背誦為王第四冊第37課
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- 參考譯文
英語教育
我和波拉克在是否應(yīng)該給孩子們英語教育這個(gè)問題上經(jīng)常展開激烈的爭論。我一直深信，印度父母如果從小就教育他們的子女用英語思考和講話是對他們子女和祖國的背叛。他們剝奪了子女得到祖國的精神和社會遺產(chǎn)熏陶的權(quán)利，使他們在這個(gè)意義上不適合報(bào)效祖國。因?yàn)橛羞@些信念，我強(qiáng)調(diào)要經(jīng)常用古吉拉特語和孩子們交談。波拉克不喜歡這樣，他認(rèn)為我這樣是在毀掉孩子們的未來。他反駁說，如果孩子們能從小就學(xué)習(xí)像英語這樣一門通用語言，他們很容易就能在生活的競爭中取得相當(dāng)大的優(yōu)勢。
他沒有能夠說服我。到底是我說服他相信了我的態(tài)度的正確性，還是他認(rèn)為我頑固而放棄了要說服我的努力，我現(xiàn)在不記得了。那是大約二十年前的事情了。我的信念隨著經(jīng)歷更加堅(jiān)定了。雖然我的兒子們?nèi)鄙偃娴奈膶W(xué)教育，他們自然獲得的對自己母語的了解對他們自己和他們的祖國都有好處，因?yàn)椴贿@樣做的話他們會看起來像外國人，但是他們沒有變成那樣。他們很自然地就掌握了兩門語言，能很輕松地用英語說和寫，這是因?yàn)樗麄兣c一大群英國朋友的日常交往，并且在他們居住的國家里英語是一門主要的口頭交流語言。
Lesson37 English Education
Polak and I had often very heated discussions about the desirability of giving the children an English education. It has always been my conviction that Indian parents who train their children to think and talk in English from their infancy betray their children and their county. They deprive them of the spiritual and social heritage of the nation, and render them to that extent unfit for the service of the country.
Having these convictions, I made a point of always talking to my children in Gujarat. Polak never liked this. He thought I was spoiling their future. He contended that, if children were to learn a universal language like English from their infancy, they would easily gain considerable advantage over others in the race of life.
He failed to convince me. I do not now remember whether I convinced him of the correctness of my attitude, or whether he gave me up as too obstinate. This happened about twenty years ago, and my convictions have only deepened with experience.
Though my sons have suffered for want of full literary education, the knowledge of the mother tongue that they naturally acquired has been all to their and the country's good, inasmuch as they do not appear like the foreigners they would otherwise have appeared. They naturally became bilingual, speaking and writing English with fair ease, because of daily contact with a large circle of English friends, and because of their stay in a country where English was the chief language spoken.
obstinate 倔強(qiáng)的, 頑固的
inasmuch 因...之故, 因?yàn)?
Polak and I had often very heated discussions about the desirability of giving the children an English education. It has always been my conviction that Indian parents who train their children to think and talk in English from their infancy betray their children and their county. They deprive them of the spiritual and social heritage of the nation, and render them to that extent unfit for the service of the country.
Having these convictions, I made a point of always talking to my children in Gujarat. Polak never liked this. He thought I was spoiling their future. He contended that, if children were to learn a universal language like English from their infancy, they would easily gain considerable advantage over others in the race of life.
He failed to convince me. I do not now remember whether I convinced him of the correctness of my attitude, or whether he gave me up as too obstinate. This happened about twenty years ago, and my convictions have only deepened with experience.
Though my sons have suffered for want of full literary education, the knowledge of the mother tongue that they naturally acquired has been all to their and the country's good, inasmuch as they do not appear like the foreigners they would otherwise have appeared. They naturally became bilingual, speaking and writing English with fair ease, because of daily contact with a large circle of English friends, and because of their stay in a country where English was the chief language spoken.
obstinate 倔強(qiáng)的, 頑固的
inasmuch 因...之故, 因?yàn)?
