VOA慢速英語:尼日利亞移民的美國夢

Lookman Afolayan Mashood moved to the United States from Nigeria in 1996. For several years, he worked in a restaurant as a dish washer and cook. Later, he directed day-to-day operations at the eatery.

Lookman Afolayan Mashood在1996年從尼日利亞移居到美國。幾年時間里他一直在一家餐館里做廚師和洗碗工。之后他每天指揮運營著餐廳。

About five years ago, he and his girlfriend, Natalie Goldberg, opened their own restaurant in Brooklyn -- one of New York City's five boroughs. The restaurant sells Nigerian food. It is called "Buka." That is a word in the Hausa language for a simple eating place on the side of a road that sells good food.

大約五年前，他和他的女朋友Natalie Goldberg，在紐約五個行政區(qū)之一的布魯克林開了他們自己的餐館。這家餐館賣的是尼日利亞食物。這種食物叫做“Buka”。“Buka”是豪薩語中一種表達(dá)街邊小攤的單詞。

Mr. Mashood thinks his business, called Buka New York, is the most popular African restaurant in the city.

Mashood認(rèn)為他的Buka New York餐館是布魯克林最受歡迎的非洲餐館。

"There's no food compared to Nigerian food. Anybody can cook goat, anybody can cook beef. But when a Nigerian man cook(s) beef for you, you will see the difference. We always bring the flavor out of anything we cook, whether its fish, whether its beef, whether its chicken, whatever we cook -- it's very distinctive -- that colonialism has not been able to change! So, I'm very proud to say I present Nigerian food as it should be, in New York."

這里沒有食物能和尼日利亞食物相媲美。誰都會做羊肉，誰都會做牛肉。但是尼日利亞人為你做的牛肉會與眾不同。我們通常會把烹飪的任何食物的味道發(fā)揮的淋漓盡致。無論是魚也好，牛肉也好，或者雞肉，無論我們做什么，做出來的食物味道都會是非常獨特的。是一種殖民主義從來沒有嘗試過的味道!我能夠非常自豪的說在紐約，我就代表著尼日利亞食物的味道。

Mr. Mashood says it was not easy to operate a restaurant.

Mashood 說經(jīng)營一家餐館也并不容易。

"Nobody give you money to start a restaurant -- there's no angel fund for restaurants, so you have to struggle very extra hard, you will never have enough money. So if you want to have a restaurant, you need a heart -- I think heart is the most important thing, the conviction I'm going to have a restaurant."

剛開始開餐館的時候沒有人會資助你，也沒有天使基金。所以你必須努力奮斗，竭盡所能，不然資金永遠(yuǎn)不夠。如果你想要開一家餐館的話，你需要一顆堅定的心，這是非常重要的。這顆心在后面推著你去開一家餐館。

People eating at the restaurant like the choice of foods.

人們在餐廳吃飯就像是食物的選擇。

"So, it has okra, smoked fish, goat meat, and you eat it with pounded yam."

我們的食物有秋葵，煙熏魚，羊肉，伴著攪碎的山藥吃。

"When I dine here, it's like I'm home. And that's the truth."

當(dāng)我在這里吃飯的時候這種感覺就像在家里一樣。然而事實就是這樣。

Mr. Mashood says that when he lived in Nigeria, he was just one of many people around the world who wanted to live in the US.

Mashood說當(dāng)他還在尼日利亞的時候他只是眾多想要在美國居住人的其中一個。

"You cannot stop immigration -- the best of America is immigration, because it is only the bright mind(s), in all the corners of the globe that want to come to USA. It's only the people that want to advance, those are the people who apply for (a) visa, and want to come here. The dream is still very available, still alive, and especially for Nigerians, because if you want to come to America and work very hard, you will survive. You will gain the reward of what you've done."

你不能阻止移民，美國最大的有點就是移民，因為移民群眾都是匯集了世界上所有希望去美國的人，還有他們的思想。這里僅是想要前進(jìn)的人，這些人申請簽證想要來這里。這里的夢想依然是存在的，依然是生動的，尤其是對尼日利亞人來講。因為如果你想要來美國，并且努力工作的話，你會生存下去。你會得到你應(yīng)有的回報。

I'm Bob Doughty.

VOA's Carolyn Weaver reported on this story from New York. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

borough – n. one of the five main areas of New York City

distinctive – adj. having a quality or characteristic that makes a person or thing different from others; different in a way that is easy to notice

colonialism – n. control by one country over another area and its people

angel fund – n. money offered by governments or other organizations to help people starting a business

conviction – n. a strong belief or opinion

okra – n. a tall plant whose pods are eaten as a vegetable and are used in soups and stews

advance – v. to go forward; to make progress