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PatriciaRyan_2010X-_不要固执于英语！_
I know what you're thinking. 我知道你们在想什么。
You think I've lost my way, and somebody's going to come on the stage in a minute and guide me gently back to my seat. 你们想我迷路了, 有人马上会上台 把我领回到我的座位。
come on the stage:出场;进入社会; gently:adv.轻轻地;温柔地;温和地;
(Applause) (掌声)
I get that all the time in Dubai . 在迪拜老是有人这样问我。
Dubai:n.迪拜(阿拉伯联合酋长国的酋长国之一);
'"Here on holiday are you, dear?" “亲爱的,来度假啊？”
(Laughter) (笑声)
'"Come to visit the children? “来看孩子们吗？
How long are you staying?" 呆多久啊？”
Well actually, I hope for a while longer yet. 事实上,我希望我还能多在这儿呆几年呢。
for a while:adv.片刻;暂时;一会儿;一时;
I have been living and teaching in the Gulf for over 30 years. 我在海湾地区已经生活和教书 有30多年了。
Gulf:n.海湾;深渊;分歧;漩涡;vt.吞没;
(Applause) (掌声)
And in that time, I have seen a lot of changes. 在这期间,我目睹了很多变化。
Now that statistic is quite shocking. 那些统计数据 是令人非常吃惊的。
statistic:n.统计学;统计数字;统计资料;(一项)统计数据;adj.统计(上)的;
And I want to talk to you today about language loss and the globalization of English. 而我今天要跟你们讲的 是关于语种的消失 和英语的全球化。
globalization:n.全球化;
I want to tell you about my friend who was teaching English to adults in Abu Dhabi. 我想告诉你们,我的一个朋友 她在阿布扎比教成年人英语。
And one fine day, she decided to take them into the garden to teach them some nature vocabulary. 一天, 她决定带他们去花园 去教他们一些大自然用语。
But it was she who ended up learning all the Arabic words for the local plants, as well as their uses -- medicinal uses, cosmetics , cooking, herbal . 但是结果她反而学了所有 当地植被的阿拉伯名称 和它们的用途-- 药用的,化妆用的, 食用的, 草药。
as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; medicinal:adj.药的;药用的;治疗的(等于medicinable);有益的; cosmetics:n.[化工]化妆品(cosmetic的复数); v.用化妆品打扮(cosmetic的三单形式); herbal:adj.草药的;草本的;n.植物志;草本书;
How did those students get all that knowledge? 那些学生是怎样得到这些知识的呢？
Of course, from their grandparents and even their great-grandparents . 当然是从他们的祖父母那里 甚至是他们的曾祖父母那里。
great-grandparents:n.曾祖父母;外曾祖父母(great-grandparent的复数形式);
It's not necessary to tell you how important it is to be able to communicate across generations. 本来我没有必要告诉你们能够 跨代交流是多么 重要。
But sadly, today, languages are dying at an unprecedented rate. 但是,令人惋惜的是, 今天 很多语种正在 以空前的速度消失着。
unprecedented:adj.空前的;无前例的;
A language dies every 14 days. 每14天就有一种语言消失。
Now, at the same time , 而同时,现在
at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时;
English is the undisputed global language. 英语又无可争辩地成为全球性语言。
undisputed:adj.无可争辩的;无异议的;毫无疑问的;
Could there be a connection? 这两者间有联系吗？
Well I don't know. 我不知道。
But I do know that I've seen a lot of changes. 但是我知道我已目睹了很多变化。
When I first came out to the Gulf, I came to Kuwait in the days when it was still a hardship post. 当我初到海湾时, 我到了科威特, 那个时候那儿还算是一个艰苦地区。
hardship:n.艰难;困苦;拮据;
Actually, not that long ago. 其实也就是没多久以前。
That is a little bit too early. 这幅图还更早一点。
But nevertheless , 不去管它,
nevertheless:adv.然而,不过;虽然如此;conj.然而,不过;
I was recruited by the British Council , along with about 25 other teachers. 我被英国文化协会招聘到这里 同时招来的还有其他25个老师。
recruited:v.招聘,雇佣;招募;(recruit的过去分词和过去式) British Council:n.英国文化协会(设立于其他国家,旨在加强文化交流);
And we were the first non-Muslims to teach in the state schools there in Kuwait. 我们是最早在科威特 公立学校教书的非穆斯林。
We were brought to teach English because the government wanted to modernize the country and to empower the citizens through education. 我们被请来教英语 因为政府想要发展国家现代化 让公民通过学习提高自己。
modernize:vt.使…现代化;vi.现代化; empower:vt.授权,允许;使能够;
