eLearning - Speaking Better English

2001年11月18日

The Impossible Dream這首歌的歌詞寫得相當好，其特色是用了很多由to起頭的疊句，而且押韻︰
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go.

正如唐詩詩句︰昔人已乘黃鶴去，此地空餘黃鶴樓。黃鶴一去不復返，白雲千載空悠悠。四句中有三個黃鶴，可見文學創作必須大膽打破成規
（引自崔顥《黃鶴樓》
昔人已乘黃鶴去，此地空餘黃鶴樓。
黃鶴一去不復返，白雲千載空悠悠。
晴川歷歷漢陽樹，芳草萋萋鸚鵡洲。
日暮鄉關何處是，煙波江上使人愁。）

歌詞接著的一句是To right the unrightable wrong，可說是神來之筆，若講究文法，這句子文法可說不對，因right是形容詞或名詞，不是動詞；unrightable一詞本身包含矛盾，但整句用得非常巧妙。填詞人和詩人一樣，領有牌照 (poetic license)，可以打破文法成規、可以扭曲詞性、把形容詞當動詞用，大家學英語時不要亂學這些方法，但要懂得欣賞。

這首歌最後一段︰
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star.

勇氣是抽象名詞，原本不能量度，但last ounce of courage（最後一安士勇氣）是很詩意的寫法，這些叫隱喻性語言(metaphorical language)，大家不妨學一學。我常建議大家抄下一些好的英文句子，背誦下來，會考作文時隨時拿出來應用，例如說到愛時，就可以用a ounce of love。

參賽同學對這首歌的理解不錯，但文法上的砂石在所難免，如︰

收看	Kobe說: It is a really romantic song. The aim of this song, I think is saying that, achieving a goal is the most important part of a human's life.

The aim of this song應該是指The theme of this song，即這歌的主題。I think is saying that則累贅；human是形容詞，human life已可以，不能用human's life。全句可改為The theme of this song, I think is that achieving a goal is the most important part of a human life.

收看	Ivy說: It's really an encouraging song. And the singer in this songs was full of dreams.

要小心名詞單複數和動詞時態要統一，全句應改為︰And the singer in this song is full of dreams.

收看	Rosanna說︰I really like this ending. It's really attract me.

很多人會犯這樣的錯誤，attract是動詞，應改為
It really attracts me. 或
It sounds attractive to me. 也可以，當我們用一個詞的時候，必須先想想它是動詞、名詞還是形容詞。

收看	Olivia說︰I love these 2 sentences, "to dream the impossible dream" and "to reach the unreachable star".

一首歌的歌詞不叫sentence，叫line，I really love these two lines，"to dream the impossible dream" and "to reach the unreachable star".

收看	Rita說︰I like the song very much too. Actually I'm not good at speaking, neither in English or Cantonese, as all of you can hear now.

這些句子文法沒有大錯，但是用了中文的思維，使用英文溝通不會這樣說。You have been chosen to be a member of the team, then you must show a lot of self confidence. 千萬不要說I'm not good at speaking, either in English or Cantonese. 這裏要用either，不是neither，因前面已用了I'm not good，不要犯double negative的錯誤。

收看	Joe說︰I think that the song is keep telling us something repeatedly.

這一句應改成I think that the song always keeps telling us something.

大部分錯誤都是一些文法上的砂砂石石，建議同學們回去重溫一下英文文法。不過這些文法規則大家也許都記得，只是平時少講英語，脫口而出時就會犯錯，若能腦筋先行，想一想所用的詞是動詞還是名詞，就不會出現像It's really attract me這樣的錯誤了。