亲爱的微友：
前几天网上千夫所指的杨舒平演讲风波说明，好多中国人学英语还停留在单词对单词的翻译阶段。
其实，很多英文单词，都是不能望文生义的。比如说：
yellow book是不是就是黄书？
green-eyed是不是就是指绿眼睛？
bluestocking是不是就是指蓝色长筒袜？
skeleton key是不是就是指骷髅钥匙？
Ameirican beauty是不是就是指美国美女？
Dutch wife是不是就是指荷兰老婆？
sporting house是不是就是指体育馆？
birthday suit是不是就是指生日礼服？
当然，上面的例子里习语的成分比较多。但是至少能说明，英语是不能逐字翻译的。
让很多英语学习者养成逐字翻译习惯的，是英汉词典。
我们来看看国内几家著名的词典网站是怎么解释sweet的。
有道词典
金山词霸
海词
用这样的词典查词你确定能听得懂杨舒平的演讲？
再来看看英英词典的解释：
韦氏词典
朗文词典
柯林斯词典
所以，只有用英文来解释英文才是最准确的。就像学汉语，当然要用新华词典、现代汉语词典一样。用英文来解释汉语，肯定是怎么解释怎么别扭。
另外，个人认为，英汉双解词典的存在其实也是没有多大意义的。当你同时看到英文释义和中文释义的时候，难道不是会首先看中文释义吗？看完中文释义以后，难道你还会再去看英文释义？
英英词典才是让你走出英汉翻译的舒适区，沉浸在纯英文思维中的正道。
附上雅思大作文习作一篇
Some people prefer to help or support directly in the local community for people who need it. However, others prefer to give money to the national or international charities. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Both volunteer work and charity are important ways to improve situations of the disadvantaged. However, whether the contribution should be made to local communities or large organizations is a moot question.
Some people prefer to directly support fellow citizens in their local communities. They donate food and clothing to the poor, help the old and the disabled with their house chores or provide for the education of poor children. They can regularly visit these families to check out their instant needs and lend a helping hand whenever possible. Because the effects of the support can be observed closely by themselves, they are more likely to feel a sense of fulfillment when their contributions are seen to yield returns. Moreover, the problem of misusing donations by dishonest charity staff can be avoided by this method.
On the other hand, donating money to national or international charities is believed to have more virtues. The wealth in the world is unequally distributed and people often suffer from natural disasters or unfortunate accidents in unexpected ways. On most occasions, the relatively disadvantaged people in local areas are not those who are in most need of help. Large organizations often have a big picture from a global or national perspective, so they're able to allocate resources at their disposal in more sensible ways. Therefore, the more people make contribution to charities, the greater impacts they are likely to have on improving the wellbeing of the human race as a whole.
To conclude, supporting local people and donating to large charities are both commendable as means of humanitarian aid, but it seems to me that giving money to charities is able to make a bigger difference.
荞爸
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