And of course, the U.K. benefited from some of that lovely oil wealth . 当然, 英国也因此收益于 那些让人喜爱的石油财富。
wealth:n.财富;大量;富有;
Okay. 好。
Now this is the major change that I've seen -- how teaching English has morphed from being a mutually beneficial practice to becoming a massive international business that it is today. 这是我看见过的主要变化-- 英语教学是怎样 演变的 使它从一个互惠的交流方式 变成如今的一个规模巨大的国际交流。
morphed:在屏幕上变换图像(morph的过去式和过去分词); mutually:adv.互相地;互助; beneficial:adj.有益的,有利的;可享利益的; massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的;
No longer just a foreign language on the school curriculum , and no longer the sole domain of mother England, it has become a bandwagon for every English-speaking nation on earth. 它不再只是学校课程的一门外语课。 也不再是 英国特有。 对地球上每个说英语的国家而言 说英语已成为潮流。
curriculum:n.课程;总课程; sole:n.鞋底; adj.仅有的; v.给(鞋)换底; domain:n.领域;域名;产业;地产; bandwagon:n.流行,时尚;乐队花车;
And why not? 为什么不呢？
After all, the best education -- according to the latest World University Rankings -- is to be found in the universities of the U.K. and the U.S. 毕竟,最好的教育-- 根据最新的世界大学排名-- 最好的大学总是 在英国或者美国。
according to:根据,据说; Rankings:n.排名;排行(ranking的复数);
So everybody wants to have an English education, naturally . 自然每个人都想得到英语教育。
naturally:adv.自然地;自然而然地;轻而易举;天生地;大方地;
But if you're not a native speaker , you have to pass a test. 如果你的母语不是英语的话, 你要通过一个考试。
native speaker:n.说本族语的人;母语使用者;
Now can it be right to reject a student on linguistic ability alone? 那么仅仅根据 学生的语言能力 就拒绝一个学生的做法合适吗？
reject:v.排斥;拒收;拒绝接受;不予考虑;n.废品;次品;不合格者;被剔除者; linguistic:adj.语言的;语言学的;
Perhaps you have a computer scientist who's a genius . 也许你们中一个计算机科学家 是一个天才。
genius:n.天才;天资;才能,本领;
Would he need the same language as a lawyer, for example? 那例如,他需要有和律师一样的语言能力吗？
Well, I don't think so. 我并不这么认为。
We English teachers reject them all the time. 我们做英语老师的总是否定他们。
We put a stop sign, and we stop them in their tracks . 我们放置一个禁止通行的标志, 我们在他们的发展轨道上挡住了他们。
tracks:n.小道;足迹;车辙;轨道;v.追踪;跟踪;(track的第三人称单数和复数)
They can't pursue their dream any longer, 'til they get English. 他们不能继续追寻他们的梦想, 除非他们掌握了英语。
pursue:v.继续;从事;追赶;纠缠;
Now let me put it this way: if I met a monolingual Dutch speaker who had the cure for cancer , would I stop him from entering my British University? 现在我这么说吧, 如果我遇到一个只会说荷兰语的人 他能治愈癌症, 我会阻止他进入英国大学吗？
monolingual:adj.单语的;仅用一种语言的;仅懂一种语言的;n.只用一种语言的人; Dutch:adj.荷兰的; n.荷兰人; v.费用平摊地; cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤;
I don't think so. 我想不可能。
But indeed, that is exactly what we do. 但是事实上,我们正是这样做的。
We English teachers are the gatekeepers . 我们英语老师是把关的。
gatekeepers:n.门卫;信息传递者(gatekeeper的复数);
And you have to satisfy us first that your English is good enough. 你得先令我们满意 你的英语要足够好。
satisfy:vt.满足(要求,需要等):使满意:使确信:
Now it can be dangerous to give too much power to a narrow segment of society. 这就可能很危险 把很多权力 交给了社会的一个窄小的团体。
narrow:adj.狭窄的; v.使窄小; n.峡谷; (场所,物品等的)狭窄部分; segment:n.段;部分;片;弓形;v.分割;划分;
Maybe the barrier would be too universal . 可能这个造成的障碍影响面就太广了。
barrier:n.屏障;障碍;障碍物;关口;v.用栅围住; universal:adj.普遍的;全体的;全世界的;共同的;
Okay. 好吧。
'"But," I hear you say, "what about the research? “但是” 我听见你们说, “那科研呢？
It's all in English." 它们都是用的英语。”
So the books are in English, the journals are done in English, but that is a self-fulfilling prophecy . 书是英语的, 研究刊物是英语的, 但是这是一个自我实现的假定。
journals:n.学术期刊(journal的复数);日记;日记账; self-fulfilling:adj.实现自己抱负的,自我实现的; prophecy:n.预言;预言书;预言能力;
It feeds the English requirement. 它正好符合需要英语的条件。
And so it goes on. 于是它就继续这样发展下去。
I ask you, what happened to translation? 那我问你,翻译还需要吗？
