囧研究：喝酒能讓你的口語更流利？

Take a quick tipple and you could find yourself speaking a second tongue more naturally, according to new research.

一項新研究證明，小酌一番可以讓你說起外語來更加流利。

The foreign language skills of participants in the study were found to be improved after a drink of alcohol, which suggests the way booze can put us at ease outweighs the negative effects on our brain – at least for the first drink, anyway.

研究發現，受訪者飲酒後外語技能有所增強，這表明酒精能讓我們進入放鬆的狀態，從而克服大腦中的不適感。

The international team of researchers is warning against reading too much into their experiment, but it could reveal some interesting insights into the anxiety associated with speaking another language, and how alcohol can help us overcome it.

這隻跨國研究隊伍告誡人們不要對他們的實驗太過較真，不過這項研究還是揭示了一些有趣的現象，讓我們瞭解到說外語時產生的焦慮感，以及酒精如何能幫助人們克服這種焦慮感。

"Our study shows that acute alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects on the pronunciation of a foreign language in people who recently learned that language," says one of the team.

“我們的研究發現，那些近期學習了一門新外語的人在急劇的攝取了酒精之後會有意外的收益，他們的外語發音會更加流利。”研究團隊中的一名成員這樣說道。

The study involved 50 native German speakers studying Dutch at a Dutch university, who had recently learned to speak, read, and write in the new language.

這項研究調查了50位在荷蘭大學學習荷蘭語的德國本地人，他們最近都在學習新語言的口語/閱讀和寫作。

Based on random selections, participants were either given alcohol or water as a control beverage. The amount of alcohol varied based on body size, but was the equivalent of just under a pint (460 millilitres) of 5 percent beer for a 70 kg (154 lb) male.

參與者被隨機分配了酒或水等控制飲料。酒的分量依參與者的身形有所不同， 每人分得的平均分量大約爲70公斤男性一品脫5%純度的啤酒。

They then chatted to a researcher for five minutes, before an audio recording was assessed by two native Dutch speakers who weren't told whether alcohol had been consumed or not. The participants were also asked to rate their own Dutch language skills over the course of the chat.

然後參與者與研究者展開5分鐘的對話，接着對話錄音交由兩名說荷蘭語的人進行評估，但後者並不知道錄音中的人是否攝入了酒精。在交談過程中，研究參與者也要對自己的荷蘭語水平進行評估。

While the alcohol didn't affect how the students rated themselves, those people who had been given the alcoholic drink were given better ratings by the observers, especially for their pronunciation .

雖然酒精並沒有影響學生們對自己的打分，但他們中攝入了酒精的人獲得了評估者更高的分值，特別是他們的口語得分。

So what's going on? We know that alcohol has a detrimental effect on our brain's executive functioning, including our memory, our attention, and our inhibitions. A lot of these functions are important for speaking a non-native language.

這是怎麼回事呢？我們都知道酒精對大腦的運行功能有負面的影響，包括我們的記憶功能，注意力，抑制力等等。這些功能中許多對說外語都非常重要。

At the same time, we know that booze also improves confidence and reduces social anxiety, which is also helpful when you're trying to talk in another tongue, especially if you've only just learned it.

但同時我們也知道酒精能提升自信，減少社交焦慮，因而在你學習用外語交流，特別是你剛剛入門的時候，酒精也能發揮助力。

"One possible mechanism could be the anxiety-reducing effect of alcohol," says one of the researchers. "But more research is needed to test this."

“酒精之所以能發揮這種機制，或許與它減少焦慮的作用有關。”一位研究者說道，“不過這一理論還需要進一步的研究測試。”

With only 50 people involved in the research, we should be wary of making too many generalisations on this study alone, but it's an interesting pointer towards how a little bit of drink could grease the wheels as far as talking in a foreign language is concerned.

由於這項研究只有50名參與對象，我們要報以謹慎的態度，不能孤立對待，做過渡的總結，不過它還是提供了一種有趣的洞見，讓我們知道在外語口語這個方面一點酒精能夠祝我們一臂之力。

As pronunciation was particularly highlighted as being improved, perhaps a limited amount of booze encourages us to really go for those unfamiliar sounds and mouth movements and not hold back.

研究結果中口語方面的提升尤爲顯著，或許這是因爲一點少量的酒精能鼓勵我們無所忌憚，全身心的接納那些陌生的發音和口型。

"It is important to point out that participants in this study consumed a low dose of alcohol," adds one of the team. "Higher levels of alcohol consumption might not have beneficial effects on the pronunciation of a foreign language."

“必須着重指出的是，參與研究者攝取的酒精量很低，”一位研究成員補充說，“更高濃度的酒精攝入或許對說話者的外語發音並沒有好處。”

In other words, this effect probably doesn't get better if you just keep on drinking – eventually no one will be able to understand you at all.

換句話說，如果你貪杯的話，酒精並不會讓你的外語發音越來越好——而且最終沒有人會聽懂你的酒後胡話。

（翻譯：小木）