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葛传槼（1906~1992），复旦大学教授，上世纪50年代复旦大学英语语言文学系“三巨头”之一，中国研究英语惯用法的先驱，著有久负盛名的《英汉四用词典》，《新英汉词典》（主要编纂者之一），以及《英语惯用法词典》。1983年，葛老出版葛传槼英语系列，分别是《葛传槼英文写作》和《葛传槼英语惯用法词典》，为我国的高阶英语语言学习者提供了两本高质量的工具书。
他没有读过大学，基本上没有受过正规教育，硬是靠在商务印书馆做学徒自学成才，变成了英语泰斗。《King's English》字典主编H.W. Fowler在1933年说，葛传槼给 Fowler 写信，挑出他字典里的几十处错误，Fowler回信称赞：… your letter is in faultless English, and, long as it is, nowhere betrays, as nearly all foreigners’ letters do by some trifling lapse in idiom, that its writer is not an Englishman. I receive many letters in English from foreigners, but do not remember ever having had occasion to say this before.（大意为：你的信使用完全无误的英语写成，并且，虽然很长，没有一处透露出来你的英语非母语，大多非英语母语的外国人的信都有一些习语上的细微错误。我收到了很多外国人用英语写的信，不记得哪一次能有机会说出我跟你说的这些话。）
今天我们来看上海译文出版社的《葛传槼：向英语学习者讲话》，全书用英文写成，后面有译文。对于广大英语学习者来说，有非常好的指导作用。
在about the study of Grammar 中，先生写道：
I have been told by more than one bookseller that, here in China, so far as books on English are concerned, grammars sell better than other kinds of books except readers and dictionaries. And it seems to me that nearly every Chinese who learns English at all reads a grammar. I myself am a serious student of grammar; I have read I cannot tell how many English grammar books, by Chinese, English,American, Japanese, Danish and Dutch authors, and am always on the look-out for new ones.
The object of this article, however, is to advise you not to devote too much time to the study of grammar. I study grammar for grammar's sake, but I do not think every student of English should do so. You study English in order to be able to make practical use of it. This object is not to be attained by mere study of grammar. I do not even think I should now be able to write such 
simple English as that of this book if I had read nothing but grammars.
我写这篇文章的目的是劝你不要花太多的时间在学习语法上。我为语法而读语法，但我认为并不是每一个英语学习者都该这样做。你学习英语的目的在于学会实际使用英语。这个目的是不可能从只读语法来达到的。
我甚至认为要是我以前只读语法书而不读别的东西，现在也不能够写出像本书中这样简易的英语。
···
I believe you have already read a few grammars, and probably have spent a great deal of time on the subject, though you may not now be able to write anything say a short letter-grammatically perfect. Grammar may help you to use English, but only to a certain extents.Do not look on the study of grammar as all or nearly all that you have to do in order to master English. Careful reading and constant practice are far more important.
语法可能帮助你使用英语，但也只有在一定程度上。别把语法的学习看作你为了精通英语而必须干的全部(或者几乎全部)的工作 。仔细阅读和反复练习比学习语法更为重要。
对于语法的学习，社会上有很多的声音，有的主张不学语法，有的主张语法很重要。在学英语主要是为了应付考试的环境下，语法的学习被提到一个很重要的位置，这个也是可以理解的。但是没有大量语言输入的情况下，学了再多的语法知识又有什么实
际的用处呢？
而现在的语法教学，是从拉丁语法衍生过来的，很不科学，太难了，例外，固定用法太多了。这应该是语法专家来研究的，现在变成了英语学习者的标配。
对此，葛老还有一篇文章，给了广大英语学习者醍醐灌顶的一课：
Books on English are intended for learners of the language ; and it is very gratifying to note that far more such books are now available than fifty years ago or more. I myself have written several, and am glad to say that I often receive letters telling of their usefulness to learners of English.
论述英语的书是为了这一语言的学习者写的;现在这种书比五十多年前多得多，这是令人满意的。我自己写过几本，可喜的是我时常收到来信说起它们对于英语学习者是有用的。
But I must give a word of warning here. Language is not an exact science, nor a mere matter of principles, rules, exceptions, definitions,formulas, and diagrams. Books on English are helpful, but no one can master English by reading such books only. Perhaps the very fact of there being so many such books today accounts for the frequency with which we 
meet with people who can talk and write about English without being able to talk and write it. This is due to their ignorance of the fact that without wide and careful reading the mastery of English is impossible.
但是我必须在这里发出警告。语言并不是一门精确的科学，也不仅是一条原则、规则、例外、定义、公式和图解。论述英语的书是有助益的，但是没有人能够只读这种书而精通英语。也许正因为现在这种书这么多，所以我们时常碰到有人能够在谈话和写作中讲述英语但自己却不能讲英语和写英语。这是因为他们不知道这一事实:没有广泛而仔细的阅读，精通英语是不可能的。
I would advise all learners of English to devote more time to reading books in English and less time to reading books on English.
What book in English are you reading? Is it a book of stories or essays or travel sketches? Or is it a biography or a diary or merely a tex tbook of history or geography? Well, if you happen to spend your days and nights on books on English, it is time you acted on my warning.
我要劝告所有的英语学习者花较多的时间读【用英语写的书】而花较少的时间读【论述英语的书】。你正在读什么用英语写的书?它是一本小说、杂文或游记吗?还是一本传记、日记或仅仅是历史或地理课本?要是你恰巧在日夜攻读论述英语的书，你就该根据我的劝告行事了。
希望对你有所启发和帮助！