If you think about the Islamic Golden Age , there was lots of translation then. 如果你想想伊斯兰的黄金时代, 当时有很多翻译。
Islamic:adj.穆斯林的; Golden Age:n.鼎盛时期;
They translated from Latin and Greek into Arabic, into Persian , and then it was translated on into the Germanic languages of Europe and the Romance languages. 他们把拉丁文和希腊语 翻译成阿拉伯语和波斯语, 然后又翻译成 欧洲的日耳曼语 和罗曼语。
Latin:adj.拉丁语的;用拉丁语写成的;n.拉丁语; Persian:n.波斯人;波斯语;adj.波斯的;波斯人的;波斯语的; Germanic:adj.德国的;日耳曼语的;德语的;日耳曼人的;n.日耳曼语; Romance:n.爱情;恋爱;风流韵事;传奇故事;
And so light shone upon the Dark Ages of Europe. 于是欧洲黑暗的时代被点亮了。
Dark Ages:n.黑暗时代(欧洲历史上从罗马帝国衰亡至公元10世纪的时期);
Now don't get me wrong; 不要误会;
I am not against teaching English, all you English teachers out there. 我不是反对教英语, 或是你们在座的所有英语老师。
I love it that we have a global language. 我热爱我们有一种全球性语言。
We need one today more than ever. 我们今天比过去任何时候都需要它。
But I am against using it as a barrier. 但是我反对用它 设立障碍。
Do we really want to end up with 600 languages and the main one being English, or Chinese? 我们真的只想留下600种语言 而主要语言只是英语和中文吗？
We need more than that. Where do we draw the line? 我们需要更多,我们在哪里划这条界线呢？
This system equates intelligence with a knowledge of English, which is quite arbitrary . 这个体制 把智能 和英语能力划等号 这是非常武断的。
equates:vt.使相等;视为平等;vi.等同; intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报; arbitrary:adj.[数]任意的;武断的;专制的;
(Applause) (掌声)
And I want to remind you that the giants upon whose shoulders today's intelligentsia stand did not have to have English, they didn't have to pass an English test. 我想提醒你 而当代知识分子所站立在 那些“巨人肩膀”上的伟人, 他们也并不都具有英语能力, 他们不需要通过英语考试。
remind:v.提醒;使想起; giants:n.巨人;大汉;巨兽;巨树;(giant的复数) intelligentsia:n.知识分子;知识界;
Case in point, Einstein. 爱因斯坦就是个典型。
He, by the way , was considered remedial at school because he was, in fact, dyslexic . 其实,他在学校的时候是个需要补课的学生 因为他诵读有困难。
by the way:顺便说一下; remedial:adj.治疗的;补救的;矫正的; dyslexic:adj.诵读困难的;n.诵读困难者;
But fortunately for the world, he did not have to pass an English test. 但是也是这世界的幸运, 他不必通过英语考试。
fortunately:adv.幸运地;
Because they didn't start until 1964 with TOEFL, the American test of English. 因为1964年 托福考试还没设立, 这是一种美式英语测试。
Now it's exploded . 现在已经泛滥了
exploded:adj.分解的; v.爆炸; (explode的过去分词和过去式)
There are lots and lots of tests of English. 各种各样的英语测试。
And millions and millions of students take these tests every year. 每年成千上万的学生 参加这样的考试。
Now you might think, you and me, "Those fees aren't bad, they're okay," 你会觉得,你和我都这么认为 这些考试价格还是合理的,
but they are prohibitive to so many millions of poor people. 但是数百万穷人 却望而却步。
prohibitive:adj.禁止的,禁止性的;抑制的;(费用,价格等)过高的;类同禁止的;
So immediately, we're rejecting them. 所以一开始我们就把他们挡在了外面。
rejecting:v.拒绝接受;拒收;不录用;不出售,不出版;(reject的现在分词)
(Applause) (掌声)
It brings to mind a headline I saw recently : "Education: The Great Divide." 这让我想到我最近看见的一条新闻: “教育:大鸿沟。”
recently:adv.最近;新近;
Now I get it, 现在我明白了,
I understand why people would want to focus on English. 为什么人们都关注英语。
They want to give their children the best chance in life. 他们希望给予他们的孩子最好的人生机遇。
And to do that, they need a Western education. 而要达到这个目的,他们需要西方教育。
Because, of course, the best jobs go to people out of the Western Universities, that I put on earlier. 因为,显然,最好的工作 都让西方大学的毕业生拿走了, 就跟我之前说的一样。
It's a circular thing. 这是个循环。
circular:adj.圆形的; n.(同时送达很多人的)印刷信函(或通知、广告);
Okay. 是吧。
Let me tell you a story about two scientists, two English scientists. 让我们告诉你们两个科学家的故事 有关两个英国科学家。
They were doing an experiment to do with genetics and the forelimbs and the hind limbs of animals. 他们在做一个实验 跟遗传学有关 以及研究动物的前后肢,
