我的5岁外孙在美国，能流利地说中文和英文两种语言。幼儿为什么学语言如此简单呢？只要我们注意身边的孩童就会发现，幼儿学说话着重在表达意思，他们通过与成人的互动、模仿，学会说话。真实语境，大量接触，交流互动是幼儿学会使用母语的基本特征。
尽管幼儿学习母语很容易，但成人做不到。因为幼儿学语言的过程是与大脑智力发育的过程同时发生的，而成年人的大脑发育已经成熟了，杏仁体中的语言回路已经形成。因此，对成年人而言，环境是很重要，但光有环境也不能确保学会英语。其实很多留学生的英语是不过关的，因为他们曾过分地相信有环境就能学好英语，而没下足够的苦功夫。
毫无疑问地，语言必须放在一定的情境里学习。如果成年人总是反复地学习某种教材第一册，看一些零星的英语材料，那怎能形成英语的情境呢？本人坚持学习英语《圣经》多年，而《圣经》是一系列故事组成，连续的故事就能形成一种语言情境。在学习过程中，不断地与Karen通信交流，建立了反馈系统。同时，我还经常在网上听英语布道，因为知道故事内容，布道就很容易听懂。
以下这段是Karen谈论基督教基本教义：上帝与魔鬼，犯罪与悔罪。
图片来自pexels
The Bible teaches that after Adam and Eve fell (by believing Satan’s lies and rebelling against God), everyone born after that was born into Satan’s kingdom. We are evil from birth. God sent His Only Son Jesus Christ to rescue us from Satan’s grasp. God is holy and righteous and just. He can’t bear to even look on sin. He has set out rules for the universe and when those rules are violated, He must, as a righteous judge, punish them. When Jesus Christ came to earth, he lived a perfect and sinless life, fully God, fully human. Only Jesus could pay the penalty for the sins of humankind because he was perfect and sinless and because he was both human and God. In the Bible, Jesus told us “No one is good but God.” He also said that we must be “born again from above” (spiritually) in order to be saved from Satan’s destruction. When someone is “born again from above”, it means they are given a “new spirit” which is the Spirit of God and of Jesus Christ. They become spiritually alive in the way that Adam and Eve were before they rebelled and fell. Without God’s Spirit, no one can be “good”. And even with God’s Spirit, while we are here on earth, we always still struggle with our “flesh” which is the sin nature that we were born into.
图片来自pexels
Satan：撒旦，魔鬼。基督教认为每个人内有一个撒旦，人有罪性。
Adam and Eve：亚当和夏娃受了魔鬼撒旦的诱惑，偷吃了禁果，违反了上帝的道。
We are evil from birth：因为亚当和夏娃是人类的祖先，所以我们每个人出生时就有罪性，这是一种对罪的来源的解释。
His Only Son Jesus Christ：上帝独生子耶稣是被派来拯救人类脱离罪恶的。
Bear：(used with can/could in negative sentences and questions 在否定句和疑问句中与can / could连用) 承受；忍受
to be able to accept and deal with sth unpleasant
Sinless：without sin, innocent, 无罪
born again from above：从上而重生，就是用天堂而来的精神让自己重生一次，这个above很难懂，必须在语境中才能理解。
在《圣经》中，上帝之道代表人类一切光辉的品行，上帝就是爱。犹太父母重视孩子“爱”的教育，要求他们善待他人，拥有一颗善良的心，因为善良是生命的黄金，善良是世界上通用的语言。他们相信有博爱之心的孩子，肯定不会是凉薄之人。
所谓“博爱之心”就是超越阶级和种族等界限的，因为上帝爱每一个人。在人类文明史上，博爱是最值得推崇的美德，具有博爱之心的孩子，必定会成为品德高尚之人。
具有博爱之心的孩子，心胸宽广，长大后能够容忍别人犯下的罪过，因为他们知道人的本质是“sinful nature(罪性)”。因此，他们能轻而易举化解仇怨，赢得朋友，表现出一个人高尚的品德和非凡的处世智慧，这就是上帝之道。如果一个人终日生活在埋怨、责怪、愤怒当中，他就是生活在撒旦中，被魔鬼的恶所捆绑。他不仅得不到本应属于他的快乐、幸福，甚至会让自己变得冷漠、无情和残酷，从而使自己处于孤独、痛苦的境地。
