelling.
幸运的是，英语在拼写方面确实有一些通用规则。
For example, a famous rule that children learn in school is “i before e except after c.”
例如，孩子们在学校里学到的一条著名规则是“i在e前，除非在c后”。
This gives us the spelling of words such as: piece, niece, receive.
这就给了我们一些单词拼写规则，例如：块，侄女，接收。
But be careful! There are still many words in English that break the spelling rules.
但是要小心！仍然有许多英语单词打破了拼写规则。
The word “science,” for example, breaks the “i before e” rule.
例如，“科学”这个单词就打破了“i在e前”的规则。
For words such as these, you simply have to memorize how to spell them.
对于这样的单词，你只能记住拼写。
And how can you do that?
那么怎么记呢？
The best way to help your memory is to read as much as possible and practice writing.
帮助你记忆的最好方法是尽可能多地阅读和练习写作。
Writing can test how well you know how to spell.
写作可以测试你对拼写的掌握程度。
Most computer programs also include a spell-checker, where misspelled words are underlined in a color.
大多数计算机程序还包括拼写检查器，拼写错误的单词会用彩色下划线标注。
This helps you see any spelling mistakes you have made and also shows you the correct spelling.
这有助于让你看到你所犯的任何拼写错误，并且还向你展示了正确的拼写。
In addition to rules, there are spelling patterns.
除了规则，还有拼写模式。
You can group words into the pattern they follow.
你可以将单词按照它们遵循的模式进行分组。
For example, some words that have the spelling -ough include:
例如，一些有 -ough的单词包括：
rough, tough, cough, though, and bought.
粗糙的、坚韧的、咳嗽、尽管和购买。
Notice, however, that with these examples, the letters -ough made three different vowel sounds: rough, cough, though.
请注意，在这些例子中，字母组合ough有三种不同的元音：rough（/r?f/），cough（/k??f/），though（/???/）。
This again shows the need to memorize spellings because the sound of the word will not always tell you how to spell it.
这再次表明有必要记住拼写，因为单词的发音并不总是能告诉你如何拼写它。
Lastly, becoming good at spelling can be enjoyable.
最后，擅长拼写可以是令人愉快的。
Think of it like a game or other activity you enjoy.
把它想象成一个游戏或其他你喜欢的活动。
Over time, you will feel good as you learn to spell more and more words.
随着时间的推移，当你学会拼写越来越多的单词时，你会感觉很好。
There are many books, websites, and apps designed for spelling practice.
有很多书籍、网站和应用程序是为拼写练习而设计的。
Try to use these and practice your spelling.
尝试使用这些工具并练习拼写。
And that’s Ask a Teacher.
这就是本期的《名师答疑》。
I’m Andrew Smith.
我是安德鲁·史密斯。
