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Learn something the hard way 栽了跟头才明白道理

Episode 260217 / 17 Feb 2026

节目简介

实践出真知，但有时我们其实可以通过自己的经验判断来提前避免在实践或学习中走弯路、遇到困难。表达 “learn something the hard way” 的字面意思就是 “用困难的方法来学习一件事”。不过，它所指的并不是学习知识，而是形容一个人 “明明可以通过充分准备而避免出错，却要在犯错误、受挫折，甚至栽了大跟头之后才最终学会或明白一件事”。听节目，跟主持人菲菲和 Phil 学习这个表达的用法。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English, where we explain phrases and expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I'm Feifei.

Phil
And I'm Phil.

Feifei
Phil, you are dripping wet. What happened?

Phil
Well, the weather seemed fine when I left home, but then I got five minutes down the road, and it started raining really heavily. I guess I learnt the hard way that you need to have an umbrella if you live in London!

Feifei
Well, I suppose the good thing is that if you learn the hard way, then you probably won't forget. Now, shall we learn this expression – 'learn something the hard way'?

Phil
Yes. Learning something the hard way is a bit like learning from your mistakes. It means something difficult or unpleasant happened to you, so you learn to do something differently to make sure it doesn't happen again. Where's the best place to buy an umbrella, Feifei? I'm not going home without one.

Feifei
I'll tell you after this programme. Yes, you can learn something the hard way when something goes wrong. We often use it to talk about things that you could have prepared for. For example, if you lost all your work because you forgot to save, you'll learn why saving is important the hard way, when your computer crashes.

Phil
Yeah, it's often used to suggest that someone has ignored advice. OK, let's hear some other examples of people using 'learn something the hard way'.

Examples
I didn't use to look at the cookbooks when I cook, but then I did, because I learned the hard way and cooked so many terrible dishes.

I was getting the train to Paris from London, and I learned the hard way that you need an hour before the train. I only arrived 15 minutes before the train, so I missed it.

People say when you go travelling, you should take half of what you think you should take, and I didn't take that advice so I learnt the hard way. I carried a really heavy bag around with me all the time for no reason.

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “地道英语” 节目。在本期节目中，我们正在学习表达 “learn something the hard way” 的用法。“Learn something the hard way” 的字面意思是 “通过艰难的方法学习某事”，它实际上比喻的是 “在犯错后学会做某事，特别是原本可以通过充分准备而避免出错，却要在犯错误、受挫折，甚至栽了大跟头之后才最终学会或明白一件事”。

Phil
Yes, there's also a similar expression we can say that sometimes people have to 'learn hard lessons'. If we say someone has to learn hard lessons, we mean that they are doing something wrong and they need to learn from the consequences.

Feifei
For example, you can say that you've learnt a hard lesson by not bringing an umbrella today. 在英语中还有一个和 “learn something the hard way” 类似的说法就是 “learn hard lessons”。如果我们说一个人 “has to learn hard lessons”，意思就是这个人 “原本可以认识到自己的做法或决定是错误的，但依然坚持自己的做法，所以必须要吃点苦头才能学会或明白一件事”。

Phil
OK. That's it for this programme, but join us next time to learn more English phrases and expressions.

Feifei
Don't worry, you can learn things the easy way when you listen to us!

Phil
That's right! See you next time.

Feifei
Goodbye.

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