genetics:n.遗传学; forelimbs:n.前肢;前翼; hind:adj.后部的;n.雌鹿;
But they couldn't get the results they wanted. 但是他们无法得到他们想得到的结果。
They really didn't know what to do, until along came a German scientist who realized that they were using two words for forelimb and hind limb, whereas genetics does not differentiate and neither does German. 他们有点束手无策, 直到一个德国科学家参与后 他发现他们在研究前肢和后肢时 用的是两个词, 而遗传学上并不区分两者 德语也不区分。
whereas:conj.然而;鉴于;反之; differentiate:vi.区分,区别;vt.区分,区别;
So bingo , problem solved. 所以瞧儿, 问题解决了。
bingo:int.答对了;n.宾戈游戏;
If you can't think a thought, you are stuck. 如果你想不通 就卡住了。
But if another language can think that thought, then, by cooperating , we can achieve and learn so much more. 但是用另外一种语言就可以想通, 那么,通过合作 我们可以教学相长,受益颇多。
cooperating:v.合作;协作;协助;配合;(cooperate的现在分词)
My daughter came to England from Kuwait. 我的女儿 从科威特回到英国。
She had studied science and mathematics in Arabic. 她已经用阿拉伯语学了科学和数学。
mathematics:n.数学;数学运算;
It's an Arabic medium school. 那是在一所阿拉伯中校。
medium:n.(传播信息的)媒介;手段;工具;方法;adj.中等的;中号的;
She had to translate it into English at her grammar school . 在文法学院学习时,她要把所学的内容翻译成英语。
translate:v.翻译;被翻译;被译成;(使)转变; grammar school:n.(尤指旧时英国的)文法学校;
And she was the best in the class at those subjects. 在她们班上,她的这些科目 是最好的。
Which tells us that when students come to us from abroad , we may not be giving them enough credit for what they know, and they know it in their own language. 这告诉我们 当学生从海外来就读 也许我们没有给他们足够的认可 对于那些他们已经懂得的知识而言 因为他们已经通过他们的语言掌握了这些知识。
abroad:adv.在国外;到海外;adj.往国外的;n.海外;异国;
When a language dies, we don't know what we lose with that language. 当语言消失, 我们不知道我们还失去了什么。
This is -- I don't know if you saw it on CNN recently -- they gave the Heroes Award to a young Kenyan shepherd boy who couldn't study at night in his village, like all the village children, because the kerosene lamp , it had smoke and it damaged his eyes. 我不知道你们是否看最近的CNN-- 他们颁发了一枚英雄奖 给一个年轻的肯尼亚牧童, 在他所住的村庄里,他和其他在村里的孩子一样 无法在夜晚读书, 因为煤油灯烟 会弄伤他的眼睛。
shepherd:vt.牧羊;带领;指导;看管;n.牧羊人;牧师;指导者; kerosene:n.煤油,火油; lamp:n.灯;台灯;(理疗用的)发热灯;
And anyway, there was never enough kerosene, because what does a dollar a day buy for you? 而且,他也没有足够的煤油 他们每天只有一美元的收入,能买什么呢？
So he invented a cost-free solar lamp. 所以他发明了 不需要花钱的太阳能灯。
cost-free:adv.免费地;adj.免费的;
And now the children in his village get the same grades at school as the children who have electricity at home. 现在他们村里的孩子们 都能在学习上取得一样的好成绩 跟那些家里有电的孩子一样。
electricity:n.电力;电流;强烈的紧张情绪;
(Applause) (掌声)
When he received his award, he said these lovely words: "The children can lead Africa from what it is today, a dark continent , to a light continent." 当他得到这个奖励时, 他说了这些可爱的话: “儿童可以带领今天的非洲 从一个黑暗的大陆 走向一个光明的大陆。”
continent:n.大陆,洲,陆地;adj.自制的,克制的;
A simple idea, but it could have such far-reaching consequences . 一个简单的想法 但是其影响是深远的。
far-reaching:adj.深远的;广泛的;伸至远处的; consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数);
People who have no light, whether it's physical or metaphorical , cannot pass our exams, and we can never know what they know. 无论是实际生活中还是社会意义上 不能享受光明的人 都无法通过我们的测试, 我们也无法了解他们拥有的知识。
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; metaphorical:adj.比喻性的,隐喻性的;
Let us not keep them and ourselves in the dark. 我们不能让他们和我们自己都 身处于黑暗里。
Let us celebrate diversity . 让我们一起为多元化欢呼。
diversity:n.差异(性):多样性:多样化:
Mind your language. 重视你的语言。
Use it to spread great ideas. 用它来传播优秀的思想。
(Applause) (掌声)
Thank you very much. 非常谢谢。
(Applause) (掌声)