麦哲伦英语 第 1 课：Learning English in a New Environment 在新的环境中学习英语

I was a little shy about talking to people when I first arrived in America ， but I had a strong desire to broaden my horizons and meet new people．第一次到美国，与人说话时我总有些害羞，但是我非常渴望能够开阔视野，结识新朋友。

Once I gathered the courage to start conversations with people ， I found how easy it was to make new friends． 当我鼓起勇气开始与人交谈，我发现原来结交新朋友是多么容易的事啊。

Every day ， I heard enough new English expressions to make my head spin．每天耳边出现的繁多的新英语表达法把我弄得晕头转向。

I found that when I was honest and asked about the meanings of unfamiliar expressions ， Americans were very helpful and took pains to explain them to me．我发现当我诚实地向美国人询问那些不熟悉的说法的意思时，他们非常乐于助人，并煞费苦心地向我解释。

Native speakers of English tend to speak very fast， and at first I was just stunned and looked at them with a dazed expression on my face．以英语为母语的人说话一般很快，一开始我只能惊愕地一脸茫然地看着他们。

I solved that problem by asking people to speak more slowly．我让他们说得慢一些，这样我就解决了这个问题。