励志自助
Self-help
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English.
欢迎收听六分钟英语。
I'm Neil, and today we're going to improve ourselves.
我是尼尔，今天我们要提高自己。
Haha, how could we possibly get any better?
我们怎么能变得更好呢？
I'm Rob, and yes, today's topic is self-help – and the self-help industry.
我是罗伯，是的，今天的话题是励志自助，以及自助产业。
What do we mean by self-help?
励志自助是什么意思呢？
Well, it means trying to improve yourself – psychologically, economically or in other ways – without seeking official help.
它是指尝试提高自身能力，无论是心理上，经济上还是其他方式，不寻求专业的帮助。
For example, bookshops these days are full of titles which claim to boost your self-confidence, your wealth, your love life… or your career!
例如，如今书店中充斥着标题宣称提升自信、增加财富、提高感情生活质量和事业的书。
Yes, in just seven days!
没错，就在短短七天内！
There's a clear demand for this kind of thing – the self-help industry is worth $10bn in the US alone.
对励志自助产业的需求显而易见，仅在美国该产业价值100亿美元
That's a lot. That includes things like gym memberships, diet plans and life coaching apps.
这确实很多。这包括健身房会员、饮食计划和人生导师手机应用。
We'll be looking at why.
我们来看看这种现象因何而起。
But first, the self-help industry has been around for a long time.
但首先，自助产业已经存在很长时间了。
Which of these well-known books was published first?
下列著名的书籍中，哪一本最先出版发行？
Is it a) How to Win Friends and Influence People
a) 人性的弱点
b) Think and Grow Rich
b) 思考致富
c) The Law of Attraction
c) 吸引力法则
Mmm... I could do with some help here.
我需要一些帮助了。
I'll go with the first one – How to Win Friends and Influence People.
我选第一个，《人性的弱点》。
OK, well before we go further, let's take a trip around a bookshop in Manchester to find out which self-help books are selling well.
在我们深入这个话题前，先去参观一下曼彻斯特的一家书店，看看哪些励志自助的书籍销量好。
Let's listen to Emma Marshall, a manager at Waterstones bookshop.
我们听听水石书店的经理艾玛·马歇尔的观点。
What's popular now?
如今什么受欢迎？
At the moment we're in the tidying up, getting rid of things trend.
当下断舍离的潮流盛行。
But before that we saw colouring in, which became a huge thing.
但在那之前，我们看到涂色类书籍成为最大的畅销书。
It's kind of dwindling now, because these sorts of trends come in and then they go.
如今涂色类书籍已经渐渐减少，因为这些潮流趋势流行一段时间，就消退了。
Like last year we saw hygge, which is the Danish art of living well, apparently.
就像去年我们看到北欧风格很流行，也就是丹麦的生活艺术。
So we're taking from all sorts of cultures.
所以我们学习各种各样的文化。
And so I think the trend right now is about slowing down in your life.
所以我认为当下的趋势是，放缓生活的步伐。
Emma says there are a couple of trends right now.
艾玛说如今有很多潮流趋势。
A trend, here, means something new which is popular for a period of time.
潮流，趋势，是指在一段时间内颇受欢迎的新生事物。
Yes, so she mentioned tidying up and getting rid of things.
她提到断舍离的潮流，也就是整理生活，学会丢弃。
Would you buy a book about tidying up, Neil?
你买过整理类的书籍吗，尼尔？
I'd be more likely to buy a book about it than actually tidy up!
与其买一本整理类的书，不如真的动手整理。
She also mentioned a current trend about slowing down in our lives.
她还提到现在的一个趋势是放慢生活节奏。
I can agree with that!
我同意这一点。
And previous trends included colouring-in – these books have black and white outline pictures that you fill in with colours.
之前的流行趋势包括涂色书，这些书是一些黑白轮廓图片，你需要进行填色。
I used to do that as a child. Very therapeutic!
孩童时期我曾经这么做。非常治愈！
Therapeutic – making you feel more relaxed and less anxious – it's related to the word therapy…
治愈的，是指让你感到轻松，忧虑减少。它和therapy（治疗）一词相关。
Although the colouring-in trend is dwindling - it's becoming weaker.
但是填色类书籍的潮流消退，也就是越来越弱。
They're selling fewer colouring-in books.
销售的填色类书籍越来越少。
So – trends come and go, but the industry is going from strength to strength.
所以潮流来去匆匆，该产业却越来越强大。
To go from strength to strength means to remain strong, or get even stronger! Why?
go from strength to strength是指仍然很强大，甚至越来越强。这是为什么呢？
Dr Jennifer Wild, a psychologist from Oxford University, believes that the internet is a big factor.
詹妮弗·维尔德教授，牛津大学心理学家认为网络是一个很重要的因素。
We've got used to searching for solutions online, and now these solutions even include how to fix or improve our lives.
