老外在中國(guó)：在中國(guó)學(xué)母語(yǔ)英語(yǔ)什么感覺(jué)

生活在中國(guó)，我有很多來(lái)自英國(guó)、愛(ài)爾蘭、加拿大、南非、澳大利亞、新西蘭和印度等國(guó)家的外籍同事和朋友。從他們那里，我了解到很多不同的英語(yǔ)表達(dá)?？墒?，我總是在想，弄清這些對(duì)于一個(gè)英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人來(lái)說(shuō)已經(jīng)很難了，那些在中國(guó)和其他國(guó)家學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的學(xué)生一定感到很困擾。

The joke goes like this: A business executive from the United States walks into a London hotel and asks a clerk where the elevator is.

有這樣一個(gè)笑話：一位美國(guó)的公司高管走進(jìn)倫敦一家酒店，用地道的美式英語(yǔ)向酒店員工詢問(wèn)電梯(elevator)在哪兒。

The clerk answers, “The lift, sir, is just to the left.”

員工則用純正的英式英語(yǔ)回答：“先生，電梯(lift)就在左邊。”

The businessman says, “Don’t tell me how to say ‘elevator’ – we invented it.”

商人說(shuō)：“別告訴我 ‘電梯’ 怎么說(shuō)——電梯就是我們發(fā)明的。”

The clerk answers, “Quite right, sir, but we invented the language.”

店員回答說(shuō)：“先生，您說(shuō)得很對(duì)，但是英語(yǔ)是我們發(fā)明的。”

Actually, we in the US didn’t invent the elevator (or the lift), just a new form of the English language.

事實(shí)上，我們美國(guó)人沒(méi)有發(fā)明電梯，我們只是發(fā)明了一種新的英語(yǔ)形式。

Living in China and having foreign colleagues and friends from such countries as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India, I have learned much more about the rich variety of my native tongue.

生活在中國(guó)，我有很多來(lái)自英國(guó)、愛(ài)爾蘭、加拿大、南非、澳大利亞、新西蘭和印度等國(guó)家的外籍同事和朋友。從他們那里，我了解到更多豐富多樣的英語(yǔ)。

I have learned that “sleepers” are not necessarily weary people – they can be planks that form the foundation of railroad tracks. In the US, we call them “crossties.” “Hoardings” may not be the stashes of compulsive collectors but advertisements we call “billboards”.

我知道了“sleepers”不單指疲倦的人——也可以指鐵軌的枕木。在美國(guó)，我們稱(chēng)枕木為“crossties”。還有，“hoarding”可能不是收集家的收藏，而是我們稱(chēng)之為“billboards”的廣告牌。

I already knew some terms, having long been a fan of British films, television and novels. But I have often thought of how confusing this must be to students of English in China and other countries. It’s hard enough for native English speakers to keep it straight.

由于長(zhǎng)期熱衷于英國(guó)電影、電視劇和小說(shuō)，我已經(jīng)知道一些表達(dá)?？墒?，我總是在想，那些在中國(guó)和其他國(guó)家生活的學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的學(xué)生一定感到很困擾。弄清這些對(duì)于一個(gè)英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人來(lái)說(shuō)已經(jīng)很難了。

Of course, this variety is evidence that languages are living things, and while some commonality is needed in order to communicate, the world would be less interesting if we all expressed ourselves in the same way.

當(dāng)然，這種多樣性印證了語(yǔ)言是活的，雖然為了交流我們需要語(yǔ)言有一定的共性，但是如果我們都用同樣的方式表述，這個(gè)世界就太無(wú)趣了。

In China, linguistic differences have their roots in ancient times. While it is practical to make sure all children learn Putonghua (the people’s language), or Mandarin, it is encouraging that there also are efforts to save regional tongues. In Shanghai, classes are given in Shanghainese, a subgroup of Wu Chinese that is only partially understood by many Mandarin speakers.

在中國(guó)，語(yǔ)言的差異性源于古代。中國(guó)雖然努力推行所有兒童學(xué)習(xí)普通話，但同時(shí)也在努力保護(hù)方言。在上海，當(dāng)?shù)厝碎_(kāi)設(shè)了上海話課程，上海話是吳語(yǔ)的分支，許多講普通話的人只能聽(tīng)懂少部分吳語(yǔ)。

In today’s hurry-up world, it would be unfortunate if these living remnants of the past are extinguished. The key to keeping them alive is to cultivate an interest among the young.

在當(dāng)今繁忙的社會(huì)，如果這些過(guò)去的遺產(chǎn)消失了，那將非常不幸。將遺產(chǎn)保留下去的關(guān)鍵在于培養(yǎng)年輕人對(duì)它們的興趣。

Because I was raised partly by my grandparents, there are some antiquated expressions in my vocabulary. When someone is sore or injured from exercise or overwork, I might say they’re “stove-up”. Most people nowadays are puzzled by that. When I looked for it on dictionary.com, it replied, “Did you mean ‘stovetop’?”

小時(shí)候祖父母也帶過(guò)我，所以我的話語(yǔ)中總會(huì)有一些過(guò)時(shí)的表達(dá)。當(dāng)某人因?yàn)檫\(yùn)動(dòng)或過(guò)度勞累而受傷時(shí)，我可能會(huì)說(shuō)他們“stove-up”?，F(xiàn)在大多數(shù)人不理解這個(gè)說(shuō)法。當(dāng)我試著在dictionary.com上查找這個(gè)詞時(shí)，搜索結(jié)果卻是“你想要查找的詞語(yǔ)是‘stovetop’嗎?”

Merriam-Webster tells us it’s an adjectival form of the verb “stave up”. “Staves” can be pieces of wood used to make a barrel, and Southern Mountain Speech by Cratis D. Williams says “stave” also can mean to break to pieces, splinter, shatter – the apparent origin of my peculiar expression.

韋氏詞典的查找結(jié)果是，這是動(dòng)詞‘stave up’的形容詞形式。“stave”指可以用來(lái)做木桶的板子，而Cratis D. Williams則在《南部山區(qū)的語(yǔ)言》(Southern Mountain Speech)一書(shū)中說(shuō)，“stave”還可以表示碎片、碎了——很顯然我的獨(dú)特表達(dá)就來(lái)源于此。

It gives me hope that the expression is found in the youth-oriented Urban Dictionary, so it might yet survive.

后來(lái)我在《青年城市字典》中找到了這個(gè)表達(dá)，這給了我希望，這個(gè)詞還是有人在使用的。

All of this may seem academic, but it shows that language is a mirror on life and a way to examine culture and history. Also, it’s comforting that my wife -- raised in a similar environment, influenced by her grandmother and great-grandmother -- understands when I say I’m stove-up.

這些看起來(lái)可能有些學(xué)術(shù)，但是這表明語(yǔ)言是生活的一面鏡子，也是審視文化和歷史的一種方式。另外，我的妻子和我在相似的環(huán)境中長(zhǎng)大，深受她的祖母和曾祖母的影響，當(dāng)我說(shuō)自己“stove-up”的時(shí)候，她能懂我說(shuō)的是什么意思，這一點(diǎn)真的很令人欣慰。

By Matt Prichard