我们习惯了在网上寻找解决办法，如今我们寻求的解决办法甚至包括如何提高我们的生活。
And psychologist Caroline Beaton, writing on Forbes.com, said she believes that millennials are a big factor.
心理学家凯若琳·比顿，在福布斯网站上写道，她认为千禧一代是其中很重要的因素。
How do we define the term millennial?
我们如何定义千禧一代呢？
Also known as Generation Y – are people born between the mid-1980s and early 2000s.
他们也被称为Y世代，是指出生于20世纪80年代中期至21世纪初期的人们。
It's a common term in the news – often because people born in this time in the West are seen to have certain characteristics.
在新闻上很常见，因为西方世界出生于该时期的人被认为有某种特征。
They're sometimes described as lazy and obsessed with themselves
他们有时被描述为懒惰，自我，
– and while that's not necessarily true, Caroline Beaton says millennials are highly self-critical.
虽然这并不是很正确，但凯若琳认为千禧一代都高度地严于律己。
Self-critical – they are aware of their own faults – which also means they're more likely to spend time or money on self-help.
严于律己是指他们能意识到自己的缺点，这意味着他们有更多的可能花费时间和金钱在励志自助上。
She says they spend twice as much as Generation Xers.
她还说他们在这方面所花费的时间金钱是X世代的两倍。
Generation X refers to people born between the late 60s and around 1980.
X世代是指出生于60年代末至20世纪80年代左右。
And one more possible reason why the self-help industry does well: it's very resistant to recessions.
自助产业之所以兴盛的另一个可能的原因是：它可以抵制经济衰败。
When the economy does badly – as we say it goes into recession – people are perhaps even more likely to reach for self-help to improve their situation.
当经济运行差，也就是我们所谓的经济衰退，人们更可能寻求励志自助来改善自己的处境。
So there we are.
我们也是如此。
Now, let's go back to another recession – the Great Depression of the 1930s in America
我们回到另一个经济衰败时期，美国20世纪30年代的大萧条。
– and to my question about which self-help book was published first?
以及回到我的问题，哪一本励志自助的书籍最先出版？
Well – I said a) How to Win Friends and Influence People.
我选的是a) 《人性的弱点》
In fact – two of these books were published in the late 1930s, How to win friends and influence people, by Dale Carnegie, was first in 1936.
事实上有两本书出版于20世纪30年代末，卡耐基的《人性的弱点》最先出版于1936年。
It has since sold over 30 million copies.
自出版起，销售超过3000万本。
Think and grow rich, by Napoleon Hill, was published in 1937, and is believed to have sold over 100 million copies!
拿破仑·希尔的《思考致富》出版于1937年，销售超过一亿本。
That's a lot of self-help.
真的有很多自助类书籍啊。
Wow – have you read either of them?
你读过这两本书吗？
I haven't read either of them but, perhaps, I should.
我没有读过，也许我应该读一读。
Well, before we rush home and improve ourselves, let's improve our vocabularies.
在我们冲回家提升自我前，我们先来提高一下我们的单词。
Of course – today we had: self-help - the activity of improving yourself – physically, mentally or in other ways
当然，今天我们提到励志自助，是指提升自己的活动，无论是心理上，精神上还是其他方式，
– often through courses and books.
通常是通过课程和书籍。
There are lots of trends in the self-help industry.
自助产业有很多流行趋势。
And we also see trends in fashion, in music, in popular culture… Like the trend for men to grow beards.
我们也看到时尚、音乐以及潮流文化的趋势。就像人们喜欢留胡子的潮流。
Are you talking about me?
你是说我吗？
Anyway, I think the beard trend is dwindling.
总之，留胡子的潮流正在衰退。
It's getting smaller, less influential.
影响力越来越小。
Really? I stroke my beard here.
真的吗？我摸摸我的胡子。
I think it's very therapeutic. It makes me relax and feel good.
我觉得这非常治愈，让我感觉很轻松，感觉非常好。
Maybe you're right. What about our next phrase – to go from strength to strength?
也许你是对的。我们看看下一个短语，越来越强。
You could say a business is going from strength to strength if it's earning a lot of money.
如果一门生意赚很多的钱，你可以说它越来越强。
Indeed. And what about our term for young people – millennial.
没错，我们看看关于年轻人的术语，千禧一代。
Are you a millennial, Rob?
你是千禧一代吗，罗伯？
Didn't quite scraped in there.
不完全是。
I'm still a Generation X. But I do like to think I'm in touch with what millennials do.
我仍然是X一代。但我觉得我也接触千禧一代常做的事。
Which includes – having lots of different social media accounts.
这包括，有很多社交媒体账号。
Just like us – do look up BBC Learning English on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
就像我们的节目一样。欢迎查看BBC英语的Facebook, Twitter, Instagram 和 YouTube主页。
And good luck with your self-improvement!
祝你自我提升成功！
Bye!
再见！
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